Day 3 - Kruger Park - Giraffes, Elephants, and Zebras OH MY!

After much deliberation and many rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Landon decides to sleep on the couch in the living room and Eve and I take the twin beds in our hotel. However, at 2am in the morning -- Landon emerges from the living room in tears; he can't sleep and wants allergy medicine.  His sister kindly swaps with him (sweet girl). Thus, our early morning start begins before the alarm clock.

4:45am

My alarm sounds and I make my instant Starbucks coffee EXTRA strong this morning. We are attempting to make it to Kruger Safari Park before the sunrise. This is a very active point in the day for the animals we plan on observing. 

Kruger National Park is South Africa's largest and most diverse reserves (it is also one of its oldest). It is almost the size of Israel, so there are many vast areas to explore over several days. 

Going to Safari is kind of like fishing; you never know what you'll get. So, on little sleep and lots of caffeine, we load into the car for the short drive to the park entrance. It's still dark here, just before sunrise, and the line to get into the park is starting to form. We drive through the front gate just as the sun begins to rise, so we stop to take a few photos of this gorgeous African adventure day. 

"Can I get out of the car?" I ask.
An emphatic "No" answers David. ;)

I immediately spot an animal to my right.
"It's a kangaroo!" I yell.
Obviously, I wasn't quite awake yet. 
It's actually an Impala, the first of many we will see. What I realize later is that you get super excited about the first sightings of animals, but after many photo opportunities of elephants, giraffes, and especially impalas (which I continuously misrepresent as 'gazelles') the excitement lessens and we move on much quicker than our first sighting. 

7:30am

We see many of the animals that it may take some visitors DAYS to find here. 

This is my "kangaroo" sighting LOL

In fact, we make a list -- which includes: 
Impala (my kangaroo), hippo, elephant, zebra, wildebeest, cape buffalo, wild dog, hyenas, baboons, bushbucks, kudus, vervet monkeys, giraffes, warthogs,  and crocodiles to name a few. 

There were over twenty elephants crossing this river, coming towards us. It was such a beautiful sight.

Big lesson: Monkeys are a$@holes.

I call this: Where's Waldo the Elephant

11:00am

We stop for a much needed bathroom break. There are several places along the map with bathroom facilities. Landon sleeps soundly in the back of the VW van while Eve takes pictures of the cute baby monkey eating a banana. 
I return from the bathroom to see not one, but two monkeys in our van with Landon (still asleep). I open the doors, thinking it will startle them and they'll run, but instead, they keep jumping from the driver's side to the passenger side looking for whatever they can steal from us to eat or take with him. The smaller monkey picks up a ziploc bag with Cathy's camera battery in it and I protest loudly. Mommy monkey hears my protests and lunges at me hissing. I hiss back louder. David returns to the car and helps coax them both out. They scatter with only a cracker wrapper as their prized steal. Landon sleeps through the whole incident somehow. 

Lunch

For lunch we stop at a picnic area to eat our bag lunches. I'm adverse to bread, so I eat a ham, cheese, and egg rolled up together. Everyone else eats sandwiches (like normal people do) we made the night before. The temperature outside is now 93 degrees and we shed our early morning layers and drink a ton of water. 

We spend the majority of the day in the car, only emerging to use the bathroom or eat at what the park calls "rest camps."  

We end our day visiting a "rest camp" with a gift shop that offers cold drinks and slushees. Amen to that. I make a superb Taco Fiesta (even though it's not Taco Tuesday) -- and everyone pretends it tastes like home.