Okay, where did I leave off?
Ah, yes – on a dirt road being chased by an angry bull elephant.
Flush with the excitement one feels when cheating death, I drove down the dirt path from whence I came, on the lookout for more adventure. Guided by my park map, I pulled off into a dirt cul-de-sac overlooking Mestel Reservoir, and who did I find there? The same retired British couple that I had seen about 30 minutes prior.
The overlook is rather far from the lake, about 600 feet or so, so I took my 500 mm and scanned the lake for life. Success! A family of floating hippos.
Now, this photo of hippos is not at all impressive. Like, Not. At. All. And you’re probably thinking, “are those hippos or logs?” And the next day I’d get up close and personal with some baby hippos. But as with my first sighting of the zebras upon entering the park, I was excited. How could I not be? I was 1000s of miles from home, in wild Africa, far from the things of man, hanging out with hippos and zebras and angry elephants that wanted to stomp on my car.
Which brings me to the British couple in the car next to me.
They pointed towards the right side of the lake – a fish eagle, sitting high up on the tree. You can see him here in the upper left.
“But, Emil! What about the giraffe??” The retired British couple hadn’t pointed out the giraffe, likely because if you spend more than a day in Kruger you’ll get your fill of giraffes. It took me a few minutes to spot him. And I watched the giraffe carefully, and inelegantly, widen its stance, to get a sip of water. And all I could think of was that memorable line from Wild Kratts, from whom I obtain all my animal knowledge: giraffes are most vulnerable to predators when drinking water. And here I was, watching a real life episode of Wild Kratts. What a time to be alive.
“Giraffes are most vulnerable to predators when getting a drink of water.”
— One of the Kratt brothers
The retirees starting chatting me up. They were Kruger groupies, and come down every year to spend a few days in the park. And they proceeded to tell me about the time they were driving through Kruger when they happened upon a herd of elephants blocking the road, leading to a small backup. A normal person would pull out the biggest lens they had and start taking picture. But they watched in astonishment as a car, seemingly annoyed that the elephants were in their path, started to drive forward. Right towards the biggest bull elephant of them all. “They were German, of course,” said the husband, in a totally nonchalant manner, as if I was supposed to understand of course German tourists would drive headlong into an elephant. And the elephant promptly, and understandably, stood up on its hindlegs and stomped his front legs right on the hood of the car and lifted the rear off the ground. Point taken.
It was getting late, and by rule visitors had to make it to the campsite by dusk or be locked out. Along the way, just before entering camp, I ran across this beautiful elephant, with the setting sun behind me. After making it to Pretoriuskop, having a burger at Wimpy (no joke), I charged my batteries and settled in for a good night’s sleep.
All in all, a successful end to my first day.
