In any case, that's how Shanley and I spent our last days in South Africa... problem-free on safari. From Jo'Burg we flew into Hoedspruit, which boarders Kruger National Park. We booked the safari with a group called Africa on Foot, which interested us because it offered bush walks as well as game drives. Our four day experience was incredible: the serenity of the bush, awe-inspiring animals, African sunsets, and clear night skies exposing a galaxy of stars (and the Milky Way)!
Our daily schedule was something like this:
05h30 - wake up
06h00 - coffee/tea and rusks (biscuts)
06h30 - bush walk for 2 to 3 hours
10h00 - breakfast
LEISURE TIME
14h30 - lunch
15h00 - game drive for 3+ hours
19h00 - dinner
CAMPFIRE
22h00 - lights out (literally... the camp utilized a generator for only a couple hours each evening).
The bush walks were guided by Rangers from our camp, who were equipt with vast knowledge about African wildlife (AND rifles). The bush walks are intended mostly to explore smaller wildlife and to be able to do animal tracking on foot. On the flip side, the game drives are conducted in an open top Land Rover and are scheduled for the time of day where the afternoon progresses to dusk and then to night, whereby allowing us to experience the nocturnal life of the bush. The Land Rover also allowed us to do some off roading, trail blazing through the bush in careful pursuit of game animals.
Although we were only able to sight three of the "Big Five" animals: Elephants, Rhino, and Lions, we had numerous other encounters with wildlife including a unique showing of hippo. Several times I was literally stopped in my tracks, humbled by the magnitude of the African bush and wildlife.
Me & the Land Rover
Our humble abode with Africa on Foot
(Shanley and I shared this little round hut, which did include our own bathroom)
Elephants
(There were about two dozen or more elephants in the herd we encountered)
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