We parked underneath the zebra carcass high in the tree, and we waited. It was 6:30am and we got up at 5 to be in place here, hoping to see the male leopard who’d stashed the zebra up the tree. Imagine a cat carrying a small horse into a tree – yes, leopards are amazing. This leopard is shy. After 30 minutes or so, I see him approaching in the long grass. He comes into full view and stops, eyeing us even though we are not in his way. Still, he backs off and lays down and it is unlikely he will rise again, so on we go. Welcome to morning in Kruger National Park.
Kruger is the crown jewel of South Africa’s parks, taking up nearly a quarter of the county of Mpumalanga, with the Oliphants River splitting the park into two zones. North are the Mopane trees, south are Marula trees, more or less. As mentioned previously, this is our third visit; it takes many days to see a park this big and we are barely scratching the surface. This final visit is a long-awaited homecoming of sorts for me – we are staying at both Satara Camp and Orpen Camp. Orpen and Satara have permanent waterholes and at those waterholes are webcams broadcasting 24/7; whatever happens here, people are watching all over the world. I was one of those “webcammers” for years; to be here in person is truly a privilege.
Orpen is a very small camp, only 15 units, and fully fenced for what it’s worth. Animals that want in can get in somehow and this hyena in the cover photo wanted inside. It did not end well. We were just sitting down to eat lunch when the hyena ran past our deck, quickly followed by the camp ranger carrying a rifle and a sidearm. The ranger fired a warning shot and the hyena raced up to the deck next to us. Needless to say we stepped inside and shut the door – hyenas are not to be trifled with. Once the creature had crossed the line, aggressively running into the camp laundry and scattering the staff, the ranger had no choice but to end the conflict. The resident honey badger is slightly less trouble, only coming into camp kitchens at night to raid the garbage, but still not a creature to mess with. And as anyone who has seen the YouTube video knows, honey badger don’t care.
A series of private game reserves make up the Tuli Block in Botswana. The landscape is similar to Mapungubwe Park which is not far as the crow flies. Elephant rule here. The Mopane forest is groomed down to bushes by the hungry beasts and the baobabs are scarred from elephant tusks. It is an unforgiving landscape, hot and dry with copious amounts of acacia thorn bushes and rocky trails. The Croc shoes I’m wearing do not stop thorns, come to find out, 
but better crocs than bare feet for now.
The Limpopo River Lodge (LRL) is the only self-drive property on the Tuli Block, and on 
top of that attraction, the camping is superior. We asked the young lady who checked us in, if we don’t like our site, can we move? She smiled and said, you will like it. And was she right. The ablution ranked as one of the top four (open air shower, hot water, beautiful layout, stunning view) and the campsite was right on the water. We kept going back to the office to book another night. Waterholes are spaced around; many hours were spent at them observing elephant and other animals’ behavior. The endless parade of birds, including my holy grail, the Violet-eared Waxbill, were a 
bonus. Book a week at campsite #1, you will not regret it.
Next stop was only 27 kilometers down the main road, at Molema camp, which was perfectly fine although nowhere near the LRL in style. The Limpopo isn’t flowing here, there are only pools of water on the riverbed margins which we could walk to during the day. The guides tell us nothing about what to do if something other than birds surprise us at the riverbed. Fortunately only birds were around. We booked an early morning game drive to see what else was out there.
Leopards appear so supremely confident. Look at this one, isn’t he just perfect? He was in 
plain sight of the track, lounging around while we admired him. Not a care in the world or so it seems, and may it always be that way. This Black Eagle chick isn’t so confident, but damn cute just the same. The Black Eagle parents have raised chicks here for 10 years, our guide told us, and only two of the chicks have successf
ully matured. The nesting site is too low. Baboons and leopard can easily reach a chick in this nest. We wish the chick the
best and climb down from the cliff and wander back to camp. It is time to go on down the Limpopo and back to Mapugubwe Park for a few days, and why not? We loved that park and what a privilege it is to spend time there again. We’ll be back to civilization soon enough. Then it is on to our third and final trip to Kruger National Park – “The Kruger” as it is called. Yes, it will take three trips to see it all, and it will be worth it.
