Safari at Kruger - Day 1

March 8, 2023

Zebras were the first animal we saw after passing though the Crocodile Gate entrance to Kruger. Every zebra has a slightly different pattern of stripes. These stripes protect them from biting flies which have difficulty landing on striped surfaces. They appear to not know where to land so they don't slow down and instead bounce off the zebra's hide.

The landscape of the park was stunning even when no animals were present.

Impalas were by far the most common animal we saw. "Impala" is the Zulu word for antelope. In the first herd we saw, there was a nursing calf. Most calves are born mid-day when they are safest from snoozing predators. Still, about half of all baby impalas are killed in the first week of their lives.

An elephant browsing from a tree in the distance was the first of the "Big 5" that we saw. Later we were confronted on the road by a bull (male) elephant. We carefully backed up as the males were in "musk" which makes them more aggressive. Musk is the term for when males are looking for females to mate with and they produce a potent odor from a gland behind their eyes.

The warthog was a favorite of one of the ladies in our group. The first we saw was caked with mud. They wallow in the mud to keep them cool because they don't have sweat glands. The warthog was named for the masses of bone and cartilage on its face that resemble warts. You can use them to tell if a warthog is male or female as males have 2 pairs of "warts", one pair below the eyes and a second pair above the mouth and females only one below the eyes. Can you tell whether the first warthog is male or female?

A pair of blacksmith lapwing were hanging out by the waterhole. They are monogamous birds which means that once they find a mate, they stay together for the rest of their lives.

After this amazing entrance, we arrived at Shishengani Lodge. We had a welcome drink aI nd checked into our cabins. They were beautiful with an outdoor shadow and a private porch with a view into the park. I went out to listen to birdsong and watch the butterflies.

Before long, it was time to go on our first game drive. As we climbed up into the safari vehicle, we saw vervet monkeys and a bushbuck.

Once in the reserve, the first animal to greet us was a warthog. Both male and female warthogs have tusks. The warthog mainly uses its tusks to defend itself. However, they also come in handy when digging up bulbs, roots, and insects from the ground.

Soon after, we spotted a pair of giraffe browsing in the trees. All giraffes have ossicones on top of their heads. The males use theirs for fighting each other for territory or females, so their ossicones are thicker and balding on top. Since females don't spar with other giraffes, their ossicones are thinner and keep all of their hair on top. Look closely. Can you tell the difference?

Do you see the little birds on the neck of the male giraffe? They are yellow-billed oxpeckers. They help the giraffe and other animals by eating insects like ticks that plague them. So the oxpeckers get a ready meal and the giraffes get healthier skin.

We kept a sharp lookout for birds as well on our safari. This is a Levaillant's cuckoo. Like other cuckoos, it will lay its eggs in other bird's nests instead of raising the babies itself. The male cuckoo distracts the prospective adoptive parents while the female sneaks into their nest and lays her egg. Sometimes she will puncture the other eggs so they don't hatch. However, if she leaves the other eggs alone, the baby Levaillant cuckoo will peacefully nest with them instead of pushing them out of the nest as other cuckoo chicks often do.

We also saw the Cape starling with its shiny blue feathers. The starling is sometimes a foster parent to the chicks of the greater honeyguide, a bird who is a "brood parasite" like the cuckoo.

A herd of female and young impala crossed the road in front of us. I loved seeing their leaping run. When they are threatened by a predator, they will "pronk" (leap upward) to confuse them. If the big cat persists in stalking them, they will scatter kicking their heels up to release a scent from the glands above the ankles of their hind legs. This scent allows them to find their herd again when the danger is over.

A black wildebeest was grazing near the road. It turned to watch us as we passed by. Wildebeest are the stars of the Great Migration around Masai Mara and the Serengeti.

This Southern white-crowned shrike appeared to be alone, but they are typically social birds. They even nest together, taking turns taking care of the eggs.

Another shrike, the red-backed shrike, likes to hunt in thorny trees where it can impale insects and other small creatures on its thorns to keep for a snack.

Also in a thorn tree were some weaver bird nests, although I wasn't able to spot the weavers themselves.

An elephant paused beside the yellow fever tree (a kind of acacia tree) in the distance. The fever trees got their name because they often grow in swampy areas that attract mosquitoes which can carry malaria. Kruger National Park is a malaria-risk area, so we made sure to bring malaria pills to prevent catching it. Luckily there had not been a recent rain and there were no mosquitoes in sight.

