Kruger Park

Unfortunately it was time to part with our newfound family for the past 12 days. Admittedly, walking into this 16 day excursion we were a little worried about who we might have to put up for such a big chunk of time. I must say we were REALLY lucky. We were blessed with a great group of open-minded, considerate, and interesting people. They made evenings around the campfire with a few bottles of wine reminiscent of hanging out at home with friends. We exchanged hugs and contacts and the next day we were off to Kruger Park to meet up with a new group and hopefully some more wildlife. We were excited to be trading in our tent and arthritis-inducing sleeping mats for our own little rondavel (traditional-style African house).
Our new traveling companions were fantastic with the exception of one couple who collectively had less personality than a brick, the I.Q. of a potato, and a complete inability to stop talking. Somehow, the wildlife wasn’t frightened away by their endless banter and we got to see several different animals. We were all very excited to see a young male lion on our last day. Our driver pursued him down a steep dirt trail before we discovered his truck wasn’t 4 wheel-drive. Nobody was jumping out to push with the lion only 15 feet away, so we all had to clamber over the seats to put weight on the rear axle in order to reverse up the hill. Click here to see some of the wildlife pictures that we captured.