The Caribbean island of Antigua is one of the Leeward Islands and, together with the neighbouring island of Barbuda, is home to around 100,000 people. Its capital, St. John’s, on the northwest corner of the island, has a deep harbour and is a popular calling point for cruise ships. It has wonderful beaches – and there are said to be 365 of them, one for each day of the year, making it one of the area’s most popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean. Having said that a lot of the American cruise ships don’t go there, it’s quite ‘British’ and the Americans tend to prefer to cruise to their own islands. We visited on a cruise in 2023.
It was Jenny’s first time visiting Antigua, where as I had been several times many, many years ago. Jenny was ultra excited. We’ve cruised the Caribbean many times and this is only the second time Antigua had been on our itinerary. On the previous occasion it was dropped from the itinerary due to the ship having engine trouble, Jenny had been very disappointed. So on this occasion we were fortunate to be able to sightsee the island. Strangely enough it’s on our itinerary again when we visit later this year..a Celebratory Cruise for our 10th Wedding Anniversary.
Since 1981, Antigua and Barbuda has been an independent state, although it remains within the Commonwealth of Nations.
Not surprisingly, the island has produced many fine cricketers representing the West Indies including Curtly Ambrose, whose mother used to ring a bell at her front door every time her son took a wicket! For me, though, he is eclipsed (just) by one of my alltime boyhood heroes, Sir Vivian Richards.
To the southeast of the island is English Harbour, home to the UNESCO site now referred to as Nelson’s Dockyard in recognition of Lord Hortaio Nelson’s time here as Senior Naval Officer of the Leeward Islands.
The dockyard is a popular attraction today, having been carefully restored and preserved reflecting life here 250 years ago. It is one of the deepest, protected harbours in the Eastern Caribbean Sea.
A popular view point is Shirley Heights. From here you get magnificent views of the beautiful surrounding area.
The Arctic Circle is an imaginary line encircling the earth. This line is located at latitude 66 33′ North. In the Arctic Circle, the sun does not set on summer solstice (June 20 or 21) and is does not rise on winter solstice (December 21 or 22). There are eight countries which extend into The Arctic Circle. These are Greenland, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and Alaska (USA).
Approximately 4 million people, of which 10% of the inhabitants are indigenous, live with in the Arctic circle today. It had been on our ‘bucket list’ to visit and understand some of the cultures of those who live within the Arctic circle for sometime. We decided to achieve this by flying from London to Vancouver, cruising from Vancouver up to Whittier, Alaska, and then take the train to Denali and continue by coach to Fairbanks, from there we decided to take a small plane into the Arctic Circle. It was all going swingingly well up to Fairbanks. We had magnificent views from the train, which slowed for us to take, evidently, unusually clear pictures of Mount Denali.
The weather was kind to us and we got further views of the majestic mountain from the early morning bus to Fairbanks.
Alas! arriving in Fairbanks we were not so lucky…we had allowed two nights in Fairbanks thinking that we would be able to fly in to The Arctic Circle on one of the two nights….more fool us!!! The weather was appalling and we were told on our first night that they were not flying so on our second night as we waited in the small office on the edge of the airstrip we had high hopes. However! It soon became obvious we were going nowhere……they only charge ( it was about US$1000 for two people) if you can actually land in The Arctic, so although we didn’t loose any money by trying, we were bitterly disappointed…we couldn’t stay longer because we had restrictions such as return flights and work to consider……we returned to the UK without completing our ambition..
Two years later we took exactly the same route only this time, on advice, we booked into a Fairbanks hotel for a week. On our first night we found ourselves back at the office on the runway…our chariot awaited us..it didn’t half look small as we boarded our 6 seater plane. Handbags were stashed in the lockers in the wings. We squeezed ourselves in, with John next to the pilot and me behind him, 4 others joined us and we were soon in the air. The flight time is just under an hour. Looking down we had a good view of The Dalton Highway and the Oil Pipeline.
About 40 minutes into the flight the pilot told us he was detouring to circle another small town, which had a landing strip, because some heavy weather was moving in. We circled for about 30 minutes before the pilot said it was safe to continue. We were heading towards ‘Coldfoot’ a town within the Arctic Circle. As we entered into the Arctic circle the pilot told us we could take pictures of the planes dials..which we did.
