Secondly, we learned an astounding variety of fun facts on our safari through Kruger. I would like to share my favorites with you:
1) Kruger National Park, at more than 19,000 square kilometers, is bigger than Israel.
2) There are only 120 cheetahs in the entire park (as compared with 1,200 lions) - and we saw two of them.
3) Termites regulate their hills to an exact temperature by opening and closing ventilation holes throughout the mound. Termites are apparently also delicious.
4) Giraffes can run 35MPH.
5) Female elephants go #1 and #2 at the same time. This is useful to know if you find yourself tracking elephants, as you'll be able to tell whether a lady has passed by judging by the pile of crap (literally).
6) The "Big Five" (lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino, elephant) are so named because they were once the most dangerous animals to hunt.
7) There is also an "Ugly Five": hyena, Maribou stork, croc, vulture, and warthog.
8) You can tell how old a male kudu (antelope) is by the number of turns in his horns - each spiral takes five years to fully grow out.
9) Female hyenas have false penises that double as their birth canal. Gross.
10) Erin's high school biology teacher is a genius. In addition to purposefully making her high school crush her year-long lab partner, he taught her this nifty device to remember how to classify animals: Kings Play Chess On Fine Grain Sand. Kingdom-Phylum-Class-Order-Family-Genus-Species. You're welcome, trivia buffs.
Overall, I'd say our four days on safari were a resounding success. With the exclusion of a little Africa confusion (our booking agent, The Safari Partners, sold us a six-day safari yet our safari company, Outlook Safaris, took us on a four-day...oh well...This Is Africa), we made it to Skukuza Camp with no major issues. Skukuza, our home base for the week, is a tourist camp (complete with restaurant, gift shop and movie screen!) nestled within Kruger and located five hours by car from Johannesburg. The camp is surrounded by Jurassic Park-style electric fences, which makes you feel pretty safe (generally). This brings me to a little photo series I like to call "Dangerous Wild Animals Very Close To Our Car":
Our team from Outlook was totally rad. Kylie, our driver / tracker, is an ebullient and hysterical 23-year-old who "has been going to parks since she was small" and pretty much knows everything about everything. Our cook, Francois, made us delicious breakfasts each morning and delectable dinners each night, and, despite having seen a few animals in his 24 years, was pretty firm with us that he's a "city boy" and "doesn't do well in the bush." The schedule each day was as follows:
5AM: wake up. This part stunk.
6-10AM. morning game drive. Seeing the animals wake up was sooo cute.
11-2PM: naptime!
3-6PM: afternoon game drive. This is when the lions came out to play.
6-7:30PM: cocktail hour!
7:30PM: delectable dinner cooked by Francois. Selections included traditional South African food like bobotie (sort of like an exceptionally delicious sloppy joe with an egg on top) and braai (BBQ).
Safari summary: we saw the Big Five, drank a lot of wine, and had some great inappropriate conversations. The whole crew there with us three girls included a middle-aged German businessman named Roman who extended a work trip to see some animals, two 26-year old Swiss girls, four older Malaysian ladies from Penang, and one Israeli woman with a very picky appetite. We'd split up into two cars each day and go on girl-power safaris. Roman was endearing as the only male guest on the trip until he told Ali that "childbirth is painful for men". I thought she was going to eat him. The weather stayed pretty good for us the whole time we were there, and aside from the cool morning temps, we were graced with sunny, warm days (and the amazing sunrises / sunsets of big sky Africa). Luckily, to deal with the early morming chill, Outlook generously outfitted us with these Fashion Ponchos (note Erin is stuck in hers):
Amazing Africa sunrise:
Amazing Africa sunset:
While I haven't yet invested in a telephoto lens for my Canon Rebel (Mom, Dad, I'm not sure if you're aware, but Christmas is December 25th), I managed to get some pretty good shots. It helped that the animals came RIGHT NEXT TO THE CAR. Here are a few of my favorites:
While we were sad to leave Kylie, Francois and the lions, we were excited to get back to Jo'burg to start the next leg of our trip: TURKEY! Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned Africa confusion, we had two extra days to kill in one of Africa's most dangerous cities so we spent them playing with kitties (yes, Abby, Michelle & Brooke - I went back to the Lion Park)...
...doing wine tastings...
...and taking ourselves out to fancy dinners in Melrose Arch:
All in all, this trip to Africa has been incredible. As always, it's hard to leave a place you love, but I know Istanbul, Cappadocia, Bodrum, Ephesus, Selcuk and Guzelcamli have a lot in store for me. Looking forward to meeting up with David and the ladies (is that a Richard Gere movie, or am I going crazy?) tomorrow and exploring a new country. Despite being sick of every single article of clothing in my backpack, and missing all of you back at home, I'm still loving the traveling life.
Thanks to Erin and Ali for being awesome safari buddies, Kylie for answering all of my dumb questions (rhinos are herbivores, FYI), Francois for making one of the most delicious cheesecakes I have ever tasted (seriously...recipe is below...make it now), and Roman for his wonderfully entertaining Thai ladyboy story.
If you're interested in reading more, and want to check out a travel blog that's as awesome and hilarious as mine (at least that's what my mom says), check out Ali's blog at www.offshegoes.com. She's awesome. And hilarious. Just don't stop reading my blog, Mom. On to the next...
PS As promised, here is Outlook Lodge's AMAZING, and easy, cheesecake recipe (doesn't Jeanine have adorable handwriting?):
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad from some awesome, fabulous, amazing, dangerous international location
It's still the best blog around, hands down!,,,,
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