Last safari post, I promise… Megan and I tried to keep track of everything we saw in Kruger. OK, OK, Megan wrote everything down and I pestered her about the new stuff. Ultimately, we came up with the following list of animals and birds. I’m 100% confident we missed some, particularly the antelope and the birds. There were so many birds…. (I didn’t count stuff we only saw at the rehab center).
- African wild cat
- Antelope of various kinds, including
- Duiker
- Impala (known as the McDonalds of the bush, both because of their availability and the “M” on their butts)
- Klipspringer
- Kudu
- Nyala
- Sharpe’s grysbok
- Springbok
- Steenbok
- Waterbok
- Baboon
- Birds of various kinds, including
- Blue heron
- Cormorant
- Eagle owl
- Egret
- Egyptian goose
- Fish eagle
- Franklin
- Glossy starling
- Gray laurie
- Hamerkop
- Lilac breasted roller
- Long-tailed shrike
- Nightjar
- Oxpicker
- Red billed hornbill
- Red billed woodpeckers
- Saddle bill stork
- Spotted eagle owl
- Tawny eagle
- Vultures
- Yellow billed hornbill
- Buffalo
- Bush baby (yes, this is a real thing — they are very small nocturnal primates)
- Chameleon
- Cheetah
- Civit (nocturnal cat-like creature)
- Crocodile
- Elephant
- Spotted genet (another cat-like creature)
- Giraffe
- Hippo
- Honey badger
- Jackal
- Leopard (OK, the one we saw was hand-raised and in a pen, but I’m still counting it)
- Lion
- Mongoose
- Porcupine
- Rhino
- Rock rabbit
- Scrub hare
- Squirrel
- Warthog
- Wildebeest
- Vervet monkey
- Zebra
A few of our favorite photos are attached.
- Leopard in a tree
- Elephant fun
- One of the cheetah brothers
- Giraffe pair
- Hippos
- Waterbok (I think)
- Baboon and baby
- Giraffe tail!
- Rhinos
- Big macs!
- Guinea fowl
- Petting a cheetah. I’m in heaven….
- African wild cat (domesticated version)
- Fighting giraffes
- Us in front of a baobob tree
- Crocodile in the sun
- Buffalo!
- Baby elephant with a stick
- Baby elephant challenging adult buffalo. Guess who won?
- Lion hunting buffalo
- A kudu (I’m pretty sure….)
- A wildebeest — a complete abomination of nature
- Zebra butt
- An eagle (I think)
- A friendly giraffe
- A curious mongoose
- Warthog!
- Elephant at sunset
- Lion lapping up water at night