6. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Africa

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

On the day of our arrival in Victoria Falls, Paolo had scheduled a sunset tour. We are in Victoria Falls for 3 nights but no, this travel agent had to pack it in, all at once. We arrived at our hotel at 2 pm and had to be ready for our pick up jitney at 4 pm for a river cruise; one more item to rub Paolo’s nose into. A good travel agent can be a blessing or like Paolo, a stumbling block to ones enjoyment. I don’t like to be rushed from one event to the next.

Our pickup at the Kingdom Hotel was on time at 4 pm, but like always on these tours, we had to visit 2 other hotels for additional pickups. The weather looked threatening with rain clouds on the far horizon, yet the small craft for our river cruise left from its docking place regardless. It was tied not to a pier, but just at a spot somewhere along the Zambezi River. The boat was tied up with long ropes to a few palm trees on top of the bank. A group of dancers and singers,

again in imitation regalia, were set up to give us a send off while we struggled down the river bank using old car tires laid down as provisional steps on this perilous staircase. It felt improvised and temporary. Yet, the crew was all smiles and very friendly. Instructions were given to us in “English “on how to use the swim vests in case of a mishap. They forgot to show us however where those life vests were, just pointed to a spot on the lower deck, we were on the upper level. Included with this river tour were a free drinks (alcoholic or not) and some light snacks like peanuts and a kind of tapas.

Zambezi River

The Zambezi River is Africa's 4^th longest river (after the Nile, Niger, Congo) and runs for about 2574 km from west to east. We are at about the half way point and the river seems massive; maybe even more so because it has retained its wildness. The shores are not developed. Our boat moves along at a slow speed always heading up river. Jungle creeps up to the banks of the Zambezi and wild animals can be spotted from the decks of the boats, or so we are told. Hence our sunset cruise. Large islands, 5 km by 1 km, litter the area with water channels between them that might even be deep enough to allow boats to pass. One must know the way in this maze; it is easy to get lost. Everything looks

alike; I found it difficult to find a visual reference. We were in search of any kind of wild life while nibbling on our snacks and sipping our drinks. Progress on the water is slow. Even though we hugged the river banks, no animals were to be seen.

Lightning now flashes in pairs and triples in the distance, the temperature drops, the sky grows more ominously dark. Other boats, similar to ours from all along the river, now converge in the hunt for any kind of life along its bank. It feels like going fishing, sitting and waiting for the big strike. A few raindrops start to fall but luckily the upper deck has a roof, we are OK. The sky however tells me more rain will pour on us soon. After some time of fruitless “hunting” for animal sights, we turn around and head to our old docking spot. On the way back however, the captain tries one of the side channels and sure enough a small

Hippo

herd of hippos appears. The animals are submerging and rising. Like whales, they appear, take a breath and disappear almost immediately. Carol has more patience than I have and took some pictures; it was difficult to even get those. One smaller hippo yawns, showing his huge mouth; this is a scare tactic to frighten predators away.

Now it rains with the wind pelting us sideways, the crew rushed to lower the canvas to give us some needed shelter.

Hippo

The captain turns the boat and heads back to his base, the dock near the Palm trees. The same group of Dancers/Singers in their traditional regalia; are now singing loudly for our welcome back. A rather stocky, large girl is showing off with high kicks, a shaman dressed man stands near, looking bored. The rain stops, maybe the Singers song worked. We did not see many animals, not even impala, normally the most abundant species in any park. We did not get any sunset pictures. The sun, being obscured by the heavy rain

Shaman

clouds, did not shine on us. We did see hippos, not well, but then one cannot predict nature’s ways.

 

Back at the Hotel, after reading our choices of activities, we decided to take a day off for some R&R and booked 2 outings for the following, the 3rd day. Our start for the day was a guided tour of the famous Victoria Falls. Since we are in a tropical region, we decided on the earliest walking tour possible. So our pick up was at 8.30 am. We could have walked to the National Park entrance but since Carol is not a good walker and my colitis is acting up again, it is better we take the bus. The admission to the falls is a stiff US $30. The temperature is already warm for our taste. A large group of Japanese Tourists seem to shadow us; or do we shadow them?

Our tour guide was a nice guy but did little.  One does not need a guide at this park but he came with the booked tour.  The way along the falls is well marked and straight forward. There are 16 viewing points along the 1.6 km wide falls. The waters of the river fall into a gorge that is twice as high as the Niagara Falls and the volume of water is immense. We understood that the best time to see the full volume of water

pouring over the cliff is near the end of March, but what we saw was still impressive.