Nelspruit (Nel’s Spring) was our base camp for a long week of taking care of business. It is a booming town not far from the southern gate of Kruger National Park. Farming is big here, citrus and macadamia nuts. There is a vibrant downtown and some cute little neighborhood centers with restaurants and small shops as well as the usual malls. All our chores can be accomplished here – thankfully, no need to go into the capital city of Pretoria.
What we’ve come here for is the VFS office, the visa extension service of the SA governme
nt. Our 90-day visas will expire soon and we need more time in SA. The process is somewhat complicated, there is an online application, a ream of paperwork that needs printing and a letter to compose saying why we want to stay longer. That part was easy, we have much more of South Africa to visit. It will be at least four weeks before we know if our application is accepted; meanwhile we received a little piece of paper allowing us to stay beyond our current visa, in case anyone asks.
Sixteen kilometers from town and right on the Crocodile River, the Hippo became home. It
is a gem, with beautiful landscaping, a resident cat and an easy-going staff. The Hippo is busy all the time with the business flourishing in Nelspruit. If you want to stay there, you’d better call ahead or as one guest said, be friends with the manager Antone, he can work miracles. Indeed, when it looked grim for finding housing for a week, he fixed us up with one of the bigger cabins. Our good for
tune, as we are going to empty everything out of the vehicle to have it detailed. About time, right? All our goods fit nicely in the cabin, the hippos and birds kept us company and within a week we were clean and shiny inside and out. Now it’s time to find somewhere to go while we await the visa decision. Well, what about Botswana? Yes, why not. The Tuli Block is just up the road (ok, a two-day drive) and the Limpopo River is calling us. Off we go to get the truck dirty again.
North of the Eastern Cape we passed through Mthatha, Nelson Mandela’s birthplace or at least the closest town to it. The Mandela Museum deserves a look if only we could find parking. Actually there is lots of parking but to fit the criteria there needs to be some security. We’d already had someone flag us down and tell us to lock up the outside gas canisters. Guess that good samaritan did not see the cable lock on the tanks. At any rate, we drove around the museum a couple times and finally we double-parked in front and asked the museum guard where could we park? He quickly offered to guard the truck and had us park it in the no-parking zone. Of course.
Ephemera from Mandela’s life is the story of South Africa in that time. His early life fascinated me; the village upbringing, an arranged marriage he managed to escape, his family, and his friends. Mandela was not alone in the struggles against apartheid; throughout the museum are newspaper articles, photos and bios of the many black and white Africans and Indians who joined in the effort. People from all over the world were involved in the politics of those violent times. Non-violent protests had brought no change and the decision to use violence turned 
Mandela into a thug. Considering what he was fighting for, and against, it is said that he knew that difficult decision was the only choice, although it cost him dearly. How would it have been to be a young man under those circumstances? Then to spend 27 years in a horrible prison and come out of it to be the President of South Africa. What a sad wonder.
Finished with our tour and a bit chilled (the rooms were icy) we stepped out into the warm sunshine, paid our truck guard a few rand, and drove away, contemplating how it has only been 24 years since South Africa abolished apartheid. For many, this last quarter-century has brought prosperity. But a friend has told us that in his 
lifetime in South Africa the necklace, that ungodly horror of putting a burning tire around someone’s neck, is still used here as a method of terror. Then, and now. Mandela would weep, knowing that. I cannot help but think of what Rodney King said. . . why can’t we all just get along?
What the heck is a Baviaanskloof? A place for baboons, by its original Dutch meaning. The Baviaans south-west of Addo Park are rugged red-rock mountains, with seriously steep mountain passes. The entry road was reasonable but I’d seen the signs for “4×4 only” and yes, 4×4 low came in handy, uphill and downhill. Parts of the track were so intense I had to look away (Jim was driving) (haha) but I was on the outside looking down, whew! What rugged country this is. Our final Baviaan campsite was deserted, there was no one there to even take our money. You might think that a little nerve-racking, not having another soul around; it is almost wild camping, 
only with amenities. What the heck, we are camping in Africa, it is all crazy and exciting.