Again we began to circle and the pilot said he couldn’t land until he could see the landing strip. The weather wasn’t great and the pilot said he’d circle once more before taking us back to Fairbanks and we could try again tomorrow!! We had been in the air nearly 2 hours and he said he had enough ‘gas’ to get us back to Fairbanks….we were just a little nervous!!! Suddenly the pilot said he could see the strip and he was going in…….all we could see was the Yukon River!!! Or was it a fork of the Koyukuk River ??? So we just prayed for longevity!! Thankfully our skilled pilot landed us safely and we disembarked in Coldfoot.
Coldfoot reminded me of some of the towns Dana Stabenhow writes about in her Kate Shuga Novels!!!!! Coldfoot came about when In 1899, gold was discovered in Slate Creek, and a small rush began as prospectors arrived to pan for gold. As winter approached, many of the prospectors got “cold feet” and decided to turn around and head back to warmer climates. The name stuck, Coldfoot’s gold rush only lasted around 5 years and the small town was quickly abandoned when gold was discovered in Wiseman only 10 miles north in 1908. Many of the buildings in Coldfoot were hauled north to Wiseman and rebuilt there. However Coldfoot was resurrected in the 1970s as a construction camp for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and as long-haul truckers began driving the Haul Road (later renamed the Dalton Highway), a full-service truck stop was established in Coldfoot. Coldfoot is now a place where travelers can find lodging, dining, gasoline, air service, and even a post office. It is situated nearly 200 miles away from the next largest community. We used its facilities, which could only be described as basic….this really is a ‘one horse town’ with the truckers stop being the one horse!!
Having used the ‘Ladies’ in the truck stop/bar/restaurant/lodgings…we got into a vehicle which took us down the highway for thirty minutes and then off to the right to a place called Wiseman. Wiseman is situated in the Arctic Circle, Northern Alaska it is on the edge of the beautiful Brooks Range mountains near the Gates of the Arctic National Park, along the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River. The community population has fluctuated over the years from a robust mining/trading outpost to current times, with a few families making it their home, when we visited it had had a population explosion!!! Increasing from 12 residents to 14!!! There are no services in the town. We were greeted by one of the residents who took us into the meetings/community centre…it’s still used for village functions but also for tourist group talks.
Another of the huts is set up as a museum. We browsed the village. The residents grow their own vegetables…they are hunters/gatherers. They hunt their allocation of meat..usually Caribou and Moose, which they store in areas deep under their huts, this space acts as a deep freeze all year around. They also store fish they have caught. This helps see them through the winter months when they are snowed in and the river turns to ice.
There are also a few huts which act as Bed & Breakfasts for tourists wishing to experience a few days “off the grid” in the middle of nowhere. After a couple of hours we returned to Coldfoot. Our pilot was waiting for us. The weather was still not good. I nervously asked how he would see to take off…his response was he didn’t need to see to take off only to land!!!!! 52 minutes later we landed back in the modern day town of Fairbanks.
We were totally delighted to have achieved our ambition. Learning about the way the small population lives was amazing. Wiseman is a village where time has stood still…a wonderful adventure.
We stayed in quite a few hotels and guest houses on what is the usual tourist route around Sri Lanka. 1) On arriving in Sri Lanka we spent the first 3 nights At Ayubowan Guest House in Negombo.
This is within walking distance of the town centre, the beach and some good restaurants- we can recommend The White House and Sea View restaurants…great sea food and curries.
The Ayubowan Guest is owned by Brenda and Ron, who originate from Kent in the UK. The guest house is very well run. We originally had an upstairs room, which was big and airy it’s private bathroom was not en-suite just a couple of metres down the private corridor. However I wasn’t very comfortable with this arrangement and we had wanted a downstairs en-suit room. So the next day Brenda had her very obliging staff move us to a lovely downstairs room. This wasn’t as big but it had a nice en-suite, opened on to the veranda and more importantly, for comfort, the air conditioning didn’t blow directly on to the bed…so the room was cool without freezing you in bed. Breakfast was either a Sri Lankan breakfast which Brenda told us was very spicy hot, or a British Breakfast…. We opted for the British. It was fresh fruit followed by bacon, sausage and egg and toast and jams. It was all very pleasant, we met some nice guests and enjoyed the swimming pool. You need to be aware that you can’t use a credit card here. Brenda was happy to call Patrick, her regular tuk-tuk driver, to take us to restaurants and return us…each trip was about 500 SLK rupees….which we later decided was far to much but we paid what he asked and at about £2.60 a round trip it wasn’t really worth the hassle of bartering.
