Monday and Tuesday 20th & 21st of May

I’m a list girl. I feel like you either are, or you aren’t, and if you are, you will know immediately when asked the question.

Lists create organisation. Organisation creates calm. Calm creates happiness. Simple!

Checklists are certainly a handy part of preparation for travel for me. Apart from the obvious ‘to pack’ list, there are also the lists of ‘must do’s’ for each (highly researched) destination. Then there’s the list for the house sitters; the list of things to do before you leave; the list of handover notes for whoever is doing my role at work, and on this trip in particular the list of animals I wanted to see.

I assume you have heard of the ‘Big 5’?

In Africa, the big five game animals are the Lion, the Leopard, the Rhinoceros, the Elephant and the Buffalo. Contrary to popular belief, however, the term ‘Big 5’ is not a reference to their size but rather it is an old hunting term relating to how difficult and dangerous these animals were to hunt and shoot and was coined by big-game hunters to refer to the top five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. Now, thankfully, it is more widely used by game viewing tourists and safari tour operators to refer to the top list of five animals they want to see.

And so, I added the ‘Big 5’ to my list.

Please don’t think for a moment that I anticipated, or expected even to see every unique animal that lives in Africa on this trip. In no way was I going to be disappointed about what I didn’t see. To be honest, once I saw the Giraffe in Chobe National Park in Botswana, I would have been happy to see no other animals, such was my happiness and excitement that day. I was however, still on the lookout for the Big 5 animals and before we arrived in Kruger, I had already ticked off Elephant and Buffalo, plus as you may have seen in recent posts over the past few days, we had already seen at least a dozen other animals that I had not previously seen before in the wild.

As I mentioned yesterday, we did get up early on Sunday morning, in the hope of perhaps seeing a Lion, who is much more likely to be spotted around dawn, in the cool of the day. When it’s cool, the Lion are often on the move, seeking out their prey (e.g. Impala) to kill and then eat. Except when either extremely hungry or thirsty, a lion will spend most of the day sleeping or resting under the shade of a tree. Sounds like a good approach!

Our flight back to Johannesburg yesterday was not due to leave until late afternoon, so we figured one last trip into the park before driving to the airport was a good idea. Not because I was desperate to see anything more than we already had, but because I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be part of this special place one last time, even for just a few hours.

Tony and Nicola cooked us a delightful breakfast of eggs, bacon and pork sausage with toast in the morning before we bid fond farewells to each other and set off around 10am. Yet another pass through the Paul Kruger Gate and its formalities and payment, then we drove east the short distance across to Skukuza and turned right (south) to head the 65 or so kilometres to one of the southernmost exit gates, at Malelane. The maximum speed you can drive in the National Park is 50km/hr, and to be honest, you wouldn’t want to drive any faster for fear of missing something you might see along the way. Most of the time we drove at about 30km/hr, with Dave scouring the bush on the right-hand side of the car (and the road of course) and me with my eyes peeled to the left.

The drive took around three hours, and quite a few times in the first couple of hours Dave and I commented on how little we had seen. Yes, we saw more Elephant and of course we saw more of the plentiful Impala, but apart from the odd Kudu we saw very little. There weren’t even any Baboons at the rest camps!

About two thirds through the drive, we stopped for morning tea at a Rest Camp called Alsaai. Here we had a hot (very!) cup of tea and shared a toasted egg and bacon sandwich, served with chips. It wasn’t fabulous but filled us up as we sat and watched the naughty monkeys try to steel food from plates as people left. We then jumped in the car, realising we had better get a move on if we were going to get back to the airport in time for our flight.

Often, when driving through the park, you will come across a few vehicles pulled over on the side of the road (most often safari-style Hiluxes with raised seating). By following their passengers’ eyes, you can quickly work out what they are looking out. Sometimes you pull up alongside them to look also, other times you may just keep on going, especially if it’s something you have seen a few of.

About 10km before we reached Malelane Gate, we came across three safari vehicles pulled over and glanced quickly to see what they were watching. I wasn’t actually concentrating at this point, as we had just re-entered internet reception range and I was figuring out how to get from the gate to the airport.

I was half expecting them to be looking at Elephant or even Zebras, both of which we had seen since we left our morning tea spot. Secretly I was hoping it might be a Lion, or even better the antisocial and elusive Leopard, which is occasionally heard but rarely seen.

I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the large and super-rare Rhinoceros standing there looking at us! Window down, camera out, and he (she?) continued to just stand about 30 metres from the car. Wow, Wow, Wow.

Sadly, Rhinos are highly sought after by poachers, for their distinctive horn. Rhino numbers have decreased dramatically in Kruger National Park and according to recent statistics, the population in Kruger National Park has decreased by a staggering 60% in the last 10 years. Apparently, there are only around 3500 left in the park. A great deal of work is being done to prevent poaching, so hopefully those numbers start to improve soon.

I feel so privileged to have seen a Rhino in the wild, what a way to finish our time in Kruger!

And so, my ‘Big 5’ list looks like this:

• Rhinoceros🦏 ✅
• Elephant 🐘 ✅
• Buffalo 🐃 ✅
• Lion 🦁❌
• Leopard 🐆 ❌

Sometimes I do like to complete a list quickly, checking things off in succession and feeling the satisfaction of completion. In this instance, I am definitely not disappointed that the list is not yet complete – what better reason to come back to Africa! (Anyone else interested in combining a cricket/wildlife visit to Africa in September 2026?)

We are now back in Johannesburg and after a little shopping this morning I will head to the airport bound for Sydney and then onto Wagga. Dave is staying a couple of extra days with a mate and will travel back home on the weekend.

What a trip. What an adventure. What an experience. Africa is like nowhere else I have been and was truly a wonderful, wonderful place to visit.

It’s time to head back to reality… and to put in place a few things I’ve been considering over the last couple of weeks. More time for well-being being a big one. I’ve pretty much been sick this entire trip which has slowed me down. That is NOT going to happen again. Time to get healthy and be fit and well for our next adventure.

Until then, adios dear readers 🙂

Sara xx