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Gene & Lee's African Safari
South Africa - April 28 to May 24, 2010

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY  

Introduction to our African adventure!

April 28 - Edmonton to Calgary

April 29 - Calgary to Frankfurt

April 30 - Frankfurt to Jo'burg

May 01 - Jo'burg
 

May 02 - Jo'burg to Livingstone

May 03 - Victoria Falls, Zambia

May 04 - Livingstone to Jo'burg

May 05 - Jo'burg to Hazyview

May 06 - Kruger National Park

May 07 - Kruger National Park

May 08 - Kruger to Pongola
 

May 09 - Pongola to Durban

May 10 - Durban to Cape Town

May 11 - Cape Town to Gordon's Bay

May 12 - Gordon's Bay / Gansbaai

May 13 - Gordon's Bay / Stellenbosch

May 14 - Cape Town to Jo'burg

May 15 - Jo'burg to Lephalale
 

May 16 - First day of hunting safari

May 17 - Second day of hunting safari

May 18 - Third day of hunting safari

May 19 - Fourth day of hunting safari

May 20 - Fifth day of hunting safari

May 21 - Sixth day of hunting safari

May 22 - Seventh day of hunting safari
 

May 23 - Jo'burg to Frankfurt

May 24 - Frankfurt to Calgary

Links

Friday, May 7th - Kruger National Park

Another 5 a.m. wake up call and coffee & rusks at 6. Rusks are similar to a rectangular hard biscuit and are well suited to dipping in your coffee to soften them up. We had decided the night before that we would have a full breakfast at 8:30 or so on our way south to our stop for tonight at the Berg-En-Dal Camp.

    
    
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Again, we were spotting game almost from the time we cleared Skukuza.

      
      
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For breakfast we pulled into the Afsaal Rest Stop and had a good breakfast of eggs, back bacon, fries and toast. After breakfast we hit the road again, continuously working our way south. Our goal was to spot all five of the big five before we left the park. The big five in Africa consist of African Elephant, African Lion, Leopard, Rhinoceros and Cape Buffalo. As we had seen elephant, lion and cape buffalo the day before, our quest today was to find rhino and leopard.

    
      
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And we did find Leopard and White Rhinoceros, as well as Baboon, Blue Wildebeest, Burchell's Zebra, Elephant, Giraffe, Impala, Klipspringer, Kudu, Leopard Tortoise, Slender Mongoose, Terrapin Turtle, Tree Squirrel, Vervet Monkey and Warthog. Birds we were able to identify were the Coucul, Ground Hornbill, Helmeted Guineafowl, Lilac Crested Roller, Fish Eagle, Marabou Stork and the three different Hornbills.

      
      
      
      
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As we were all quite exhausted after another early morning and intense drive, we opted to check in at Berg-En-Dal Camp at 2:00 pm and take it easy the rest of the day. It was fortunate we did because shortly after we arrived the skies opened up to a hard rain accompanied by a lightning show and thunder.

Our air conditioned bungalow with its own kitchenette was very comfortable. Built of brick with a traditional thatched roof there was a spacious sleeping area and fully equipped bathroom. Lee and I caught up on our laundry, I brought my notes up to date and we generally just kicked back for the rest of the day.

    
    
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Supper was prepared by Andre again. Tonight it was an appetizer of grilled farmers sausage, garden salad with avocado, baked potato, bbq steak, maize and sauce. Dessert was a melktert (Afrikaans) or a "milk tart" to the rest of us. It's a South African treat with a sweet pastry crust containing a creamy filling made from milk, flour, sugar and eggs.

      
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