2). Our second recommended hotel is Hotel 4U Salina Gardens in Anuradhapura, ( You will note that it’s not the 2nd hotel we stayed in as we really couldn’t recommend that one). We liked this from the moment we arrived. It wasn’t a very salubrious area and the entrance looked vaguely like a building site…but don’t be put off…the reception was lovely, we were greeted by two lovely ladies who really tried hard to meet our every need. We had requested ground floor on all accommodation but once again we were booked upstairs, but the ladies soon sorted it out and changed our booking to a large en-suite room which opened on to a veranda overlooking the pool.
They even offered to set a table down stairs as the restaurant was upstairs…we did however go up stairs and had a table overlooking the pool. The friendly German Shepherd dog escorted us around, usually with one of his toys to throw for him.
The menu was the most extensive we had anywhere we stayed…it wasn’t cordon bleu, it was however well cooked and very tasty at a very reasonable price.
From this hotel you can go to the main gate of Wilpattu ( wish we’d known this) and also explore Anuradhapura. It’s a great base…set around beautiful gardens. On the morning we checked out we met the owner….we’d actually met him the day before without realising as he was tending the garden and checking the pool…which was spotless. The owner was a delightful, elderly gentleman who had built the whole hotel himself, from the design to the construction. We loved this place…it was very reasonably priced and although not posh, it was very comfortable with everything you needed. You can use a credit card her. 3). Lavendish Wild Safari Hotel, was one place we hadn’t expected to stay…but due to a slight mix up with our travel arrangements our tour company booked us in here. It was like most chain hotels, very pleasant, nice big en-suite rooms, lovely views, nice restaurant….a word of warning if it’s a buffet evening meal get there early or most the food will be gone and you are left with little choice…..the hotel is a bit impersonal and you fit in around them rather than them meeting your needs…we wanted to be out for Safari at 6.00am so needed a packed breakfast but the kitchen didn’t start until 6.00am in fact a few staff dawdled in at 6.15am and even though our guide and the jeep driver did their best to chivvy them on we didn’t get off until 6.30am. The good thing about this hotel is that it’s only about 10/15 minutes from the Wasgamuwa National Park gate. They do take credit card here.
4). Our absolutely favourite hotel came next on our trip..The Elegant Hotel Kandy. It is fact about 15 minutes outside Kandy. Absolutely superb hotel. Immaculately trained staff, lovely welcome, beautiful room with amazing views. Great menu, wonderful food which was serenaded by two singers with a guitar.
The pool was very welcomed and beautiful views. The gardens were nice to wander around..it was a deluxe hotel which certainly lived up to its excellent reputation. It was the perfect place to relax.
They took credit card. It was well situated for the tooth temple, a Kandy Evening street food walk with guide, a cultural show, the botanical gardens and of course the train station.
5). Our 5th recommended hotel is Beach & Bliss in Mirissa…yes we have missed Ella and Yala out- my mother used to say if you can’t say end thing good about something don’t say anything at all …although the hotel in Ella did have a fabulous view…I really can’t think of anything good to say about the hotel in Yala, where we stopped 4 nights and had to put up with unpleasant food, a room which wasn’t cleaned or made up even though we asked for it to be and we even had to provide our own loo roll because we asked for some more and it was not forthcoming…..so we jump ahead to Mirissa….we were supposed to be booked into the same hotel for 4 nights but once again the Sri Lankan booking agent had made a mistake and we were only booked in for 3 nights. Our guide and driver sorted it out and we spent a night at Beah & Bliss. The beach is actually a short walk along as it was pretty rocky in front of the hotel… The manager was really kind and switched all his bookings around so that I could be on a first floor room…we laid around the pool looking out to sea… we had a fabulous evening meal and a good breakfast the next morning.
