South Africa – Ullan Adventures

Kruger Days 2 – 6

Kirsten / July 2, 2017

After our amazing first day in Kruger, we still had 4 more full days in the park plus the morning of leaving the park. And what an incredible few days those turned out to be as well.

The morning of day 2, I woke at the crack of dawn and went down to the restaurant deck to see if I could catch any early morning predators. I didn’t see much except a mama and baby hippo and some kudu grazing near the restaurant.

Mama and baby hippo and a 3rd hippo in the water

After breakfast, we checked out of Lower Sabie camp and headed to Satara camp. The two camps are 93km apart and the trip was expected to take 3:45. It took us about 5+ hours, but that included a stop at Tshokwane picnic spot for an unusual lunch. Along the way we saw more giraffe, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, impala, warthog, and elephants.

We also saw a few new animals such as ostriches (that were fighting), vervet monkeys at the picnic spot, and baboons running along the road.

Our trip also took a little longer because we had an elephant in the road that wouldn’t move. An oncoming car tried to go around him, but the elephant promptly put a stop to that and made them back up, so we had to wait for him to move on.

Elephant in the road. Nope, not going to try to go past him!

We also made a pit stop at Nkumbe hill lookout for a great view of Kruger. The landscape was very different here from what we’d seen in Lower Sabie.

Once at Satara camp, we laid low the rest of the day. We still got to see impala, kudu, a tree squirrel, and baboons at camp. There was also a snake at camp, but we’re not going to talk about that.

Day 3 was supposed to be a low-key day without anything scheduled except a guided night drive and doing some laundry. We woke at the crack of dawn anyway to try to see some predators (they hunt in the early mornings and late in the day). We were out for about an hour before we stumbled upon some Southern Ground Hornbills. We only knew what they were because we’d seen signs about them being endangered and to report them for tracking if you see them, which we did. It was really cool to see something endangered and “rare”.

We also had some good viewing of the usual animals including a giraffe walking across the road. In fact, I could do an entire blog post of all the animals we had to stop to let cross the road.

We were giving up and heading back to camp for breakfast when we spotted a lion walking in the road. He eventually stopped and looked at us for a while before lying down. He was amazing to watch! We saw him licking himself, but my favorite part was watching him turn towards the breeze, close his eyes, and enjoy the breeze. With our binoculars we got close up views of him too. Eventually he got up and walked into the bush and within about 15′ he was gone from view. What an incredible experience.

That afternoon Chuck and I went out right before sunset, but we didn’t see anything new. And then that night we went out on a guided night drive from 8-10pm. It’s pitch black out so they give a few people searchlights that they use to canvas the dark. We found a male and female lion hanging out, then we found a male lion sleeping the road. Our game vehicle pulled up right next to him – no joke, our wheels were maybe 6′ from him. He could’ve easily stood up and tried to eat us, but luckily he was happier to sleep.

This shows how close we really are to him. I think that’s Beckett’s head in the way.

We also saw jackals, a genet cat, and an owl as well as some of the usual animals.

Day 4 it was time to leave Satara and make the 4 hour drive to Skukuza camp. We made a brief pit stop at Tshockwane picnic spot for a potty break then motored to Skukuza. The vegetation got so thick near Skukuza that you couldn’t see a thing unless it was right next to the road or there was a mob of cars pulled over pointing out something interesting. We still saw ostrich, 2 more lions, elephants, zebra, wildebeest, impala, warthog, baboon, kudu, and hippos out of the water. And we saw a honey badger!

Once at camp, we ate lunch then checked into our cottage by the river.

Then Chuck and I went out on a sunset drive hunting for leopard or cheetah. Instead we saw a hyena that trotted beside our car. He was much cooler than I expected.

Day 5 was our last full day in Kruger. I woke really early and was treated to a mass migration of birds along the river. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen and lasted a good 20 minutes. There had to be hundreds of thousands of birds that flew by!

Mara was kind of over all the driving at this point, but Beckett convinced me to sign up for a sunset drive with him as he was hoping to see a bushbaby.

Chuck and I were still hunting for leopard and/or cheetah so we went out in the morning, but didn’t see any. We did find a troop of baboons covering a bridge though. They were all over and cars were forced to slalom around them if they wanted to cross. When we tried to cross, we had one baboon jump on the back of our car! He sat there looking into our trunk and at us. Eventually we drove away and he fell off although he tried really hard to hold onto our rear wiper. Crazy!

That evening Beckett and I headed out on the most amazing guided sunset drive. You can read more about it here.