Near the Devil's Pool

The best view of the falls is from the Zimbabwean side (where we were) but Zambia (across the gorge) has access to the Devil’s bathing pool. We did not go to Zambia, we just watched from the Zimbabwean side. We watched the Devil’s pool spot immediately at the very edge of the perilous drop of a huge

The Devil's Pool

amount of water where some daring people took a dip. Locals helped those daring tourists to get in and out of the devil’s pool using a rope. In the past some folks slipped and were never found, gone in the turmoil at the bottom of the gorge. What a fate.



This gorge, zig-zagging at the bottom of the falls is narrow and deep and carries all the water of a 1.6 km wide river compressed to maybe 300 meters width. The result is a tumultuous amount of water. If you are daring you can go on a rubber raft ride down  the gorge. Even the advertising for this ride showed people flipping out of the zodiac kind of craft, being thrown into the water. Sorry, not at my age, I’ll pass on these ‘adventures’. I

"Dr. Livingstone I Presume"

am not such a good swimmer anyhow, not even with a life vest on. Our walk along the falls ended at viewpoint #16, where we saw the only bridge spanning the Zambezi River for miles and miles around. This is the only bridge to drive a car across. You can imagine that this road, this spot leading to the bridge was busy. The old bridge, built in the colonial era, narrow and not built for modern traffic, but still doing a good job, is a godsend. We are at the end of our visit to the World famous Victoria Falls, now we must walk back, through the jungle, to the starting point for our pick up, not along the falls again. This is a ‘shortcut’ and is only 1.2 km long.  Baboons are our companions. It is near 11 am by the time we reach our bus and the temperature is near 30 C and

if feels humid and steamy. We have walked nearly 3 km on this tour. Not good for old bones like ours in heat and not feeling too well. Colitis is not a fun illness.

Sure we could use a rest after walking that much but we booked our next trip for 11 am. We opted for a birds eye view since the area is rather flat. We booked a 12 minute helicopter ride, the cheapest ride possible but still an astounding $ 140

US/each.

But then I ask myself how many times will I come here, this is a once in a lifetime experience. I have been on choppers before and they serve a purpose, like a car. The pilot took us for a large figure eight ride over the falls and then returned to base for his next 4 passengers. It was like a bus ride, like a shuttle run. Yes it was a view from the top but the walk along the falls was a better

experience. The good thing to see from above was how the gorge snakes its way away from the falls and turns into a river again.

We were done for the day, too hot; back to our AC room at the “The Kingdom” Hotel for a siesta. My colitis is acting up again, wonder what I ate that caused this. Travel is difficult if you can not eat what is normally offered.

Tomorrow we are off to Chobe, Botswana.





 



5. Travel To Zimbabwe, Africa

Zimbabwe, Africa

To get from KNP, ZA (South Africa) to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, we had to sacrifice one day at Hamilton’s Tented Camp and leave right after Breakfast on day 2. Too bad, I really liked the camp at Hamilton's. So our little rent-a-car got a work out. Two hours

of slip sliding through sand, mud and gravel finally got us to a paved road. Now we still needed to get through the Kruger Gate to sign out with the park police service. A mere routine, but needed in case one got lost in this huge expanse of wilderness. Then, once back into “Civilization”, another 2 hours to find a hotel for the night next to the airport. The manager of the Hamilton's Camp made some reservations for us at a Guesthouse in Hazyview, about 2 hours away from the airport and we even went to take a look of the place, but decided to not stay there. Too remote from any store or restaurant and the whole general appeal was not to my liking. We drove on and ended up in White River for the night. It is still about 45 minutes from Nelspruit’s Airport, but better than being 2 hours away.

Our flight was at 7.40 am and, according to most domestic flights we thought we had to be at the airport 2 hours before take-off. So we arrived at the locked gate to the entire airport at 5.40 am. Yes, the total airport was locked down for the night and the sign said the gate will open at 7.00 am. What to do?  We called out and a sleepy guard approached us and after taking to him and telling him we had an early flight he let us slip through the gate, but closed it right after us again.