6). Sea World Botique hotel …finally we book in for our 3 nights…rather disappointed that we didn’t have a sea view room …if you book here you must book a sea view room ..the other rooms are on a noisy road and very, very small. The sea View room we were moved into after our first night was divine …the crashing waves, fantastic view, lovely balcony, huge room, big bed…loads of power points, massive bathroom and a spa shower…
We enjoyed the sun deck and the breakfast and the one evening meal we had there. They take credit card but prefer cash. The staff are very helpful and kind. It is ideally situated for using the restaurants on the beach in Mirissa and for a whale watching trip.
7). Sapphire Seas Hotel in Hikkaduwa is our final recommended hotel. It is right on a superb stretch of golden sand. We had a wonderful room on the second floor….there is a lift ( it didn’t always work when the electricity was of low wattage in the evening !!!) we had a wrap-around balcony so we could see the beach and sea from two different aspects. It was a massive room with a nice big bed and a fairly small en-suite bathroom with a shower. The electricity was strange in this hotel…sometimes the sockets and lights worked sometimes they didn’t…but if you tried them all you usually found a few to work…..but that aside ..nothing dull the awe and wonder of the beautiful seascapes from this room.
During the day there are loungers on a deck overlooking the sea and the pool. The food and beverage manager is really nice and friendly and organises his team to move the shades as the sun moves.
The restaurant is excellent ..the chief a talented man with a good sense of humour and a talented cook, he’ll even ask what fish you want to eat before he heads off to buy it.
This hotel is great for relaxing and a good base to visit Galle, a turtle sanctuary and a tsunami remembrance museum.
Sometimes it’s nice to get off a night flight and rest…we have done this a few times. We’ve also booked into an airport hotel overnight before flying on to Namibia or Botswana the next day. The last twice we’ve stayed at The Holiday Inn Johannesburg Airport – it’s about £50 a night for a double for two. …….if you walk out of the airport past the car hire block you come to the complimentary bus area, the bus to the Holiday Inn goes every 30 minutes from here. It’s only about 10/15 minutes to the hotel. There is a bar, snack bar and restaurant…..you can pay a small amount extra to book into your room early….last year we did this, had a rest and then met a friend in the bar for toasted sandwich lunch..
If we don’t stay at the airport we pick up the car hire and head off towards Kruger. There are several, place’s to stop en route to Kruger. I don’t recommend driving in the dark in South Africa. We have often headed towards Witbank – now known as Emalahleni – if we decide to stop there we stay at what was The Protea hotel but is now A New Hotel. It is a good hotel with nice rooms safe parking and a very pleasant restaurant. A double room costs about £62.00 for 2. If you manage to land In Johannesburg early enough you might fancy going further….some people do drive straight to Kruger….but I am the only driver and I don’t sleep well on planes ..so we prefer to break our journey. Further on approximately 20km east of Water Boven tunnel is a very nice game reserve – SARAGOSSA GAME RESERVE. It is situated on the banks of the Elands river in the scenic Elands Valley. You turn off the N4, cross the railway line and phone them from the gate…they then escort you to farm buildings where you leave your vehicle and transfers to the lodge via a safari jeep. This luxurious nature and wildlife retreat covers a variety of ecosystems, from riverine forest to savannah and bushveld. The reserve has an air of calmness and serenity, and is the ideal location to begin or conclude your journey to or from Kruger. The reserve has a variety of elegant safari accommodation, offering guests the highest levels of comfort and cuisine. Giraffe, hippo, zebra, blue wildebeest and eland are just a few of the many species that roam freely throughout the 1400ha wildlife reserve.
it’s a truly lovely place…we stayed 2 nights, having a wonderful early morning and evening game drive. We finished the game drive at the lake/dam. A wonderful wedding venue is on the banks. We had a bar-b-que with everything set out on the banks… The hippos were playing and a young hippo was being protected by its mum. It started to rain and we adjourned to the inside venue which was also gorgeous.
