Tuesday, April 05, 2016

Tuesday 5th April 2016.......4 out of 5 is not bad!!!!!!!

Had a good sleep and up at 5am, I know these early mornings are not the norm for me, but I had a very important day ahead of me!!!
I am sorry about this but the Internet signal is not a strong one and I cannot put any photos on the blog...you will not miss much...JUST sightings of 4 out of the big 5 animals!!!!!
Hard to write this without photos but I will write it post it and then in a couple days time when I have a stronger signal publish the photographs....
A few weeks ago I booked two day passes into Kruger national park when you book you have to choose which gate you enter and at what time and at 6 am this morning I was at the Crocodile Bridge gate... there was about 7 cars in front of me and the sun was just coming up and it was a beautiful morning....you pick your routes some are paved roads and some are dirt roads but the rules are that you must stay on the road and are not allowed to get out of your vehicle except at certain points....
I cannot even begin to tell you how it was for me to slowly(50km speed zone through out the park and 40km on the dirt road)drive through the park and see so many animals.....first it was warthogs and then Zebra loads of zebras, then impala, then the giraffe and elephants and wait till you see the baby elephant!!!
I just drove really slow and wish I had another pair of eyes but I think I managed to see most of the animals on the road and in the bush.....so the big five are lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard...
So I managed the elephant and then I saw a huge herd of buffalo cross in front of me...a short time later caught a glimpse of a black rhino and then for me the thrill of the day...
I was on this dirt road no one around and I come around the corner and this carcass was in the bush and then there was a car stopped and the driver flagged me down and he told me to to look in the bush about 40 feet away from me and I did and there was this lion laying down and just panting...I got a really shot of his face and I think what happened is that he had just killed that other animal had some lunch and then laid down to rest....the other driver left and I turned off the engine and just sat there mesmerized looking at this lion.....no sounds, no distractions and I thought that three days ago I was hugging a lion and taking it for a walk and here was the genuine article......I stayed at least 30 minutes and we just stared each other down...what a thrill.
I have a great shot of a Mum and baby zebra....a close up of a hippo and more giraffes and elephants......

I could not believe how fast the time went by and before I knew it I had come to the gate where I was to exit the park.
It was only a 15 minute drive to my little cottage where I am staying for 2 nights and my hostess Linda was there waiting for me.....it is a lovely cottage has everything I need and is separate from the main house which is so unique it is built into the side of huge rocks......
I got settled in and then felt that I needed a walk after all that sitting and driving and Linda told me of a nice local walk down to the river and I enjoyed it there it was pretty and I sat on the rocks with my feet in the water thinking about the day I just had.
Came back home and got cleaned up and Linda invited me to join her for dinner which was lovely...a very interesting lady living her dream in this small border town.
I am tired and have another early start tomorrow as I am going back into the park and taking a different route.
You will just have to imagine the photos I took and wait a few days...

Yashi Kochi!!!






2 comments:

Peter Kouwenhoven said...

Following along with a great deal of interest. Looking forward to the photos.

mexicokid said...

I think I was able to capture some great shots love the little guys cheers les

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