Our original plan was to spend our weeks in the hospital or at rural clinics, but due to a scheduling conflict with two upcoming TLC clinics, we shifted our plans and pushed our two longest treks (Kruger NP and St. Lucia Estuary on the Indian Ocean, both across the border in South Africa) against each other. As a result, we've just completed an 7 day trek across the northeastern part of South Africa. While we all were itching to get back to Manzini by the end and dive back into the medical aspect of our trip (our primary purpose here), the trip was one I won't ever forget. From dramatic animal encounters at Kruger to the chaos of South African highways (where 2 lanes actually means 4), my first speeding ticket (and a speeding, stampeding hippopotamus) to a brush (fire) with death, and braving "the most dangerous body of water in the world" in kayaks, these 7 days have been packed with plenty of (mis)adventure. I've taken over 700 pictures/videos over these 7 days, but given the slow upload speed over here, I'll have to share those once I return.
Our first trip was a 4 day, 3 night trip to the world renowned Kruger National Park. Roughly the size of New Jersey, it is impossible to cover the entire park in that time period (though I certainly want to some day). We stuck to the southern reaches of the park, camping at Skukuza and Pretoriuskop rest camps. We left Manzini early Thursday morning, barely got lost, and crossed the border with no issue. By about 1:30, we'd hit Kruger, and started plugging north for our camp. Due to the time constraints (must be in camp by 530 PM), we had to fly a little faster than we'd like, but in the 3 hour drive between the gate and Skukuza we stumbled upon two lions about 10 yards off the road, a White Rhino bigger than any we saw at Hlane, and several herds of elephants. The highlight was a Leopard in the middle of the road as we came around a bend near Skukuza (pic to the left). We managed a few looks, then tried creeping closer for a better look, when another car speeding around the bend spooked the cat. Without a doubt, the most beautiful animal I've ever seen.
The next morning, feeling inspired by our hot start the day before and fueled by Eland biltong (jerky) we pushed out into the park. We were rewarded with many different types of antelope, numerous elephants, and dozens of bird species. We pushed north, hoping for our new targets, Cheetah, Wild Dog, and Lion. While we had no success with these, we did have a number of good elephant encounters and took in spectacular views of the different valleys from mountain ridge roads.
Speeding back to camp for our night drive, we noticed a plume of smoke in the distance ahead of us; as we approached it grew thicker and darker. Nearing it, I noticed large numbers of Lilac-breasted Rollers flocking, and as we became nearer, Impala rushing out of the brush and embers floating around the car. As we rounded a bend, we saw a brushfire burning on the side of the road (not uncommon in this part of Africa, which has been experiencing drought for years); I shifted to the far right side of the road, and made a move to quickly slip past the fire. As soon as the car started moving, the flames licked out onto the road and the car became very hot, with gusts of hot wind from the fire reaching into the car. We all panicked, and quickly threw the car in reverse, squealing away as the fire continued to grow (luckily not striking any of the fleeing antelope as we did). We managed to find a dirt path around the center of the blaze, and made it back to camp just in time for our night drive, but a return to the area two days later showed that given the extent of the blaze (picture to the right... this extended about a km in the direction we had been traveling), we likely would have been in serious trouble had we not backed out of heat.Adrenaline still pumping from the brushfire, we loaded up for a sunset drive. This guided trip is the only way to explore the park after dark. Our lamps didn't turn up much for the first two hours of the drive, continuing a feeling of disappointment after our predator "dry spell" that day. As we worked back towards camp, we ran into a number of hippos grazing out of the river at very close range, and stole a quick look at a Civet as it snuck back into the cover of the grass. The highlight of the trip came when the guide spotted a pair of lions on the road; for over 15 minutes we tracked them as they moved up the side of the path, marking their territory and resting. At that point, it was too dark for my camera, but I do have a bit of video I will share when I return! The 2 lions were definitely one of the high points of the trip.
The next morning, we broke out at dawn. For the first several hours, things were pretty quiet, though we nearly blew past two different elephants 3 feet from the road, and had great looks at hippos, crocs, and tons of waterbirds at close range at the Lake Panic Hide. On our way back to camp, we ran into one fo the famous Kruger traffic jams, and managed to maneuver into position to see 2 cheetahs no more than 15 feet away, tearing away at an Impala kill! Definitely one of the most thrilling experiences I've ever had in the field.
The rest of the day we worked towards our new camp, Pretoriuskop. Game was still thin at times (wild dogs still managing to stay out of our sight). We did see one massive herd of elephants, including the biggest elephant we saw on the trip, which, for a moment flared its ears and appeared as though it might charge our car. Later, a lioness paced out of the scrub. This cat was particularly impressive, powerful, and didn't seem to care at all about our presence. We tried to work ahead of its trail into the forest, to position for another road/river crossing, and failed, but it was almost as exciting to see all the antelope we ran into along the way picking up on its presence and spooking (including a herd of Kudu that exploded across the road just ahead of us... unfortunately no lion in pursuit).
That night, we were treated to a spectacular sunset from the top of the mountain near our new camp. We woke up early the next morning, again, hoping to strike gold with wild dog or lion. We managed to find one lion, at a distance, with apparently 3 more just out of sight beneath feasting on Impala, and a stop at Lake Panic again produced displaying hippos at close range. Trying to make it back before dark, we departed for Manzini.
