We spent 9 days in Kruger National Park with our friends Heidi and Eric. And this post features some of our favorite moments and photos.

Not surprisingly, spring at KNP is baby season! So we saw quite a few fun interactions between moms and their “little” ones. The picture at the top of this post features a vervet monkey and her nursing baby. The momma white rhino and her frisky youngster crossed the road in front of us on our first afternoon in the park. Such a great start to our Kruger adventure! The dwarf mongooses were quite curious about our car and we saw several sets of spotted hyena cubs and mothers.

While chatting with other park visitors at a picnic spot near Lower Sabie Rest Camp, we learned that a leopard was lounging in a tree several kilometers down the road. We not only found the leopard, but also discovered that the cat had suspended its kill on a branch just behind it. Fortunately for us, the tree didn’t have a lot foliage blocking a our view! 

Just after sunrise one morning we took a guided walk in the bush. Over the course of three or four hours we saw 4 of Africa’s big five, all but a leopard. We stayed a respectable distance from the elephants, cape buffalo, and lion. (The male lion was far enough away that we didn’t get very good photos.) And we gave the white rhino a very wide berth, but he got curious (bothered?) by our presence and came closer to investigate. Rhinos are have very poor eyesight and have difficulty distinguishing between people and trees at 15+ feet.  And male rhinos do not want their territory invaded or threatened. He got nearer to better detect our scent and voices. He was easily within charging distance and our rifle-toting guides were watching him carefully while we stood like silent statues beside our protectors. After a minute or two the large creature decided we were not a threat and walked away. 

For about 15 minutes one afternoon we were quite entertained by these three “teenage”hippos as they played (pretended to fight) at Nsemani Dam.  So much posturing, growling, gnawing, splashing, and flying mud!!

We took a park-organized sunset game drive out of Satara Rest Camp and the best part was definitely the cats. About 5 minutes from the camp our guide took us right to the spot where three or four male lions were relaxing, including a very rare white lion.  Fortunately we got a photo or two to document our first sighting of this variety of feline. After dark we drove somewhat close to a pride of lions with a nearby kill. And we were so fortunate to see an African wild cat, only the third or fourth one we have seen at a game park. 

Throughout our 9 days in KNP we observed more lions, both male and female. This male had an especially beautiful dark mane.

After seeing lions and a leopard, we weren’t sure if we’d be lucky enough to also find a cheetah. And we almost didn’t notice this one. Susan observed some large birds moving around on the ground a ways off of the road and with the help of binoculars she identified the birds as white-backed vultures. And vultures on the ground could only mean one thing: a kill. At first we assumed it was a lion kill and the big cat was napping in the shade a short distance away. But then we spotted (pun intended) the calm, well-camouflaged cheetah on the far right. The feline seemed fine sharing its kill with the scavengers and in 5 or 10 minutes the cheetah walked quite a ways off into the bush. 

About 28,000 elephants live in Kruger, so it isn’t surprising that we found many during our visit. 

This cute bushbuck walked through the Timbavati Picnic Site during one of our morning breaks from driving along park roads.

We only came across a few giraffes and some of them had red-billed oxpeckers as passengers. The tiny birds help their host by eating ticks maggots flies, and all kinds of larvae.

Just a few of the many beautiful birds we photographed during our 9 days in Kruger National Park.