kruger park

we spent the last few days on a vacation in Kruger national park and in Blyde river canyon. It was fantastic. Our great friends Jolaine Beal and Kevin Bergman are visiting and so the four of us went on the trip together. The only problem we ran into was the air con was causing our car to overheat and thus we had to suffer long drives in the pounding sun.

we did a morning safari walk that was eerie but interesting. it seemed to be a bit of a scat walk, identifying all the the various animal byproducts. we were with an armed ranger and thankfully didn't get into any sticky situations. we did see a herd of elephants and that was exciting. On a morning safari drive we saw a pride of lions which was probably the best siting. It seemed they had been quite active the night before because two of the males had significant limps. Overall we saw many animals including many giraffes, elephants, hyenas, jackals, rhino, hippos, crocodile, kudu, waterbuck, impala, many birds, lizards, insects etc. I think the best part of the trip was an astronomy lesson. we drove to a peak where they set up a telescope, provided drinks and snack then talked astronomy as the sun set and moon rose. we saw the rings on saturn through the telescope then identified many of the constellations including the southern cross.

after that we went to blyde river canyan, third largest canyon in the world. it had stunning views and we are planning to return for a two day hike in the canyon.

it was a lot of driving and heat but a great trip.

ben, sam, luke, joesy and lensy would have loved to see all the animals. miss you all. take care.
dd