Just before 6 am & the bush is waking up. We are at Skukuza Rest Camp in Kruger. We are staying in a 'luxury' bungalow.
Rest camps are a protected haven surrounded by an electrified fence to keep the nasties on the outside. Bungalows, tents, camping spaces etc. This is the biggest with a steak restaurant & a large store.
The park is a self-drive area like a giant Afican Lion Safari (220 miles top to bottom & 40 miles wide). You don't get out of your vehicle under ANY circumstances unless you are in a rest camp or you could literally be eaten. Private camps hug the western middle section - many with their own private reserves - some fenced & others unfenced into Kruger. You drive on the network of roads with speed limits strictly enforced - 50 km/hr on tar, 40 km/hr on gravel & you are not allowed to off road. You see whatever you see - it is not a canned experience. Heading out shortly . . .
Btw Motion & I just missed each other at JNB airport yesterday. We were waiting in one terminal for a domestic flight & he was in the other flying internationally. Next time, Richard!
Ian