The day at Kruger I've been waiting for finally came. Susie and I got up nice and early at 5:30 and headed to the national park with Mandi since Hannes isn't that fond of Kruger. It was only about $20 to enter and then Mandi stopped to fill us in on the plan for the day. She showed us the route we were going to take and told us she had one rule. There are thousands of impala's, we have the first hour to point and say impala and after that the impala's new name is a twobuck. The catch is every time we say impala after the first hour we owe Mandi two bucks, that's why Mandi calls them twobucks.
The day started off kind of slow and in the first hour we only saw a few impala and zebra. Then we made are first stop at the elephant museum. This place was extremely interesting. It had a full history line of the progress if elephants throughout South African history. It also had a full skeleton of an elephant and the skull and tusk mounts of the elephants with the largest tusks that have passed away in the park. They call the largest elephants with the largest tusks tuskers. There were a lot of big ones that have passed away, but there are still a good amount still roaming the park to this day. After that we went on the road again and started heading south, because supposedly that's where most of the predators hang out. Just as soon as we left things really started to pick up. I spotted a few steenbuck, which are a very small antelope, and then I finally saw what I've been waiting to see since I arrived in Africa. A massive elephant was right on the side of the road! It was probably only 30 yards from the vehicle and started moving closer to us. I got some great pictures of him eating some trees and then we moved along.
Our goal for the day was to see the Big 5, which are buffalo, elephant, rhino, leopard, and lion. Not to long after seeing the elephant we saw a few buffalo lying under some trees chewing cod. We watched them for a while as some other dumb tourists were hanging out their windows taunting the buffalo which is extremely illegal. We now had seen 2 of the big 5 and things were looking up. A little more driving went past and we saw some more impala, zebra and wildebeest. Another mile or 2 down the road Mandi slammed on the breaks and threw it in reverse. There was a hyena trotting to our left, but something didn't quite seem right. After a closer look we realized that the hyena had a snare around its neck and then it disappeared into its den. We called the park and reported what we saw trying to give as many details as we could. The day went on and then brake lights appeared up ahead. In Kruger brake lights are always a good sign, it means that someone else is seeing something awesome. I have to say what these guys stopped for was pretty awesome. There were 3 ground hornbills in the middle of the road. Ground hornbills are a large endangered bird that if seen must be reported to the park so they can keep tabs on them. The one started pecking the other people's car as the other 2 circled it like sharks. We got up to them next and they did the same thing. It was very funny and very cool, because it's not everyday you see an endangered species.
After yet another call in to the park we stopped at a look out point were there was one other car and a sign that said you can get out, but at your own risk. As soon as I stepped out of the car Susie said, oh look a monkey, and the thing jumped over my head and landed on the door of the car Mandi started yelling at it before it got in the car. The naughty little vervet monkey started making squeaking noises and tried slapping Mandi. Everyone was laughing at this crazy little monkey. After the monkey attack we were able to overlook this amazing river view and see some hippos lying in the sand and playing in the water. The entire time the monkeys were watching us and it was a race to get in the car before the monkeys did so we could continue on our trip. We soon after saw another group of elephants that crossed the road right in front of us and a big male shook his head at us. More zebra were seen along with a few giraffes in the road right after the elephants.
Our next stop was at the Olifants camp were there was yet another amazing viewpoint with a large river and more lazy hippos. There was a nice gift store there were I spent my first money in Africa and I managed to get a few souvenirs for friends and family back home. Shortly after our stop we came across a waterhole with cars parked all around. We squeezed into a spot were we could see what was going on. There was a massive hoards of elephants all moving towards the watering hole. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. A huge group of the worlds largest land mammal was slowly meandering towards the water where it seemed as if they turned into tiny children splashing in a puddle and throwing mud at each other. To top off the elephant parade another car was pointing at something off to the left and in the distance. After a closer look we saw 2 male lions! They were just slowly walking and pretty far away, but amazing nonetheless.
We had now seen 3 of the big 5. All that was left was a rhino and a leopard, and the leopards are extremely hard to find. The day was continuing and it was now 1. Everyone was very hungry, so we decided to speed things up to get to the restaurant. That plan was soon halted by another stopped vehicle where we saw our first rhinos. In the distance there were 2 white rhinos laying down. Tough to see, but the count was now up to 4 with only 1 left to go. We got to the restaurant and everyone ordered. I got the Kruger pizza, which was amazing. After everyone's bellies were full we came across a herd of zebra. It was the most zebra I've seen since I've been here. Some more elephants and other plains game were seen and then we ran into a huge traffic jam. Everyone was claiming to see a leopard. We all go extremely excited because we could then cross all of the big 5 off our list. After a lot of maneuvering and intense looking we finally saw spots in a large dense tree. It wasn't exactly the best view, but we did see him. Throughout the rest of the day a lot more zebra and other plains game were seen along with 7 other ground hornbills. Mandi said she had never seen that many ground hornbills before and one of the few time she had seen the big 5 in just one day. Just before we left I spotted a rhino. This one was much closer and I was able to snag some amazing photos and watch this giant graze through the brush. It was a great way to end the day at Kruger. I couldn't thank Mandi enough, but she said she enjoyed the day just as much as we did. Getting to see all those animals is impossible to describe, but it definitely made me realize once again just how amazing Africa is!