Lower Sabie

Driving through Kruger is like taking a scenic drive through Zions National Park back home, except that at Zions road-trippers won't see elephants, lions, and rhinos along the way.I drove East from Satara Camp this morning for several miles down S100, a narrow dirt road through the bush that is highly recommended in my guide to Kruger Park. The funny thing about following recommendations from the book or from other visitors to the park is that I rarely see any animals at the specific spots that are recommended, but I always see something worthwhile along the way. Today I was hoping to spot some lions or maybe a leopard at the Gudzani waterhole at the end of S100, but unfortunately the only thing I saw there was an older couple in a beat up RV. The real adventure came on the drive back from the waterhole.I had passed a couple of buffalo grazing in the distance as I was driving to Gudzani, and on the way back an entire herd had joined them and was passing through the middle of the road. Fifteen or twenty buffalo munched on tree branches and grass to the sides of my car, and another buffalo stopped cold in his tracks in the middle of the dirt road and stared for ten minutes at a vehicle stopped across from me. I pulled up to the side of a buffalo that was just a few feet from the edge of the road and looked out at him through the passenger's side window. The buffalo's friends chewed on the African bush nearby as he flapped his ears and swung his head around, trying to shake a stubborn bird perched on the top of his head.I was thinking today about the most legitimate game viewing experiences I've had with Africa's “Big Five”. My most legitimate lion sighting would probably be the time I saw a lioness with four cubs drinking out of a waterhole in the Serengeti. As for elephants, I would have to say that being surrounded by several of them yesterday was pretty legitimate. The buffalo experience I had this morning was easily my closest encounter with that animal, and the closest I ever got to rhinos was when a couple of them trotted past our Land Cruiser in the Ngorongoro crater. Unfortunately I still haven't seen any leopards.

The rhinos at Ngorongoro were great, but I really only saw them from close range for a few seconds as they passed by. I was glad today to see rhinos again from close range, and also to see them for more than enough time to snap just one or two photos. While driving South towards Lower Sabie Camp this morning I saw a few cars stopped at the side of the road ahead of me; always a good sign because cars in Kruger only stop for something that's really worthwhile. About a hundred yards from the side of the road I saw a large grey rhino picking at some grass and wandering around behind some leafy bushes. A couple of cars moved on because the view was obscured a little bit, but I stuck around for a few minutes hoping that the animal would decided to come out for a photo shoot. I got very lucky.Two grey rhinos emerged from the bushes along with one very large brown rhino that I nicknamed “Big John”. The grey rhinos scuffled with each other a little, then lost interest in playing when they caught sight of a tasty green bush in front of them. Big John wandered off, apparently with more important items on his agenda for today, but the other two stuck around for a while. I climbed over to the passenger's seat of the Toyota and snapped picture after picture, but got a little apprehensive as the rhinos moved closer. The two beasts trotted straight towards my car and I was concerned enough that I moved back into the driver's seat to be ready in case I had to suddenly take off. Luckily the animals were only looking for a patch of dirt suitable for a mid-day nap. The two rhinos collapsed onto a dusty spot fifteen or twenty yards from the side of my car and quickly fell asleep. The larger of the two slept soundly while the other one rolled in the dirt and kicked his legs in his sleep.
I had my first real close encounter with warthogs today. Spotting warthogs is usually easy enough, but getting any decent photos can be tricky because the animals are smaller than most of the other wild game. To get any good warthog shots at all I've found I have to be much closer than I usually am to them. While driving to another waterhole today I passed a few groups of impala, zebras, and warthogs. One of those times I looked to the side of my car and an entire family of warthogs was trotting through the dirt just outside my window. Mom and dad were picking leaves off a bush and three or four younger warthogs wandered behind the car and into some tall yellow grasses on the other side of the road. Later today a warthog posed perfectly for me just outside my car, just as the sun was setting and the light was perfect. I couldn't get a better warthog picture if the animal were a stuffed one in a photography studio.On my way back towards Lower Sabie this afternoon several elephants crossed the road just in front of my car. I was lucky enough to be the first car to line up behind them and the view was incredible. A large male crossed first with a couple of younger elephants, then an enthusiastic baby elephant came running across, swinging his trunk like a kid would swing his backpack on the way home from school. As the sun lowered the sky turned orange and cast a bright glow on the elephants.If the sky is clear in Africa then the sunset will always be amazing. After a quick drive down one more dirt road to wrap up the day, I stopped on the paved H1-4 back to Lower Sabie and took a few minutes to enjoy watching the sun go down behind a scraggly acacia tree. The tree was split in the middle, leaving a spot where the branches all grew away from each other, and the sun came down at a perfect angle to sit right in the opening between the two sides of the tree. Maroon 5 played quietly on the radio as I snapped pictures. The color of the sky changed slowly. Bright yellow turned to a deep orange, then to purple, then to light blue as the day turned to dusk.