Yesterday morning we left Joburg after the early morning rush of traffic - no point sitting in that for the first hour or two. What we didn't expect was to land up sitting for almost that amount of time in roadworks! It seems like they're repairing every meter of road from Johannesburg out to Witbank, or eMalahleni as it's now called. But we eventually made it through all of it, and for one of our stops along the way we decide to pull into the Alzu Petroport, a little way after Middelburg. Other than the usual petroport facilities, they also have a massive enclosure with wildlife inside - rhino, buffalo, zebra, ostrich, emu and springbuck! Not bad at all for a roadside petroport and got us prepped for the Kruger Park. After sometime at Alzu, we continued along until our next stop at Milly's Restaurant and Country Trout Stall - famous for their fresh trout pies.

We arrived at Ngwenya Lodge late afternoon, which worked well as we could only check in from after 4pm. Ngwenya is situated on the banks of the Crocodile River with stunning views overlooking a magnificent floodplain on the southern boundary of the Kruger National Park. On check in, we were welcomed with a glass of champagne and orange juice, which of course went down very nicely! We hadn't planned to go into the park yesterday at all, it just would've been too rushed and limited with time, so instead we took a wander down to the lookout hide just next to our chalet. There were no animals across the way, but managed to spot a couple of hippo in the river who decided to make their way out the water and up into the vegetation. We stayed down at the hide for sometime, scouting the banks for any movement, but no such luck. Once the sun had gone down, we returned to our lodge to get the braai started and knock back a sundowner or two after a fairly long day in the car.

Yesterday was our first full day in the Park, and as much as it seemed like a crazy idea at the time, we were all up at 5am to get in just after first light. From the lodge we made our way to Crocodile Bridge Gate and even before we were in the Park we spotted our first animal - hippo in the river. And once in the Park, the first animal was zebra just next to the road. A bit further we were about to turn off the main road when we heard the roar of a lion not so far away so decided to continue instead of turning off. And just as well, as a bit away from the road we spotted two male lions sitting under a tree, with one of them giving the occasional deep roar. You could even see the early morning condensation on his breath with every roar. Incredible!

After that, we saw the a fair amount of the usual sightings - impala, giraffe, plenty of birdlife, huge herd of elephants crossing the road with some young playful ones, various common antelope, vervet monkeys, a few rhino and a charging elephant. Then for lunch we stopped at Lower Sabie after a decent first morning in the Park.

After lunch we stopped in at Sunset Dam just outside Lower Sabie, and spotted in the distance a crocodile kill with tortoise still in it's mouth. Never seen that before. A bit further on we came across Wild Dog, which too I had never seen in the Park before. We first saw them down on the river bed below, then in their 'den' which was unbelievable close to the side of the road. They didn't seem too bothered by the cars alongside them, considering there were quite a few in the pack. No idea how many, they were all quite well hidden in the shade amongst the trees and bushes. But fantastic to see them!

We continued onto the Nkuhlu Picnic Site for an afternoon break, and chilled out there for a while under the trees looking onto the river. Other than the vervet monkeys, we also came across a Rock Leguaan which we hadn't spotted before. From there, we turned around and headed back towards Lower Sabie and en route spotted a Fish Eagle, the classic view of one on top of a tree, then in flight as well when it took off. Later on, back at Lower Sabie, we watched as an elephant crossed the Sabie River to join the rest of the herd on the other side. Never seen an elephant swim across a river like that!

After Lower Sabie, we came across a few ground hornbills and some warthogs which were new sightings for the day, and from there we made our way back to Ngwenya in time for the most beautiful sunset from the hide, with the colours of the sky bouncing off the river. Not too many animals across the way from the hide, but watching the sun and the African sky slowly fade away was good enough for us after a brilliant first day in the park. Once the sun was gone, it was time to light the braai and crack open the beers.