Kruger National Park, Day 2

Another day, another early morning.  We set off to the park and Werner, our guide, pointed out a jackal which I was excited to see.  As we drove on, we came across a group of giraffes which included two baby giraffes, probably less than a week old Werner pointed out because you could still see their umbilical cords.  It was fun seeing them running and playing.

This section of the park was noticeably more green.  Werner pointed out that the area had recently been burned and was starting to regenerate.  We stopped off at a bird hide and then made our way to a spot to have breakfast.  We spent much of the rest of the day driving through the park and spotting different animals.

Kudu

A highlight for me was definitely seeing this owl, a Pearl-spotted owlet, the smallest owl in South Africa and one of the few diurnal owls.

Before we left the park, we also saw some Cape buffalo.

After we returned to the lodge, we went for a short walk along the fence that marked the boundary between Kruger National Park and Marloth Park, the reserve that our lodge was located in.  We chatted with a couple that we met on our way back and were sad when they didn’t invite us to feed the bush babies at their lodge.  The sunset was lovely though.

It was our last night at the lodge and we enjoyed some conversation with Werner who talked about his experiences growing up in post-apartheid South Africa and shared a funny story about a previous guest who was a very brawny man who, on his first night at the lodge had the misfortunate of hearing a lion make some very ferocious noises, retreated to his room and didn’t leave his room for the rest of his stay, even taking meals in his room.