We arrived at Kruger National Park on the 14th. We were supposed to go on a safari that first night but due to traveling delays, we missed our scheduled safari. So we all got our suitcases and went straight to bed because we knew we would have an early morning safari for the next day.
At 3:30 am we all rolled out of bed and met for the zombie-walk to safari vehicles. They were big vans that seated about 25 people with open air windows. We piled in two separate vans and met our drivers. I was unsure about what to expect because I didn’t know how many animals we would see or how close we would be able to get to them. We drove out of our campsite base in the pitch black. The driver turned on two spotlights on each side of the van and handed two hand- held spotlights for people in the van to use.
We all scanned the brush for animals but it was hard to see in the dark. The first animal which we saw was a leopard which darted across the road. The leopard is one of the Big Five animals and is incredibly rare to see because it tends to hide in the trees. We continued to drive and it became much easier to see animals as the sun came up. We saw giraffes and zebras in the field. The giraffes were laying down which is very rare to see. They tend to hang their head on branches while they sleep so that they blood continues to flow to their heads. The zebras and then giraffes are often seen together because they help each other see; the giraffes can see far and the zebras can see closer to the ground. We saw tons of antelope with lots of babies. It is their wet, summer season so many of the animals are having their babies. We as saw Kudo (an antelope like animal) and the great horn bird which is apparently the largest and most endangered bird in the park. As we finished our tour we saw about twenty moneys hanging out on the road and in the trees.
In addition to the leopard, we saw only saw one of the big five animals on our first safari, lions. We briefly saw two lionesses on the side on the road. However on our second safari, we saw two more of the animals. The second safari was at night and started at 5 pm. We piled back in the vans with our tour guides and set out to see more of the big five which includes elephants, water buffalo, and rhinos.
One of the first animals we saw was a wildebeest. Apparently wildebeest always shake their head rub them on the ground because they are born with worms in their head. A little further down the road we saw some road kill. Our tour guide stopped and thought that it might be a fresh kill. As we continued on we saw hyenas which were the culprits of the road kill. They were very skittish and moving sluggishly. Hyenas scavenge for 50% of their food and then hunt for the other 50%. Our tour guided heard from another vehicle that there were elephants down the road. He saw elephant tracks on the road and it led us to a huge male elephant standing in the middle of the road . Our guide pulled up our van as close as possible to the elephant which smelled very foul; apparently elephants continuously pee in order to mark their territory. We were about 3 to 5 meters away and the elephant thought we got a little too close and acted like it was going to charge us. Our guide backed up the van and revved the engine to get the elephant to back down. The massive elephant wanted nothing to do with us and is a very territorial so it is no surprise that we had this encounter. The elephant continued to eat grass and headed to the watering hole to cool off. We also saw lots of rhinos off in the brush hiding from the hot sun. They were mainly females and baby rhinos. Our tour guide explained that the dominant male is contiously walking around the perimeter of their area protecting the herd. Sure enough, we saw the male rhino off in the distance. As the sun went down we didn’t see many animals and concluded our tour a little early.
The safari was much different than a lot of us thought it would be. First off, it was a lot harder to see animals. There were a lot more trees and bushes than the flat, dry savannah. We couldn’t really see the lions because they were hidden in addition to some of the other animals. I was also surprised to hear our tour guides say the time of day you go out doesn’t really have an impact on how many animals you will see. I had always thought that around dawn and dusk they would be a better chance. I also thought that the safari would be off paths in the grassy areas. However, for most of the time we were on paved roads and only went on dirt roads for a portion of the safari. This didn’t really seem to affect the animals though because they were completely used to the road. Many of the animals which we saw were actually on the road. The animals seemed to have adjusted to having the roads in place and having the vans come through the area.
Kruger Park covers a huge portion of land in South Africa and is a well known tourist attraction. In class we have discussed how tourism is one of South Africa’s main income sources. I cannot help but wonder how this tourism is affecting the natural environment of these animals. The South African environment is generally well persevered and has national parks everywhere. They work hard to keep these areas clean and flourishing because it does attract tourists. But then, in turn, how do the tourists affect the environment? Clearly there are vehicles, paved roads, fences, people, and electricity where there used to be nothing. While visiting Kruger it was interesting to see how the camp area where people stayed was gated from the park area to keep the two worlds as separate as possible. I think it is important for people to see these beautiful places and amazing animals but always keep in mind that this area needs to be preserved and left just like it was for these animals. Keeping these parks in good condition is essential to the animals and the tourism