Kruger National Park

       It turned out that the road Mona and I had taken from Hoedspruit to Hazyview ran parallel to the west boundary of Kruger National Park, so we decided that on the way back, we would drive into the park and see what we could see.  The photos that I got there are much more indistinct than the photos I got at Moholoholo and Hazyview because the animals we saw were truly (or maybe, MOSTLY truly) wild animals and definitely not approachable.  I have no fancy zoom lens; the only camera I used the whole trip was my iPad mini. 
       One is not permitted to even get out of one's car in all of Kruger National Park except in extremely specified (and fenced-in) areas.  The areas of the Park we saw were NOT spectacularly beautiful, though some areas were quite pretty.  One thing one can't help noticing from the get-go is that LOTS of elephants live there--in fact, way too many!  [I never thought I'd ever think there were too many elephants ANYWHERE!]
       The land reminds me of an area where there was a tornado last year.  The trees and bushes are smashed down and torn up--this is the result of over-grazing by elephants.  And the roads are amazingly strewn with elephant turds!  I can't for the life of me imagine why the resident elephants like to walk on the road so much, much less use the roads as a pooping grounds!
       Anyway, here is a blurry--sorry--photo of a small herd of elephants in Kruger.  It was thrilling to see some actual "wild" elephants.

This guy did not seem to be happy about having to yield the road to motorists.  We waited about 10 minutes for him to complete his business and saunter off.  If you google Kruger National Park, you will see many reports of elephants charging cars.  Oh, and by the way, it seems that virtually all cars in South Africa are white, for obvious climate-related reasons.

Here's a pretty big crocodile sunning himself on the mud flats.  Thankfully, the only crocodiles I saw in Africa were this one and a couple of others a safe distance off in Kruger National Park.  I am truly afraid of crocodiles!







 





And here is a contemplative water buffalo enjoying a drink
in one of Kruger's many rivers.                        









We saw many many elephants, zebras, giraffes, baboons, impalas, kudus, and lots of other wildlife, but none of my photos of them are very good.  But this one photo is the Kruger National Park photo
I like best of all--unexpectedly, not of an animal at all, but rather of a BAOBAB tree.  What a wonder!

 

Well, after all this excitement, two weary, dusty, but very happy travellers found their way back to Otters Den, had an OSTRICH supper, and I settled in for my last night in Africa.