Day 13
Well, today marks the final step to the trip, the safari at Kruger National Park. I didn't get to bed as early as I would've liked the night before, so I cut out the Panorama Route I was going to take to Kruger. However, I woke up early for some reason anyways, so I raced out of the hotel to try to hit that more scenic route. It tacks on about 1.5 more hours of driving (likely not worth it in hindsight) but there were some fairly scenic spots to stop at on the way. I had a sunset game drive booked through the restcamp at 4:15 PM so I wanted to make sure I gave myself enough to get to the park, go through check in at the gate, check in at the restcamp and set up the camera.

Today's drive out to Kruger via the Panorama Route.


The drive to the Skukuza Restcamp in Kruger, including the Panorama Route, was roughly 6.5 hours, so I rolled out of the Holiday Inn at almost exactly 8:00 AM. After about 4 hours, I made it to the first stop, the Blyde River Canyon view point.


Three Rondavels/Blyde River Canyon View Point.


The next stop was supposed to be Bourke's Luck Potholes, but I got the last two stops swapped in my head, so I wasn't looking for the right turn-off. By time I realized my mistake, I had gone too far to turn around, so I just kept driving until I hit God's Window, the final stop on the Panorama Route.

Some afternoon weather started rolling in, so that made for a flat, but more moody look to this picture of God's Window.


By time I got to Kruger, it was about 3:00 PM since I stopped for lunch. You know you're entering the park once you pass over the Sabie River. It took about 15 minutes to get into the park as it's not exactly like entering Yellowstone. They had me get out and go through a 'docs check' with reception, then they searched my car and luggage for weapons since poaching is a serious concern inside the park. I was cleared and good to go though, so off to Skukuza I went.

A little bit on Kruger. Kruger National Park is located in eastern South Africa and is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which extends into Zimbabwe to the north and Mozambique to the east. The park is roughly 7,500 square miles in size. All of the Big Five can be found in Kruger which includes the African Lion, African Elephant, Cape Buffalo, African Leopard and the White Rhino. It's also home to the endangered African Wild Dog, of which there are an estimated 400 remaining in all of South Africa. Other animals such as impala, giraffe, cheetah, hippo and countless others can be seen here. For my purposes, I chose Skukuza, Kruger's oldest and largest camp for my accommodations and game drives. They were decently cheap and were located in Southern Kruger, which is better for game viewing.

Crossing the Sabie River at Kruger Gate.


Checking in at my bungalow at the Skukuza Restcamp.


Basic, but it'll do.


I had four game drives booked through the camp; two sunset and two sunrise. After checking in and sorting out the camera equipment, I was off on my first sunset drive. First thing we saw was a Tawny Eagle.


African Elephant.


I don't recall the name of this one, but it's related to the antelope. They rest on top of rocks to hide from predators.


Giraffe.


We were exceptionally lucky and came across a pride of lions feasting on a fresh kill.


The male lion, the leader of the pride.


Mom relaxing.


The kids waiting for their food.


Yawning.


Cub.


Then we came across a lonesome zebra.


The sun coming down.


Before the sun went down completely, we came across a spotted hyena. We didn't see much once the sun came down but we did stop since we all heard loud growling. The guide said it was a lion and couldn't have been more than 20 feet away, but we couldn't see him due to the thick bush.


Some dinner at the lodge.



Day 14
I had two game drives today, one sunrise and one sunset, so this meant I had a 3:45 AM wakeup call in order to make the 4:15 AM meet up time. This drive was completely full so we ended up using two trucks. Each truck held 22 people.

The first animals we saw once the sun was up were two white rhinos.


They both stood with their backs to us for about 3 minutes. The guide said that is normal until the rhinos can assess whether they are in danger or not.


Just a few minutes later we came across a group of elephants.


Including some baby elephants.


The guide stated that the one on the left is no more than 3 months old. Interesting fact about elephants; they live to about 45 years in Kruger and usually die from starvation shortly after losing their last tooth.


We then spotted some baboons in the trees. As we were taking pictures of them, one came running out of the bush and ran behind the truck. We all turned quickly and saw a leopard dart across the street. A leopard hadn't been spotted in two months by any drivers from Skukuza due to the thick bush caused by recent heavy rains.


We saw a few more elephants.


The sunrise drive went until 7:00 AM. Initially, I planned on taking a nap and relaxing until the sunset drive. Instead, I picked up a Redbull and drove myself around the park since it was my last full day in Africa. I didn't see too much, at least nothing out of the ordinary since mid day isn't a good time to spot animals. I saw tons of impala, a few elephants and a couple giraffes. It was still enjoyable to slowly drive through the park and observe though.

There are about 200,000 impala in Kruger National Park, so you saw at least 20 every time you went on a drive.


This one was blocking the road.


Just no privacy in this park.


Landscape.


A colorful bird.


A male impala.


#Headshot


Sure, you can see most of these animals at the zoo or even Busch Gardens. But to see them in the wild makes them that much more exotic.


I drove up to the top of a rock to get a nice overlook of the area. The bush isn't normally this thick, but Kruger has been experiencing record amounts or rainfall recently, making game viewing much more difficult.


I got back to the restcamp with an hour to spare before the sunset drive. I freshened up and cleaned the camera. The first animal we saw on the sunset drive was a Kudu. It's also the animal featured in the park's logo.


And another elephant.


Then we came across three lion cubs hanging out in the street.


The guide said that the morning is prime hunting time for mom and dad. They normally leave the cubs in one spot and come back to them with the kill.


There were two other people on the drive with lenses like mine but they were using strobe flashes, which were irritating all the animals. Not only does that scare them, but that pushes them into the bush so now other people can't spot them. I'm not sure why Kruger allows flash photography. Obviously, one can photograph them just fine without flash...


That African sunset.


We saw a few zebras way out in the bush. The versatility of the lens is astounding.


A hippo. Fun fact, hippos use only one way in and one way out of their watering hole, so you don't want to get in their way. It's not unheard of for them to knock over a safari vehicle.


Remember when I said that a leopard hadn't been spotted in two months? Well, here's a second one. This time it stayed still too. We saw 4 of the Big Five on this single drive, which is incredible and we saw multiple of each one as well. The driver said that was his best sunset drive in months! Leopards hang in trees in order to spot prey more easily.


We had spotlights in the vehicle, so we were able to light him up.



Day 15
My last day in Africa. Today was hectic and tiring. I woke up at 3:45 AM again for the sunrise game drive, which lasted until 7:45 AM (instead of 7) so I had no time to nap before having to drive back to Johannesburg. On top of that, the Delta nonstop to Atlanta wasn't looking too hot so I had a long coach flight to Europe to look forward to. More on that later though.

One final sunrise.


Saw three hippos this time.


Some zebras in the distance.


We spotted two lion cubs wrestling. Once we stopped though they sat still. You can see the 2nd one hiding behind the bush on the left.


Wildebeest. They aren't the most intelligent of animals, hence why they are good prey. Their one way of defense is to stand still hoping the predator doesn't see them...


The safari truck we were driven around in. The opinion on whether to take a guided drive or self drive is about 50-50. The guides have radios and talk to each other when they spot certain animals, so that's one positive. They also know what to look for and are better at spotting game than the average person for the most part. They're also allowed to drive around during the dark, while on a self drive you cannot. Self driving gives you more freedom though and it's possible to sneak up on the animals in a small and quiet vehicle.


We saw a pack of wild dogs, an endangered species in the park.


One final giraffe.


Well, vacation is officially over. This now marks the beginning of the very long venture home. It was only 5 hours straight to the airport, but I had to pass the airport by ~35 minutes to drop off the lens. On top of that, I encountered a hail storm once I got to downtown Johannesburg, so that drive ending up being over an hour instead of 35 minutes. I made it to the airport by 5:00 PM.


Kruger Gate on my way out of the park. They searched my vehicle again on the way out.


Back at the Joburg airport. The Delta flight had 3 seats up front with 9 upgrades. I would've been cleared me in a center in coach, so that flight was going to be a no go. 17 hours in a seat like that is inhumane to be honest. I was able to fly on Virgin Atlantic to London in coach, but at least I had a whole row to myself and the flight was just over 11 hours vs 17. Still the longest flight I've done in economy, but I was wiped by 9:00 PM when we departed, so it went by fairly quick.


The long, but more comfortable way home.


New 787-9 for tonight’s flight.


On board before I got moved. A family with an infant was split so I lost my full row. The row I got moved to though still had an empty middle however, so I still had plenty of space.


A while to go. Can’t even see the destination…


Only 23 minutes out. We encountered some severe turbulence over Paris, the worst I've ever encountered. I stopped by the cockpit on the way out since I had 6 hours in London and the captain said it was the worst he's flown through in his 24 year career.


Premium Economy looks nice.


No jetway in cloudy and cold London this morning for some reason.


I ended up routing home through Philadelphia and Atlanta. Not the most convenient but it broke up the trip nicely.

Skyteam 757 to PHL.


Lunch.


Landing in Philly.


At least I got some much needed sleep up front from London to Philly as well.


I'll end it here since the rest are just boring domestic flights. Glad to be back in the US though.


This trip to Southern Africa was fantastic overall, even if I was solo the entire time. Sure, there were some flight troubles, but that was essentially expected from the beginning. If I had to do it over again, I would add two more days in Namibia and two more days in Kruger, splitting the time evenly between the north and south parts of the park. I'm glad to have finally ticked off Africa but that won't stop me from seeing more of the continent. In the future, I still hope to visit Ghana, Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco, Lesotho, Senegal and Tunisia. My next trip is scheduled for the 2nd week of May which is tentatively planned to be Myanmar (Burma) in Southeast Asia.