We found the car rental return but of course nobody was there. So I wrote down the full tank, the km from the odometer, the location of the car and dropped the paper, along with the keys through a small slot of the Europcar rental office. The whole of the Airport was empty. All the stores and shops opened at 7.00 am or later. We killed the time by reading but I did miss my morning cup of tea. Sure enough, at 7.00 am the metal, roll down grates, started to screech and life began at Nelspruit's airport. Forget about the 2 hour rule, this is Africa.

The flight to Johannesburg was booked well, not full but not empty. The layover at Joburg was just long enough to find the next terminal and get ready for the flight to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The airport in Joburg is huge. We got a workout walking from Terminal B to Terminal A and then to the correct gate. We had to ask for directions; it is easy to get lost in this place.  The emphasis is on shops, not on logistics for travelers. I felt I was in a shopping mall with gates for flights just thrown in as an afterthought. Not a good layout for transfers like us.

Arriving at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe saw all that changed. This airport is rather small and as soon as you step off the plane you are greeted with hot, humid, sunny temperatures. There is no shade as you line up to go through a single door to apply or pick up your visa. Everybody stands in the boiling sun, guarded by self-important personnel, to pass through this door. So like cattle ready for slaughter, one moves forward, one person at a time. Each person must show their passport and boarding card to be allowed inside the building.  Once inside the building the queue starts again for another official to determine if you already have a visa, if you need a multi entry or a single entry visa. Then you stand in another, but more appropriate line, to obtain your visa. They want Cash only, payable in US dollars. Carol had to pay 75 dollars for her visa while I paid only 30 dollars. I guess it depends on your passport. The visa was glued into the passport, the scribbled writing on it illegible but we had a visa and they kept a bunch of people busy and took our money.

We now had to find our pick up for the ride to the hotel. Easy enough, the driver had a sign held up and as we approached he was all smiles. On his placards were our names and another party consisting of 3 more people. Would we mind waiting for the others to show up? Well, did we have a choice? We waited sitting on steel seats in the lobby of the small airport; watching the coming and goings of all the other passengers being picked up and driven to their respective hotels or places. After some 20 minutes the other party we were waiting for had not shown up yet. The driver with the placards still stood in line waiting. We waited. Another 20 minutes passed and I asked the driver what the holdup was, since I saw him on his cell  phone talking with someone. He explained that the other party had paid for a visa in their home country at the Zimbabwean embassy but this information had not arrived at the border crossing. So now they are “working” on it. After another 20 minutes they finally agreed to take Carol and me to our hotel regardless of the other party.

Our Hotel in Zimbabwe

The waiting for me was horrible. I have a low tolerance for inadequate performance, for illogical approaches to a problem, for being herded like cattle or dumb live-stock. Yet I managed to be civil. The total affair and arrival in Zimbabwe showed obvious short comings in the administrative end of dealing with people. The dancing group, clad in regalia, which awaited us outside the lobby gate, did little to give a different impression. In fact, to my mind, it only emphasized the perception

The Dancing Group

of how we, the tourists, should view the local population. I am not here to fix anything in the Zimbabwean way of life; I just observe and write what I see. What I see is inadequacy in handling common sense situations.

We are now at the Kingdom hotel. A Las Vegas kind of tourist hotel with all the same amenities down to the one armed bandits at the casino and the black jack tables. Only nobody is playing them. The whole of the gaming pits are empty. I wonder why.
Could it be bad planning? The locals sure cannot afford to put up the ante of $ 5 for each hand at the blackjack table. The tourists did not come here to gamble. Who planned this?

View From our Room

 

4. Hamilton's Tented Camp, Kruger Park, South Africa

Hamilton’s Tented Camp

Having watched our safari drivers in the past few days, I learned how to negotiate those dirt roads a bit better. Those guys weave along the road, avoiding small millipedes, slow way down for water crossings, shift down for uphill sections avoiding elephant droppings and basically use the whole road instead of just staying on the left. It also helped to see which roads they mostly drive on so we found the Camp fairly easily once we left Hoyo Hoyo.

Hamilton`s Tented Camp

The welcome is hearty. All the paper work is already prepared. A welcome letter, handwritten, lies on the desk in our room. There is never a feeling of time pressure. The folks here like to chat. Everybody introduces themselves by saying his name. So far it is a male oriented society.



Lobby

 

The theme of this tent camp is 1880, at the height of the British Empire and maybe the décor was inspired by the movie “Out of Africa”. This place feels like a movie set. Situated on a bend near an almost dry riverbed, it is shaded by a huge, old Sausage Tree with Jackal-berry trees nearby.

