AnnYuan
记录生活点滴，分享旅途快乐
最近在风坛里泡的时间比较多，看到不少帖子记录了非洲看野生动物的经历。坦桑尼亚，赞比亚是首选。特别赶上动物大迁移找水源，那场面何其壮观。其实南非的Kruger National Park地域广阔，动物也非常之多，况且环境条件都比较好。不知道是不是因为我们去的时候是雨季还是平时就这样，没有沙漠，草肥水旺，绿树成荫，动物成群，一片祥和的气氛，真是动物的天堂。国家公园里Camp条件很不错，有独门独户的house／Bungalow, 自带厨房浴室。每个camp里有一个餐馆，虽然菜式花样不多，味道一般，但是都是新鲜做的。所以这里看野生动物的吃住条件比其它非洲国家都要好，而且自驾有了更多的自由度， 累了就回去打个盹。
虽然十年前去的，是我们第一次看到那么多野生动物，非常刺激，仍然记忆犹新。旅游回来把每张照片都认真地写下了英文注释，但是大概太忙没有写成游记。现在把它们转到博客里也相对容易。就有了写这篇游记的动力。当年拿着一张公园的动物图和照片对比把动物英文名搞清楚就花了不少时间。我试着用谷歌翻译，不少非洲动物名找不到合适的中文名。如果有中文名的我也标出来了。总之，所有的中文部分都是现在新加写的。
2010年12月初我飞了20+小时到南非，那时老公已经在那里做咨询几个星期了。等他的项目结束。我们从Johannesburg机场租了辆车， 往Kruger National Park 进发。我们从公园的官网已经订了三晚国家公园里的camp，打一枪换一个地方，每天换一个camp。在公园外的小镇买了很多水果，西红柿带进去。
这个国家公园方圆七千多平方英里。把我们住的camp和主路标出来，平时去找动物还有很多小路可开。我们从公园南面进去，迂回北上。头两天看到的动物最多，越往北越少。如果再去，中部，南部可以再加一天。
图中的纵向黑线是国界线，线东边就是莫桑比克。以前假期有限，如果是现在应该把莫桑比克也顺道玩了。
Crocodile Bridge Gate is on the south side of the park, where we entered and our safari trip was started.
不知道是不是我们去的时候是雨季还是平时就这样，没有沙漠，草肥水旺，绿树成荫，动物成群，一片祥和的气氛，真是动物的天堂。
Within the first two hours in the park we were very surprised to see so many wild animals lived in this peaceful and beautiful environment. It is our first time to watch wild animals so closely in a natural forest. We are excited and cannot believe it.
Day 1, 图 1.1
These are steenboks. The size is smaller than impala. 1.2
Our first close look at a giraffe. 1.3
Warthogs 疣猪. 1.4
We spotted a group of 20 or more elephants from far away marching towards us and we waited in the car and captured this moment. 1.5
The group of elephants marched towards us to cross the road, we had to escape after taking this close-up photo. 1.6
Impalas and reedbucks? 1.7
A beautiful impala, 高角羚，did you notice a Red-billed Oxpecker 红嘴啄木鸟 on the top of its head? 1.8
What do they talk about? They are young impala, because there is no dark mark in front of their eyes. 1.9
Helmeted Guineafowl,头盔珍珠鸡， scratching the ground with their feet as they go, like chicken. 1.10
人住的camp是保护区，铁丝网围起来的。早上四点半开门。如果跟早上的tour，4-7 Am，可以更早出去。我们不熟悉情况，先报了一个tour，看到的动物不比后一天早上我们自驾看到的多。
第一天晚上住在Lower Sabie rest camp。The house has its own kitchen and bath room, very spacy and comfortable.
