South Africa - Continued (Long Post)

Picking up where I left off, we entered Kruger National Park through the Orpen Gate and headed for the Satara Camp. To see Kruger properly you really need a week at least and it is best to stay in the Park. The camp gates close at 6pm every night (locking you in safe and sound from the wild that surrounds you) and open at 6am in the mornings for those who understand your best opportunity to see wildlife is early in the morning before the heat of the day drives the animals into the shade for the day. We spent 6 nights in Kruger, staying at Satara, Olifants, Skukuza and Lower Sabie. We were blessed with plenty of up close wildlife sightings, seeing all of the Big 5 (Rhino, Water Buffalo, Lion, and Elephant) except the elusive Leopard. We went out every morning in search of the Leopard, but no luck. We also saw many Giraffe, Hippo, Zebra, Wild Dog, Hyena, Eland, Impala, Mongoose, Baboons, Monkeys, Black Back Jackal, Crocodile, Kudu, Bush Pigs, Wildebeest and lots of bird life, including 2 pairs of Ground Hornbill, Vultures and Fish Eagles.

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to see a lion eating its prey (a zebra) and on another day getting stuck between a massive heard of elephants. Also our stay in Skukuza Camp was awesome in that we had a cottage right on the fence and got to sit outside and watch elephants, hippos and hyena just in front of us. My personal new favorite is the Hippo, given the funny sounds they make when grumbling at each other in the water ☺

Next we headed south and into the Drakensberg Mountains. The Drakensberg “dragon mountains” is South Africa’s greatest mountain wilderness. It follows the border of Lesotho for 250 km, and is an escarpment that separates the high interior plateau from the subtropical coast of KwaZulu- Natal. This area is a haven for hikers and that is what we had planned for the next few days. We stayed at a beautiful all-inclusive resort named the Cavern. The resort is situated high in a valley to the North of the Amphitheater and as such was positioned perfectly for day walks into the mountains surrounding us. On our second say we walked up to “Lone Rock” which is the sight of Bushman Paintings some 500 and others 800 years old. Another day we took a short drive to Royal Natal National Park and again walked to the sight of some more Bushman paintings, these dating at over 1000 years old. Are third day and toughest hike was to “Echo Cave”, the walk up was very challenging given the very strong winds and rapid accent, but it was worth it, as the sandstone cave was very impressive and the view from the top incredible. We stayed 4 nights at the Cavern, and really enjoyed it. Specifically the food, which included 5 course meals every night, full breakfasts, and lunches. We have put this one onto our “must return list”.

Now we traveled up and over the mountains and through the Golden Gate Highlands National Park (see earlier post) and many hours later arrived at the Cavers Country Guest House, our pit stop for the night. Cavers, was another beautiful little spot, this one hidden in a valley outside the town of Bedford.

Finally we headed south through Port Elizabeth and down the coast back to George. We have been in George a few days and are now heading down to Cape Town for the week. I will post again on our return to George next weekend.