Travel notes, photos, videos, and comments from all over the world. I may earn income from purchases of advertised products or clicking links. Please follow via email. Thanks Geoff Sutton of Sutton Travels blog and YouTube
Kruger Park, South Africa, May 2009 / Geoff Sutton
I visited Kruger Park in South Africa in May 2009. The adventure began early in the morning as I drove a van full of university students to the park. Fortunately, my South African friend, Johan Mostert, took the wheel as we approached the park. This post includes photos and videos of our visit.
Soon after we entered the park, we watched a female lion reject a male's interest. They roared close to the road. We're pretty excited. What majestic animals!
Here's my short video from YouTube.
A large elephant approached our kombi so we zipped out of the way!
Luckily, I got a good shot. I also posted a video on my YouTube channel.
At one point we stopped as zebras meandered across the road in front of us.
Off to the side, a secretary bird took flight.
Watching the giraffes is an awesome experience. It's like being in a nature film.
Following are some additional photos from this amazing park.
Gacelle
Hippopotamus
We spent a night in the park, which I highly recommend.
This Baobab tree symbolizes so much of the cycle of life because they can live for thousands of years.
There's no doubt that the thrill of seeing a tiger in its natural habitat drives people into the tiger preserve at Ranthambore (see tiger photos and video below). But there's more to the park than tigers.
Visitors enter the gates in approved vehicles, which are open air jeeps or trucks. One of 10 routes are assigned to the drivers and guides.
The landscape affords a variety of beautiful views with hills and valleys, ponds and meadows and a great variety of trees and plants.
A zoom lens is a must - it was difficult to see the Mugger (or Indian) Crocodile, Black-headed Ibis, and Indian Darter (or snakebird) with the naked eye.
Deer are ubiquitous. The park is home to both Spotted Deer
and Sambar deer.
Black-faced monkeys are prevalent.
Rufous Treepies are everywhere.
And of course we saw a tiger who wandered about for nearly half and hour on route 5 in the afternoon. Here's a collage and I will insert a video from my YouTube channel.
Tiger Collage. All photos by Geoff Sutton 2017
This tiger video is a bit shakey because I was atop a truck seat (sometimes moving) and using nearly a max zoom.
Tips
Jeeps are better than the large trucks, which can throw you out of the seat when sitting at the back.
Mornings can be cold in January- wear gloves, hats, warm clothes.
Binoculars may be needed to see some animals and zoom lenses for photos and videos.
Duck to avoid getting hit by branches on some routes.
Allergy/coughing alert - dust is everywhere, especially when stirred up by vehicles.
Afternoons are rumoured to be best for seeing tigers.
Bring toilet tissue and wipes. We stopped once for toileting behind bushes.
My trips to Kenya rank high in my list of favorite places to visit. The wilderness landscapes and wildlife were the highlights.
I visited with a friend , Grant Jones, and several university students. We capped off a week of helping children and families with a visit to a wildlife park and animal preserves near Nairobi.
We had not been in the park long before seeing this lion eyeing a giraffe. Even better, I got video of her chasing a giraffe. See video below for those scenes.
It was good to see people invested in the care of animals- for example this refuge for giraffes ( aka Giraffic park).
The care facility for orphaned elephants was a winner with our whole team.
Elephant
These vehicles are relatively inexpensive inclusive of a driver from Nairobi.
I'll add a few photos to wet your appetite for a safari.
Buffalo
Rhinoceros
Impala
On our way back from the park, we saw a sign about a boat ride to view hippopotamuses- so we turned in- an amazing close to the day!
I'll close this off with some notes. But first, here's a link to a YouTube video from the adventure.
A few notes.
We found the people of Kenya very friendly during both visits.
We exchanged U S dollars for Kenyan shillings at a Nairobi bank.
We hired vans and local drivers rather than risk our own driving skills. Besides, we were busy taking in all the scenery.
you can travel light by having clothes washed inexpensively in town.
It can be really hot in the summer months.
We did not have problems but you do need to be careful- there are pick-pockets.
Our return flight was full but we were well taken care of by the Kenyan Airline who put us up at a five star hotel near the airport. A few of our team did get on the scheduled flight-- bumped up to first class.
You'll pass a lookout over the rift valley on the way to the park. The toilet stop is not fancy.
You might work up an appetite - all of us enjoyed The Carnivore.
I recommend the show put on by locals at the park where we spent the night.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.JPG)