Chuck and Mara stayed back at camp and had an African braai. A braai is basically a BBQ and the camps have BBQ grills set up outside the huts and throughout camp. They grilled impala, steak, corn, potatoes, and garlic bread and had a fantastic time!

Impala, steak, garlic bread, corn, and potatoes

After our sunset drive, Beckett and I grabbed dinner and on the way back to our cottage, Chuck spotted the biggest porcupine I’ve ever seen. He started following it trying to get a picture and I was trying to light it with my flashlight. That is until the porcupine started running at me, so I promptly turned and ran away. I wish we’d gotten a good picture because he was huge and so cool looking.

Day 6 came and it was time to check out and leave the park. We drove about 2 hours to one of the gates and got one last look at all our favorite animals along the way: giraffe, elephants, antelope, a rhino mom and her baby, and more. We even saw a female lion eating a buffalo kill.

Lots of vultures in a tree near a lion kill

We also got a family picture before leaving the park.

I was only a tiny bit sad to be leaving the park only because the experience was over. Even though I’d been dreaming of an African safari for as long as I can remember, our time in Kruger exceeded my expectations. I’m still blown away by all the animals and birds we saw. And I feel much richer and so incredibly lucky for having experienced this amazing adventure. All of us do. What a highlight of my life!

Here are a few more pictures and video:

Shows Mara’s perspective of animals crossing the road

Guinea Fowl – Mara called them African chickens because they were everywhere

Day 2 (Lower Sabie to Satara):

Driving Route: We took the H10 north from Lower Sabie camp to Tshokwane picnic spot (approx. 40km and took about 2.5 hours)
Animals: Giraffe, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, impala, warthog, elephant, ostrich, baboon, and monkeys at Tshokwane

Driving Route: After Tshokwane picnic spot, we took the H1-3 to Satara (approx. 44km and took about 2 hours)
Animals: Elephant, giraffe

Animals at Satara camp: Baboon, kudu, impala, tree squirrel, vervet monkey

Day 3 (Satara):

Driving Route for morning drive (6:30am): S100
Animals: Southern Ground Hornbill, lion, vervet monkey, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, waterbuck

Driving Route for sunset drive (4:30pm): S100
Animals: Zebra, giraffe

Day 4 (Satara to Skukuza):

Driving Route: We took the H1-3 from Satara to Tshokwane. Then we took the H1-2 from Tshokwane to Skukuza. The whole trip is around 93km and took about 4:45
Animals: Ostrich, honey badger, elephant, zebra, wildebeest, impala, warthog, baboon, hippos out of the water, 2 lions, kudu

Driving Route for sunset drive (4:30pm): H4-1
Animals: Hyena, buffalo

Day 5 (Skukuza):

Driving Route: We took the H4-1 to the H12 bridge and back
Animals: Baboons on H12 bridge, monkey, kudu, impala and warthogs near camp. Porcupine and a small antelope at camp.

Day 6 (Skukuza to Malelane Gate):

Driving Route: We took the H3 from Skukuza to Malelane gate. It took about 2:15.
Animals: Rhino mom and baby, lion with buffalo kill, elephants, giraffe, zebra, impala, kudu, vultures

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Africa Kruger South Africa

A Magical Sunset Drive in Kruger

Kirsten / July 1, 2017

On our last full day in Kruger, Beckett kept saying that he wanted to do a guided sunset drive. We were surprised as we’d spent so many hours in the car hunting for animals already. I think he partly wanted to see a bushbaby, but he also said he wanted to see more animals. So he and I signed up for it through the camp while Chuck and Mara stayed back to have an African braai. The drive only cost us about $30 for the 2 of us, and I have to say it was the best $$ I’ve spent in a long time. We LUCKED OUT and had the most amazing drive of pretty much our entire trip!!

We left at 4pm and quickly saw elephants, a klipspringer, duiker, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, impala, and more. Some in our game vehicle were probably new to the park as they were so excited about seeing each of these and kept asking to stop. Our guide would stop briefly, but kept telling us that he had news of an animal sighting he was in a hurry to get us to. He didn’t say which animal, but we knew it would be good.

Eventually we came up a hill and there she was: the most incredible leopard lounging in a tree! I couldn’t believe it! She is seriously one of the most beautiful animals I’ve ever seen! We pulled off next to the tree and sat there for a good 10 minutes taking pictures and watching her. And with the binoculars, we got close up views of her. After a bit, she stood up, stretched, then settled down for a nap on another branch. AMAZING!

Loved seeing all 4 paws dangle as she napped!

