Maruleng NU, Limpopo, South Africa.… Not sure how to begin to explain what an amazing four days we’ve just spent admiring the work of Mother Nature.

Our short flight South from Johannesburg brought us to the Kruger National Park area. The jeep ride into Kapama’s Southern camp was filled with great surprises. Greetings were offered by a herd of Zebras, several cape buffalo taking a siesta, a couple of curious warthogs, a herd of impalas, and a baby male elephant munching on tree leaves … all within a few feet of the Jeep. The facilities and our “suite” were exceptional…very spacious, modern and comfortable. The variety and quality of the food was outstanding at every meal and more than plentiful. And, the service was unsurpassed.

The landscape on this private reserve of approximately 33,000 acres is “bushy”, sandy, and dotted with “teepees”… tall termite hills. We did 8 safaris in 4 days…each approximately 3 hours. I can’t even begin to name all the different animals and birds we saw. After the second ride, we had seen all of the Big Five…Lion, Rhino, Cape Buffalo, Elephant… and YES… even the hardest to locate, the Leopard. I was able to get photos of all, but the leopard was moving fast, so not such a great picture.

First evening we came across a male lion who had just killed a zebra and was dragging it across the field. He hid it in the bushes under a large tree. Two females joined him and laid close by as he began to devour it. I’ll never forget the noise he made as he ripped the meat off the head… made me cringe with each bite. And there was crunching as if he was eating bones, but I was told they don’t actually eat the bones just break them apart to get at the meat. He really didn’t seem to mind that we were sitting 25 feet away watching him consume his dinner. Lions are king in their territory …but there’s one exception….an elephant CAN kill them.

One afternoon a couple days later, we came across a male and female napping. They generally sleep 20 hrs a day. Fortunately, within 15 minutes of us patiently waiting, they decided to wake up, stretch and move toward us. We quickly reversed the Jeep and then they leisurely turned and strolled down the path the opposite direction. We watched as the female went ahead and urinated by a tree. The male followed and when he got to the tree, he did the “Fleming Grimace”… actually a very comical sight … he lifts his head and shows his teeth. It was a cool and RARE event to watch.

One day we were sitting admiring the beautiful sunset near a water hole and suddenly a train of elephants starts walking past us within 15-20 ft of the Jeep. There must have been 50 of them… all sizes from giant males to tiny babies. They lined up at the waterfront and proceeded to drink. The babies hadn’t quite got the hang of it and seemed flustered. It was both a fascinating and humbling sight. They are such gigantic and graceful creatures. I sat there for 30 minutes in awe. Later in the week we went to the area where the baby orphan elephants are rescued, nurtured and released into the wild again. I learned it takes 22 months for a new baby to be born… whoa… and I thought 9 months would never end when I was pregnant… AND they have 7-9 babies during their life time. That’s inconceivable to me as a mother. We were allowed to feel behind their ears, feed them and interact for several hours. It was an educational and fulfilling experience.

In addition to the big 5, there was an abundance of other animals…

Giraffes – their tongues are very thick and rubbery so when they eat the thorny trees they don’t get cut.

Hippos – they kill more humans than any other animal, eat grass, graze at night and stay in water during day. Can’t swim .. walk on the bottom and can stay underwater about 5 min max.

Rhinos – White South African rhino – only 8,000 left in world; the Black rhino is even more endangered with only about 6,000 still living.

Impalas – we drove up on the scene of one buck challenging another… they do this by repeatedly sticking out their tongue. It’s a ritual that’s amazing to watch. And then there were the more rare sightings….

White tailed Mongoose – very rare and since they are Nocturnal, we were very privileged to have him stand near his hole and pose for our cameras at dawn before retreating to his digs.

Black chested Snake Eagle – snakes are at the top of his menu

Nyala (spiral horned antelope)

Suicide Bird – red creasted krowan

Water bucks – wide white ring around their tail, and the only animal species that runs TOWARDS the water when in danger

Honey badger – the “bad ass” of the bush, they don’t give up- stout, mean little rascals. They can take on 3 lions and win.

Red headed hoopoo

Spotted hyena – laughing

One VERY interesting fact I learned was about the defense mechanism of trees- To prevent overgrazing, trees know when to develop a tannin (bitter) taste and animals don’t like it… so when a giraffe has eaten too much of a tree or bush, they will begin to taste the tannin and move on… but the really cool trick Mother Nature has orchestrated is the ability of the soil to transfer the message to the surrounding trees so they begin to produce the toxin in time to save themselves. Thus, the “bush” survives. Each tree has a special purpose… and belief… For example…take the Buffalothorn Tree. The Buffalo (thick skinned) will back into this very thorny tree so that the lion can’t get to him … because the lion is soft skinned and will get hurt. Also the natives believe that taking a branch from this tree will protect a person when they are buried, so they place it in the coffin.

If I haven’t lost your attention, let me tell you about one other cool thing that happened. When we went down for lunch one day, our waiter asked us if we would follow him. He headed out into the bush. We were puzzled, but we did as we were asked. He lead us to a small table, white table clothed, set for two, overlooking a lake with Impalas roaming about and an elephant drinking. He announced that he would like to serve us in the “wild” bush. It was like being in a movie. He brought three separate courses, each delicious. We sat and talked about how blessed we were to have this romantic setting and how privileged we were to experience this fabulous camp.

Headed to Cape Town to check out the beaches…