The splendour of
John A Grant
MAGNIFICENT: Kruger National Park is one of Africa’s largest game reserves. Its high density of wild animals includes the Big 5: lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and buffalos. Hundreds of other mammals make their home here, as do diverse bird species such as vultures, eagles and storks. Mountains, bush plains and tropical forests are all part of the landscape.
NOW you see it, now you don’t, and that’s how Jackie and I see our trips into the Kruger National Park, because we had just taken a picture of a baby bird crossing the road when a minibus pulled up to see what we were taking pictures of... and it was gone, into the veld and although we could still see it just, they had no chance to get even the slightest glimpse of it.
Game viewing eyes are what we all want, picking up a small movement in the open veld which catches your eye is hard, it’s great to see one of the large animals which no one can miss, but it’s the smaller ones that can frustrate the bejeebers out of you.
On the other hand, we saw a small group of female water bucks lying down in the tall grass to enjoy a lazy afternoon sun, and the slight breeze blows their winter coats. The rays twinkle off them making them almost blend into the veld colours, so that from a distance one can hardly see them in the tall grasslands.
As we proceeded with our drive we were lucky enough to encounter a pack of wild dogs, 10 pups and 7 females, all playing next to their den at the road’s edge.
No, we didn’t see them first but we drove down slowly and parked next to other vehicles and started taking our pics. Oh the joy of watching them falling and tumbling over each other having fun!
My brother-in-law, Kevin, was busy filming them when another car pulls in right in front of us blocking any chance of any more shots. Yes, we were angry, but we have been around the park several times now and one gets used to the selfish attitude of some individuals, with an ND registration, (just saying).
We moved off to the side of the other parked cars and by chance we got an even better shot of the mother and one cub playing, so there Mr ND reg.
We had more than our fair share of elephants and buffalo this time out and passing one of the waterholes we took a picture postcard shot with several animals in it. Now, we all know elephants push trees over, but its the first time in my visits to the Kruger that I have actually seen it happen in front of me.
As we stopped off at one of the dams and were watching the young “ellies” playing in the water while the older ones hung around the outskirts, I noticed this big boy tugging at a branch on a tree with his trunk and shaking it quite hard. I thought he was trying to get some fruit to fall to the ground, but no, he backs off a little then steps in close to the tree and just shoves and shoves until the whole tree falls down. Wow!
Then he and a few of the others start eating the top branches by the mouthful. And just like that, the tree disappeared, like magic.
We saw another herd cross the road from a dry riverbed to the other side, but there was one taking his time, so I pulled up right in front of his path while he was munching away on a mouthful of grass and we took a few pics, but then he decided to cross over, one, two and three steps and he’s on top of us and the ladies are screaming at me, “GO, GO, GOOO” which we did and at speed. Our elephant friend wasn’t fazed by any of it and carried on over the road and down the embankment to join the rest of the herd.
The adrenaline still pumping in our hearts, Jackie, smacked my arm, and reminded me how we had been talking about how dangerous the elephants can be and here I was flirting with our lives. I must admit, he did close the gap a lot faster than I had thought, but we weren’t in any real danger, I think, my trusty steed carried us off in plenty of time.
Another weekend come and gone, so it’s back to the grind until our next trip, which can’t come soon enough for me. Once the Kruger has bitten you, you can’t get enough, till next time folks …