Sausage Tree

The service people wear uniforms. Each room is a separate large tent containing teak floors, a large bed with a mosquito netting, air conditioning, an outside shower with hot and cold, running water, a safe for valuables and any kind of comfort one can imagine. No Wi-Fi, this is a safari camp, not a business hotel. The food is excellent, it surpasses Hoyo Hoyo. We had ostrich steaks for dinner. I never had this meat before and it reminded me of filet

Jackal-berry Tree

mignon, yet had its own flavor. If you’d like a spot to be pampered, a place to get away from it all, try the Hamilton’s Tented Camp. After your visit we can compare notes. For sure this is Africa; there are always different ways of looking at things. The outside shower could have been cleaner; the elevated wooden boardwalk to our tent could have used some maintenance, but never mind all that, Hamilton's Tented Camp is a great place.

Our Huge Luxurious Tent

Unfortunately, we could only stay one night of the booked 2 nights. Our travel agent messed up big time. Our departure flight is booked for 7.40 am; normally an ok time with us. We were told by Paolo that the drive from the Camp to the airport would take 90 minutes. So, we would be leaving at 4.30 am. Hmmm!  This is way too early, but we never thought about that when booking, but OK, we can do it. The problem is; nobody is allowed to drive on the dirt roads in the dark without a guide. In fact, if you want to go from the main lodge to your tent (room) after dark, you have to tell the hotel staff. They will provide a guide for you.

Nobody is allowed anyplace after dark without a protective guide. This is wild country, right here at the camp are predators whose job it is to eat you. So driving is out of the question unless it is light outside. On top of that, the main gate to the park, Kruger Gate, does not open until 5.30 am at the earliest. Our Camp is 2 hours along dirt roads from this gate. The total driving time is not 90 minutes like Paolo told us, but rather 5 hours. So it is impossible to make a 7.40 am flight and all the following connections without staying the night before our flight near the airport. Hence our change of plans. We will notify Paolo of our dilemma once we get internet back, we might even pay him a visit once back in Cape Town. He will not like what I intend to say to him but such is life.

Our truck safari ride from the Hamilton's Camp was a bit different than what we had experienced at Hoyo Hoyo, too. This driver, Dries, spoke English I could understand. Sweet Boy, the previous driver (yes that is his official name) had a strong, tribal accent and to my ears was not comprehensible. Carol managed better with Sweet Boy, yet had issues as well. Anyhow, Dries’s parents were British and Afrikaans, he spoke both languages fluently. He was so much easier for my deafness to deal with, even though I had to pay close attention to Dries’s speech.

Not only did Dries drive us and spotted many animals but once we discovered them, he explained in detail about each animal. He told us facts I did not know: the fact that a giraffe only sleeps 17 minutes a day; that a giraffe never lays his head down it’s entire life; how to tell a female from a male by just seeing their heads, etc.; how to tell what animal walked through the sand and when, by looking at their foot prints only. He knew the names of obscure creatures like various moths; the difference between the 4 kinds of Zebras in Africa; the issues that Kruger Park faces

today, with poaching still being a major problem. He also explained the mistakes Kruger made in the past and is now trying to rectify, the supplying of water for example, to dry or marginal areas which shifted the Eco balance and in the long run was detrimental.

He told us of the over abundance of certain animals. There are 18,000 Elephants in the park when the ecology can only sustain about 10,000. What to do? Culling does not seem an option, the park service fears the public repercussions would harm the protective image of the park. Yet, to have almost double the amount of elephants is not good for the land. Elephants are very destructive to plant life. They damage trees in just a matter of minutes that need decades to regrow. An extra 8,000 elephants do a lot of harm.

Cheetah

Then there are the weird laws of protection. The cheetah is not on the protected list. There are only 115 cheetahs in the whole park, yet some ruthless hunters pursue them regardless of their rarity. The Chinese, no longer able to get “Aphrodisiacs” from Asian tigers, now pay poachers for parts of African lions. The trade is illegal but then, so is poaching in general and here in Africa, the enforcement of law is a little soft. Poaching is nothing new. Ever since the colonial days, people made a living by supplying what the market wanted.

