Eggs and Bacon for breakfast! yippee. What a treat.
Once again we packed up camp and loaded onto the truck. The morning we spent on the Panorama Route around Blyde River Canyon. We got off the bus at three different points with anywhere from 30minutes to an hour to explore. And, of course, souvenir shop.
Before arriving at our campsite we stopped off at a mall to use the ATMs and buy water/snacks/alcohol. Then we arrived at Gecko Bushcampers campsite. It felt like Jurassic Park - electric fence surrounding the property. Of course the 8 year old girl with us got electrocuted.
A few of us opted in on the night game drive through Kruger Park. And I am so glad we did. It was incredible! Many of the animals are nocturnal, or because of the intense sun are forced to graze after sundown. The drive started before sunset and continued after dark. Once the sun set we had two spot lights (one on each side of the vehicle). We were instructed to look for eyes (because they shine in the dark). And then we we would stop and investigate further. Our guide, Pat, was incredible. He would see things (while driving) that took me minutes to see, even when he was instructing us where to look (for example the green tree snake that blends so well into the foliage).
On the night drive we saw lions, white rhinos, hippos (out of water!), spotted eagle owl, many snakes, impala, etc.
The next day was an all day game drive in Kruger. We got to Kruger at 6:30am and stayed until 4:00pm. Our guide was less than stellar but we made the most of it. It was rather cold and we bundled up in blankets - but it turns out we were very fortunate. Many animals that normally seeks shade and shelter from the sun all day were frolicking about in the open. We saw leopards! white rhinos, cape bull, baby hyenas, kudu, elephants, giraffe, etc. At one point we spotted a leopard just before he crouched down. He was stalking a group of impala just in front of us along the road. Unfortunately another vehicle came along and scared the impala back a bit, just behind some shrubs. We stayed watching for a while. We lost site of the leopard and impala but knew they were just out of our view. We heard quite a ruckus - the impala went nuts, yelping warning signals to one another. It was exciting to hear the confrontation, it's too bad it happened JUST out of view.
The day was long, a few people took naps at certain points. We did stop twice at a sort of "rest stop." There were food and drinks available, bathrooms, and a big souvenir shop. The day was great but it could have been much better if our guide wasn't such a dud.
This is our last night on our overland tour. We all stayed up after dinner hanging out. In the morning we pack up and drove to Johannesburg where we parted ways.
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