Kruger Safari: the schedule
I'd never been on a safari before, but as I understand it, a lot of them have a similar schedule as the one I took with Transfrontiers Walking Safaris.
First we got woken up by one of our rangers early in the morning, 5am every day. It was always still dark out, and they set out coffee, tea, some cereal and yogurt for a light breakfast. It very quickly became light out, and at 6am, we were in our Land Rover setting out either for a game drive or a walk. Transfrontiers specializes in doing the walks, where you learn about the different plants and insects, and analyze dung and footprints. I really liked this aspect of the safari, until I got a nest of pepper ticks on my pants when walking through thick bush!
Then we came back to camp at about 10am, when we had a full breakfast. All of our meals we ate family-style, at the same time. We only had 7 people in the group, with 2 rangers, so we really got to know each other. A very nice shift from the isolation I felt in Pretoria!
Then from about 11am to 3pm, we had free time to ourselves. This is the hottest part of the day, so it's not great to be out and about at this time. This was a time to nap or read a book. I also learned that it was a good time to take a shower, compared to early in the morning in the dark - after my first shower I reached out to grab my clothes and grabbed a small toad that jumped on my underwear instead!
I loved this part of the day! It was so restful just to drift off into a nice sleep, dry and warm but with a cool breeze coming in through the vents of the tent.
After lunch at around 3pm, we set out in the truck for another game drive. It's really interesting - there's always one ranger driving and the other ranger "tracking" in the little jump seaton top of the hood, looking for tracks and signs of wildlife, and directing the driver where to turn.
At sunset about 6pm, we stopped for a break, and had "sundowners" while looking at the beautiful sunset (and the rising moon as well). They had beer, wine, and soft drinks, and set out little bowls of chips and nuts and even marshmallows one day. The metal grille in front of the truck's regular grille flipped up and served as a table!
After sundowners, the tracker pulled out the spotlight, and we started our night drive. Nighttime is when the nocturnal animals like leopards are active, so it's a really important part of the day. We then got back to camp around 8pm, had a big dinner, and then sat around the campfire to chat. But soon enough we went to bed because we had to get up at 5am again the next day! I had the best sleep of my trip so far in one of these tents. It's so peaceful listening to all of the nighttime insects and birds. We also heard buffalo and hyena at night (and a leopard killing an impala too).