Prices are on application the last price I had for it was about £200 per night for 2 inclusive of dinner, bed & breakfast and game drive…. It’s REALLY worth the money, wonderful experience…really relaxing.
On arriving in Malalane we have often stay outside the Kruger National Park and go in daily. We’ve stayed at Prestana Kruger Lodge… a lovely setting on The Crocodile River. It is just 700 metres from the gate into Kruger. The hotel and lodges are set in 22 hectares of unspoilt scrub land…. It has a lovely deck and restaurant and the deluxe rooms over look the river. It costs about £100 for a double room bed and breakfast for two.
If this seems a little expensive we have also stayed at The River House Lodge in Malalane. It also overlooks the river, has a lovely swimming pool and a really quirky bar…it’s like a living museum….
The rates are for two people dinner, bed and breakfast approx £87 per night….the evening menu is a set meal as is the breakfast…but it’s very nice indeed…….the owner and the managers are good fun and good company….the rooms are spacious and comfortable…this is a really good price and it only takes 10 minutes to drive into the park.
There are also a few more hotels we’ve stayed at just outside the Malalane gate but these two are our favourites…..if you want a greater choice just email us on 2jsworldofadventure@gmail.com or go on the contact page.
Moving up the park, when we get to Satara we often like to go out of the park for a few days. The accommodation in Kruger is quite basic and often not in top condition….let’s just call it rustic..
So occasionally we feel we need “time-out”. Going out of the Orpen Gate puts you in prime wildlife area…there are numerous private game reserves, lodges, farms etc….they range from top of the range to more reasonable. Not far from Orpen on the road from the gate, is Timbavati Safari Lodge. It is located in Mbabat, and offers accommodations in thatched chalets with colorful traditional African design like the huts of the Ndebele Tribe. It is only a 24-minutes’ drive from the Orpen gate of Kruger. The lodge has a swimming pool and a bar. Each chalet is fitted with a ceiling fan and mosquito netting over each bed and the windows, a private bathroom with a shower. There is an on-site restaurant. While we were there we had two evenings with a BBQ in the evening. At the time of visiting they were doing evening Safari into Timbavati Game reserve..a 5* reserve at a price we could only dream of affording…..I had asked to book one of these evening safaris when I booked the accommodation….but I was told it wasn’t necessary…ummmm!!! When we arrived we asked to go on the Safari on one of our two nights, but alas they were fully booked..I was far from amused and felt rather cheated as we could have stayed in a dozen or so other places…but we always try to make the most of our adventures…so we made other plans. The lodge accommodation is slightly less basic than in Kruger, in that most things work…but you do need to be aware that it doesn’t have air conditioning – Kruger accommodation does although it doesn’t always work. We did have very nice breakfasts and the BBQ’s were lovely. It costs about £100 a night dinner bed and breakfast for 2 people.
From anywhere in this area there are two important places which are well worth a visit. Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is situated at the base of the majestic North Eastern Lowveld Drakensberg mountain range in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, Moholoholo Means “The Very Great One”, they do a great deal of good work assisting wildlife which has been trapped, caught in wires, attacked for straying into human inhabited areas.
It is a superb place where rare species can be seen close up…one has to remember that if the centre hadn’t intervened these animals would not have lived. Some can be released back into the wild some have to stay as permanent residents.
At the crossroads from the Kruger Road if you turn right ( instead of straight on for Moholoholo) you head towards Hoedspruit. You soon come across the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre……this is a firm favourite of ours and we visit most years. I first went when it first opened and have been a very firm supporter of its work ever since. It opened in 1990 as the Hoedspruit Cheetah Project, HESC has played an important role in the conservation of specific endangered species, particularly cheetahs and rhinos. The centre specialises on the survival of these endangered species through breeding and ensuring the diversity of the bloodlines of cheetahs. They also rehabilitate rhinos that have become victims of poaching, whilst creating awareness among the general public, locally and internationally, about the importance of wildlife conservation. The work they do is paramount in saving these endangered species. They also have other endangered species, a leopard who was caught in a snare and a pack of wild dogs. The later are all individual dogs which had been either poisoned (to keep them away from domestic livestock) or snared/trapped, they have been rescued and formed a pack.