Dropping out of the Baviaans and hoping for some warmer weather, the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape jumped up in front of us. Crashing waves, rocky coastlines, whales, dolphins, surfers, birds, rivers, estuaries, hillsides covered with brightly painted houses. This part of South Africa doesn’t often see the safari-goers, no Big Five here. Here it is surfers and fishermen, beach combers and older Afrikaans caravan campers. It is a mix of people unlike 
any we have camped with. Chatting with folks on the beach revealed a slice of Eastern Cape life; one gentleman evoked Paul Simon’s song “Homeland”, referencing the nearby town of Ladysmith. This is rural 
South Africa and it has been the homeland to so many, including Nelson Mandela.
Jeffry’s Bay is a smart little town, boasting the “world’s best right-hand break”. This isn’t surfing season; too bad, I’d have liked to watch some cold water surfers. On up to Storms River Mouth, a place I’d heard so much about but never pictured us there – I don’t know why not, it is a stunning beach and the camping is ideal. Reaching Natures Valley, we turned around east without a clear destination but with a desire to hug the wild coast a 
little longer. That’s when we found Mdumbi.
Mdumbi Backpackers Lodge is worth the two-hour drive on a busy, rough dirt road. The local community and the Lodge have an obviously wholesome, beneficial relationship – camping there made you feel like you are really making a (small) difference. Staff was delighted to 
show us around the hilly compound – there is a communal kitchen and eating area plus a health-based restaurant; a sunny common room out of the wind, and completing the vignette, a couple of dogs and cats. The rocky shore supported endless tide pools. The shells weren’t bountiful but it is all about the hunt, right? Just an excuse to walk the
beach. Again.
Serious surfers went out, some returning to say “well, it was surfing, but the waves sucked”. The days passed. One day it was so cold and windy, the sun room was worshiped by all. We finally had to roust ourselves and head on down the road, away from the sea. It is likely that we have seen the last of the sea at Mdumbi, and if this is to be our final memory of the Indian Ocean, it is a superb memory.
Adrian and Rentia arrived at Addo Elephant Park just as we were pulling in – not bad timing considering they drove from one side of this huge country and we drove from the other. What a joy to see them! We’d said goodbye in Cape Town 17 months ago, and now here we are together again; a pinnacle has been reached. Adrian made the reservations, booking us into the main camp for two nights, then off to bush camps for the last two nights. There is so much to talk about. Four days will not suffice, but it will have to do.
Addo Elephant Park is a haven for the great beasts and the usual suspects in an African game park, with a couple of exceptions. Addo boast the “Big Seven” as opposed to the Big Five – the designation given to those animals most difficult to hunt on foot, namely elephant, buffalo, rhino, lion and leopard. So who are the other two animals that account for the Big Seven? It isn’t monkeys or baboons although there are plenty o
f those. Addo Park encompasses a portion of the Indian Ocean and guess what swims right into the park – whales and white sharks. Clever, right? The big seven. I think whales and the white shark fit the billing – who’d hunt them on foot anyway?
The four of us (the Big Four) enjoyed what Addo main camp had to offer and for many it is the only camp they visit. By contrast, Mvumu camp is one of the bush camps and while it does not boast large predators and elephant, the camp is remote and rarely used. There was an ingenious parafin-heated hot water 
shower (a dribble really, not a “shower”) and a bird hide – what more do you need? The road was not sedan-friendly. In fact it was healthy to have two vehicles traveling together, not that anything went wrong. Stream crossings, crazy steep and narrow mountain passes, rocky roadbeds – all in a day’s work for the two Toyotas.
From Mvumu the track led us (slowly and cautiously) over the mountains through the biome known as the Avery Thicket, past giant ancient cycad trees and tiny cacti, and on to the seldom-used Darlington Dam campsite. The gate guard told us to be aware, there are three lion around, he said, but no one knows exactly where they are. When we heard a mournful hooting call we at first assumed it was the cats, but it turned out 
to be a male ostrich. They make an deep-toned, drawn out hoot – at Marakele Park they hooted right next to us and yes, it is loud. So next time you are sleeping in an unfenced camp miles away from anywhere and you think you hear lion roaring, just tell yourself it is an ostrich. Happy dreams!
