Day 1 of Kruger National Park

It was going to be a long drive out to the Kruger National Park today so we got up fairly early. Most of the equipment had been loaded last night and we just had to load personal bags and the food. Saw Jayne take the kids to school and eventually set off about 0730hrs.

At one of the stops along the way we needed to get some paraffin for the lantern. This was at a big store similar to B&Q in the UK. Outside they were selling trailers which looked excellent. They look like they've been designed for rough bush style camping in mind. It comes with a bike rack attachment on the top as well. Trailers in South Africa are independently taxed, licensed and tested.

We needed to get to the park entrance in plenty of time to allow us the minimum time to get the first stop at Lataba. After 7hrs (according to the GPS tracker) on the road we arrived at the Phalaborwa gate.

We booked in at three campsites at the first gate. For two local 'children' it cost us approx R750 for the three nights. They obviously made a mistake with that, but we didn't find out until the last night where we had to get an exit stamp.

They won't let you in the main gates unless they think you can make it to a campsite in the minimum time at the parks max speed of 50kph. From our gate to Lataba this meant a minimum of an hour, if you went straight there without stopping to see animals etc. As we had a bit of time to spare we took one of the side roads almost immediately. Saw a giraffe within about 20mins of getting through the gate. Cool. Photos are on my Canon camera so will be updated here when I get home. Didn't see any big cats today. Loads of impala everywhere.

We got to the campsite at Lataba and pitched the tents, next to power sockets and a braai stand. The shower block wasn't too far away either.

After setting up camp we went to the bar via the river. As we approached the river we saw an elephant browsing on the vegetation. It wasn't too close but was my first sighting of a truly wild elephant. I took a picture with the phone camera and sent it home. Jealousy was forth coming. Had a large sundowner at the bar watching the river.

After dark we went back to the tents to cook some supper. Fairly basic steak rolls and plenty beer/wine. Took some interesting insect photos while waiting for super.