What a better way to start a new year than in the Kruger.  We left Jhb Jan 2nd and headed for Hazyview.  We treated ourselves to a night at Rissington Inn where the owner, Chris Harvie, not only upgraded our room but gave us a copy of his book where he undertook a similar adventure to ours but for a shorter time.  It has been great reading about his views on where we have been and getting his take on things to come.

We decided to try camps in the South and hope that they were not too busy.  Initially we stayed at Lower Sabie where we were pleased to see many different rhino sightings.  After a few photos, we urged them to hide in the bushes.  Can you believe the poachers were out on Jan 1st…..  Disgusting.  By Jan 8th, there were already 3 Kruger rhinos poached and not a single poacher was shot.  Even more disgusting.  We saw a great sign, which we wholeheartedy agree with – Save a Rhino – Shoot a Poacher.

Lower Sabie was packed and driving around was like being in a convoy, any sighting was like Sandton in the rush hour.  Luckily we moved to Satara where things were starting to quieten down.    We thought our luck was in when we spotted a cheetah one morning, little did we know that we would be even luckier a few days later.  We were fortunate to see a cheetah with four fair sized cubs sitting at the side of the road.  We then spent an hour watching them play and chase each other.  Within a few seconds they changed to hunting mode and took down a Steenbok. As they played with their food, we alternated between cheering for the cheetahs and praying that the poor little bok would escape.   Alas, his days were over when mum intervened and put him out of his misery.  During this time, a few metres away, a Kori Bustard was roaming around, not a care in the world.

Excited by all the fun we had in the Kruger so far, we were not yet ready to leave and decided to book into Maroela Camp (near Orpen).  What a cool camp.  Similar to Tsendze, in that this is a satellite camp (but with electricity) with no passing traffic. We settled in next to what should be the Timbavati River but which resembled a sandpit with no water in sight.  On our first night, we were amused to find a hyena in the storm water drain a few metres from our site.  As soon as he could smell firelighters, out he popped and paraded the fence hoping for scraps.  Now, anyone who knows Andrew, knows that he does not share food.  Not even with his wife.  This, I am reliably informed is a Sagittarian trait, shared by Jenny and Graeme.

We were boiling to death for days and thought we had scored when the rain came.  Yeah, shouted everyone in the camp.   Not so many yeahs when it didn’t stop for days.  Going on game drives was pointless, as all the animals were sheltering for dear life.   So instead of getting up at 4am, we had a lay in until 6am and made a nice cooked breakfast.  As it turned out this was another piece of luck.  As we were about to eat, a bushbuck came flying passed with something hot on its heels.  This something turned out to be a Wild Dog.  Soon there were 25 dogs, sitting or strutting around the place.  These photos were taken by Andrew, up a ladder, trying not to touch the electric fence.

Anyway, all too soon we had to leave the Kruger and head for Nelspruit to restock.