One of the must-do activities in Africa is go on a safari. When we went, I was fortunate enough to go and see 4 out of the "Big 5"- 5 animals that are iconic to Africa; (from most common to rarest) elephant, Cape buffalo, lion, rhinoceros, and leopard. The one that we didn't see (unfortunately) was the leopard.
On the morning of the safari, we woke up at around 4 am in order to get onto a bus and drive to the entrance of Kruger National Park that was closest to us: the Phabeni Gate. Kruger is one of Africa's largest game reserves and has an area of 7,523 square miles- if you were to drive through the park from north to south, it would take you approximately 4 days. While the safari didn't actually start until 6 am, there was a huge queue for entrance- the first people in the gate are the first people on the safari vehicle, and the more time they get to spend looking for animals. Safari vehicles are kind of like large, open sided Jeeps that can fit 9 people each, plus a driver. Each vehicle is equipped with a knowledgable guide who can communicate with the other guides and figure out where the best places to go are, and the safari lasts from 7 am until about 5 pm. In the early morning it was frigid outside- especially in the open air Jeep with the wind blowing. Thankfully, Kruger staff provided us with blankets. However, if this is something that you're planning on doing on your own, definitely layer up so you can take off clothes as the day goes on and it gets warmer.
Very first thing, we didn't see a lot of animals- some impala and antelope. It wasn't really until 9 or so (after 2 hours of driving) that we saw the first of the Big 5: the Cape buffalo. There were a herd of them (5 or 6 adults) standing next to a stream. Quite honestly, we wouldn't have seen them if our guide hadn't pointed them out to us. We sat there for a few minutes and watched them, but then moved on. The next few sightings weren't of any of the Big 5, but were incredible nonetheless. We saw more antelope, impala, steenbok, and kudu (another antelope relation), as well as a wildebeest, a few monkeys, and some rare birds. Somewhat surprisingly, the next of the Big 5 that we saw was the rhinoceros. It was extremely well camouflaged in the grassy brush and you could only really see it well when it turned to the side. What really surprised me was the size and the curve of its horn- it seemed like it was at least 2 and a half feet long! We watched the rhino for about 15 minutes until it turned away from us, and then continued on our journey. The last animal we saw before we stopped for lunch was the warthog.
After eating lunch, we almost immediately saw three giraffes. While they aren't one of the Big 5, they are one of the most iconic African animals. One of my favorite pictures I've ever taken was of one of these giraffes; it was eating leaves off of a tall tree and the branch snapped back and hit the giraffe in the face, scaring it and causing it to rear a bit. After waiting for the giraffes to cross the road (because animals have the right of way) we kept going and saw a herd of elephants making their way across the road and to the river. After following the elephants for a while, our tour guide put on a sudden burst of speed told us to look out for a lion. After about 10 minutes we saw it sunning itself, even though it was really far away. Luckily, one of our group had thought to bring binoculars. After looking for a few seconds, our tour guide told us that the lion had just eaten, because it was sleeping on its side with its legs apart- its stomach was too full to sleep on it or close its legs.
Later in the afternoon, we took a brief stop at a lake, where we saw hippopotamus along with some more rare birds and then we called it a day. One of the most unusual things about our safari in particular was that we didn't see any zebra. The tour guide said that that was very unusual, but explained it that because a few weeks ago there had been a fire, so the zebra had migrated to the area of the park that had the most new growth (which they love to eat). The safari is an amazing way to experience the wonder of nature in a very personal way. Some tips I would have for anyone going on a safari are: layer- bring enough clothes so that you stay comfortable throughout the day; bring binoculars to see those far away animals; look for the animals along with the guide (the guide is not infallible!); and get to the gate earlier then you will ever think you need to. If you do go on safari, try and see the one of the Big 5 that I missed; see if you can spot the spots!
See below for the full list of animals we saw.
Animals We Saw on Safari (Courtesy of Marge Iglio)
Wildebeest, Cape Buffalo, African Bison, Kudu, Impala, Crocodile, Lion, White Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Warthog, African Elephant, Giraffe, Nyala, Busin Bucks, Baboons, Capuchin Monkeys, Tarpan Turtles, Mongoose, Antelope, Steenbok, Striped Skink, Nguiri Cow, Verox Owl, Pearl Spotted Owl, Lilac Breasted Rowler, Rotlaur Eagle, White Backed Vulture, Little Bee Eater, Crested Hornbill, Red Billed Hornbill, Yellow Billed Hornbill, Gray Billed Hornbill, White Faced Whistling Duck, Egyptian Geese, Pied Kingfisher, African Garter, Sattlebill Storks, Crested Franklin, Fish Eagle, Ibis, Gray Heron, Myna, Starling