Next morning, we picked up Kim and made our break for the second half of our adventure, this time south east into the KwaZulu-Natal coastal region of South Africa. About two hours in, I was pulled over and received my first speeding ticket (on any continent). In Swaziland, the police camp out at bus stations with radar guns, and walk into the middle of the highway to flag you to the side of the highway, and issue a fine on the spot. Papa Kohl's spotted the 100E fine (~15 US, and apparently a spike on what is normally charged, but a small price to pay for the street cred I've now got for being an international criminal).
St. Lucia is a beach town not unlike what you'd expect to find in Florida, at least at first glance, with lots of little places to eat and souvenir shops. We split north for Cape Vidal, our camp for the night, not realizing it sat in the middle of iSmangaliso Wetlands Park... what we figured was more South African highway turned out to be a winding trail through rolling coastal wetlands, dune forests, and savannah, complete with Rhino, Zebra, Kudu, and Buffalo. Eventually we reached camp, which sat directly on the Indian Ocean. We spent the remaining hour of sunlight exploring the beach and testing the water (not bad considering it is winter down here).
Next morning we woke up early and snuck to the beach to catch the sunrise, and were rewarded with dolphins and a few humpback whales breaching within binocular view off the beach. We broke camp and worked back to St. Lucia. Unlike Kruger, where most of the territory we explored was grassland or thorn scrub, the iSmangaliso park is made up largely by coastal forest, giving a much stronger "jungle" feel. We picked up a few new animals, and ran across another leopard. While it stayed at a good distance (no good photos), it stayed put long 
enough to get pretty good looks, continually watching us from an opening in the grass. Eventually, it moved on, slowly pacing out of sight into the brush. Favorite animal of the trip, by far. I'd highly recommend a visit to this park; while it lacks the fame of Kruger, I think it boasts better scenery, has the highest density of leopard in South Africa, allows more opportunities to get out and walk (the concrete paths to the hides were left open overnight to dry, and each has several tracks of footprints permenantly embedded into it, including leopard and hippo tracks), and is much less crowded... definitely worth a stop.
After spending a couple hours on the beach, we took a "Kayak Safari" with Justin, a local fisherman/guide. We entered the water and paddled up to a bank with a couple of huge Nile Crocodiles... the beast behind Brad and I was over 4 m long (over 13 ft). We continued paddling, eventually coming across a group of hippos submerged in the estuary. We sat and watched while they displayed, gaping their jaws, even rising out of the water once trying to intimidate us ("Yes, that is for us, to show how big they are", according to Justin). Most frightening moment (keep in mind that hippos kill more 
people than any other animal in Africa) was the paddle back. As the sun was fading, our guide stopped us as he had spotted a hippo in the middle of our path ahead. Hippos can submerge for up to 7 minutes (though usually 2-3, which still seemed like an hour) before coming up for air, staring you down each time, so each time they dive, your heart hits your throat waiting for it to rise back up beneath your boat. This was the first time the guide actually seemed concerned, as each time the hippo appeared closer and closer. After about 10 minutes we finally spotted the hippo behind us, and headed back in. Overall, an awesome experience (the videos are even better than the pictures), and as a bonus, the estuary was busting with bird life. That night, thinking our hippo run ins were behind us, we headed into St. Lucia for dinner. Walking down the street and stepping off the curb, we heard someone whistle loudly. We stopped and had no time to react as an adult hippo barreled past us at full speed about 15 feet away on the other side of the road. Definitely should have looked both ways... apparently they frequent the streets of St. Lucia at night to graze and drink fresh water out of swimming pools.
The next morning, we took a tour through the gamepark and snorkeling in the ocean with Phillip, the owner of the kayak safari company, who filled us in a bit more on the paddle we'd just taken. While we knew the St. Lucia Estuary contained hippo and crocodile, apparently it also hosts a healthy population of Bull and Blacktip Shark and is largely considered (direct quote) "the most dangerous body of water on the planet". Even better, apparently several years before his death, Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin camped for two weeks at St. Lucia but refused to do any taping in the actually estuary because of the danger (one of the only places he refused to film). With years in the area and having done work on past and future animal documentaries, Phillip was a fantastic guide, but I am glad he had to miss the kayak safari, because he was busy catching and radio tagging Black Mambas and Cobras (yeah, the guy is a complete B.A.) for a research study.Early that afternoon, we burned back to Manzini. While we had no further incidents, driving through South Africa was another adventure. What appears to be a standard 2 lane highway (except with a ~70 mph speed limit) is treated as a 4 lane highway. Cars passing sugarcane trucks routinely blew by us with their cars straddling both sides of the white line. Drive was a little tougher since Brad's girlfriend completely let us down with her promise to supply mix CDs, a sin for which we probably can never forgive her. Thankfully we had South African radio stations to entertain us, which play interesting combinations of Enrique Iglesias, MJ, Jay-Z and Rod Stewart. All in all, a great week, though I was definitely feeling a little homesick for Swaziland and was pretty ready to get back to Manzini, RFM Hospital, and the TLC clinics.
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