South Africa - Kruger Days 1 and 2

27th November

A long journey south finally arriving into the tiny airport at Hoedspruit a full 26-hours later, into a stifling 40C wall of heat.

Tired from the long journey, we left the airport and within five minutes encountered a giraffe along the roadside. 

The Hippomoon Lodge was a 45 minute drive with most of the journey spent bouncing over unmade roads in our tiny rental car.

The lodge was located north of Kruger within a reserve run by the eccentric and wildly sociable Xavier along with Patricia who couldn't do enough for us. It was an interesting experience and a novel way to spend a landmark birthday for which I was truly grateful. 

The lodge is part of a large landholding that supported a number of free-roaming animals. Despite this, it did at times feel like a captive assemblage of regional species some of which were being supplementary fed on-site.

These nyala were seen close to the lodge 

A short afternoon drive bouncing over the tracks provided a nice introduction to the next few days in Kruger. A family of eland while wary were able to be viewed at close range.

A veteran eland knew its place on the reserve.

There were plenty of Burchell's zebra on the estate with some rearing young.

A small area of open water held a large colony of village weaver.

Never tire of seeing giraffe that were rearing young not far from the lodge.

An impressive waterbuck strutting close to the track.

The evening was spent in the enjoyable company of Xavier and Patricia being spoiled with great food and a crazy electric storm that passed through the area during the evening and night.

28th November

Today felt like the proper start to the trip as we prepared for the long drive south to Kruger. Apart from some dubious directions that had us driving off in a random direction for a couple of hours, we finally made it through Kruger gate and into the reserve itself.

En route, there were a few interesting sightings. A brown snake eagle was perched up on a tree being harrassed by the local starlings.

Impala were common and widespread. A couple of bucks were in full chivalrous combat.

The birdlife here is so diverse making identification problematic. A couple of little bee-eater near a nest site wasn't one that needed too much scrutiny.

Baboon are hilarious. This one had taken far too much mind expanding narcotics. Disturbingly zen.

They can also look quite imperious especially at close quarters.

At last, herds of elephant that were eventually a frequent sighting deep within the park. These were seen between Lower Sabie and the Crocodile Bridge Gate.

This adult female had a young calf in tow.

Random encounters make the drives really exciting. An African fish eagle was perched up by the road.

Blacksmith lapwing are fairly common but a lovely bird nonetheless.

Our first crocodile of the trip. There were at least ten here basking along a waterbody. Truly magnificent creatures.

Another random encounter, a spotted hyena in slumber by the road. This one had a GPS collar so obviously the subject of conservation work for this species within the reserve.