 |
| 2007 |
In 2007 I came upon a beautiful pond that was overflowing because of recent rains that left the sky a dull blue making the colors of the ground and trees stand out even more than usual. I was struck by the sight and took a few photos. In 2009, I was back in the park and stopped to look at a pond using my binoculars to see if any animals were present. I put down my binoculars and really looked at this place and took a few photos because I knew deep inside it was the same pond I had been so stuck with before and wanted to compare when I got home to make sure my memory wasn’t playing tricks. It indeed was the same pond.
 |
| 2009 |
In 2009 I went to Punda Maria camp in the far north of the park. It was my third visit to this camp; the first back in 2002 for lunch, the second in 2008 to stay in hut number one for two glorious nights and the third in 2009 staying in a fixed tent which was the ultimate visit to this camp. When I was there in 2008 I had the good fortune of watching a male lion eat on a buffalo carcass. For two days I drove to the location and sat for hours watching him devour that carcass keeping it from awaiting vultures, jackals and hyena. He had it stashed inside a mound of thorn bushes to protect it when he was napping. In 2009, exactly a year later, on the drive up to Punda Maria on the H13-1 main road I was remembering this event from the year before when, to my great astonishment, I came upon the bones from that kill. Again, I took photos not believing it could be true, but when I returned home to my computer it was indeed the same location and those were without doubt the bones from that buffalo.
 |
| Lion (left under the green shrub) with kill 2008 |
I love Kruger National Park so much. Kruger is a gift to South Africans and a gift to us too who happen to live on the other side of the world but get the great privilege to visit time and time again.
 |
| Bones from the kill 2009 |
I can’t wait until the next time to see what I can see new and again!
No comments:
Post a Comment