The 3-day Kruger Safari: Day 2

Breakfast:

We woke up at 6:30 to get ready for breakfast at 7:00. We were leaving the Tremisana Lodge so had to get packed and ready for our next lodge. To my dismay the monkeys were no longer outside my door, but I could hear them banging on my roof.

The Tremisana Lodge looked really nice in the morning light. Breakfast included bacon, eggs, and sautéed mushroom, which all tasted pretty good.

Pre-safari:

I misplaced my credit card, which caused me a little bit of anxiety. Thankfully one of the lodge workers (whose name I unfortunately don’t remember) found it and gave it to me, along with a stern, well-deserved lecture about protecting my possessions and keeping my cards in a wallet. I gave her a tip for her help and caring about me enough to lecture me—I was really grateful!

Safari morning:

After a little bit of confusion about which vehicle we were supposed to get on, Drew and I were ready for our all-day safari in Kruger National Park. I have to say while everything always seemed to work with Viva Safari, we were always a bit confused as to what was going on when it came to transitioning to new activities.

It took about an hour and a half to drive to Kruger’s Orpen Gate entrance, arriving around 10:00. We stopped at a rest area for bathrooms shortly after.

Then we stopped at another little shop for snacks and water. While there we noticed a sign where people could mark if they saw certain animals—it seemed like we might have good luck!

Then we drove. We saw quite a few animals: zebra, impala, kudu, wildebeest, elephant, giraffe, baboon, and many birds and smaller animals. These animals were usually further away than the ones we saw the night before, but it was really special to see them in their natural environment unbothered by people.

We drove all over, and were actually really close to the border of Mozambique. Drew was hoping we’d cross over but we didn’t.

Safari lunch:

We stopped at the Satara Rest Camp for lunch at 1:30. I got a meat pie $5 and a beer $1 but all the driving made me not very hungry. I did pick up some impala jerky for the road though.

Safari afternoon:

We drove off again and shortly saw a couple elephants fighting, which was quite an interesting sight!

That might’ve been the highlight of the safari because after that we drove and drove and drove and saw more of the same animals. I think Drew and I both dozed off for a few minutes at certain points of the ride.

This is a really long drive! And although the landscape is beautiful, there’s no guarantee you’ll see that much. We were really happy to be there but we saw a lot more animal action the night before at the private game reserve.

I think if I were to do a three day safari again I would go for a half day safari on day two, rather than a full day. We were driving from 8am until 7pm and it just felt like a lot, especially since we drove 5 hours the day before.

Of course, if we saw more animals perhaps I wouldn’t have minded such a long drive. Safaris are a bit like a casino and you just don’t know what you’re going to get.

Marc’s Treehouse Lodge:

We arrive at Marc’s Treehouse Lodge around 7pm totally wore out from a long day of animal watching, although to our delight there were some Cape buffalo at the camp’s entrance.

This lodge is rustic, and my tent is a 5 minute winding walk through a forest trail from the bar where we check in.

It’s a high quality tent at least, and it has a lamp and outlet for charging my phone. There are bathrooms with flush toilets but they had some insects in them and I didn’t even bother to use the showers. Drew did though and said he had to dodge some insects there as well.

Dinner:

The dinner spot looks really cool out in the open by a little lagoon. We ate around 8:00.

We were served soup, game sausage, coleslaw, and grits, with a cake dessert. Everything tasted great and we went back to the bar for after-dinner beer and hanging out.

While we were there we met some guys that went on a safari at the reserve by the Tremisana Lodge who had amazing stories—they saw lion cubs, African wild dogs, a leopard, and hyenas up close. Their pictures and videos were extremely cool. They definitely won the safari lottery that day!

We went to bed around 11:00pm ready for another big day.