August 16-20: Thornhill Lodge and Kruger Park Safari

After an unnecessarily long drive from Johannesburg, we finally arrived in the Kruger National Park area. Because we were already running late, the staff threw us directly onto an open-air vehicle without even checking in to our rooms first, so we could make our first evening’s game drive in the private reserve. Jeff and I were very excited because we had not had many chances to see animals until this point, and from the description of the tour when we bought it, we were able to off-road in the private reserve. And I must say, we were in no way disappointed with the animal sightings! Within 10 minutes of driving around the reserve, we saw 3 white rhinos! There was a male, and then two sisters. One of the sisters was only about 10 months old. They were casually grazing and didn’t even care that we were within 10 feet of them! They are absolutely massive creatures and look like they could crunch a small car like a tin can. We continued on and saw several giraffes, some elephants, many impala and kudu, and some wildebeest. We also saw about 6 buffalo hanging out grazing. We got extremely close to these guys…about 6 feet maybe. We later learned that buffalo are considered the most dangerous of all of the Big 5 because, not only will they try to attack you for crossing their territory or if they feel threatened, but they will more or less hunt you down. One guide told us that if you were lucky enough to outrun a buffalo (nearly impossible) and climb up in a tree, the buffalo might wait around for you for 10 hours. Anyways, we also came across three female lions! It looked as if they were waking up from their day-long nap to get ready to hunt, but turns out they just groomed themselves and then went back to sleep again. Oh well. But we had an even more incredible sighting that day. Our guide got a radio message and told us that there was a very special sight he was taking us to. We sped through the trees (very thorny, as the reserve’s name suggests) and found a mother leopard in the open, with her baby eating a springbok under a tree! Leopards are supposed to be very, very difficult to spot and many people who go on safari never see one, but we got to see TWO! And one was a BABY! And it was EATING! So cool! The cats were so beautiful. We spent a good amount of time watching them, but eventually decided to leave them in peace, and headed back to our lodge.













Our room was amazing, and was exponentially more amazing to Jeff and I after camping in a cold tent for 12 nights. So comfortable, so clean, so warm!! Furthermore, the dinners at our lodge were insanely delicious. We had three course meals each night in the “boma,” which I think is a general term for an outdoor dining area around a big campfire. So, yes: Thornhill Safari Lodge, highly recommended.

The next morning we woke up early to head out to Kruger National Park. The drive took a bit longer than expected because there was a hippo running down the road in front of us for about 2 miles! But once we arrived, we very quickly came across another leopard! So lucky! It was just alongside the road, and so well-camouflaged that hardly anyone could see it for a moment. Then, it seemed that in the same second we all could see the leopard, and we all let out and “Oh!” which apparently scared the cat. It gave a bit of a scream and ran away. But the sighting was great while it lasted! Other highlights of our day in Kruger include hundreds of buffalo crossing the road in front of our vehicle, a huge pack of elephants doing the same thing, and two elephants rough housing in a deep watering hole. We have videos of each, so check them out! We also had another experience with lions, although it was much less cool than the previous day. This time, the lions were very far away, because at Kruger, you must stay on the roads. But there was a pack of about 11 lions, which included one male and about 4 cubs. They were all just snoozing in the sun, only getting up and moving when they wanted to lay in the shade. We learned that lions sleep for about 20 hours each day, which helps them to save energy for when they hunt, to help them digest, and also because there just isn’t much else for them to do. It was great to see so many lions all together, but it was a shame that they were so far away.


Elephants playing in the dam


Mother and baby elephant. Our guide said the baby was probably 1 month old






Pissed off buffalo

The following day was pretty much a waste. We went on a scenic drive of a few sites in the area, but we found out that we had to see them one more time on our drive back to Johannesburg if other people in the minibus had not seen them yet (which of course they hadn’t). We saw the Blyde’s River Canyon, which was beautiful; the “potholes,” which are curious holes in the rocks of a riverbed, formed by sand caught in whirlpools; and God’s Window, which is a great vista point of a forest. All the sites were nice, but the only one worth driving out to was the canyon.


The potholes


God's Window


Blyde River Canyon and the 3 Rondavels


Blyde River Canyon

Our last day at Thornhill, we went to Moholoholo Rehabilitation Center. They had lots of animals who had been caught in poacher’s or farmer’s traps, were orphaned, were rejected from their social group and had nowhere to live, or were born in the center. The guide told us each animal’s story, and some were hilarious, like the honey badger’s. This badger had escaped his enclosure and tried to attack the male lion at the center three times! Jeff and I got to feed vultures, pet a cheetah (!), and pet a three month old black rhino (it felt like petting a sidewalk!). The center also had a male and female lion, several hyenas, lots of wild dogs (so cool), a couple leopards, a few cheetahs (including BABIES!), and tons of birds. It was a very fun place to visit and we had a great time there.

These are pictures from the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Center










We skipped our early morning bush walk the next day so we could sleep in, and also because we were already so content with the animals we had seen, that it would be difficult to top it. We had a yummy breakfast and then set out back to Johannesburg to stay for the night until we flew to Cape Town.

Here are some videos from Kruger Park...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpICelDZz60

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YXh40UED1I