Safari Day One

Safari Day One

I really didn’t know what to expect on our first day of safari.  We had to be on the bus and ready to go to the Orpen Camp to meet our guides by 5:30 a.m. The gates to Kruger open at 6 a.m., and when we got there at 5:45 there was already a line.  I was surprised to see that there were many privately owned cars with families in them going in the park to take safaris. Pieter informed us that the staff at the park limits the amount that can go in everyday, and that the park gates close at 5:00 p.m.

The group was split into two safari trucks and we were introduced to our guides, Mornay and Satis. They have both been guiding safaris for about 8 years and were incredibly knowledgeable about the animals.

Mornay was my guide the first day. He gave a short speech about safety and the importance of remaining quiet once we were observing the animals. We were given ponchos with a fleece liner to wear during the safari that were so amazing to have as the temperature was really cold in the morning.

Once we entered the gates of Kruger we started to see animals. The landscape was exactly how I had pictured the savanna to be, with short trees and dry yellow grass. Throughout the day we wound up seeing all sorts of different scenery in the park.  Ranging from savanna grasslands, to lush green grasses, to large trees, to rivers, and to what reminded us all of an apple orchard.

One of the goals of safari is to see the Big 5, which are:

1)   Lion

2)   Rhino

3)   Cape Buffalo

4)   Elephant

5)   Leopard

The “big five” is a phrase that has been used to define the 5 most difficult animals to hunt on foot in Africa.

On day one of safari we saw warthogs, impalas, zebras, two lions, wildebeests, elephants, buffalo and giraffes. By the end of the day we were missing two from the “big five”: Rhino and Leopard.

Each new animal was such an amazing thrill to see. Mornay told us early on that we would get very tired of looking at impalas after a while. He noted that they have a pattern on their backside that looks like an M, and they call them the McDonalds of the savanna because there are so many and they are eaten for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner by the many predators at Kruger.

Whenever we would see a new animals Mornay would stop the car and turn off the engine so that we could get the full experience of all the sights and sounds.

Some pictures from our first day:

Two of the most memorable events on day one for me include the close proximity of the elephants to the road and also the female lion we saw right before lunch in the tall grass.