Encounters
with wildlife and
other wonders
of nature, such
as Victoria Falls
(above), were a
real highlight of
Sandy’s trip.from around the world who attended my
niece’s wedding.
Our final destination was going on safari
in Kruger National Park. We were in for a
serious family-bonding experience. Flying
in to a small airport near the park, we were
surprised to see baboons and warthogs on
the runway. After a successful landing, we
were picked up and driven about an hour
to our destination. We saw a few elephants
and zebras along the way, and were greet-
ed by smiling sta when we disembarked
from the safari vehicle. Our first animal en-
counter in the park was a herd of elephants
walking toward our camp, making their way
along the dry riverbank in which our lodge
was situated. They came by on a few occa-
sions, and sometimes stopped by for a drink
right out of our pool. One time, my brother-
in-law Fred had to make a quick exit from
the pool when the elephants arrived!
We went out on safari for a few hours ev-
ery evening at around 4:00 p.m. , and every
morning at 5:30 a.m. or so. It was usually
around 35°C and neither the animals nor
we moved around very much during the
full heat of the day. During our first eve-
ning safari, we encountered a lion roaring
loudly at the side of the road and we were
told by our guide that he was most likely
calling to his brother and sister—I could
feel the vibrations of his roar in my chest.
Our next three days were filled with
thrilling encounters with leopards, several
dierent lion prides with plenty of cubs,
water bualo, rhinos, giraes, hippos and
a variety of other species. One particularly
exciting sighting was a white lion cub; ac-
cording to our guides, this cub was one of
only two known to have been born in the
wild anywhere in the world.
Every night we were escorted to our tent
by an armed guard for our safety, but I only
felt afraid on a couple of occasions. One
was when we were on the Chobe River in
Botswana and we had a very close encoun-
ter with a hippo—even our boat’s captain
looked a little freaked out. Another time,
while on safari, we were charged by two el-
ephants and later witnessed a dead bualo
being ravaged by numerous hyenas.
All things considered, I would go back in
a heartbeat! n57