Adrian and Rentia are embarking on a three-month self drive trip beginning this fall, and with all that to plan for, plus work in general – well, it was incredibly generous of them to take the time to come all the way to Addo just to camp with us. Our reunion was at once both joyous and bittersweet, for none of us know when we will see each other again. Not ones for long drawn-out goodbyes, we simply left it at “when we meet again”. Adrian and Rentia are so special, best friends worth seeking out any time, any where. We will see them again.
The hand-wash bowl was solid ice one morning in Mountain Zebra National Park. We’d consulted our weather maps and concluded that Mnt. Zebra would be the warmest place to camp in this area – that it was the warmest place and still the water froze gives you an idea of how cold it can be here in a South African winter.
Still it was well worth the visit. We’d thought to stay only one night and ended up staying for three. The scenery is delicious – cacti and succulents and great blooming aloes. The vegetation is thick, the rocks are intriguing, and 
animals abound. Nearby, the Marakele National Park boasts the largest breeding colony of Cape Vultures. Squadrons of these huge birds rise up over the hills – we were lucky enough to get to the viewing site early before they rose too high for us to see them.
Now we are on to Addo Elephant National Park, and to a long-awaited reunion with our friends Adrian and Rentia. We’ll camp with them for four days, no doubt sitting up well
into the cold night telling stories around the fire and pouring over maps during the afternoons. We’ve missed them, this wonderful South African couple who have been so encouraging. 
Of all the places we have visited where hominids and their predecessors creeped or climbed or walked upright, nothing compares to this. The Cradle of Humankind is a bulging treasure chest of both hominid fossils and the fossils of the other creatures who spent millions of years in and around the limestone caves of this area. Limestone caves and caverns contain fossil remains of such wealth as have never been found before, preserved as only caves can do. Sterkfontein is the most famous of these caves.
Here in Sterkfontein the famous Australopithecus africanus fossil, “Mrs. Ples” – 2.1 million years old – was discovered in 1947. Fifty years later, in 1997, a full Australopithecus skeleton 3 million 
years old, known as Little Foot, found its way to the light. Its jaw contains 32 teeth in position. The story of its discovery is worth a movie. And those are just two examples – it 
appears there is no end to the wonders of Sterkfontein.
60 meters underground in the Sterkfontein, I’m wondering how anyone found anything in this dark place, and who even thought to look? Nowadays the cave is lit, with handrails and walkways and guided tours, but it wasn’t always like this. In the history of the Cradle of Humankind credit is given to the limestone miners and quarry operators, that if not for them these caves may not have been noticed. Quarry masters retrieved interesting rocks and passed them on to the scientists, as has happened in many countries. Now mining has ceased and the search for
our ancestors has taken over.
The many-branched family tree of modern humans is well-represented in the Cradle. Australopithecus africanus is the most common, he who roamed the area 3 million years ago. Fossils of saber-toothed cats have been found in the caves of the Cradle – I am thinking early humans were not cat people, given the size of a saber-toothed. Can you imagine? Near Sterkfontein, evidence of humans first controlled use of fire has been discovered – of course the braai-happy South 
Africans say, where else?
But a recent find is truly phenomenal. In a tight, previously unknown chamber in a well 
known cave, fossils of an entirely new hominid species were found by recreational spelunkers in a story fit for the ages. In analysis, and considering all the information the fossils present and all the evidence found (or not found), it is theorized that this new species of hominid, Homo naledi, carried their dead into this hard-to-reach chamber. The H. naledi buried their dead, after a fashion. It is mind-blowing. No one would have predicted this level of humanism in such an early Homo species. Isn’t it wonderful that science is shook up by something like this? That it challenges all kinds of preconceived notions of ancient hominids? And no doub
t there will be more to come. Even the well-explored caves have chambers no one has seen. What a rush it would be to be the first modern human to see hominid fossils hundreds of thousands of years old. I may want to get into spelunking. . . in my next life.
Three billion two hundred million years ago – 109,300,000,000 rotations on our ceaseless journey around the sun – isn’t it interesting that years are still the measurement of time, even in the billions? Anyway, back then Earth was a hot lava ball and it rotated faster than it does now. The sun emitted a paler energy, being just a youngster. The moon clung closer to us then it does today. Meteors and asteroids pelted both orbs. Life was non-existent.