The situation of decimating the animals for profit or fun was so intense and so profitable between the years of 1850 to 1900 that it shocked people. The gold rush of South Africa around this time further created havoc for the wild life. That is exactly why large areas were set aside to become protective parks, like Kruger National Park (KNP). It took the then South African government (Transvaal Republic) 10 years to bring the plan to fruition but by 1884 a law was passed to protect the area between the Sabie and Crocodile Rivers as a preserve and restricted hunting area. While this original “Sabie Game Reserve” was the start, it expanded over the years to what it is today. 20,000 Square km of Kruger National Park equals the size of Wales in Great Britain. Sure it all started around 1880, yet not until after 1920 was the park truly established.

The driving forces behind the park were men like Hamilton and Kruger. Paul Kruger, the president of the Transvaal Republic, had the vision of a protected area and the political clout. James Stevenson-Hamilton, as the first Warden of the Sabie Game Reserve (today’s KNP) had the foresight to expand the game preserve and allowed motorized traffic (tourists) into the park as early as 1927. It was the start of a whole new way to shoot animals, just bring your camera and shoot away.

2 of the 3 we saw

And shooting we did, with Dries’s help we were able to see 3 of the rare cheetahs; far away but unmistakable. My camera was not good enough to get great shots, yet Carol’s new camera worked like a charm.

On another outing, Carol took a video of a male lion tracking a female lion in heat, calling for her to come to him. It was a strange sound, primitive and yet so natural, a deep guttural roaring and grunting, loud enough to be heard for miles. A bit shocking yet all part of nature.
 

Wildebeest, sometimes called Gnu

3 Hoyo, Hoyo

Hoyo Hoyo   (Welcome, Welcome in Shangaan)

What is Africa without Safaris? We booked a bunch of them, all in National Parks through “The Flight Center” travel agency in Cape Town. We know about this travel agency because it has offices throughout the world and we have used them before. Paolo, our young service manager, did his best to come up with a tailor-made plan. Kruger National Park was our start.



Hoyo Hoyo Lodge

 Hoyo Hoyo Lodge was our first experience with the way modern Safaris are organized and run.

We started off by leaving Cape Town on a 10 AM flight to Nelspruit (Mbombela). After which we took a rented car to drive to Kruger. Have you ever driven on the left side of the road with a stick shift, under-powered, four cylinder car, in Africa where goats and cows cross the street unattended, where jitney buses pick up passengers on a whim, stopping at odd places along the highway? Use directional signals? What are those? Top that with missing signs for major highways and soon you will get the picture. We got lost, even though we had a map but no GPS. Not badly lost, but to the point where we stopped at a police station to ask for directions. Carol listened to the police man telling her to go to the 3^rd rowboat, and then make a left. A rowboat? Well it sure sounded like that to my ears, too. It took us a while to realize he meant for us to make a left at the 3^rd “Robot”, their way of saying traffic light.

Park Rules

So it took us a while to get to Kruger Park. Once we registered our car and ourselves with the park police, we drove another 6 KM to the Entrance gate and after each of us paid our 67 Rand in cash, we then had to find the Hoyo Hoyo Lodge. Yes, there were some signs, but we are now driving on dirt roads, in the wilderness. There are just a very few lodges inside Kruger park; an area as big as Wales. Wild animals are about in abundance, some literally the size of elephants. Yes we met 3 bull elephants on our 11/2 hour search for our

lodge. I think we did extremely well, considering the bumpy road, the sand traps or slick wet spots. Top speed was 40 km/hour. There is nobody around to ask for directions. We bought a somewhat map of the park at the entrance and asked for verbal directions, too. But, like the rowboat directions, not a lot of what was given to us made sense. Amazingly we did not get lost yet the feeling of unease was constantly present while driving down those sandy, gravel dirt roads. One constantly second guesses oneself with questions like “do we make a left here or a right?  Did we go the 10 km listed or is it still further? Even at the entrance sign to the Lodge we had the option to go in 2 different directions, which is the right one?  It took us close to 5 hours to drive from the airport in Nelspruit to the Hoyo Hoyo lodge.

We were relieved once we arrived. The welcome at the lodge was friendly and all was prepared for our stay. We had an imitation African hut for a hotel room, furnished in African décor and colors

with an outside shower. The hut had all the things modern hotel rooms should have. Most of the fixtures even worked OK, but signs of neglect or lack of care made it clear that this lodge, while rated 5 Stars, had short comings. I would give it a 3 Star rating. The food, however, was very good and plentiful.



