The Big 5

December 29

Nando was absolutely determined to make sure that we saw all of the Big 5 up close and personal.  After seeing the lion on the side of the road, he was more than determined to make sure I got to see a leopard and a rhino from the front.  It actually stuns me at how good he is at picking the right road to drive down to see whatever it is he's gotten it into his head he's looking for.  In the late afternoon yesterday, after seeing the lion, we decided to go back out from the rest camp for one last quick drive.  Nando looked at me and said, "We're going to see a rhino."  He then took a left onto S100 and promptly drove straight to a rhino.  4 of the Big 5 now seen up close and personal. 

This morning, we got up at 4:30 am again (not an easy feat for me) and started out in the dark with only my husband's singular determination to find us a leopard as a guide. About 45 minutes out, on a road that we hadn't seen anyone else on, he suddenly pulled over and just said, "Leopard!"  I looked up the tree he was pointing at and sure enough, there, in a tree only a few feet off the road, was a leopard just waking up and starting its daily routine.  We spent half an hour photographing it, watching it groom itself and then watching it climb down the tree and saunter off into the distance without a single other car passing us by.  Big 5, up close and personal, accomplished!

In case it's not obvious by my couple of posts on Kruger, Nando is an exceptional spotter.  In all honesty, I probably would have left Kruger thinking that it didn't have anything other than the occasional elephant or giraffe if it weren't for him.  Fortunately, his eyesight is just about as good in the dark.

Tonight, we went for a night game drive and he continued his excellent spotting record by picking out hunting hyenas which kept running in and out of the bush chasing something, several spotted civets and even several hippos that had wandered out of the water to snack - all in the dark.

Leopard hunting impala

In addition to all of that, someone else in the safari truck picked out a leopard hiding under the bushes, hunting impala that were not too far away.  We sat and waited, hoping to see a kill, but unfortunately the spotlight was being run by my least favorite (and most embarrassing) kind of traveling American - the obnoxious idiot.

Obnoxious idiots are generally characterized by their complete inability to follow directions from locals, thinking they know best despite their lack of experience or knowledge of local custom or way of life - in this case meaning that the aforementioned obnoxious idiot ignored our guide's instructions to not shine the light on the leopard, only on the impala, or it wouldn't attack.  After about 15 minutes of the obnoxious idiot continuing to shine the light on the leopard - apparently to make sure it was still there - it disappeared into the bush and the impala all sighed a huge sigh of relief.  Needless to say, we were far more disappointed than the impala.