Kruger park; 2nd game drive

We did another long game drive today from the Phabeni gate to the Orpen dam and then circled around to come out of the Kruger National Park Gate. It took about 7 hours or so and saw some incredible scenery. There are 2 lookout points that you must not miss if you are in the area. The hide at Orpen dam and the Nkumbe lookout, which overlooks miles of plains.

We spotted a huge herd of elephant in the river with babies, maybe 30 in all, splashing and trundling about. We saw most things, but still no predators…. I am not so fussed about lion for some reason, but I would love to see another leopard or a cheetah. I have only seen one leopard in the park in many trips and never a cheetah. There are only +- 200 in the park, which is the size of Wales, (20 000 square km) so I have no reason to be dissapointed.

For my next trip I will buy some good binoculars for the lookout points, because allthough you can spot the animals from a distance, my eyes don’t have a zoom function.

2005 Kruger park census:

Elephant 12500
Giraffe 6700
Impala 101000
Warthog 2280
White Rhino 6950
Leopard 1000
Lion 2000
Wild Dog 350