Friday, October 18, 2019

Kruger National Park, South Africa October 2019

Kruger National Park, South Africa October 2019 
 We headed out on a wonderful adventure to South Africa in October of 2019. Our 15-16 hour plane ride was quite interesting. South Africa is six hours later than the Eastern Time in the USA. This trip was extra special and will remain in our memories as an incredible holiday. It was wonderful to share with a couple of great friends as well. 
 We flew direct from Atlanta to Johannesburg via Delta Airlines. I am so glad that some folks are able to sleep on planes. I am not one of them. I read several books, worked on word searches and watched movies coming and going. I am not sure that I knew whether I was coming or going for the first day after landing.
Go to the Shutterfly link for to view more images from our holiday adventure to Marievale Bird Sanctuary and Kruger National Park. 
 We spent ten nights and eleven days in Kruger National Park of South Africa. Five nights each were spent at Satara and Olifants Camps. Each cottage had a thatched roof and single beds, but were very comfortable. We had weather that covered hot days, windy days, and cooler days. We even had some rain, but were able to enjoy the adventure.

 We saw a plethora of creatures on our exploration of the bush including raptors, birds, reptiles, 300+ elephants, 70+ lions, 3 leopards, 1,200+ water buffalos, impala, grysbok, springbok, hyena, Kudu, 2 cheetahs (my favorite), and oh so much more! That does not even cover the trees, flora and fauna along the way. It is hard to describe in words what this experience was like. I am hoping the images provide others with the desire to visit or the ability to see some of what we witnessed on this incredible journey. We shot about 7,000 images between us on the trip. A little over 1% will be on this blog. 

Leo Vantage Private Guided Tours
Dave and Ankia Pusey were our guides for the fantastic adventure exploring the Kruger National Park. Both of them proved to be extremely knowledgeable on the animals, flora and fauna of all things Kruger. They both were awesome! We would not hesitate to recommend them for a safari of Kruger. There are simply not enough superlatives to use that would describe how pleased we were with them. They would definitely be our choice if future trips found us returning to Kruger National Park. Our trip would not have been nearly as memorable without them to share the experience with. 

 PenQuin Tours
Francois was our driver and guide to and from Kruger. We also visited Marievale Bird Sanctuary and Bryde River Canyon while enjoying his excellent sense of humor and sharing of information. We would not hesitate recommending his guide services or using him in our own explorations if the future ever brings us back to Africa.

 South African Tourism
The people of South Africa were very friendly. We spoke to folks from all over Africa during our visit.


 Kruger National Park
 
There is something magical about this park. The animals and vegetation are incredible. Much of the geology we saw reminded us of areas in the Southwest United States. We only covered a small portion of this immense park. That does not mean that we only saw a few things though, as I indicated before. I am hopeful that the images fill in for where my words may be lacking.

Wildebeest
 Marievale Bird Sanctuary


 Bryde River Canyon

Starling and Oxpeckers

Secretary Bird
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All photos by T.C. Brown unless indicated. 
Zebra and Jackal
Honey Badgers 

Flying monkeys...
Impala-Impala 
Leopard and Elephant 

Lion and Elephant



Cheetah and Elephant 




Hyena
Warthogs







Water Buffalo
Hyena
Rock Python 
Water Monitor


Bee Eaters
Hippopotamus





Grysbok


Ground Hornbill 

Pigmy Mongoose 



Marievale Bird Sanctuary



Baobab
Bryde River Canyon
Fig Tree roots
 
Elephant Hall - Letaba Camp
 


Thatched Roof

 

 I provided links to several sites on the internet so that you can research for more information if so desired. Thanks for reading and viewing to the end. Feel free to comment and please share this blog with others that you think might be interested.  God bless you and yours.