Buffalo



Our first Safari tour began the next morning at 5.30 am. Wake up call at 5 am. Just a quick cup of tea or coffee and we are on our way. Naturally it rained, even poured last night, and some spots on the gravel roads and in ravines were flooded. In fact it still rained lightly when we climbed on the open seated, small Toyota truck. We were given rain ponchos, a good thing. Not only was it cooler than expected, it sure was nice to keep the spray off, too.

Kudu

The driver of the truck knows the area well. Knows each animal, bird or tree we

had questions about. He seemed like a walking encyclopedia when it came to life within Kruger Park. Our excursion lasted 3 hours. Yes it rained off and on during this time. Click, click went the cameras, but the 10 people on board the truck were very quiet. Hardly anybody spoke. Sure, once we stopped alongside the road to take pictures of a giraffe, for example, questions arose. But mostly everyone on the tour seemed awe struck. We saw many herds, many animals. Elephants, buffalo, gnu,

Baboon

impala, kudu, springboks, baboons, turtles, etc., etc. The highlights for many were a few lions. We had to track the lions down by driving off road, literally into the bush, squishing young trees or flattening small old stumps to get to the lions. Quite amazing what those Land-cruisers kind of trucks can do. It was a good outing, despite the rain.

Back at the lodge at about 8:30 am, we had our breakfast. You could have any kind of eggs, plus any kind of breakfast meat, etc., fresh fruits, cereal, yogurt and more. No complaints about the food, it was delightful. Lunch came next at 2 pm and it was a combination of high tea and sandwiches.

At 4 pm the next Safari started and again it lasted for about 3 hours. Again we searched for any kind of animal along the edge of the roads. We did not drive into the bush but kept to the gravel roads. This time, as if the animals knew we were looking for them, we hardly saw any. Sure we met a giraffe here and there and of course impala, but no more large beasts like lions, elephants or buffalo. Oh, we did see a rhino, but it was so dark by then that good photos could not be taken. The rhino was also too far away to determine if it was a black or white rhino. The darkness set in rather fast.

Can you see it - large head just above & left of centre

At one point, on the way back to the lodge, our driver turned on not only the lights on his truck, but held a portable, strong searchlight. He shone this searchlight rapidly from left to right and back again alongside the sides of the gravel road. He did it so fast that I wondered what he was doing. Then, all of a sudden, he pulled the truck to the side of the road, next to a bush and pointed. “See”, he said. See what?  All of us on the truck looked, but could not see a thing. “A chameleon”: he said. Now we all stared at the bush but still could not see anything. He was puzzled that we could not see the creature that was right at eye level and we were puzzled that he could spot something as small as a chameleon while driving at 30 km/hour down the road. This guy was amazing. He could see things we were totally blind to. Yes, the chameleon was there, someone folded down some branches and there, right in front of all of our eyes, a mere yard away sat the small creature. How our driver could have seen it I will never know. He told me something about a reflection from his hand-held light but never mind that, nobody on the truck could see anything even remotely close to a reflection. Just to prove that this was no fluke, he drove his truck, holding his hand-held light and a few miles further down the road he found and then showed us another chameleon. He was simply amazing.

After this late outing, about 7.30 PM was dinner. We had great food again. I had oxtail, Carol had quail.
 

Hippo

The following morning, again up at 5.00 AM for another truck tour. It was downright cool that morning, our last day at Hoyo Hoyo. The rain surely cooled things off. I am not sure if this was the reason we hardly saw any animals or if we were just lucky on our first outing. We even drove an extra 30 minutes and stopped at a lake to see hippos and crocodiles, but all we saw was one lonely hippo in the middle of the lake. Carol got a good photo, but there were no animals about. We even went up a hill to get a scenic view over

Warthog

an expanse of veld, yet again, no animals. Sure a herd of impala, even a small herd of buffalo, but that was it. Carol managed to get a picture of a warthog in its burrow, still sleeping. We also saw ostriches and storks. I guess it was too cold for most of the animals, they decided to sleep in that day.



Saddle Billed Stork

Still, the ride was not a waste. One sits constantly at the edge of the seat looking left, looking right in search of a sighting. Kind of like hunters but our only weapon is a camera, yet the feeling of a “hunt” is still there.

 

After breakfast on this day and after settling our bill, we moved on to our next stop; the “Hamilton Tented Camp”, some 30 km away, hidden someplace along the dirt roads that criss-cross Kruger Park. All we have to do is find it.

Baby Zebra

 









Ostriches

Unknown species in foreground