On April 12th, Matt and I arrived in Nelspruit, realizing that it was one of the last times we'd fly before coming home. Every moment then, being so close to the end of our trip, was full of anticipation about what we had left to see in Africa, about making sure to do everything we had hoped, and about looking forward to hugging our family and friends again.
We arrived at our backpackers in the afternoon and after checking in, headed out into the town to find Nathan who had arrived by bus. We located him without much trouble and poked around the rather empty streets of Nelspruit looking for a bite to eat. Eventually, we relented and stopped for fast food at a gas station. After eating, I inquired if there was an internet café anywhere nearby. The kind lady behind the counter informed me that there weren't any nearby that were open. There was one we could walk to, but it was quite a distance and we were carrying Nate's gear (from 6 months in Zambia) and the city wasn't the safest for walking anyway. The lady even offered us the computer in the gas station office.
I told her she was very kind, but we couldn't intrude on her like that. Anyway, the three of us wanted to each spend about an hour on a computer. I told her that we decided to walk, and without hesitating, she asked her husband to mind the register while she drove the three of us, plus gear, to the internet café at the mall. It was such a nice gesture from a stranger and Nate, Matt and I showered her with thanks and compliments on the short drive.
After our internet time, we grabbed some groceries and hired a taxi to take us to the backpackers where we concocted a lovely pasta dinner then met some American students who were studying abroad. The following day was our day to relax; to get laundry done, to phone Johannesburg and formuate plans there, and to recoup and prepare for the last few days of our trip. Also, we had been bumped up to a fancy room because the students were occupying all the dorm beds, so our room had its own radio, a little kitchen and a bathtub! It was a lovely place to relax, and the hostel had lush, green landscaping and an aviary to check out. That evening, we made another yummy dinner and watched a movie in the main/lobby room over a glass of wine.
The next morning, Matt, Nate and I were up before the sun, piling into a van with our guide, Dave, to go explore Kruger National Park. We had to leave before dawn because the park opened at 6am and it was important to maximize our time there. It has "more species of mammals than any other African Game Reserve" (Wiki) and it's known that if you're only going to Africa briefly for a safari, that's the place to go. So, I'm going to give you a brief rundown of our day. We spent the majority of the time driving around (you're forbidden to exit your vehicle) so the interesting parts of the day are animals. I will refer to them by their collective nouns when there were more than one. And throughout the day, we saw the red and yellow-billed hornbills which might not sound familiar, but if you remember Zazoo from the Lion King, then you know who I'm talking about.
The first animal of consequence we saw was a leopard who just strode across the asphalt in front of our vehicle. We took his/her presence as a good sign since they're rather unusual to see. Shortly afterward, Dave spotted rhinos in the distance and we used the binoculars to find a crash of 9 white rhinos foraging together. After driving a bit more, we spotted a journey of giraffes and made a point of calling our friend, Suzanne, who wanted to come just to see giraffes, but was unable to join us.
Then, while we were driving, we slowly came upon a clan of hyenas. There were about 6 of them, adults and children, napping on both sides of the road. They were fascinating to see and they came very close to the van. After that, we saw a dazzle of zebra moving around in a haphazard fashion. When we slowed down to see what they were reacting to, we noticed a leopard sneaking around and trying to separate one from the group. After the excitement of the hunt, ahem, I mean, watching the hunt from the van, we headed to a rest camp where we stopped for breakfast.
Brekky was a great opportunity to caffeinate and check out the resident bats before hopping back in the van to spot as many animals as possible while the sun was still low in the sky. The first interesting beast we came across was a large martial eagle, in the crook of a branch, shredding the body of a monitor lizard. We watched in awe as it destroyed its prey before we moved on. Next, Dave spotted a Cape buffalo at the edge of the reeds by a junction of two rivers. Then finally, it was time for a light lunch and a break from the hot afternoon, but not before stopping with a group of vehicle to watch crocodiles and hippos near a large watering hole.
A few hours later, after reading a substantial portion of my book and having a shower, I joined Matt and Nate and we headed out with a large group of people and some park staff for a night drive. We didn't see many animals, and after it got dark the spotlights didn't help much. Everything was mediocre until we saw a leopard. We watched it step around the area until it found a nice spot and laid down. We must have stopped for fifteen minutes just watching that leopard relax. It was our miraculous third leopard of the day. Then we headed back to the rest camp where Dave had prepared a braai (barbeque). The four of us made quick work of meat, potatoes, corn and veggies before bed.
The following morning, we were all up before the sun (again). After eating a little breakfast, and waiting for the 6am park-entry gate to open, we were exploring again. And the first animal of consequence that we saw, that walked right across the road in front of us, was a leopard. Another leopard. Our fourth in two days.
A few moments later, and farther down the road, there were several vehicles gathered and when we came upon them we realized what they were looking at a male lion. After he disappeared into the bushes, a female lion appearred. The pair of them were trying to find an impala breakfast. We watched the lions interact with one another and walk on the road between the vehicles. When the female came nearby (video here), we realized she was blind in one eye. After we left the lions, we headed towards the exit from the park. On our way out, we spotted a ground hornbill (huge red & black bird), a couple of steenboks (my favorite), a duiker (another small antelope), and a few crowds of baboons and impalas sunning themselves together.
When we left the park, we drove for a bit and checked out some of the natural sights in the area. We saw a small but gorgeous waterfall, God's Window (a scenic viewpoint which was obscured by fog), and the potholes, which were cylindrical voids carved out of the rocks by the circular scouring motion of the passing river. But the most stunning sight we saw was Blyde River Canyon; the largest "green canyon" in the world. Now, I will admit, our day was a speedy run-through of the sights, but I think all three of us loved the time we spent at Blyde River Canyon, scrambling over the rocks with the lizards. And I can try to explain how incredibly deep the canyon was, or how verdant, or how breathtaking was the view, but it can't convey the beauty. I'll put in the picture to give you a better idea.
After our fun jaunt in the out-of-doors, we had some pancakes for lunch and headed back to the hostel for the evening.
The pictures in this post are: a yellow-billed hornbill (Zazoo), a white rhino, a hyena, the martial eagle with his food in this claw, a Cape buffalo, our lazy leopard, my steenbok, the potholes, and Blyde River Canyon.
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