A Bush Break 1/3

If you've been wondering why it's been so quiet around here it's because I've just spent a fabulous two weeks on holiday in the bush! There really is nothing quite like the African bush. The warm dry air, the breath-taking landscapes, the wonder of happening upon an animal in their natural habitat and the sunsets...oh the sunsets!!!



There's too much to fit into just one blog post, so I thought I would spread it over three - one for each of the places we stayed. Our holiday kicked off with four nights in the Kruger National Park. For those of you who don't know, the Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. Here you will be able to see the Big 5 (Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Leopard and Buffalo) and many, many other animals - not to mention the abundant birdlife! On our trip this time we were lucky enough to see four of the Big 5 - we just didn't see any lions!

There are 12 main rest camps in the park, with huts and bungalows as well as camping facilities. The camps are self-catering, but almost all now have really great restaurants too.

My family has always enjoyed holidays in the Kruger Park, staying in one of the rest camps. In fact we've stayed in almost all 12 of the them! This time we spent each night in a different camp - Berg-en-Dal, Orpen, Olifants and Letaba - driving between them, all the while looking for game.

Here are a few of the creatures we found on our travels:

Four of The Big 5

















Elephant - The gentle giant.

We 'spotted' this majestic leopard whilst out for a drive just before sunset!


A White Rhino - we were lucky enough to see 10 different Rhino's on this trip!




The Buffalo - the rather stinky and muddy member of the Big 5 family!

All things wild and beautiful


A Waterbuck and Giraffe.



Beautiful stripy Zebras.



The 'bokkies' - Left: a male Kudu. Right top: a Steenbok and Right Bottom: a young male Nyala.



A Blue Wildebeest (or Gnu).

Sometimes the little creatures are interesting too

Left: A group of Dwarf Mongoose. Right top: a Water Monitor (or Leguaan) and Right bottom: a Tree Squirrel.

Feathered finds












My absolute favourite - the Southern Ground Hornbill.



Left: Red-crested Korhaan, Right top: Natal Spurfowl and Right Bottom: Crested Francolin.



Helmeted Guineafowl.

And just because it's pretty...


The lovely little Impala Lily.

Be sure to catch my next post to see where we went next...

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