Skukuza

The drive down from Mopani to Skukuza was one of the highlights of the trip. We had an absolutely amazing leopard sighting (see post with all the pics). After that we spotted ANOTHER leopard (well actually another car did... they had a passenger with AMAZING eyesight!) on the bank of a river. Then, when we were about 15 mins away from Skukuza we saw the most amazing thing I've ever seen possibly IN MY LIFE.... an entire litter of lion cubs feasting on a buffalo, with their mom sleeping on the side. It was magical.... but they are very strict with the gate times and we had to be in 18:00!!! I could have watched them for hours but we only had about 10 mins :-( I will never forget it though. I HAVE to post some of those pics again... the ultimate cat-lady experience! The quality of the pics aren't all great, because the sun was setting and still getting used to new camera, and lots of grass in the way, but you get the just of it.

When we arrived there we just unpacked and went to the restaurant to bask in the glory of what we just saw, Our accommodation was MASSIVE,,, It was the only option with more than one bathroom, so we couldn't really go smaller! there were like 5 bedrooms, right on the river! Was amazing although we felt a little less cozy than Mopani. The weather was also rather chilly for September and we didn't pack enough warm clothes.

We did a sunset drive and a sunrise drive, but we forfeited the night drive on the last night, as we were just too cold and tired.So we stayed inside and had some gin and tonics rather! And went to bed early! In hindsight we should have gone on our own 06:00 morning drives, it seems like you see the most cats at that time and sunset.After 3 nights there we headed back to Joburg,,,

Mopani

On Wednesday the 7th of September Anna and Casey made their long-awaited arrival! We picked them up at the airport very early, and after letting them settle in a bit took them for brunch at Croft and Co in Parkview. We also did a quick pop in at Art Africa, who has the best African artwork and crafts according to me. Then it was time to do some grocery shopping for our trip, and take the kitties to the cattery :-( We also went to swap cars with my dad, as his car has more space and my O2 concentrator fits in way better. So Anna and Casey got to meet my parents briefly as well. Busy day!!!

On Thursday we departed for Kruger Park... Mopani Camp. We spent 3 nights here. It was really awesome accommodation... Right on the dam with a cozy deck. We saw a lot of animals while just sitting on the deck and watching the opposite side of the dam. We did a sunset drive and a night drive... but to be honest we saw more animals when driving ourselves around. It was also extremely cold on both drives! Mopani is elephant country and we saw LOADS of adorable ellies.... We barely had to leave the camp and we saw a whole heard crossing the road... including the cutest babies!

The camp is named after the Mopani tree... which has leaves shaped like lungs!!! Very appropriate for us. The Impala Lilies were also in bloom, adding the most amazing pink colour to otherwise dry landscape (the drought at the moment is really bad!). Really hope they have good rains soon :-(

We also drove to the Tropic of Capricorn. I was there in 2002 when I went to Kruger with my parents as well. The other awesome thing about Kruger is that the altitude is way lower than Joburg, so I managed without O2 for small periods of time. It's about 300-400m above sea level vs Jozi's 1700m. Was a nice break for my nose. That's all I can think about right now regarding this leg of the trip.... Check out all the animal pics I posted in the previous blog post.

Some Kruger Park Pics