Jo-burg but mostly Kruger.....

So when i said “coming next” I really thought that meant the next day. Now that we have been back for more then a week i feel like its old news. I guess it just goes to show how good i am at updating my blog!! I think the main reason i have been procrastinating so badly is because im still trying to deny the fact that we aren't on vacation anymore......

We arrived in Jo-burg and went to collect our rental car. It really was the most puncey European car i'd ever seen in my life and our luggage barely fit in the back but it was dirt cheap so we didn't mind. Did i mention how obsessed we were with absolutely everything being dirt cheap down there!? It was very nice!!

We stayed the night in a B&B close to the airport. We wanted to try and make it to the temple in Jo-burg so we quickly got ready and tried to find our way. We ended up getting a bit lost in the middle of down town Jo-burg which was very scary for a bit. Both of us had never been happier to see the temple in the distance all lit up in the dark. Unfortunately we did miss the last session by 10 mins though because we got lost, which we would have been bummed about if we weren't just soo relieved that we were safe inside instead of out in the dark, lost in the dirty streets. They were kind enough to set us up with a group doing sealings instead which ended up being very nice since we haven't done that for a while. It really was a beautiful temple. It's an 80's built one and very different then any other's I've been to but still simply beautiful.

The next morning we started on our way to Sabie. It was like a 4 hour drive but a very pretty one. The land was very dry, smaller rolling hills and just more african-looking. Sabie was just as pretty too. A super small town but absolutely gorgeous. We watched the sun go down from our little veranda. Then hit up a local restaurant where they serve wild game. I ordered blesbok, some kind of deer type thing ive never heard of, and Jeff got a steak topped with Camembert cheese and some kind of local jelly. Both were absolutely delicious.






The next day we took the long way to Kruger and did what they call the scenic route. We made like 10 stops at different view points, all of which were definitely worth seeing.....








We finally made it to Kruger and checked into our little bungalow. We may or may not have stayed up extra late to watch “The Lion King.” Only to remind us of the circle of life we hoped to see in next few days. It also refreshed our memory of all the songs and quotes which were repeated multiple times a day. Im not exactly sure but i think we were extremely lucky the next day because we saw 4/5 of the Big 5 on our 1^st day there. Here's some pics and videos. Mostly for my younger siblings again so beware of the overload! Also keep in mind some of the videos were our first spotting's so if i sound scared for my life its because i thought we were going to get charged or stepped on or if i sound ridiculously excited, its because i was.......i promise it all eventually died off by the 3rd or 4th time. Ill admit we were like kindergarten kids at the zoo for the first day though.......






Wilder-beast are sooo ugly.....





So i was a little worried about the little guy.......



We were allowed to get out and walk with an armed escort down to the hippo pool. No, he didn't have to even touch his gun.











These were also soo scary to me. They're HUGE!!



How does this not remind you of the lion king......



Dont even ask me what this is.........



For some reason jeff found it fitting to sing "Be Prepared" every time we saw a hyena. They are kinda scary looking though!



Here are the lions we spotted. Two males ones the first day and then if you look closely at the 2nd pic its like 7 female ones the next day laying in the sand.






I couldn't help but book this safari tent for one night. It just looked like the perfect place to stay while on safari. It even had its own bathroom and shower inside. Anyways that night we were having dinner on the veranda and heard all this crazy commotion. Our tent was the furthest away so there was only a fence between us and a watering hole that always had a ton of elephants and other animals around. So we ran over just in time to see this huge elephant charging a water buffalo. Then a few more elephants all came running over making a ton of noise.

This is just right beside our tent. Tons of elephants!!

We were getting ready for bed that night when i found a paper that had slipped under the fridge warning everyone that this camp had problems with baboons so it was important to lock up all your food, doors and windows. Remember me saying how creepy these furry little devils were? Ya, so i went to lock our front door immediately and of course, found out our lock was broken. I seriously was soo petrified i would wake up with a huge baboons starring me in the face. So I made jeff set up a boobie-trap on the veranada so if a baboon did find its way to our tent it would hopefully knock over the chairs warning us so we would wake us up in time to hold the door shut or chase it away. Lets just say between me being absolutely “positive” i heard a baboon on the step every ½ hour or the elephants and hippos groaning and grunting at each other all night neither Jeff or I got much sleep.

This baobab tree was ginormous!!!! You weren't really suppose to get out of your car but you just can't tell how big it is without someone standing there. So jeff made me get out after scanning the area for several minutes making sure there was no leopards or anything around.....i was scared for my life though.......



After this we did see a leopard right close to the vehicle too. It jumped out of the tree (not this one) and walked right by our car. The video that we got sucked though so i wont put it on here.



We seriously had way too much fun at Kruger and were very sad to be leaving. That morning we were out of the camp by 5:30 am like usual (early morn is the best time to see animals) and off to the airport. I was happy we ran into a few animals on the way. The biggest elephant we saw the whole time (see above) happened to be right off the road. I still swear it was one of the “magnificent 7” (one of the biggest ones) but jeff will beg to differ.

We drove by a ton of these on the way back. I couldn't get enough of them though. I had never seen a purple tree before and i thought they were sooooo pretty!! Our last stop was at a little food court before we got on the plane which we had the yummiest seafood/sushi lunch before going back to the land of crappy food. On the way out i turned around to see Jeff starring at this wall of nickle candy....his biggest weakness. I truly have never seen him more giddy in my life. I really had to pull the scooper thing out of his hand before he filled up a gallon bucket of nickle candies. Forty bucks worth of nickle candies later he still had a ridiculous smile on his face walking out of that store. You really can buy happiness! haha!! And I guess you can't find them in Nigeria so lets just hope they last the rest of our time here.......