South Africa Day 9-11

In October, I booked a 4-day Safari tour with Safari with us for $500 a person. With this being non-peak season and summer, the Safari rates were much lower than in peak season and the cooler/dry climate. The Safari package included a late day safari, full day safari and add-on safari, in addition to a full day Panoramic tour. Lodging was also included. The package also included all breakfast and dinner meals, transportation to/from Johannesburg airport (~5 hours away) and entry into Kruger National Park.

We were picked up at our hotel around 6am and transported to the airport where we met up with 9 other individuals. Interestingly, the other individuals (all from Europe) purchased their Safari packages with different companies so I am assuming the companies partner together. Everyone was really nice and we enjoyed getting to know everyone over the 4 days. We slept on and off throughout the 5 hour drive and had one bathroom stop around 3 hours in. We arrived to the Krugar Safari Lodge a little after 12pm and signed some paperwork before checking in to our rooms. We ate lunch at the lodge restaurant and I was happy to see so many vegetarian options (with soy-based products for protein). We then took a dip in the pool to cool off as it was in the upper 80's.

We were very happy with our accomodations as we didn't need anything luxurious for our stay as we were here for the Safari. However, the downside to our accomodation was the location. It was a gated lodge and we were advised not to leave due to safety. One day Karel ventured out for a run and he said it was the first time since we arrived to South Africa that he didn't feel safe exercising outside. The lodge did have some activities like a playground, giant chess game, pool, outdoor patio and large restaurant/seating area but that was about it for staying active. The other downside was not having any access to food or other items to purchase. Thankfully, one of the workers at the lodge took me and Karel to the nearby grocery store so that I could get sunscreen and bugspray, as well as a few big bottles of water.

Our room was plenty big. We had a queen size bed along with two twin beds. We also had a full bathroom, AC, TV, mini fridge and lots of space. We slept great and loved the decor of our room.

Around 3pm it was finally time for our Safari. I didn't really know what to expect but I felt flooded with emotions. I had wanted to do a Safari for a very long time and it was finally happening.

The location of our lodge was ~40 minutes away from Kruger National Park so it took some time to get to the enterance but the nice thing was seeing more sights and people to and from the park. It was a stark contrast of scenery going from a town to a National Park.

Kruger National Park is the largest National Park in South Africa. According to Britanica "The park, with an area of 7,523 square miles (19,485 square km), is about 200 miles (320 km) long and 25 to 50 miles (40 to 80 km) wide. The area has a generally flat terrain with low ranges of hills traversed by nearly 5,000 miles of paved and gravel roads. Vegetation varies from open veld to dense bush that includes mopane, acacia, marula, and baobab trees. Wildlife includes elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, buffalo, rhinoceroses, zebras, wildebeests, impalas, and numerous birds. Although six perennial rivers cross the park, droughts often make artificial watering necessary.

The first animal that I spotted was an elephant. We then saw giraffes, buffalo, rhino, impalas and zebra. For our first Safari, we saw a lot over 3 hours in the late afternoon. Our full day Safari on day two lasted from 5:30am until 4pm with a break for lunch. There are several restaurants within the park for bathrooms and food. The highlight of day two was seeing a pack of lions and a few cubs. We opted to pay for one additional morning safari on the last day and we we finally saw lions. The only animals that we didn't see where cheetahs and leopards.

This was an experience of a lifetime to see the animals in their natural habitat. We saw old adults and babies and everything in between. Our guides were really knowledgable and we asked lots of questions. The birds were also fascinating and beautiful. The landscape was incredible.

A successful Safari requires an experienced guide, a lot of eyes, sitting up high in an off-road vehicle, being patient and spending a lot of time driving around. I put together a video from our Safari experience.

If you are planning a Safari, here are a few tips that I learned from our experience:

Don't tour by yourself in your car. Being with a group means more eyes to look for animals. Also, the touring trucks allow you to sit up high, which makes for easier viewing in the distance.
Use an experience guide. If you book a tour, you will get a guide. To improve your odds of seeing animals, the guides will often communicate to one another as to where certain animals are spotted (on specific roads/routes). The guides also know about the animals so they can answer your questions.
Allow at least 2 full days of Safari to improve your odds of seeing all the big 5 and so much more. Most Safaris will have one in the morning for a few hours (typically very early when the animals are most active as its cooler) and then late afternoon/early evening. You may also consider a few more early morning safari tours for 3-5 viewing experiences. I can tell you that seeing elephants and giraffes doesn't get old. It didn't matter how many we saw, each one made me wow.
Make sure to bring cash to tip your driver.
Wear light, breathable comfortable neutral clothes. We purchased Safari hats on Amazon before we left and they came in really handy for when we were driving (and it was windy) as well as for keeping the sun off our neck. Even though the Safari truck is covered, the sun is still warm from the sides of the vehicle.
Bring binoculars. You will spot many animals in the distance.
Bring your camera. Our cell phones worked great for capturing pictures. While it would have been nice to take more professional pictures while we were there, we were just fine with our phones. Nothing can erase the memories that we gained from the experience.
Bring sunscreen and bugspray.
Bring snacks and water.

To finish off this recap, here are some pics of the delicious food that we consumed during our Safari tour.