Today counts as one of the best days of my life! I always say the Universe takes care of me in ways I do not understand and today, I was not meant to be in Angola. I was meant to be right here amidst the wild beasts of Africa! The Big 5 include, the rhinoceros, the leopard, the lion, the elephant and the buffalo. Of these animals the leopard is the hardest to see and many people visit game parks and never see one! We started off for the park at 5:30am in order to be there when the gates opened. It was cold and threatening rain and I was feeling slightly discouraged. Kruger however, did not disappoint!
At the park entrance we stopped for coffee and saw our first wild animals... Garrett and Andrea from our truck family! They had left Pointe-Noire three days before us and were booked on a tour of Swaziland so we sure didn't expect to see them! After hugs and hello's we went our separate ways into the park.
Not five minutes from the gate we came upon some Zebras, impalas and a giraffe. Although not considered one of the big 5, it was the giraffe I most wanted to see! As I sat staring at this magnificent animal my eyes filled with tears and I couldn't believe I was seeing it there for real, in the wild! I snapped of a shot or two but my reverie was interrupted when a vehicle coming the other way stopped and said something to our driver in Africans. He thanked the man and kicked it into gear, apparently there was a leopard up a tree just 200 meters up the road! when we arrived there was a convoy of vehicles pulled over on the side of the road and the leopard was stalking slowly away from his tree! We saw him but were not there in time to get any good photos! Here though, are some of the Zebras and a Journey of Giraffes!
The day continued to be nothing short of amazing! Before 8:00am we had seen Impalas, wildbeasts, Zebras, Giraffes, a leopard and by 8:30 we had our first elephant sighting! We stopped for breakfast at about 9:30 and already felt as though we had seen tons! After lunch we continued our drive and once again came upon about three stopped vehicles. This was amazing because they had the male lion in their sights! He was on the other side of the river bank, not far from a buffalo he had recently killed! It took me a few minutes to locate him but when I saw him, he took my breath away! This animal is nothing short of magnificent and seeing him has changed me forever. There is no way he can be taken for granted... This is pure beauty. We watched him intently for a long time hoping he would come out of the trees, into the open, and enjoy his lunch! after waiting and watching we decided to move on! He was very far away and my picture was taken before I realized I could activate the digital zoom and get a better shot!
After an amazing day in the park we headed for the exit. Right near the gate we saw a female lion who looked injured laying near the road. The next morning when we came back through, we saw that she had been killed by a pack of hyenas! They were eating her up! Later that day we ran into the pride of lions lounging by a watering whole! We also got up close and personal with an elephant! Here are some of the best shots!
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