Kruger National Park - Monkeys, Mambas, Malaria
EASTER WEEKEND - KRUGER NATIONAL PARK
Monkeys, Mambas and Malaria
On the Easter weekend me and 2 of my girlfriends from PEN project, Tiff from US and Ale from Mexico, planed to go to Kruger Park - the biggest safari resort in the world. We planned it even before coming to South Africa choosing between 3 options and I think we chose the best - South of Kruger Park, Shishangeni Lodge.
So on Good Friday Morning, we (me, Tiff and Ale) were flying from J-burg to Nelspruit, the closest point of Kruger. The airport was nice and all surrounded with palms which reminds me of Maldives…2 hours drive with the our driver Eddie and taking pictures of the beautiful Mozambique border which was so close by - you can actually see the changes in nature color - it is more green and intense and you feel the tropical sub - climate as the air is filled with humidity and it is hotter than in Pretoria.
Once we entered the park through the Crocodile Bridge, it started to rain and we saw the rainbow;) Right from the entrance, we already started to see the animals - impalas (those are called McDonalds as usually it is the easiest thing to get for the lions, etc. but I also thought that cuz we saw them so often - it is also like a McDonalds in big cities on each corner). Then, we saw the warthogs - pigs are pigs in Africa - those were enjoying the mud from the rain, we saw elephants, giraffes and rhinos.
When we got to the lodge it was such a pleasant surprise compared to our Umzoxolo Luxury Lodge. - I got the whole house for myself with the terrace, fireplace, huge bed and the bath with windows. Only if I knew that I would move so fast from there…
So after lunch we went to the evening and morning safaris and over the next few days we saw 4 our of Big Five animals - lions (every day), rhinos, elephants, buffalos, but no leopard - those are hard to see as they are scared and usually hide in the grass or on the trees.
But we had something better waiting for us at home. First, I was scared of monkey on my path from my room to reception - on the kinda decks in the jungle - so the monkey wanted by iphone or camera I did not figure out but I was screaming like crazy and she was like : what the hell this girl is yelling at me? And was just getting closer to me….then I heard the girls running form their house to save me and evening the security staff from reception;) so Ale just said BOO and the monkey ran away;) Thanks girl - you are my fave now;)
But best thing was still to come - this story I told many times since then but I am still in shock thinking of it - it was after 5 am morning safari and I was the only one near the swimming pool as others just went to sleep, so I decided to get the massage before the evening safari game.
The massage lady was half an hour late which made me wonder and I opened the door she was standing there shaking and this was a local girl with security guy from the reception. I was like - what is going on and she was like: there was a BLACK MAMBA 2 meters from your door up 1 meter from the ground and the girl was standing still there for half an hour not moving or screaming. When member got under the deck she called the security and they came to my house. Needless to say, me being from Russia had no clue what the hell Black Mamba is all about, and it turned out to be the most poison snake in the world…..
OMG, I thought laying on the massage table and half way through massage I just called my new girlfriend from Brazil next door asking to move in with her and called the manager of the hotel, grab his hand and asked him to guide me to the girlfriend’s place as I did not want to stay a minute in the house which turned out to be the house for the black mamba as well and the thought of finding her in my bed at night did not appeal to me at all.
So, till the end of the trip I did not go alone anywhere - only with the waiters or the managers;)
That night we had the braai (barbeque) with the fire and talked with the group of auditors from New York why the US is imposing their way of thinking in the politics of other countries like in Latin America or in the Middle East….I forgot my passport, camera, money and credit card there so after the night rain my passport looks like a toilet paper but thanks God they found it…
So, the last day we drove to the airport right after the morning safari which was amazing as we saw elephants like 2 meters from us and the day before the lion pride eating the wildebeest for breakfast which I thought is disgusting but this is nature and you cannot do much about it…
Monday after Easter was a vacation day in SA, so we just spend this day in Pretoria celebrating Ale’s birthday and went to the Monument of Voortreckers - very nice object from the architectural point of view but the history behind it did not appear so appealing (it actually seem to praise the Dutch who invaded the northern provinces of SA in 1800 - early 1900s as the British conquered Cape Town and start to impose the British Colony rules - but at the advantage of the local tribes of the northern provinces).
ental stages
Monkeys, Mambas and Malaria
On the Easter weekend me and 2 of my girlfriends from PEN project, Tiff from US and Ale from Mexico, planed to go to Kruger Park - the biggest safari resort in the world. We planned it even before coming to South Africa choosing between 3 options and I think we chose the best - South of Kruger Park, Shishangeni Lodge.