After leaving her, we saw 2 White Rhinos grazing nearby.

Then we saw an African wildcat. He looked like a house cat!

At this point, the sun was setting so we transitioned into a dusk drive. After a bit, we came upon a den of hyenas. The den was right beside the road and the pups sat there looking at us before running in and out of their den and around their mom. The pups were at points maybe 7′ from our game vehicle! They were adorable!

The sky then turned dark and we got out the search lights to scan the darkness. We found a white tailed mongoose, African wildcat, and Beckett found a scrub hare.

One of the guys on our game drive knew about a lion kill next to the road near camp, so the guide drove us there. And we were treated to watching a male lion feast on a buffalo kill. It was pitch black and we only had search lights to watch him. My pictures barely came out, but still gives you an idea what we saw. Eventually he got up and walked away and we saw a female lion laying there. The way the lion looked at us before he left, Beckett and I were worried he was going to walk out of the bush in front of the game vehicle and attack us.

I navigated us back to the spot the next morning so Chuck and Mara could see, but the lion and carcass were gone. 🙁

We got back to camp a bit after 7pm absolutely giddy by what we’d seen. I thought we’d see a few things, but cannot believe our good luck at seeing a leopard, a lion with a kill, rhinos, and 4 other new animals. This 3 hour drive was another highlight of our trip and something I won’t ever forget. Beckett says seeing the leopard was the highlight of his entire time in Kruger as well.

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Africa Kruger South Africa

A Dream Day in Kruger National Park

Kirsten / June 27, 2017

I’ve dreamed of going on an African safari since I was a kid. Back then it seemed unrealistic and reserved for the ultra-rich. As I got into my 20s, I started seeing affordable deals and knew it could happen someday. So when I first created my bucket list in my late 20s, the African safari was #1 on the travel list. However, it still took me another 20+ years to get there. But I finally got there! And I got to take my kids and husband along which was the icing on the cake.

We arrived at the Crocodile River outside the park around 10am and immediately saw hippos and crocodiles in the river! Upon crossing the bridge, we saw our first giraffe as he casually ate then walked right in front of our car!

We weren’t even in the park yet and had already seen 3 different types of animals!

After entering the park, we headed to the Hippo Pools to see more hippos. Along the way we saw a rhino in the distance, more giraffe, a dwarf mongoose, and of course hippos at the pools.

We then headed to the Lower Sabie camp. It’s only 34km to camp, but given that you want to go very slowly so as not to miss anything, it took us about 2 1/2 hours to get there. It also took a long time because we kept stopping over and over to see the animals.

We quickly came upon 3 White Rhinos grazing right next to the road! I can’t even describe how excited we were. We sat there for a long time watching them and taking pictures and video. I still feel so incredibly lucky we got such a great rhino sighting!!

As we drove on we saw warthogs, more giraffes, zebra, wildebeest, and so many impala.

Warthogs. There was a baby warthog, but I didn’t get a picture of him.

Herd of impala with warthogs and a zebra mixed in

After that, we came to some water and saw a huge crocodile basking in the sun. We also saw some neat bird – I think he’s the Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill.

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill (I think)

Next, we came upon a herd of elephants beside the road. One of them was pulling bark off a tree and eating it. One of the moms had a baby with her and after a while, she looked at us, flared her ears, and made it clear we were no longer welcome, so we quickly drove away.

Elephant pulling bark off a tree and eating it

Next up was more giraffe and hippos out of the water!

Giraffe in foreground with hippos in the background

As if that wasn’t enough, as we got near camp, there was a mass of cars pulled off looking at a lion! Our first lion sighting in the first few hours!

See the lion right above the tree stump?

We finally pulled into camp around 1:30pm quite hungry. The restaurant was on a fantastic deck with an incredible view. As we ate, we saw at least 10 giraffes across the river and some buffalo relaxing at the water’s edge.

The restaurant at Lower Sabie Camp. Not the best picture, but the only one I have of the deck and surrounds.

Black bellied starling?!? These guys were all over the restaurant trying to swoop in for a snack.

After getting settled into our cottage at camp, Chuck and I went to Sunset Dam around 4:30pm for sunset. There are usually big cat sightings at the dam, but we only saw more hippos, crocodiles, and a bunch of birds. It was still neat to see though.

Hippo in the water, crocodiles on the edge of the water, and a stork

Beautiful, rainbow bird. I have no idea what it is, so I referred to them as “fun birds” the whole trip.

At dinner, we were treated to a beautiful sky. We also had a barn owl in the rafters hooting away. And there were impala and kudu grazing in the grasses beside the restaurant. Unreal.

