Our First African Safari in the Greater Kruger National Park in South Africa

We had an awesome opportunity this past week with the other 5 couples that serve as Public Affairs Missionaries in Southeast Africa.  Our Area Director, Sean Donnelly, took us to a Couples Seminar at the Baobab Ridge Lodge in the Klaserie Reserve.  This is 80,000 hectares of absolutely game-packed pristine savannah about 6 hours by car northeast of Johannesburg.  We flew into Johannesburg on Thursday, loaded up in vans Friday morning and spent 5 days in the bush at a self-catering lodge.  Our hosts were the owners, Jason and Nini, and our director and his wife, Dianne, catered the event.  We were the only guests at the lodge.   Every morning we did a sunrise drive for 2-3 hours and every evening we did a drive starting at 5. The evening drive always went into the night-time so that we could have the opportunity of seeing nocturnal animals.  We spent 2 and 1/2 days in training seminars and that helped us see all the possibilities in our role as public affairs missionaries.

This was an unforgettable experience and we thought we would share some of our photos.  We saw thousands of animals, some were too camera shy and others were too fast and elusive.  But, here is a pretty good sampling.   

 

 

 

This is a lioness feeding off a Cape Buffalo that the pride killed during the night.  There were 5 young Cape Buffalo killed by the 7 lions in the pride.
There stomachs were bulging...they were so full.  The cubs could hardly walk as they had eaten so much.
Hidden and out of a good camera shot were the jackals, vultures, and hyenas just waiting for the lions to leave the scene so they could move in and feast also.


 

This is the bungalow that we stayed in.  Each couple had their own bungalow.  Each had a living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and deck.  All four sides had big windows so you could look out and see animals in the bush around you.   
 

At night we could hear the monkeys scampering across the roof of the bungalow.  Around the entire compound was a high electrical fence but nothing that would stop a Cape Buffalo, rhino, or elephant.

The main lodge that contained a beautiful stainless steel huge kitchen with all the modern conveniences.  The lodge also had a large dining room and a large conference room.  See the Land Rover with stadium seating that is parked on the left.  There were several of these to take us all on drives. 

 

 The swimming pool at the lodge... but we took the photo to show the water hole for the animals in the background.  Animals would come here often.  At night we could lay awake and listen to the roar of lions that were nearby.

Boma...built to keep cattle contained at night and safe from wild animals.  This was constructed by the owner to provide a safe place for campfires at night and a large grill for cooking.  We had BBQs here several evenings. Our director's wife was a chef when she was younger and she fixed wonderful meals for us...three times a day.

 Picture looking into the boma.

 

 

Close up of a large elephant.  We were shocked at how close our drivers would take us to the animals.  We had strict instructions to never stand up in the vehicle.  If we sat we blended in with the vehicle and the animals came close but did not bother us.  They told us if you stand you attract attention and they can see an individual and can become aggressive.
 

Herd of wildebeests.

 

A kudu
 

 

A zebra... they are fast and hard to get a picture of.  They have weak backs so have never been able to be ridden or used to pack anything.  The African zebras are not only black and white but also have a gray stripe.  You can see that on the hind quarter of this zebra.  In Africa they do not make the "e"a long sound...instead it is pronounced like the "e" in the word "bed" or "red." 

 

  Lion from another pride coming to "spend the weekend" with this lioness.  The safari drivers learn to know these animals and can tell who belongs to which pride.  He was very protective of her.

She would walk about 20 feet and lay down.  The male would lay or stand nearby and keep a watch on what was going on around them.

 

Giraffes are so amazing to come across.  But, they are very elusive and disappear quickly into the trees.

 

A vulture

A white lion.  These lions were in a nearby reserve that we visited.  They live in a fenced reserve because they are trying to keep them from breeding with normal lions so they do not become extinct.

 Close-up of a white lion.

Can you believe how close our driver took us!

 

Elephants on parade...in all sizes
 

...and shapes 

...some baggy, saggy... 

 

 We watched this elephant wrap his trunk around a young tree with an 8 inch diameter and rip it out of the ground.  There are a lot of dead and dying trees on the ground in Africa as the elephants pull them out and eat the tender young roots.  They also strip all the bark off the trunk of larger trees and eat a pinkish-red layer under the bark.  This causes the tree to die because the upper branches and leaves can no longer receive nutrients.

 

 

This hippopotamus would only show us the top of his head...
 

 and the top of his back.
 

Our grandson, Jackson, sent us Flat Stanley to travel around Africa with us.  We took him on our safari drives.  Here he is sitting in the seat on the front of the Land Rover where the spotter sits on the game drives. 

 We could not figure out how to get the camera to focus on Flat Stanley and the elephant in the background.

 

This was an unusual find...wild African dogs.  They were very frightening to look at.  We came across an entire pack of them.
 



This elephant became quite aggressive as our driver kept changing the position of our vehicle and trying to get us closer.  This was a little too close.

 

 



This was a young elephant

 



 and an older one.

 

 Always fun to watch the young ones keep up with the herd and the older ones position themselves to protect the younger ones.

 

 A male Cape Buffalo

 

 

 

These three males were resting together.  The females have horns but not the big head-dress across the head. 

 



Rhino... all by himself.

 He became quite aggressive and started running and prancing around our vehicle.  They can move fast for as large as they are.  

 

 

More rhino... 

 

 

 

 

Mother and baby Impala.  We saw thousands of these. 

 

Steenbok 

 

Dracker

 

Evening approaching on the savannah.  Notice the large termite mound on the left.  The bush came in many varieties.  Sometimes the vegetation was dense, other times more sparse. 

 

We have lots more photos but that gives you a good idea of what we saw during our 5 day stay.  We loved the game drives and learned so much about how nature balances out itself and that there is a purpose for every creation.