The Big Five

Last week we returned from an amazing trip to South Africa to tour the country and visit my brother.

We spent two days in Johannesburg, the first at the Apartheid Museum and the second on a tour of the city including at stop at Constitution Hill.

We then left for a 5 day tour of Kruger National Park, one of the largest game reserves in Africa with Drifters tour company. The first two nights we spent camping (!) in Balule, a private game reserve adjacent to Kruger. Yes, we stayed in tents and there were huge bugs! Huge horrible bugs. I swaddled myself in a mosquito net at night and had my lovely fiancé conduct tent/sleeping bag inspections so I managed. Each day began with a 5:30 am wakeup call (yuck), although trying to sleep through the cacophony of animal noises at sunrise might have been a lost cause anyway. On our second day, we went on an early morning game walk, on which we saw a rhino, the first of the “Big 5” (originally coined to describe the five animals deemed the most difficult to hunt: rhinoceroses, elephants, buffalos, lions and leopards). It was pretty intimidating to be stared down by a rhino, thank goodness they have poor eyesight, because our guides carried no weapons and I am bad at tree climbing. We also managed to see several giraffes (including a young calf) and had an impala poo spitting competition. Yeah, you just read that.

That afternoon we went on a game drive and saw more giraffe, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, jackals, kudu, impalas and a baby elephant! I desperately wanted to see a baby elephant. The night before we left on the tour we had a meeting with the guide. Towards the end, he asked if anyone had any special requests regarding animal sightings. It was dead quiet. N took one for the team and asked if we might see any babies – specifically elephant calves. Everyone saw right through it and I earned a reputation for being baby animal crazy. Which I'm not, but it meant that everyone on the tour had my back and were on the lookout for me.

The last few days of the tour were spent in Kruger looking for the rest of the Big 5. We were very lucky, it took a couple of days and a very good guide but we were able to see them all- a rarety! We also saw hippos, crocodile, monkeys, baboons, and a newborn elephant!

Our last four days were spent in beautiful Cape Town. How lucky A is to live there! It has a picturesque waterfront, incredible weather, beaches and very friendly and optimistic people. Also, good shopping and food. We learnt a lot about the country’s history on a fascinating trip to Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years during Apartheid. A former political prisoner took us on the tour – a very powerful experience.

We made it back to France without incident, freezing, slightly tan and without any critters stowing away in our luggage.