One of the very special resident species at the centre is the beautiful King Cheetah…they aren’t released back into the wild. Their rarity makes them incredibly valuable and they just wouldn’t survive the poachers in the wild. The King Cheetah doesn’t have spots but elongated shapes.
If you feel a bit like having some luxury accommodation, there are numerous private reserves around the Hoedspruit area…we’ve tried several a favourite of ours was Tintshaba Lodge but during our last visit it became evident that it was now a hunting lodge and we are into Eco tourism…you can however have a microlight trip from here. We’ve also tried Hongonyi which has now been incorporated into one of the mega expensive lodges. Another is Mohlabetsi which is situated in the vast Balule Private Game Reserve, which is part of the Greater Kruger National Park. Its name means place of sweet water…it’s a lovely place mid price range for stays at Private Game reserves. One of our favourites which is just about affordable for us is Masodini which means “Place in the Bush” in South Sotho. The lodge is in Olifants West/Balule. It’s a beautiful Lodge surrounded by large trees, shrubs and African date palms, providing shade and excellent bird viewing. There are Five separate tastefully furnished Chalets which provide privacy, peace and quiet. Each Chalet has tea and coffee facilities, fans, mosquito nets and air conditioning. The owner gives fantastic game drives, they seem to know each individual creature on their property. It’s a great place. The price for dinner, bed and breakfast and game drives is around £350 per night for two people.
We hope this has given you a few extra ideas as to what to see and do around the periphery of Kruger National Park…if you are looking for some cultural activities as well as being at one with nature we can also point you in the right direction. Feel free to contact us as we know this area like the back of our hand.
I am going to start this blog by stating how affordable Safari is in South Africa…Kruger National Park allows for some of the finest wildlife and bird watching in the world…….You can book it yourself, I call it DIY Safari….but if you don’t want to Rosie Price at DialaFlight. (44+161-841-8179 or email rosie.price@dialaflight.co.uk) will book it for you. You probably think I am mad …..but you’ll see from these quick figures that I am not it really is a very reasonable holiday….PRICES FOR 2 PEOPLE= Airfares with Virgin Atlantic are £1571 ( BA is cheaper but we prefer virgin) Hire car for 17 nights with Avis is £1084 ( yes you can get a lot cheaper but this is for a high clearance vehicle good for dirt roads and seeing over tall grass…we usually have a Toyota Urban Cruiser, no need for a 4×4, this actually was the cost of a new Toyota Cross Corolla, about the height of a Rave but more comfortable) 12 nights accomodation in Kruger National Park is £890 ( we book 2 bedded with en-suite, some were perimeter rondavels throughout the park) We also stayed 5 nights with friend in Johanesberg, but if you stayed somewhere like The City Lodge Morningside near Santon ( like a Premier Inn) it would cost £225. However you probably would only need two nights one when you fly in and one before you fly out so you could save three days car-hire and accommodation….. The total cost of this is £3770 ….. Not bad for a 2 week holiday in one of the top wildlife destinations in the world…….the only extra cost is the daily concession in Kruger National Park…I am uncertain of this price because if you’re in the Park longer than 10 nights it pays to buy an international Wild Card which we do …it last a year and we work it so we get 2 years holidays out of the one card ( we go September/October one year and May/June the next year) Yes you also have fuel and food to buy….in Kruger you can self cater…we do this for breakfast and lunch but we eat in the Camps restaurant for our evening meal.
OK!!!!!!! Having spent nearly 3 weeks in Botswana we flew into ORTambo airport Johannesburg, collected the hire car from Avis and drove to our friends house. We stopped two days, catching up with each other’s news..we keep a cool box and some pillows at our friends ( because I am a very fussy sleeper and love a nice goose down pillow!!!)
We then set off to Kruger. Unlike tour companies we don’t go into the park at the Paul Kruger Gate, neither do we ever stay at Skakuza, it’s far too commercial for our liking…..so we stay on the N4 – a good toll road ( tolls are cheap, but you do need Rands for them as they don’t take foreign credit cards – petrol filling stations do).