I’m still in awe of our first day in Kruger. It was a complete highlight of my life, and even the kids and Chuck were blown away by all they saw. Definitely a dream come true for me!

Driving Route:

We entered Kruger via the R571 from Komatipoort to the Crocodile Bridge Gate.
After the gate, we took the left fork to the S25, then a left onto S27 to the Hippo Pools.
We then retraced back to the gate and took the right fork onto H4-2 to Lower Sabie camp.
The H4-2 trip is 34km and was scheduled to take 1:20, but it took us about 2 hours.

Animal Sightings:

Before the Crocodile Bridge Gate: Hippopotamus, Crocodile, Giraffe
To/From the Hippo Pools: Giraffe, Rhinoceros, Dwarf Mongoose, Hippopotamus
Along H4-2 from Crocodile Bridge Gate to Lower Sabie camp: Rhinoceros, Warthog, Impala, Wildebeest, Zebra, Giraffe, Hippopotamus, Elephant, Lion, Crocodile
At Lower Sabie camp: Buffalo, Hippopotamus, Kudu, Impala, Giraffe, Barn Owl, and lots of birds
At Sunset Dam: Hippopotamus, Crocodile, Storks, and lots of other birds

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Africa Cape Town South Africa

Cage Diving with Great Whites in Simon’s Town, South Africa

Kirsten / June 26, 2017

I remember watching a nature show years ago and seeing Great Whites leaping out of the air at a place called Seal Island near Cape Town, South Africa. It instantly got put on my bucket list, although it was one of the few experiences on my list that made me really nervous.

It turns out, the great whites only leap out of the air at this one spot and only for a few months out of the year. As luck would have it, that time frame coincided with when we’d be there!

I asked the kids if they wanted to go along, and they were both huge yeses. In fact, I was the only nervous one out of the 4 of us.

So on our 2nd day in Cape Town, we got up at 4:30am and drove an hour south of Cape Town to Simon’s Town. Around 7am we headed out in the freezing cold with our fingers crossed we’d see some sharks. It was so cold out that the 3 of us bought hats at a different dive shop to try to keep warm, yet we still needed their cover ups and blankets to not be miserable.

After 30 minutes, we arrived at Seal Island and started the look out for the sharks.

The sharks are hunting baby seals that are going out feed with the adults for the first time. So first you find a group of seals returning to Seal Island then watch them to see if they get attacked. I LOVED seeing the seals swimming in – and seeing the babies – and quickly found myself rooting for the seals to have a safe passage even though I really wanted to see a shark.

After about 30 minutes, the dive company, African Shark Eco Charters, towed a decoy behind the boat for about 30 minutes hoping a shark would go for the decoy. Unfortunately we didn’t see any sharks and the other boats didn’t seem to be having any better luck. In fact, it was really quiet out there and nobody seemed to be seeing anything.

We tried towing the decoy some more, then took a spin around Seal Island before anchoring up and chumming the water. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. …And nothing.

Luckily the ocean was pretty calm and flat, but Mara still got sick and threw up a few times. Beckett and I did OK though. Once it warmed up, he was enjoying himself.

We stayed out there an extra hour hoping to get lucky, but finally gave up around 11:30am, took one last spin around Seal Island, and went back to shore.

Our dive company offers a voucher to go back out for free if you don’t see any sharks, so we were hopeful we could go out the next day. But then we found out they were completely booked for the next day which was our last day in Cape Town. It was looking like we got shut out of seeing the sharks and spent a ton of $$ on a boat ride. 🙁

We checked in with the dive company a couple more times in the hope that someone canceled, but they were still full.

Once we got back to our AirBnb, we called again and this time found out they had 2 spots available. Mara didn’t want to go out again, but Beckett did so we had to figure out who got to go. We decided that Chuck and I would go and the kids would stay home and sleep in which Beckett said he as fine with.

So at 4:30 the next morning, Chuck and I headed back down to Simon’s Town hoping to get lucky.

As soon as we got out to Seal Island, there was a shark attack nearby. I missed the initial strike, but was able to see the shark strike a couple more times.

Then there was another attack!

Once things died down, they towed the decoy to see if we’d get any bites. And we did!

They then dropped anchor, chummed the water, and set out the dive cage. Four people jumped at going first so they got all suited up in thick wetsuits – the water is COLD – and waited. Once the crew saw a shark, they hopped into the cage and got an underwater view of a shark swimming by. I think they saw 2-3 sharks before their time was up.

