Our day started incredibly early as many of the animals are most active first thing in the morning. We met in the lobby of our hotel (coffee was available) to pick up our breakfast boxes and meet our guides for the day. Our group lucked out and had a fabulous driver. He called himself, “Lawrence of Africa”. He had a wonderful sense of humor and was an expert at locating animals as well as jockeying for position to get the best views. You can always tell where there is an animal sighting by the number of vehicles parked along the side of the road. Lawrence would plow through the middle of them and park wherever he thought we could see best. Perhaps the other drivers did not appreciate it as much as we did😏.

It is very cold in the mornings at Kruger (mid-40’s) but by lunch time it had warmed up into the 90’s. Layers are a good idea. Lawrence also provided blankets which helped. Dress in layers. It is also very windy in an open-air jeep. Even with my short hair, it was in my eyes all day. If your hair is longer, bring something to tie it back with. The big cats (lions and panthers) were quite a distance from the road, so binoculars are necessary as is a camera with a good zoom. A DSLR is much more useful than a camera phone.

Our first sighting was a white rhino; the only one we saw all day. #1 on the Big 5 list:

Score! Another herd of African painted wild dogs! Practically “un-herd” of to see them on both of our game drives😉.

Following the pack was a lone hyena, though we saw a few more down the road. Lawrence said this group was probably fresh from a kill and the hyena was scavenging. He said hyenas are 50% hunters and 50% scavengers.

Impalas were everywhere. Clayton took to calling them “dog chow” as they were everywhere and fair game for the painted dogs. We didn’t take any pictures of them. These are nyala:

This is a waterbuck. Lawrence said they are known for the toilet lid shaped marking on their backsides.

The kudu is the symbol of the national park system in South Africa.

We spotted a group of monkeys. As we drove over a bridge we saw that it was lined with monkeys on both sides. Groups that drove over the bridge later did not see the monkeys. It’s all in the timing!

There were some hippos in the water that we spotted.

Way, far off in the distance were lions! #2 of the Big 5!!!

More kudu:

Elephants – #3 on the list! 2 to go!

We spotted a single zebra. Hard to get a good photo of him.

And a small water monitor lizard crossing the road. If you want to see full-sized ones roaming freely, visit Lumphini Park in Bangkok.

Finally, it was time for breakfast. Most of us had already eaten much of what was in our breakfast boxes but we were given some time to relax and use the restroom facilities.

Zazu from the Lion King:

So excited to see #4 – a panther! He was hard to spot; with the sun shining through the trees, his camouflage hid him well. We ended up seeing him/her again later and I got better pictures.

Another lion sighting – this one much closer than the last:

And once again, the panther! It is a rare chance to spot panthers. I did erase the branch in front of her face – really, the only photo I edited.

To the disappointment of all the cars that were patiently waiting their turn to photograph the leopard, it hopped down and walked away. The picture is a little fuzzy but it is the best I could do.

We saw another group of elephants. These two greeted each other by entwining their trunks😍:

Still on the lookout for giraffes and zebras! We stopped on a bridge overlooking some hippo. Notice the surfing bird?

Run, Pumbaa, run!

The warthog did quickly realize the error of is ways and high-tailed it out of there.

The last of the Big 5 – Cape Buffalo. A face only a mother could love 😍.

We finally spotted a lone giraffe.

We passed by the only hippo we saw out of the water, and more kudu, as well as an enormous herd of buffalo:

Finally, zebra!

By now it was lunch time. We were hot and tired. It’s surprisingly exhausting to be constantly looking for animals. We had a nice buffet lunch and then headed back to the hotel. We spotted a few animals along the way but most of us on the jeep were ready to get back to the hotel for a little R&R.

When we got back to our room, I heard banging noises on our windows. There was a monkey fight going on! You should never stare directly at a monkey; they take it as a sign of aggression and will attack you. Since I had a window between me and the monkey, I stared it down. It clung to the balcony and screeched at me. Of course, I was charging both my camera and cell phone so couldn’t get a picture. I couldn’t entice it back, either so had to content myself with a few photos after fetching my phone.

Relaxing after a long day’s safari. The perfect end to a perfect day!