Kruger Day 1...

Finally, I'm wading my way through all my photos. There are so many and I have no idea how I'm going to chose which ones to print and which to leave buried on my hardrive. All I know is that as I look through my pictures, I relive my holiday. I can remember the sights and sounds (and smells) so clearly and it was just the most amazing experience ever. Besides not knowing which pictures to print, I don't know which to share with all of you. I know that I can't possibly limit myself to just one or two favourites, so I think I'm going to do a post per day of our time in the park. If you hate the bush and hate me for posting animal photos, I'm really sorry. Please come back in about a week's time when I'm finished publishing them all here. It just gives me a good opportunity to share my journey...

We left Graskop early in the morning on the 30th of August (I'm more then a month behind!!) and headed up to Phalaborwa to do our grocery shopping before heading into the park just before lunch time. In the picture above, he's with my mom at the Palaborwa Gate, where we signed in before entering the park. Exciting...

Our first big sighting of the day was a herd of Cape Buffalo. Since it was the middle of the day, they were relaxing, trying to find some shade in the 30+ degree sunshine (oh, how I miss the bush veld weather!)...

And because it's spring time, there are lots and lots of babies. Everywhere. I came home very broody... Our next big encounter, were elephants. I love baby elephants. Those of you who have visited the Kruger before will know that animals often cross/run across the road right in front of you. Initially it's scary, some of these beasts are huge. Jake was particularly frightened of the elephants and whenever we saw some close to or in the road, he'd say "just go now". After about 4 or 5 days, he told my mom that she mustn't tell anyone that he was scared of the elephants, because they're actually his favourite. I can't pick my favourite animal, I love them all, even the vultures... Look at all the weenie ones. Look how close they come to the cars...Jake spotted this hippo getting some relief from the midday sun...Giraffes are really cute. Can I call such a huge animal cute? They're the most inquisitive animals you could ever meet and I'm sure that if you sat in your car, quietly enough for long enough, they'd stroll on over and stick their head through the window to see what's inside your car. Again, note how close they are to the cars...This was the view from our lunch time picnic spot. There's an ellie coming up the river on the far bank...There are often buck walking around the picnic sites. They're very used to people and while you're not allowed to feed any of the animals, I'm sure they get the odd snack...This is a Bateleur. It's one of the Big 5 raptors and Jake's favourite bird. They often fly with the vultures, looking for kills. Vultures have sharper beaks and Bateleurs have sharper vision...Another herd of Buffalo at a water hole...The highlight of our day was this sighting of hyenas with their pups...The gates to our camp, Shingwedtzi...

More pictures tomorrow...

Sue x