Day 2
We took park's early morning game drive (4-7 AM) from Lower Sabie rest camp. The guider calls this a Kudu, which is one out two new animals we saw this morning drive. This is one of the largest species of antelope. 2.1
Closer look at the hippos. 河马。导游说 If you shine a light on the pond in the night, and we did, hippo eyes look like golden stars in evening sky。 2.2
After an early morning game drive we are so tired and back to our house for a morning nap. 2.3
Lower Sabie Rest Camp overlook. 2.4
After morning nap we were on the road again. The first thing we saw is a group of 20 or less Chacma baboon 狒狒 .2.5
looks like the newborn is only a few days old. 2.6
幼象 2.7
These are female waterbuck (非洲大羚羊), very tall. 2.8
This is a male Kudu with long spiralling horn, the symbol of Kruger National Park. 2.9
More Kudu 2.10
The Martial Eagle. These large eagles catch a wide variety of prey including guineafowl, duck, small antelope, hares and reptiles. 2.11
Vervet monkeys 黑长尾猴 at picnic area. 2.12
The Vervet monkey is the only Cercopithecidae in Africa with an entirely black face. Dominant males have a blue scrotum and red penis. They live in family groups of as large as twenty. They forage all day for fruits, nuts, insects, scorpions, seeds and edible shoots. 2.13
closer look of Vervet monkey 2.14
Vervet monkey, motherhood 2.15
吃过午饭再继续开。又是一群大象。
How many elephants? How many times we saw elephants. There was a great effort of elephant population control. This year (2010)the number is up 5 % to 13050. 2.16
Impala, the largest population (100,000) in Kruger. 每天都能看到Impala， 2.17
Impala and zebras 可以和平共处。2.18
This one is male vervet monkey since it has blue scrotums。中午在picnic area 看到妈妈带着幼子，没见到公的，原来它在这里溜达呢。2.19
The southernmost baobab tree, 猴面包树(25 km south of Satara camp), may be thousands years old. 和这么大的树合影人显得这么渺小。2.20
Are they some kind of geese? 2.21
Comb duck, also called Knob-billed duck. The right one is male with a knob. 2.22
Africa Buffalo, 非洲水牛，the population of 36000 as 2009 in Kruger。some buffalos with hat and some without hat。2.23
buffalo cross road 2.24
There are a lot of large ant hills in Kruger, where trees or bush grow from them. 应该是先有树再有蚁窝的吧。2.25
Waterbucks， distinguished by the white ring around their rumps。2.26
Blue wildebeest，斑纹角马（学名：Connochaetes taurinus）也称黑斑牛羚、蓝角马， 牛科角马属的一种。2.27
Waterbucks and blue wildebeest, they are not the same species。也能和睦相处。2.28
第二天晚住Bungalow at Satara Rest Camp， 每家门口还有一个烤炉，闻着别人家飘来的肉香还真的后悔没有准备一些。我们只带了一些水果，顿顿要买的吃。Camp里餐厅不小，菜的味道很一般。2.28
第三天凌晨4点起床（Camp开门4:30），自己开车去看动物了。
In the very early morning (around 4:50 AM) near Satara Rest Camp we are very luck to spot those six lions slept on the road. We hate to wake them up but many cars follow us (our car is the second car). We waited a few minutes and they were reluctant to leave the road. 3.1
There are five females and one male lion. They finally standed up and gave us some attention. 3.2
离开路后蹭蹭树，挠挠痒，大概像人早上洗漱一番。3.3
The sun rise around 5 AM. 3.4
Buffalo's closer look. 3.5
In the same lucky early morning we spotted two white Rhinos 白犀牛。看它们个大有角， 没敢下车，长镜头拍了一张。3.6
more zebra 3.7
晨练后照例回到Satara Rest Camp休息。这个camp里鸟不少。
What a beautiful small woodpecker! 3.8
African Hoopoe 3.9
colorful lizard 3.10
Cape glossy starling 3.11
African Scops owl, the smallest owl in the world, only 15 cm high。这个世界上最小的猫头鹰脸部和人有几分相似。3.12
Camp里植物。The Candelabra tree烛台树 is a succulent tree with highly toxic latex. It has a sturdy main stem with a large round crown. 3.13
There are a pair of ostrich鸵鸟 3.14
How many Giraffes do you spot in this picture? 3.15-16
Olifant Rest Camp, which is the third and the last camp we stayed. 在Kruger公园里，早晚看动物，上午打一个盹，中午开车到下一个camp，有时下午再打个盹。3.17
下午休息好了再开车出来找动物。
Olifants river has many turns. 3.18
Olifant River, took from Olifant Bridge 3.19
Swainson's francolin 3.20
夕阳下，动物们也要回家。这一群是impala 还是Steenbok （短视频，15秒）？3.21
第四天，动物看多了，清晨也没有早起，
blue wildebeest again. It is our last day in the park. 4.1
Saddle-billed stork, 鞍嘴鹳 walks slowly through wood near the road to Phalaborwa Gate. 4.2
又看到不少河马，远远的，照片不理想。
Phalaborwa Gate, which we exited from Kruger NP and headed to Panorama Route (Blyde river canyon, ...). 4.3
我们的camp邻居老两口从委内瑞拉来度假。每年都来一周，他们熟门熟路，食品准备齐全，自带小煤气炉，吃吃喝喝，看看动物，非常放松。
再说一下费用。camp 每晚平均一百美元，餐馆就餐每顿每人大约10-15美元。清晨的tour价钱忘记了， 印象中也不算贵。所以这里看野生动物的成本真是便宜。从首都机场开过来大约4小时，不过是路左边驾驶。
我们还会再来吗？现在南非有变异新冠病毒，暂时进出都不行了
没摸黑赶夜路吧。那夜可真是黑，大灯照出去完全看不见路面。