Kruger Kreatures

Determined to take advantage of the common knowledge that wild animals are active at dawn, Toukam and I awoke well before the sun came up. We were disappointed to see that we were no cleverer than our fellow campers, and ended up being the fourth group to leave. Recovering from such a blow to our early morning dignity, the team headed back onto the paved road going Eastward into the center of Kruger. Though our self-drive safari was not as immediately gratifying as the day before, we started encountering animals after about an hour beginning with springbok and giraffes and eventually culminating in the morning's highlight of a herd of Buffalo crossing the road. They were the first of the "Big Five" animals that we would see. The other four are lions, leopards, rhinos, and elephants.

Buffalo

We stopped briefly at Satara, an inland camp area, for a hearty breakfast aptly entitled "Dawn Patrol" and a news update from the TV. Before long we were heading out on a dirt road, the S100, which Joel had recommended as having many animals. Our following his advice was soon rewarded when we came upon a large group of cars parked at a bend in the road. We consulted some of the enraptured drivers and found out that in a partially obscured ravine there was nothing other than an elusive leopard lounging by the river. Our binoculars worked perfectly, and we got a satisfactory glimpse at the great cat in all its relaxed glory.

Further along that same road, a dip in the road over a river gave us close views of the most dangerous of all the animals in the park- the hippo. There were about 5 of them almost completely submerged in the water, noticeable only by their quivering ears. On the other side of the road in the river were two sunbathing crocodiles, covered in caked mud. Finally, right when we were about to drive on, we spotted what I think is a monitor lizard but what Toukam claims is an iguana about 2 feet from the car. Perhaps a more biologically-minded reader can settle the argument.



Returning to the paved road once again, we faced about an hour without any significant sights. However, please don't be fooled by the "significant" part- by this time we had become desensitized to the otherwise-wondrous appearance of giraffes, zebras, kudu, wildabeest, warthogs, springbok, and every sort of bird. Just when we were on the edge of boredom, a watering hole brought the most memorable moment of the day.

As we passed on a raised levee on the side of a large watering hole, we witnessed a herd of elephants some 12 members large. They were perhaps 200 yards away, splashing around in the muddy water, flinging mud on their backs, and looking after the couple of baby elephants around. Awed by the sight, we got even more excited when the elephants moved closer to us and started scratching themselves on a tree. The grand finale, though, was when the entire herd started walking away from the watering hole- and directly toward the car! Luckily for our sense of safety, they were crossing behind the car, leaving our escape open, but the 20 foot difference between their location and ours made for some drama. As the largest elephant in the heard crossed with a baby in tow, it spotted Toukam, who was hanging out the window taking pictures. It stopped. Standing in the road, facing us, it started stomping its feet and flapping its ears, a definite sign of aggression. Toukam yelled for me to start driving, and I yelled at him to take more pictures. Luckily for us, the elephant calmed down, but the experience of having the largest living thing I have ever seen about to charge was quite exhilarating. The big one continued on and we watched as the rest of the herd crossed the road and disappeared into the bush.

Ready to Charge

Knowing that that experience would be hard to beat, we continued our search for the remaining two members of the Big Five, the hino and the lion. Over the next two hours, after grabbing some lunch at a bird-infested camp site, we spotted more animals including baboons, another leopard (this time camouflaged in a tree), and more antelope. To our joy, we finally came upon a group of cars that were all looking at a huge solitary rhino, which was lounging in the grass. It was the second rhino we had seen, but the first had been nearly impossible to see. Feeling like we could perhaps pull off seeing all 5 in one day of driving, we neared the southern border of the park. With about 20km left to go, we encountered another, though smaller, herd of elephants grazing on some trees. These ones were less aggressive and passed right in front of some cars without incident.



We continued. Upon getting to the 5km mark before the gate, Toukam and I began to lose hope in finding a lion. However, in a dramatic moment of poetic justice, we happened upon another group of cars. We whispered prayers for lions and we were vindicated upon hearing from a fellow driver that, far away and barely visible, a solitary lion was lounging on a bank of sand. Though perhaps not the ideal way of seeing one, we were thrilled to have seen every one of the Big Five, with only 2km to spare of the 250 we drove!

Happy with our Kruger experience, we exited from a southern gate and headed towards Jeppes Reef, a border post with Swaziland. Oddly, we first passed through a lush golf course, complete with properly-dressed golfers teeing off, a sight I found strange in the middle of Africa. Heading towards the border, we were hoping to get Toukam into Swaziland somehow, despite his not having a proper visa. It was a bet against the capability of Swaziland border officials, and our hourlong detour was met with much time crossing borders, but only South African ones. The Swaziland authorities noticed the lack of a visa and we turned back. In the midst of our international disappointment, though, we were cheered by a South African official who went out of his way to shake Toukam's hand and tell him that he really respects all Camaroonians.

With daylight fading quickly, we made our way to Barberton, our base for the night. It was a two hour drive and it was dark when we got to the town. Calling the tourist office, we were directed to the Phoenix Hotel, where we ended up staying for the night. Comforted by its nomenclature being so reminiscent of home, we got settled and had dinner in the empty hotel restaurant. The special, chicken schnitzel, was alright, and it was priced at a wonderful 5 dollars. Halfway through the meal a portly and tipsy Briton, limping and wincing from the pain of his pulled back, came up and introduced himself as the owner of the hotel. He was kind enough to offer a lot of travel advice and, upon hearing of my plan to leave Toukam at the border while I spent the day exploring Swaziland and then drive to Durban in one day, strongly urged us to skip Swaziland and make headway towards Durban. According to his advice, our current course would have us only driving and not seeing anything. Bummed at the removal of Swaziland from the next day's plans, I agreed to take his advice and we modified our plans so that we would be driving to St. Lucia, a town about 2 hours east of Durban along the highway.

Before heading to St. Lucia the next morning, we took some photos at the first stock exchange in South Africa, located in Barberton and founded in the 1800's. Though quite lame, it was fun to connect with the beginnings of South Africa's financial history. From there, all I can say was that we spent nearly 9 hours driving down the highway, stopping in Piet Retief for a KFC lunch, and wading through endless construction. Eventually, as we neared the end of our nerves, we got to St. Lucia, which lies on a drying estuary along the coast. We drove to the town and had a delicious dinner at Fishy Pete's, which touted the slogan of "Fish so fresh, their next of kin don't know they're here yet." We enjoyed some cheap but delicious seafood kababs before driving to a Zulu town a little outside St. Lucia, where we slept in a slightly dilapidated backpackers hotel, complete with floors covered with tile-patterned paper. As we fell asleep in the humid air, I thought about what the arrival in St. Lucia meant- the begging of the end of our Old School Adventure.

The Stock Exchange