south africa: kruger national park

this was one of the best experiences i have had in a national park, simply because you got to see wild animals in their natural habitats. kruger is acres and acres of land that is protected so that animals and people can "interact" in safe ways. the downside is is that you can't get out of your car all day (for obvious reasons), but the upside is that you start your day quite early and by the end you may have seen 10to 15 different species of animals. basically you drive 10 to 20 miles an hour and keep your eyes peeled. sometimes you will see animals far off in the brush, other times animals will cross the road right in front of you. a lot of times we saw monkeys and baboons just sitting in the road, chillin'. rarely were the animals too scared when the cars went by since they were so used to these sightings. we actually had elephants cross the road in front and behind us. it was amazing.

here are some pictures of some of the wild animals we saw, but this does not encompass all the animals we saw. these are annette's pictures. i already downloaded mine off my camera so didn't get a chance to upload them to the blog, seeing as how i am such an intermittent blogger.






we would often see herds of zebras together feeding on the grass. they really look like horses, but their striped patterns were quite extraordinary.



the monkeys were sooo cute. they are definitely my favorite animal. the monkeys we saw were blue bottomed ones and they would often frolic in the trees (especially the cute baby ones). also, there was a lot of monkey penises to be seen. seriously. every time i would see one sitting in the road, it's lipstick would be out full force. one time we saw a male monkey mount another male monkey before it got rejected. horny little buggers.

we (and by we, i mean annette) had one bad encounter with the monkeys. at one of the camps where we slept, we left the doors to the car open to air it out. as this was happening, annette noticed that monkeys were around so she started taking pictures. as she was photographing, i noticed that one was going into the car and then we kind of got worried. the one monkey got into the car and first tried to take my backpack, but couldn't lift it because it was too heavy. then it tried to steal a bag of food, but it was also too heavy. annette tried banging on the windows to get it out, but it hissed at her and then went for her ankles. finally the monkey got out by making away with 2 plums. i didn't really mind that it took 2 plums, but it made me sad that the monkey didn't share with its friend.




we were so lucky to see a male and female lion just laying and sunning themselves by the side of a dirt road we were on. when this picture was taken, we were just sitting in the car right next to them. they were aware of us, but saw us as no threat. we got to stay and stare at their magnificence for over 20 minutes. it was amazing. i am not sure when i have been so awestruck.



i don't know if you now this, but hippos are huge. and they are awesome attackers. we saw hippos both in the water, playing and fighting, like this picture. but we would also see them and their monstrous asses waddling along in the grass, feeding. they paid us no mind, so focused were they on feeding their massive bodies. they had the cutest little ears though.




we would often see the giraffes in groups of 3-5. they are seriously tall. i know i have seen giraffes in the zoo, but the impact of how elongated their bodies are didn't hit me until i saw them in the wild. these 2 were doing some kind of mating dance, where they would keep the lower part of their bodies side by side, and swivel their neck around one another. i wanted the music from swan lake to be playing as i watched this elegant dance.





the elephant is my 2nd favorite animal. they were so incredible, lumbering along. the crazy thing about them is that despite their largesse, we would see them in a field and literally 5 seconds later, they would be hidden. it just goes to show how incredible animals of the wild are with camouflage. we saw lots of elephants on our 4 days in the park. they would be right on the side of the road or cross in front of us.






one of the hardest animals to see in the park is the cheetah because they are nocturnal hunters and they spend the majority of their day sleeping in trees. somehow the kruger gods decided to bless us and we got to see 2 cheetahs on 2 separate days. they didn't do much, just laid their lazy asses in the tree for hours on end, but it was cool just to catch a glimpse.







i love baboons. most of the people we met hated baboons and said they were mean animals, but i like them. they, like the blue bottomed monkeys, would sit in the road with their penises dangling about. but it was sweet watching them nit pick one another.