Oxygenation was another billion years away. Yet there was water and how can that be? Water is one part oxygen. It is an unanswered question; some think H2o arrived by meteor. At any rate water was here and we know this in part because of the amazing rocks laid open on the Genesis Highway, the road to Swaziland. We have reached a pinnacle on our trip – likely these are the very oldest rocks that we will ever see.
Geologists must have lost their collective minds when they came upon what is now known as the Barberton Greenstone Belt. It is beyond ancient, formed only a couple of billion years into our planets’ existence. These quarries of whitish sharp-edged sandstone are the remnants of tidal flats. Tides came and went many times a day, sorting sand and mud endlessly back and forth over pools and small islands. The water reacted with the meager sunlight to create biomats, the first simple life form.
All of this material was eventually buried by granite floating up from the magma, and the years kept going by. The granite decomposed. A highway was built. Scientists came and erected interpretive signage. Evidence of the most primordial life, the biomats, are clearly visible in the rocks. On undiscovered distant planets, biomats will qualify as a life form. Biomats are far more likely to exist than little green men. But I’d be impressed with either.
We traveled the Genesis Highway to Swaziland to experience that country’s monumental effort to protect their white and black rhinos. Everyone w
e met was optimistic and of course thrilled to have rhinos for us to see. Rhinos are massive; stepping onto the track in front of us, they surprised us more than once. Did you know that the female white rhino sharpens her horn on rocks? Her horn can grow to be a meter long, and look how sharp it is. The two species, black and white, evolved to look the same but they eat entirely different diets. The white rhino eats by mowing the grasses they favor with a wide mouth. The black rhino, with its beak-shaped mouth, eats twigs and sticks. They 
both excrete enormous piles of waste which they then spread around to mark territory. And by the way, that fantasy about the elephant ivory? It applies to rhinos and their horns as well, and tigers and all the other exploited creatures on this fantastically old planet.
The tar roads in Kruger National Park allow for just about any kind of vehicle to game drive, something we haven’t seen before. The park maintains the many dirt tracks, something else we haven’t seen in many parks. The camping experience is quite different, people come into the park with their travel trailers towing a small car which they use to explore the roads, somewhat like in the US. This took some getting used to. Special campsites in the Kruger are highly coveted and reservations are booked a year in advance. We haven’t gotten used to that yet.
Rules abound for visitors. Don’t get out of your car except in a designated site. Preferably fenced. No jogging – they had to make a rule for that?? Only block the lane where the animal is, leave the other lane open – now there’s a rule made to be broken in those “Yellowstone 
moments”, as we call them. No speeding, but even at 20k an hour, far under the speed limit, if you hit a lizard or a tortoise it is curtains for the creature. When I see a pile of bones by the roadside I used to think a lion killed something there, but now I realize it is more likely a vehicle. Some scavenger made a meal of the unlucky creature I hope.
One directive is consistently broken by everyone at sightings. Do not put any part of your body out of the vehicle at a sighting. Not your arm or your head and certainly not your torso. This is known as “breaking the plane.” As a rule animals see vehicles as something solid. Studies have been done using dummies to dem
onstrate what happens when a limb sticks out of the flat plane of a car. Lions attack and they are quick about it. Leopards claw what is sticking out of a window. But humans aren’t dummies, right? That’s questionable.
We witnessed an episode of breaking the plane on our way to the Orpen Gate. We’d stopped to admire a very pregnant lioness. She was relaxed, laying on som
e sand near the road. Other vehicles were observing. Then suddenly her body tensed. Her head went up and her vision narrowed and her jaw elongated. She was staring at the road – what could she be so fixated on? Along came a SansPark pick-up truck with four guys sta
nding up in the bed, their heads well over the cab. That lioness stared and stared as they drove past, eyeing them like they were meat at the butchery. The four guys broke the plane. Likely a good thing she was so heavy, there could have been chaos (plus some crazy YouTube videos). And then on we went, inside the Beagle where it is safe. At least from lion.
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