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Lions, Tortoises, and Buffaloes, Oh My!

January 15, 2016 By Lauren 10 Comments

After our day trip to Botswana from Zambia, we couldn’t wait to dive further into the wilderness of Africa (or “the bush,” as they call it) and see what other exotic animals we could find. The idea was to round out the rest of the Big Five that we hadn’t seen yet. The term “Big Five” is used frequently on safaris as a barometer for success. Questions like “Have you seen all of the Big Five yet?” or “Which ones are you still missing?” are frequently heard at safari lodges and game reserve rest stops. Originating from hunters, this term represents the five largest and most dangerous African animals to hunt on foot: rhinoceros, elephant, buffalo, leopard, and, of course, the lion. Even though sometimes it seems like to safari-goers the Big Five means just checking off boxes rather than appreciating nature for it is, we were still looking forward to seeing the mighty lion in its natural habitat (and not just on a top of an artificially-heated rock in a zoo).

We had set our sights on the Kruger National Park early on. Roughly the size of Israel, it is one of the largest parks in Africa. We knew we wanted to see the Kruger, we just weren’t sure how to do it. We knew that the uber-luxury, “glamping” safaris run in the thousands of dollars, an uber-unfriendly RTW budget amount. To keep it cheap, we entertained the idea of doing a self-driver safari…. but then too many images of a lion taking off my arm as I rolled down the window to snap a photo ran through my mind. Thankfully, our good friends from Chicago had recently visited the Kruger, and they told us about a wonderful lodge that offers very reasonable lodging, meal, and safari packages. Little did we know upon booking Needles Lodge, which is situated in the Marloth Park conservation reserve right next to the Kruger, that our safari experience would extend beyond the two full-day excursions we had planned; each morning, we awoke to zebras and kudu grazing in the backyard, and each night we sat around the camp fire listening to warthog families munching grass and feeding bananas to the bush babies (a little nocturnal primate that is now my new favorite animal).

Baby zebra (and a baby warthog in the background) in the backyard
An incredible view
These guys got pretty close (our hosts even told us sometimes they like to walk into the lodge)
This one seemed pretty set on getting onto the deck
Swiveling his head constantly to look around for one of his many predators…
… bush babies may be the most paranoid but also the cutest animals on earth
Pinotage and a bonfire… the perfect way to end a long day in the bush

We had three nights and two full-day safaris booked through Needles. And I mean full day. On day one, we were picked up by our guide Dylan (I should say, our “knowledgeable guide, gifted tracker, and outstanding breakfast cook”—we had bacon and eggs during our morning break—Dylan) at 5am and didn’t make it home to greet the zebras in the backyard until after 5pm. It was a long day, but an incredible one. Here’s how it went.

It started off with a sighting of my arch nemsis-the monkey-doing a typically naughty thing as we waited to get our park passes
But quickly got better as we started seeing antelope (this one is called a bush buck) right near the park entrance
Next we found a spotted hyena lazing under a tree
She went back to her nap as we watched quietly
But jumped up once the engine turned back on

A quick note here about hyenas. I always had pictured them as yellow-eyed, black-hackled monsters (perhaps watching Lion King as a child had something to do with it?), but this pretty, brown-spotted recent mother was a beautiful animal. Perception officially changed. Now back to the safari.

Why did the zebra cross the road?
To get to the baby on the other side
This was all we could catch of a lion in the morning
Later on we got a better view… lions at last!
It’s hard to follow the lions, but these little warthog piglets became some of my favorite sightings in the park
These babies are so little and still nursing from their mother
Wildebeests are some weird-looking animals, but thankfully also have cute babies
We saw plenty of these elegant (and massive) kudu both in the Kruger and in the bush surrounding our lodge
This colorful guy broke up a stretch of mammal sightings
As did this sizeable lizard
Impala are everywhere in the Kruger and easy to gloss over… until you see a mother and a baby gracefully running together like this
Dylan told us this croc was also a mother and her eggs were hidden on the shore
These impala came down to the river to drink
I started panicking as I saw the outline of a crocodile approach this group of drinking antelope
And when it didn’t lunge at the little antelope, I thought it was definitely waiting for some bacon…

Despite ample opportunity and a whole buffet of choices, this lurking crocodile did not strike while we were watching, and all the animals in these photos got away. Maybe she wasn’t hungry. Or maybe she was sympathetic to the mothers of the little antelope and warthog. My bet was the baby crocs were up all night and she was just having a nap.

Pop quiz: what color are giraffe’s tongues?
Geoff here helpfully provides the answer
Later on we got a better look at this lion pair
Pretty kitty
Followed closely by another one of my favorites, baby elephants
Check out this buffalo (or unicorn?) that lost a horn
A white rhino looking ponderous
The landscape of the Kruger, which has been untouched for thousands of years, is so diverse
And home to incredibly beautiful birds like this European roller
And this lilac-breasted roller
A massive herd of water buffalo
I like to call this Hippo Island
Although they share the same waters, the crocs and hippos usually leave each other alone
Though I’m not sure anything could take this monstrous crocodile
Even more gorgeous birds around the Kruger
And even some visiting the cafeteria at the rest stop

We ended the day on a very high note.

What can you see?
It’s a cheetah!
Wanna race?