A woodland kingfisher flew up to a tree as we approached. Although kingfishers are often associated with water, the woodland kingfisher prefers drier environmets with acacia trees and can often be found away from the water.

A male impala took a moment to watch us pass by. Males, or rams, have distinctive curved horns that continue to grow throughout their lives. This one is still young as its horns are not very large. (Compare its horns to those of the ram in the background under the tree from the drive into Kruger.)

Next, we drove to the Crocodile River where we watched hippos, crocodiles, and Egyptian geese as well as elephants in the distance.

The hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal on Earth. All three large land animals live in Africa. The largest is the elephant, the second-largest is the white rhinoceros. Surprisingly, the hippo is not included in the "Big 5", although both the elephant and rhinoceros are.

The Nile crocodile can be hard to spot both on the bank and in the water. Unwary animals like impala often become its dinner which can infuriate the hippos. Hippos have even been known to rescue other animals from crocodiles.

Egyptian geese are very territorial. They chase away other water birds and will even try to intimidate larger mammals that invade their space. As a result, there were no other water birds close by on the river bank.

The herd of elephants were hard to spot across on the other bank. The zoom lens on my camera helped out though!

As we drove away from the river, we spied some white-backed vultures in a tree. White-backed vultures are the most common vulture in southern Africa. They are scavengers and on the lookout for fresh kills. The name "white-backed" refers to the white tail feathers that can be seen when they fly.

Although I hadn't seen them at the time, there were two birds in a thorn tree that were also captured in the picture of the vultures. The first was a weaver bird (remember the nests earlier).

The second was a sparrow of some sort, possibly a cape sparrow, but its markings were too hard to see.

Soon a maribou stork flew into another tree. They are scavengers like the vultures and known as 1 of the "Ugly Five", along with the vulture, warthog, wildebeest and hyena. The hyena was the only one we didn't see - although the other car saw one on the second day.

We continued driving along and right by the side of the road was a male lion! We had now seen our second "Big 5" species. There were some giraffe behind some trees keeping a careful watch on the lion. We disturbed its rest so it wandered away to a new resting place, but we followed it awhile hoping it would meet up with lionesses.

As we followed the lion, we spotted several more vultures and maribou storks. There were so many gathered together that our guide was hopeful there was a kill nearby. We searched and searched, but didn't have any luck.

There were both hooded vultures and white-backed vultures intermingled in the trees. The white-backed vultures had brown heads with feathers while the hooded vultures had paler bare faces (no feathers on the face). They also tend to be smaller than the white-backed vultures.

A martial eagle, South Africa's largest eagle, flew by as well. It was huge with a with a wide wingspan and long legs, but the spots on its belly couldn't be seen well. Earlier we had seen a fish eagle while on the Crocodile River, but it was so far in the distance that even zoomed in, it was just a blurry white spot on the tree.

Although we eventually gave up following the lion and searching for a carcass, we did get lucky and find two lionesses on our way back to the Crocodile River for our Sundowner. The one we first spotted did get up and seemed to want to join the one in the fallen tree, but she snarled at her and she found a different resting spot.

The sun was setting as we returned to the Crocodile River. We were able to get out of the safari truck and stretch our legs as we watched the hippos and crocodiles in the river below. (Don't worry, we were at a very safe distance away!) We had drinks and snacks. I had ginger ale, spiced nuts, dried fruit and little sausages.

There was a water thick-knee resting on the rocks the crocodile. Thick-knees and crocodiles get along well as they have a symbiotic relationship. (They help each other.) They build their nests near each other. Then, when the crocodile is out in the water, the thick-knee guards the nest. It calls out if an enemy like the monitor lizard approaches. The crocodile rushes back to save the eggs, both its own and the thick-knees!

The hippos were very active, perhaps getting ready to leave the water and begin their night browsing on land.

The sun was down when we left, so the guide did some spotlighting to find animals in the darkness. We saw elephants and a scrub hare. It was too dark for the camera to focus on the elephants, but I got the scrub hare as it dashed away.

Then, when we were almost back to the lodge we got lucky and saw the third of the Big 5, a leopard!

After this exciting end to the day, we headed back. We were welcomed with a refreshing drink and cold towels and then sat down for a delicious dinner. After dinner, we headed straight to bed so we would be well-rested for our 6:00 a.m. morning game drive.