Day 7: Kruger National Park

Please note: the photos in this post are a bit fuzzy because of the program I used to upload my blog post from my iPad. You can click on each photo for a clearer view. 


Things started slowly this morning, as we searched for lions, which are difficult to find. We saw lots of nice specimens of umbrella acacia (above) and this running warthog:


A lilac breasted arola:


And then Sophiso tracked us to a recent kill of a wildebeest, probably by lions. Two hyena and a jackal were eating the remains:





We were mesmerized by the sound of chomping and cracking bones:


Not the prettiest animals we have soon, but very interesting:








The wildebeest ribcage:


And jawbone:


Kudu:



Coffee break!


We got very close to three rhinos:












And then found a large group of giraffe:











A small herd of Cape Buffalo:









Wildebeest and impala:






Sausage tree,so named because it has seed pods that look like huge sausages on strings:


Hippos sunning on the sand bar:


Check out the baby. Our guide said he was probably only a few months old, and he stayed close to mama.











These two, a male (left) and a female, had reached some sort of an impasse and were very vocal about it:








We started off our last afternoon safari with some zebra:





Giraffe loped in front of us across the road:








And then a call came through on the radio that a group of lions had been spotted. It was 3 lionesses and 4 cubs. We were able to get very close to them.











The cub on the far right is a male, and the others are female, according to our guide:

















Look at these huge feet!


Two cubs nursing:








Mama and baby rhino:


The Americans with Sofiso:


Our last animal spotted tonight was a leopard. By then it was dark, so he was illuminated with a spotlight and headlights, and I only got his back:



We had a full moon to guide us home: