Day
7
(October 9, 2022) Kruger National Park: Crocodile Bridge
Before
We will leave Hlane with the idea of reaching Crocodile Bridge Camp in
Kruger N.P., but we could spend part of the morning exploring Hlane if
we were unable to do so the day before.
If we arrive at the camp with enough time, we would leave
the
baggage in our bungalow and leave for our first visit in Kruger.
After
I get up early and at 5:45AM I go to the reception hut since
we
agreed yesterday to check at 6AM if we can do the Rhino Tour. Since no
one is there, I have to wait, but I like to watch the hippos in the
waterhole and the birds, which are very active. There is a tree in
front of the restaurant full of weavers with their nests.
At 6:15AM the receptionist has not arrived yet, but a
colleague
of hers tells me that we will be able to do the tour, so I run to look
for Eva, since there are only 15 minutes left for the tour to start.
When we arrive we realize that there was no rush, since the tour will
be just for the two of us. They charge us 340R each for it (Swaziland
has its own currency but, since it usually maintains parity with the
Rand, the prices are equally valid for both currencies).
We begin the tour, which has become a private one, with a
guide
who starts tracking to find the rhinos. Meanwhile, we are seeing
giraffes, wildebeests, impalas, linyalas, etc...
It's a while until he finally seems that he has found rhinos
and
stops and asks us to get out of the vehicle to see them up close. I
wasn't expecting we would be able to do this, and we walk until we see
a single rhino calf. We approach following his indications until the
mother comes out, which he had already perceived while we had not. We
approach slowly until they suddenly run away.
We continue to follow the route on what we believe is the way back to
the camp, but it is not. The guide continues searching and ends up
finding a group of three adult rhinos and he asks us again to go down
and we get very close to them in what we think is a spectacular
experience.
The tour lasts about two hours and has completely exceeded
our
expectations. The next thing now is to go to breakfast, which we do
enjoying the buffet and the views of the waterhole, where there are two
hippos that are joined by a wildebeest, impalas and two rhinos.
We take a walk to say goodbye to the camp and enjoy the
fauna
there, with linyalas grazing inside and the wide variety of birds that
I already acknowledged earlier.
We leave the camp in our way to Kruger N.P. in a two-hour
journey that takes us to cross the border again, this time to return to
South Africa. Back in South Africa we want to refuel before entering
the Kruger Park, and we do it in a town called Kamaqhekeza.
40 minutes later we enter the Kruger N.P. through the Crocodile Bridge
gate, where we stop to do the paperwork to enter the park and also to
check in at the Crocodile Bridge Camp which, surprisingly, are done at
the same time and by the same person, who ends up delivering us the
bungalow key.
The camp is small but charming and even has a gas station.
The
bungalow has a river view, as we had booked it that way. We eat the
leftovers of yesterday's pizza on the terrace while watching hippos and
elephants by the river.
We left at 3PM for our first safari at Kruger N.P. The heat
is
overwhelming: it marks 41 degrees. That must be the reason why during
the first hour and a quarter we have not seen other than impalas and
wildebeests.
We turn around and go back along the same road when an
elephant
suddenly appears at the right side that looks at us, because it seems
that it intends to cross. We are overwhelmed by this encounter. When it
crosses it stays next to us eating and we can take photos from very
close.
When there is little left to reach the camp we see 4 cars
stopped in the right lane and we approach to discover that below there
is a large herd of elephants with several calves having dinner. We
enjoyed the show for a while.
Before returning to the bungalow we stop at the camp store
to stock up on drinks and food for dinner and breakfast.
During dinner, two elephants and some antelopes pass by the
other side of the fence that protects the camp, less than a meter from
us.
