Lower Sabie To Skukuza

I slept in my tent to the sound of various animals, then Dylan woke me up before sunrise. We were packed and out of the camp before 6am and were treated to wonderful animal sightings right away. First, we saw wildebeest and then within 5 minutes we saw spotted hyenas. Since they’re scavengers, I expected them to be ugly with matted fur. Dylan says they do smell bad, but they looked nice this morning.


He is letting me a read a book published in 2007 about animals in the Kruger, so I am learning a lot as we go. For example, hyenas are capable of eating up to 1/3 of their body weight in a single sitting if they are hungry. Wow! Also, though hyenas are scavengers, they kill more than half the time in Kruger because there isn’t enough to scavenge. Females are larger and have more testosterone than the males, so they’re more aggressive and they dominate the social hierarchy.

More tidbits I’ve learned so far: Hippos account for more deaths in Africa than any other mammal, because they’re very aggressive (that lazy “yawn” we see is actually the hippo displaying its large teeth as a warning). Giraffes, with their long necks, have 7 vertebrae in their necks just like humans do. Today I was able to tell the difference between male and female giraffes by looking at their horns (not really horns, just nubs from the skull) with my binoculars: males are bald at the tip while females are fuzzy. Elephants have 6 sets of molars but they are only used one set at a time (if the last set wears down completely, the elephant will starve because it won’t be able to chew effectively), and they have the largest brain of any land animal.

For breakfast, we had tea and rusks (hard sweet biscuits that you dip in tea or coffee) and then later we had brunch (I had scrambled eggs, feta, and tomatoes stuffed in a pita) at Lower Sabie. Throughout our drive, we saw some of the same animals we saw yesterday (impala, warthogs, elephants, rhinos, zebras, buffalo, monkeys) and some new animals (hippos, crocodiles, turtles, giraffes, baboons, hyenas, kudu, and waterbucks). We also saw a lot of birds, including a martial eagle. My favorite are the rollers (lilac-breasted and others, they all have beautiful colors).

This afternoon, we headed out to find dogs and cats (African wild dogs, cheetahs, leopards, and big lions). The book says there are only 5,000 total African wild dogs in the world, and they’re considered one of the most endangered animals on earth but I have faith that we’ll see some. We just missed a lioness (but we heard the baboons barking to warn other animals) and are hoping to see the other animals tomorrow. We didn’t see any of them this afternoon despite our best efforts, and I think Dylan was sadder than I was because he wants me to have a fantastic trip, which I am. It also made us both appreciate how blessed we were to see so many animals yesterday. Tomorrow morning, I am sure we’ll see a lot of animals again.

On our afternoon game drive, I think the baboons were a highlight. Baboon babies are so cute, but the adult males are so ugly to me, especially since they tend to be really mean. Anyway, as the sun sets the baboons congregate in the roads because the blacktop stays warm longer. Baboons are not afraid or even concerned with cars. They lounge around, right in front of a car, eating rocks (I think they do this to clean their teeth?). It doesn’t sound that funny, but it really is quite amusing:


The cutest thing for me is the little babies, hanging on mom’s butt or belly, and wrestling with each other.


Female baboons, when in heat, have swollen rumps that look quite painful.


And please don't think I am perverted, but this is very bizarre to me. Vervet monkeys have blue testicles when they are ready to mate, which is strange because nothing else on their body is blue:


We had some good laughs today outside the baboons and monkeys, too. Dylan tells me my sneeze sounds like a hyena, and he also thinks the phrase “charley horse” for a calf cramp is very funny. He’s also amused that I had to shave my legs last night because his legs were better shaved than mine, and it was making me feel insecure.

For dinner, we decided to go to a restaurant called Selati, which is in an old train (Selati Railway line, never finished). I had line fish with monkey gland sauce (sounds gross, but it’s actually just a chutney and onion sauce, no monkey glands in it). I plan to get to bed soon because tomorrow we’re leaving again at 5:30am. Tonight’s accommodations for me are really nice (we’re staying in Skukuza, the largest camp in Kruger), because I have a toilet in my room instead of having to trek across a field with a flashlight. Moving on up! Pierre did a great job ensuring that my rooms will get better as my trip progresses.