Safari in South Africa! - some highlights

We took two "game drives" as they are called in SA, one in the evening from 5-8 p.m., and one in the morning from 6-9 a.m. (different animals are active at different times of day).
After the sun set and before the sun rose it was VERY cold and we were wearing winter clothes. But once the sun was out the temperature was really nice.

There aren't many shots from the evening safari because it was too dark to take pictures.
One of the highlights that we couldn't get on film was an enormous HIPPO very close to the car!

Here we are on the jeep we rode both times.

The landscape and scenery were as breathtaking as the animals, even though they were the main focus...we got to experience both an African sunset and an African sunrise.

There was a big giraffe carcass close to the road that jackals were eating in the evening, but in the morning we came upon this big male lion eating his fill of the dead giraffe. We could hear him as he ate and snorted and called for the female lions to come to the meal. We watched this for at least 30 minutes, and our guide said "You can only see this on National Geographic!"




After eating he came up very close to the jeep and then followed the road behind us. He was VERY big!

One of the most common sightings were zebras.

Other common sightings were wildebeests
(and antelope/impalas/springboks).

These giraffes crossed the road in front of the jeep and then ran from the road...It was such an experience to see 2 giraffes running - almost like in slow motion!

I can't remember what this one was called, but his horns were enormous!

We came upon this rhino female with her one month old baby rhino. It was soooo cute. The baby rhino was very playful and jumped and frolicked and snorted, then plopped down and sighed...We were very close to them and could hear them eating.

The two animals that we did not see were leopards (one of the rarest sightings) and elephants, which we both really wanted to see. Maybe next time! :o)

It was an amazing, breathtaking experience and now we are hooked for life on AFRICA!
What a beautiful, beautiful place!!!