Kruger National Park, South Africa, October 2000

This is Benjamin's version of our trip to Kruger National Park, South Africa, October 2000 - an adventure taken by the Spencer family. It's all about our trip to South Africa and all the animals we saw. The best one was the lion on the edge of the river. I liked it when we saw the the cheetah. I recomend Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Scroll down to see Images from Kruger National Park later in this webpage.

The best vehicle to use for the park is one with lots of good sized windows and one that is comfortable for the long times you spend in the seats.

For families, singles, bird watchers, and animal lovers. There was lion, cheetah, jackal, wild dog, rhino, hippo, elephant, giraffe, roller, zebra, hog, impala, crocidile, wildebeest, water buffalo, klipspringer, kudu, bushbuck, nyala, waterbuck, tsebbe,. One thing good about it is the interesting animals.

Kruger National Park Info

When we got to Kruger National Park, we bought a Kruger National Park Visitors Map, and this shows all the regions and habiats of the park, with what sort of animals are there. We entered by the Numbi gate, on the west side of the park. It cost us around ZAR140.00, which saw us in the park for 4 days. Within minutes, we saw zebra and impala, and very soon after that, we saw warthogs and a baby rhino.

There is about 18 camps in the park - and we stayed at these camps: Skukuza, Letaba and Berg-en-dal. We visited a few others. The best time at the camps was in the morning, visiting the pin-board to pin up our own sightings and to see what had been spotted in the area.

Because we were a family, we rented a cottage in each of these places, 6 beds, a kitchen and bathroom. Nearby there was usually a resturant, shops and a laundry. We would like to have spent more time in Lower Sabie - maybe next time.

This park is really big... the say as big as Wales in the UK and is around 20,000 square kilometres. It was the President Paul Kruger who in 1884 said that we need to preserve the wildlife in their natural habitat because there wasn't much of it left. It was a good idea because now people like us (you and I) can get to see it over one hundred years later.

Malaria

For Malaria, we all took a Malaria Protection Pack, which has 1 Paludrine (Zeneca) tablet per day, and 1 Daramal (GlaxoWellcome) per day. The pharmacist said we needed to take it for 2 weeks before and 6 after, but our nursing friends said 2 weeks after would be Ok. This is what we did and we didn't die.

Images from Kruger National Park, South Africa

 For an enlarged view - left-click and a new page will appear, or right-click on the picture and select Zoom-In. All pictures were taken by the Spencer family unless otherwise noted. Many low-res shots were done on a Canon video camera and captured on an ATI all-in-Wonder video board unless specified in the caption/alt text.

Click to see the whole picture with the Sabie River in the background.
3.This is the lion on the edge of the river late in the afternoon near Lower Sabie. © Mark Spencer, (my dad) using a Nikon F80, 500mm Tamron, 1/350, at f/8
 		Click for a larger image
1. This is the roller which Daniel found. © Mark Spencer, (my dad) using a Nikon F80, 500mm Tamron, 1/350, at f/8
Click for a larger version
2. Hippos, the big lumps of fat.
Hippos are amazing. We love the look of the ripples on the water in this river.
Click the picture to see a larger image.
© Mark Spencer, (my dad) using a Nikon F80, 500mm Tamron, 1/500, at f/8
Caught on video
Taking the picture above.		 Caught on video
4. Another hippo, they're so grumpy. They stay in the water all day,
and then leave just after sunset to go an graze in the evening,
then they sleep somewhere for the night and
finally go back to the water at sunrise for the whole day.
...
10. Chamellion in Skukuza's picnic area. © Mark Spencer, (my dad) using a Nikon F80, 28-200mm Tamron, 1/250, at f/5.6
Caught on video
5. WOW A JACKAL! A Black Backed Jackall that I found under a tree. Their prey is mostly doves.
I was waiting a long time in the trip to see the various dogs. We didn't get any other dogs on film.		 Caught on video
6. Look at it's big horn, these rhinos scare me.
Click to see him when we drove closer...
7. An elephant crossing in the middle of nowhere. Click the picture to see him up closer.
 ...
8. These Ostriches weren't supposed to be there - they weren't in the book, but they can't read so it's Ok.
...
11. Giraffe in the midday sun, south of Olifants. © Mark Spencer, (my dad) using a Nikon F80, 500mm Tamron, 1/500, at f/8
Click for a larger image
7. Another giraffe walking away.
 Caught on video
9. This is a female Kudu. The males have really curly horns. ...
...
20. Zebras, early morning, north of Satara. © Mark Spencer, (my dad) using a Nikon F80, 500mm Tamron, 1/350, at f/8
Caught on video
11. Ooh! A lioness enters the path!		 Caught on video
12. She is looking in the grass
Caught on video
13. She hears something...		 ...
14. She is getting close to our car. Check the windows!
Caught on video through the back window unfortunately.
15. She's spotted a bambi (impala) and she's about to chase it.		 Caught on video - it all happens so fast!
16. Oh, darn - it got away.
...
17. The lioness finally goes back and rests in the grass - for the next victum. © Mark Spencer, (my dad) using a Nikon F80, 28-200mm Tamron, 1/350, at f/5.6
Caught on video from the viewing area in Olifants camp.
18. The view at Olifants - want to go swim with the hippos?		 Caught on video. Click to see fire near the road.
19. This is one of the types of dirt roads that you see in Kruger. On the dirt roads, we saw more animals.

Go to Lindsay's Medain Saleh trip - see the ancient civilization of the Nabateans, follow where Lawrence of Arabia destroyed the Turk's railway Go to Ben's Wadi Al Lith trip - rock walled villages, forts, streams, camels, 4x4 Ben's Kruger National Park trip from South Africa Pakistan trip, 120k north of Islamabad to 300k south of Islamabad, 250k east of Kabul, wedding in Mian Wali and Sarghoda, the global village?
Lindsay's
Medain Saleh
trip		 Ben's
Wadi Al Lith
Baha-Taif trip		 Ben's
Kruger National Park
South Africa trip		 Come to
my wedding
in Pakistan

Last edited by webmaster: 02 Sep 1999 15:38:20 Russian Daylight Time
Last modified: 02 Sep 1999 15:38:20 Russian Daylight Time
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