Trip to Kruger National Park

We decided to take our first trip to Kruger National Park for a safari this past weekend.  It has taken almost 2 years of living in South Africa to visit Kruger due to the malaria risk a majority of the year.  Plus the fact that I was pregnant 2 months after arriving here then I did not want to take a newborn, meant that we had to wait.  During the winter months, May-September, the malaria risk is is extremely low so you can visit without anti-malaria medication.

Four hours east of Pretoria is an area known as Marloth Park, which is a wildlife sanctuary of 1500 hectares and borders Kruger park.

zebras on the side of the road in Marloth park

4 year old zebra nursing from he rmom

Kudu

Ostrich rolling in the sand

Pool and Boma area with our vacation rental

The traditional thatch roof was in all the rooms and made for a more traditional feel.

Years back the park offered residential sites and people began building personal and vacation homes in the area.  I was surprised the park looked so rustic and the homes were built around the bush.
We rented one of the vacation homes so we could have more room for the kids.  The owners of the home arranged for daily game drives into Kruger through a local company and it worked great to have the safari guide at our disposal to work around the kid's schedule.

We saw 8 rhinos the first day and 16 total during our 2 day safari

On our first drive we saw lots of rhinos, impalas, kudu, elephants and warthogs.

Warthog

Wildebeest

vultures all facing the same way, so the guide figured there was a kill in their direction

Beautiful young zebra

We stopped for a local favorite, waffles and ice-cream, Adalyn was in heaven.  After a mid-day break due to the heat and animals taking shelter from the sun, therefore difficult to see, we went back out on another drive.  For the afternoon we drove along Crocodile River and spotted a herd of elephants, including some cute babies taking a drink.







Down the river a bit was another herd followed some buffalo.  After a sunset drink over the river we went back to the house.

Had to wait for the zebra to move before we could drive along

One aspect of the trip that we loved was having our meals catered at the house.  The owner of the property has a local chef who cooked us up ox tail one night then another night was ostrich steak, all delicious with the regional favorites of malva pudding and milk tart.  Maybe I am just lazy but its nice to not have to get dressed up and take the kids out for a long dinner, but instead eat as we wished at home.  Three nights of catered dinner provided enough left overs for lunch so it was great to not cook for the entire trip.  At night we could hear the nearby lions roar as we enjoyed dessert by the fire.  Of course there is a 9 foot electric fence all around Kruger and Marloth park so we were not worried.



The second day we started out earlier into Kruger and saw a tons more rhinos.  A few crocodiles, hippos, lions, giraffes, zebras, and lots of birds and the most poisonous snake in the world (luckily up in a tree).

Hippos

Hippos enjoying a swim

After a bush breakfast we headed back to the house where Grant and Adalyn were enjoying playing with the babysitter.



Adalyn enjoyed the game drives for about 2 hours then was ready to move onto something more exciting for her like playing with Barbies. 

 I brought a few Barbies on the game drive, but instead of joining us for the afternoon drives, she preferred to stay back with Grant.  The house accommodations provided maid service and someone to watch after Grant as I knew being confined in a game drive vehicle would not be much fun for him....or us.  Little did I realize, until the 4th time the babysitter watched Grant, that she could not speak English.  After any instruction I gave she always replied, "yes, mom", so I figured we were on the same page.  I got a good laugh once I figured it out and then it made way more sense why she did the things she did.  I have now learned to ask open ended questions for the next time.  I am sure Grant enjoyed the experience, including his 2 baths a day she gave him....still no idea why but whatever, it's Africa.

On the afternoon of the second day we decided not to drive into Kruger again but instead visit Lions Spruit which is a game reserve within Marloth Park.  It houses all the big five except elephants.  We were able to sneak up on some rhinos and watch zebras drink from a pond.

Poor rhino had part of his horn broken off

The lions were too hidden but we had the whole place to ourselves, never seeing another vehicle the entire time.  One thing I did not enjoy about Kruger was the amount of cars.  Lots of locals self-drive and I felt like it took away from the experience to be driving down the beaten path looking for a leopard and a Kia comes your way.



We rarely saw other safari vehicles and I think having the guide and the open air vehicle makes the experience better. I would never be able to find all the animals myself, plus drive and know all the facts about each animal to share with the other passengers.

Kruger was a great experience I'm glad we could visit but next time I would like to stay farther into the bush, and hopefully see some cheetahs and leopards.  Maybe when the kids are a bit older as lots of lodges won't allow small kids to stay and/or enjoy a game drive.  I don't want to leave my kids all day with a babysitter so for us a house in Marloth park was the perfect plan.  I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to do things on their own schedule.