Our first day in the Kruger was an exhilarating experience. We completed four of the Big Five. Only the leopard, which is exceedingly smart and excellent at remaining unseen, eluded us. We didn’t really care; we had seen hundreds of animals—many of which we’d never seen before and others only in a zoo. It was an incredible day. We returned to Needles, greeted the animals hanging out in the backyard, and closed this night with a great campfire and meal. We collapsed into bed after dinner, wary of our alarms that were set to go off in the early hours once again.

We awoke on day two of our safari to a light rain. Rain was celebrated in the Kruger since the area has been going through a pretty bad drought for some time now. Rain was also good for us since Dylan said cool, wet weather was the perfect “leopard weather.” Usually the jeeps hold up to nine people (there were seven of us on day one), but Chris and I were the only ones signed up on the second day. We were looking forward to a relaxed tour of the Kruger and were very excited when one of the owners of Needles, Gail, decided to join us. She definitely proved to be a good luck charm for our morning, which Dylan described as a Safari with a capital “S.” It started off with a bang (quite literally) as we found a pair of mating lions nearby our entrance gate. Dylan explained when lions mate, they mate. Like every 20 minutes for several days to make sure the deed is done.

I’ll spare you all the details
But let’s just say it started like this…
… and ended like this
The show continued at the Kruger with a pack of giraffes nearby
And this guy glared at us for awhile but thankfully didn’t charge

It seemed like love was definitely in the air at the Kruger that day. Tortoises tend to come to the roads to drink during rain, and we found these two similarly preoccupied like the lions.

Tortoises! Oh wait, what are they doing?
The facial expressions are too much

In addition to tortoises, Dylan promised us the rain would also bring out the leopards who prefer to hang out in trees rather than prowl around in the wet grass. It wasn’t long before his promise came true and we came across a five-month-old cub sprawled out in a tree.

Hey there little guy, that doesn’t look comfy
Oops, I think he heard me
He’s getting up!
Well, I guess just to change sleeping positions

Dylan told us that this is the female cub of a pair and her brother and mother were likely hunting nearby. We waiting for a a bit to see if they’d show, but no such luck here. Our luck improved a little later when we spotted some spots laying down in the grass. A full-grown male leopard!

This guy was significantly bigger than the cub we saw first

We watched nervously as a warthog trotted up, thinking he’d soon be prey to the leopard. But Dylan told us that full grown male warthogs—with their sharp tusks—are nothing a leopard wants to mess around with if it can help it. The warthog proceeded to pace right in front of the leopard, which Dylan explained was an effort to drive to drive the leopard away (“No one wants a large predator in the vicinity.”) It was a hilarious show as the warthog angrily paced around—always a safe distance away—and the leopard watched relatively uninterested. Eventually the warthog gave up and trotted away.

I imagine he’s saying, “Nothing to see here, move it along”

Next we saw one of my all-time favorite sightings from the safari.

A mother and baby rhino crossing in front of the jeep!
Baby rhino!!!!
A baby water buffalo also checked us out nearby
A yellow-billed hornbill sitting pretty in a tree
The state of the drought in the Kruger (this used to be a river)
You can identify this type of antelope as a waterbuck since it looks like he sat in a paint can
This elephant came right up next to our jeep
A baby monkey hitching a ride
Vultures are ugly but part of the circle of life here
This warthog made his very own scratching post
A trio of male kudus
And we ended the day on a fantastic note, as this lioness prowled right by our jeep

So with two leopards sightings, a handful of lions and rhinos, and oodles of elephants and buffalo, we saw the Big Five at least two times over. And I’m honestly not sure what was my favorite. The baby rhino? The little leopard cub hanging out in the tree? The tiny warthog piglets? Or just feeding the bush babies back at the lodge? One thing is for sure, though, is that there is no way I can go to a zoo again. 

Filed Under: Adventures Tagged With: Africa, South Africa

Comments

  1. Kaylyn says

    January 15, 2016 at 10:09 am

    OMG!!! Baby Rhino?! Soo cute! It looks vastly different with the drought going on. I have been waiting for this post. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Emma says

    January 15, 2016 at 11:21 am

    This is incredible, Migs. The warthogs have such personality! Congrats on seeing the big 5!

    Reply
  3. DB says

    January 15, 2016 at 11:57 am

    This whole thing is ridiculously awesome! Great pictures!

    Reply
  4. Mrs. Migliore's 4th Grade Class says

    January 19, 2016 at 4:18 pm

    We love seeing all of the baby animals. They are so cool. It was great seeing the animals up close. Please keep the pictures going!

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      January 19, 2016 at 11:21 pm

      Thanks, class! The baby rhino might have been my favorite!

      Reply
  5. Mary McCausland says

    January 20, 2016 at 7:13 am

    Absolutely! Fantastic post!!

    Reply
  6. Jen says

    January 21, 2016 at 10:49 am

    Wow, Lozza!! Just catching up on your blog posts, as I was a couple weeks behind. This one was amazing! You must’ve been going crazy with your camera, and you must’ve had hundreds of photos to sift through. Awesome post! I feel like I finally have a sense of what an African safari is all about!

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      January 21, 2016 at 11:37 pm

      Thanks, Jen Jen!

      Reply
  7. Sara says

    January 26, 2016 at 7:34 pm

    Amazing! What a great experience. Great photos!

    Reply
  8. chloe says

    April 25, 2016 at 5:01 pm

    love all the animals i wish i was there

    Reply

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