We go through Nelspruit 210 miles/330Km east of Johannesburg, ( Nelspruit is now known as Mbombela) and on to Malalane. We enter Kruger at the Malalane Gate (don’t forget to lock your car when you park up to book in at the gate) Our first stop was 2 nights at Berg-en-Dal in a perimeter chalet.
We arrive in time to take a Sunset Drive on a Parks vehicle…we love these, because although it’s great to self drive, the Sunset and Night drives means you are out in the Park after 6pm when the gates shut and everyone else has to be in camp….only Parks vehicles are allowed in the park between sunset and sun rise..so it’s very quiet and you get to see the nocturnal animals…We were lucky on this drive…Sometimes “Mother Nature” just wants you to see it all……wow, wow, wow…. Our it’s sighting before we even got to the main road….
We turned onto the dirt road along the river towards Crocodile Bridge…..there dancing in the road and chasing around the bushes was a pack of Wild dog sometimes called The Painted Dog…..…..these are very rare and nearly extinct …
After watching them a while they disappeared into the bush and we proceeded along the track….we were amazed when our guide shone her torch on a chameleon…what spotting …
We were still buzzing from the spots when our guide put the spot lights to the left and there was a heavily pregnant leopard….we tracked her slowly, as she was walking parallel to the road, for about a kilometre before she turned away from the road and disappeared into the bush.
Considering ourselves extremely fortunate we turned around and headed back..passing an elephant and a hippo at the side of the road …….
Then just when you think it’s all over for the evening we see a pride of lions, well that’s the big 5 seen on our first evening !!!
The start of our Kruger adventure was off to a bang!! We continued up the Park to Lower Sabi for one night. Our self drive game viewing was as usual productive. The tar road towards Skakuza was closed due to the heavy rain washing the bridge away…this however didn’t prevent the resident leopard from strutting it’s stuff in its normal area….
Day 4 in Kruger saw us heading up North. We don’t usually go past Satara but it had been full so we went up to Olifants. We don’t get as excited in the North of the Park…it’s very dry and the wildlife aren’t as prolific as in the central and southern areas of the Park. We saw a few elephants the occasional zebra, wildebeest, impala and steenbok…..but wildlife was few and far between. Thankfully we had been able to get into Satara for the next 4 nights……we enjoy this area…lots of lions, “Casper”, the famous white lion, it’s an area full of big herds of buffaloes and where there are buffalo there are cats !!! We had 4 days of great game viewing and a sunset drive…our cameras clicked happily away….
The area really does teem with lions and their associated acquaintances…..
The big herds of buffalo really do bring the predators out….
We didn’t just see lions during the da, but we saw loads at dusk and even ‘bonking’ lions in the road !!!!!!
I seem to have made it sound as if we saw nothing but lions….that’s really not the case we saw elephant herds and lads of the usual impala, zebra, wildebeest, kudu, the odd nyala, steenbok, klipspringer, crocodile and numerous bird species…to name but a few.
After 4 wonderful days driving ourselves around the Satara region we headed back down to the southern end of the Park for a 2 night stay at Pretorioskop. Once again we got there in time to take the Sundowner Parks drive ( these drives are very reasonably priced and we often take them so I can have a rest from driving and can really relax with a game drive) Once again we were so lucky…I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves …
There were 30 lions in this pride, which had been feeding off a buffalo…this really is a once in a life time sight. After 2 nights at Pretorioskop we took the long dirt road across to Berg-en-Dal for our final 2 nights in Kruger……On the way across we were surprised when a cheetah walked out in front of us and proceeded to walk down the road in front of us. We were even more surprised when about 5 minutes later a second cheetah joined the first …then we were flabbergasted when a third wandered into the road. We spent about 20 minutes following them along the road. Unfortunately another car then came up behind us and with their sudden arrivals the cheetahs all disappeared out of sight into the bush.
After 2 nights at Berg-en-Dal and some more great wildlife viewing we headed back to Johannesburg. We spent a night in The City Lodge so we could see some very close friends and another night at our friends house before driving to the airport, returning the car and boarding the plane back home……We had, had an amazing time in South Africa and Botswana…6 weeks of superb Wildlife Viewing …at one with Mother Nature.
2 J's World of Adventure 