Africa	Cape Town Jan 17 - Jan 21 Garden Route Jan 22 - Jan 27 Overland Tour Jan 29 - Feb 19 Soweto Tour Feb 24 Kruger Park Feb 25 - Feb 27

Newsletter from Africa - Kruger Park

We did a 3 day (2 nights) safari in Kruger Park. This area is 2.2 million hectares of unspoiled wilderness (larger than some countries!) where animals roam free. We stayed in two private game reserves - Elephant Plains and Nkorho Lodge. This was not a cheap safari (about $100.00 US per person per night), but it was worth it. Our first night was at the The Elephant Plains lodge...and it was fantastic! The accomodations were beautiful and they really made you feel like a VIP. The second night was at the Nkorho lodge ...which was also very good.

The game drives were done in an open LandRover Defender jeep with an armed ranger and a tracker. These vehicles are made for serious off road driving. Lon and I were really shocked at how close we got to the animals. We were literally within spitting distance of the animals!! We got uncomfortably close to a pride of lions (and their cubs). I think it's safe to say that everyone in our group just about wet their pants during this encounter. The rangers are very experienced and can "read" the animals' behavior very well ...so, we put our trust (and life) into their hands.

We did evening game drives, followed by sundowners, then headed back to the lodge for some hearty dinners around the campfire. We also did morning game drives ...starting at 5:30 a.m.. We saw lions, elephants, rhino, waterbuck, impalas, zebra, wildebeast, and many other animals. We got some really good photos! Just click on the thumbnail photos below to see the enlarged photo.

Lions

Elephants

Leopard

Rhino

Zebra,Waterbuck,Kudu,Giraffe,Impala,Wildebeast

region	lodging	$US / night	rating	notes
Kruger Park	Elephant Plains Bush Lodge	$-1.0		Excellent service and accomodation
	Nkorho Bush Lodge	$-1.0		Another great bush lodge

(food and lodging was included in the the Bundu Bus package: 3000 Rand per person, ~$275 US)