Elephants, tigers and bears...

Okay, no tigers or bears, but our recent 4-day trip to Kruger National Park gave us an opportunity to see tons'o'wildlife! It was incredible. Christa, Paul, Ryan and I flew to Jo'burg and after an interesting (and safe) experience in a city we'd all be warned about, we started our separate trips to Kruger. Christa and Paul insisted on camping, while Ryan and I decided to take the more comfortable route...Not true, not true at all.

Ryan and I hopped on our giant safari vehicle with four other safari goers (the tour usually has between 14 and 16 people) to start our 2-nights camping, one-night lodge adventure. This gave us lots of space and contact with our super knowledgeable tour guide. On our first game drive we saw elephants, zebra, lions and more. By noon of our second day, we had seen what is called, "the big five": elephants, lions, buffalo, rhinos and leopards. It is most people's goal to see these animals while in the park. We also saw warthogs, hippos, hyenas, a cheetah (very rare to see both a leopard and a cheetah), giraffes, wildebeests and much more. The wildlife sightings were in full force and there wasn't a half and hour that went by that we didn't see something.
On our last night we met up with C and P at the lodge where they had spent their entire trip. We relaxed int the pool, before going on a night drive, enjoying the sunset and looking for animals by spotlight. We even saw a group of giraffes walk by the property where we were staying (no fences). Ryan and I both agree it was by far the best tour we have ever been on and highly recommended.