So on Good Friday Morning, we (me, Tiff and Ale) were flying from J-burg to Nelspruit, the closest point of Kruger. The airport was nice and all surrounded with palms which reminds me of Maldives…2 hours drive with the our driver Eddie and taking pictures of the beautiful Mozambique border which was so close by - you can actually see the changes in nature color - it is more green and intense and you feel the tropical sub - climate as the air is filled with humidity and it is hotter than in Pretoria.
Once we entered the park through the Crocodile Bridge, it started to rain and we saw the rainbow;) Right from the entrance, we already started to see the animals - impalas (those are called McDonalds as usually it is the easiest thing to get for the lions, etc. but I also thought that cuz we saw them so often - it is also like a McDonalds in big cities on each corner). Then, we saw the warthogs - pigs are pigs in Africa - those were enjoying the mud from the rain, we saw elephants, giraffes and rhinos.
When we got to the lodge it was such a pleasant surprise compared to our Umzoxolo Luxury Lodge. - I got the whole house for myself with the terrace, fireplace, huge bed and the bath with windows. Only if I knew that I would move so fast from there…
So after lunch we went to the evening and morning safaris and over the next few days we saw 4 our of Big Five animals - lions (every day), rhinos, elephants, buffalos, but no leopard - those are hard to see as they are scared and usually hide in the grass or on the trees.
But we had something better waiting for us at home. First, I was scared of monkey on my path from my room to reception - on the kinda decks in the jungle - so the monkey wanted by iphone or camera I did not figure out but I was screaming like crazy and she was like : what the hell this girl is yelling at me? And was just getting closer to me….then I heard the girls running form their house to save me and evening the security staff from reception;) so Ale just said BOO and the monkey ran away;) Thanks girl - you are my fave now;)
But best thing was still to come - this story I told many times since then but I am still in shock thinking of it - it was after 5 am morning safari and I was the only one near the swimming pool as others just went to sleep, so I decided to get the massage before the evening safari game.
The massage lady was half an hour late which made me wonder and I opened the door she was standing there shaking and this was a local girl with security guy from the reception. I was like - what is going on and she was like: there was a BLACK MAMBA 2 meters from your door up 1 meter from the ground and the girl was standing still there for half an hour not moving or screaming. When member got under the deck she called the security and they came to my house. Needless to say, me being from Russia had no clue what the hell Black Mamba is all about, and it turned out to be the most poison snake in the world…..
OMG, I thought laying on the massage table and half way through massage I just called my new girlfriend from Brazil next door asking to move in with her and called the manager of the hotel, grab his hand and asked him to guide me to the girlfriend’s place as I did not want to stay a minute in the house which turned out to be the house for the black mamba as well and the thought of finding her in my bed at night did not appeal to me at all.
So, till the end of the trip I did not go alone anywhere - only with the waiters or the managers;)
That night we had the braai (barbeque) with the fire and talked with the group of auditors from New York why the US is imposing their way of thinking in the politics of other countries like in Latin America or in the Middle East….I forgot my passport, camera, money and credit card there so after the night rain my passport looks like a toilet paper but thanks God they found it…
So, the last day we drove to the airport right after the morning safari which was amazing as we saw elephants like 2 meters from us and the day before the lion pride eating the wildebeest for breakfast which I thought is disgusting but this is nature and you cannot do much about it…
Monday after Easter was a vacation day in SA, so we just spend this day in Pretoria celebrating Ale’s birthday and went to the Monument of Voortreckers - very nice object from the architectural point of view but the history behind it did not appear so appealing (it actually seem to praise the Dutch who invaded the northern provinces of SA in 1800 - early 1900s as the British conquered Cape Town and start to impose the British Colony rules - but at the advantage of the local tribes of the northern provinces).
ental stages