Chuck and I were in the next group and hopped into the cage. Despite the 7mm wetsuit, hood, and boots, the bitterly cold water still makes its way in. And our hands were exposed which didn’t help.

I personally hated being in the cage. I didn’t have a good place to anchor my feet without them sticking out, I was trying to hold on to the top of the cage so my head didn’t slam into it as the water bobbed us around and slammed us into the boat, and I was shaking because I was so cold. I kept thinking about getting out, but knew I’d regret it if I missed seeing a shark.

Eventually the crew yelled that shark was approaching and told us to go underwater and look near the buoy. We had scuba hoses so we could breathe underwater – that’s why I picked this particular company – so we could watch without having to come up for breaths.

I saw a huge shark lazily swim maybe 10′ in front of us before he turned and headed out in the distance. I couldn’t believe it! The water is so murky, yet I still got a good look at him.

We hung out for a while longer in the cage, but didn’t get anymore sightings. Once out of the cage, I realized that I was the only one in our group of 4 to see the shark! I have no idea how they missed him, but felt even more fortunate that I saw him!

Sadly that was the last shark sighting of the day and after waiting around a bit longer, we headed back to shore.

I’m so grateful that Chuck and I got to go back out a 2nd time and that we got to see some sharks. I was sad the kids never got to see one, but seeing as Beckett was throwing up when we got back to our rental, it ended up working out for the best.

Africa Cape Town South Africa

Cape Town, South Africa

Kirsten / June 23, 2017

After 5 days of island life on Mauritius, we headed to Cape Town for 3 days. Instead of a hotel, we got a condo through AirBnB near the V&A Waterfront. Wasn’t always the most convenient place relative to all the attractions we visited, but the views were nice and we had plenty of dining nearby.

The views from our condo:

The view from our condo – Table Mountain in the distance

The first morning we grabbed breakfast then headed to Table Mountain. The weather wasn’t perfect, but we’ve heard that Table Mountain gets shut down often due to bad weather and wind, so we needed to jump on getting up there when we had a decent enough window.

We drove part way up the mountain, then took the cable car to the top. The car spins so everyone gets a view as you ascend.

It was freezing up top! It was also a bit hazy so the views weren’t amazing, but it was still pretty cool. It was also far rockier up there than we expected. We spent about an hour wandering around the top taking in the views of the city from all sides.

We gave the kids a camera so they could capture their perspective. We should’ve known this is what we’d find:

At one point we saw a sign warning not to feed the Dassies. What on earth is a dassie? Eventually we found out. They’re adorable!

Beckett fell in love with them and bought himself a stuffed dassie to bring home.

After Table Mountain, we grabbed lunch, then headed down to the V&A Waterfront. The waterfront area has a mall, indoor food stalls, shops, and restaurants. We ended up picking this pub for dinner and the food was awful, but at least their hard cider was good. 🙂

The next morning we were up at 4:30am for our Great White Shark trip in Simon’s Town. After the shark trip, we had lunch then went to Boulders Beach to see the wild penguins. Yes, Penguins! They were adorable. We saw plenty of baby penguins and saw them wandering around, swimming, and just hanging out. We even had one “attack” Beckett’s shoe.

Penguin “attacking” Beckett’s shoe:

We then headed back to our condo and relaxed the rest of the day as we were pretty exhausted. Since we didn’t see any sharks, we called the shark company to see if spots were available for the next morning and 2 spots opened up. So the next morning, Chuck and I woke at 4:30am and headed back down to Simon’s Town to try to see Great Whites again. The kids were able to sleep in and had a nice, relaxing morning playing games on their iPads.

Unfortunately Beckett started to not feel well right before we got home and proceeded to throw up once we got back. The poor kid had a fever and felt awful so that shut down any plans we had for the afternoon. Mara and I did venture back to the V&A waterfront to wander around and have a snack. And later Chuck and Mara went out for dinner and brought me home food so I could stay with Beckett. It wasn’t exactly how we expected our last day to go, but such is life. And at least we got to do all the things we REALLY wanted to do.

Luckily Beckett was well enough the next morning for our flight to Kruger. It still took him 2-3 days to get fully better, but at least he could travel.

Overall, I went into Cape Town with high expectations and came away disappointed. I thought I’d fall in love with the city, but I didn’t. It was pretty, and I could see how fun it’d be during the summer. I think Chuck and I would’ve enjoyed it more if we had gone to Stellenbosch to go wine tasting or driven down to the Cape of Good Hope. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy my time there and am very happy we went. But I left not really ever needing to go back.Save

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