Kruger

 I do not remember as a child imagining going to Africa to see the incredible animals that I read about in so many books.

Even now I'm still processing the experience.

So very blessed to experience this with Cory and Fritz!

Identifying my favorite moment continues to escape me.

We saw 31 different animals/reptiles and many birds [haven't counted those up yet and many we could not identify]

Also very fun were the specific moments seen: a baby elephant unable to control the trunk; a chameleon crossing the road; adding "large animals blocking the road" to our long, mostly Haitian, travel delay list [two elephants shoving one another back and forth; 2 lionesses and 3 cubs resting; giraffe moseying along; baby monkeys and baboons eating / playing.....

We spent many hours just driving around the southern part of Kruger National Park.

It took the first 3 days to see the 'big five': elephants, water buffalo, leopard, lion, rhino. 

Day 4 we added the cheetah that Fritz really wanted to see.

We did stop a few times for our horticulturist to get flower, tree, plant photos...a first for Dorcas! 

While they didn't run away, they never came closer to the car either and it's very important NOT to get out of your car at Kruger unless in a camp or close to a "hide" made mostly for birdwatchers near a few of the permanent waterholes.

On the slow times we started to focus more on the birds and thanks to Dorcas' books were able to identify a few she didn't already know. 

The bumpy parts of the dirt roads at Kruger reminded us of Haiti as did some of the scenery. 

The last day of our trip we spent 3 hours people watching in a large South African mall waiting for some dental work to be done. 

First time we window shopped spending that much time in a mall!

Then we returned to eSwatini. A cloudy, slow day to process, work on emails, rest, do laundry and prepare for our next trip....Mozambique, Lord willing.