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For our first full day in Kruger National Park, we quickly fell into the usual wildlife viewing routine which we called "game drives". That meant getting up early and being ready to go when the camp gates open at 5:30 a.m. That also meant getting out the paper towels and window cleaner and cleaning all the van windows for the best possible viewing.
Unlike our National Parks back in the U.S., there is no hiking here - it's much too dangerous. So, all exploring is done by vehicle. We all piled into the van and were on our way. The early morning start was an effort to get out ahead of most of the other people and to see some of the nocturnal animals before they bedded down for the day. And it paid off as we saw our first Spotted Hyena. 
Maps are invaluable in the park. You can drive on paved roads (they call them "tar" roads) or you can drive on the various gravel/dirt roads as long as there is no red marker indicating access is not allowed.
The tar roads are the red roads on the map below and the gravel roads are the brown roads. 
NOTE: Credit to the Siyabona Africa website for the above road map.
As you can see from the map inset, we were in the southwest corner of the park. This morning we took the gravel road outside the Berg-en-dal camp gate that loops north to intersect with the main tar road (H-3). Then we were heading north to the Skukuza Rest Camp where we would turn around and head back. Skukuza is on the map below. 
NOTE: Credit to the Siyabona Africa website for the above road map.
Today's entire route is shown in the map at the top of this post. Before long, we saw our first Yellow-billed Hornbill. Linda & I were pretty excited to see this new species of bird, so we had Tony stop the van whenever we saw one .... 
including this time when the unusual bird was digging in a termite mound.
Little did we know at the time that these were very common birds that we would see every day and up much closer. No wonder Tony was laughing at us when we uttered the key word "Stop!!" a little too often on this first day.
Armed with my big camera lens - "The Bazooka" - and our binoculars, our interest in the birds (at pretty much any distance) could have gotten quite tedious for the others. But we're pretty good wildlife spotters, so we figured they'd keep us around. Next, we saw a family of Dwarf Mongoose. There were several of them scampering about and playing. They didn't seem bothered by us at all.
It wasn't long before we spotted our first rhino of the day. This rhino had a Red-billed Oxpecker on its head. These birds are found on all species of large mammals in the park. They eat ticks, which benefits the "host", but they love blood, so they feed on open wounds, thus preventing the wounds from healing quickly. It has long been thought that they provide a service to the "hosts", but recent studies have shown they may do as much harm as good.
Next was another rhino with a baby. Granted, it was a big baby.
Next we came upon our first lions. Two lionesses were right by the road, one of which seemed quite relaxed.
That was quite exciting. Everyone in Kruger wants to see the big cats, so most traffic jams or "cat jams" were the result of a sighting of lions, leopards, or cheetahs.
Continuing on, we came upon our first Giraffe. 
We were already in awe, and we hadn't even had breakfast yet.
But it was time to eat, so we pulled into the Afsaal Picnic Site off the main tar road. This picnic site has restrooms, a "takeaway", shaded picnic tables, a shop, and a fueling station. A "takeaway" is like a fast food restaurant "bush style". You order at a window and then you take away your food to a picnic table or your vehicle; however, we learned the "takeaways" in the park were certainly not fast, but that was okay with us. We went to the picnic tables to wait for our food, and then we realized what Tony had told us about the hornbills. They are everywhere. Here at Afsaal, they were jumping up on the picnic tables like House Sparrows back home. Here's a good look at a Red-billed Hornbill (they always look angry). 
While at the picnic site, a Bushbuck ewe wandered in - another first for us.
After breakfast, we continued north on the H-3 tar road. Next up were Guineafowl by the side of the road.
They are interesting birds with a cool feather pattern, but we didn't get too excited about seeing them since we had 'em on the farm where I grew up.
Our next large animal was another first for us - the majestic Kudu. 
Then we got our first really good look at an Impala buck.
This might be a good point to do a refresher on horns versus antlers. Without getting too deep into it, antlers are shed every year and re-grown (i.e. White-tail deer, Elk, Moose), whereas horns are permanent. During our time in Kruger, everything we will see will have horns.
Our next antelope was a young male Waterbuck (below left), and later in the day, we saw a mature male (below right).
You can't see it well from the photos above, but the Waterbuck is easily identified by a white ring on its rump.
Then we had another rush of excitement because there were two Cheetahs on the side of the road. I quickly snapped this shot from the back seat through the windshield between two other cars. 
With only about 120 Cheetahs in Kruger National Park (according to the park website), we didn't know if we would get to see any, so we were really pumped for this sighting. Fortunately, we were able to get some better looks as they sauntered around for a few minutes and one jumped up on a rock signpost. The photos aren't great, but we're just glad we got anything.
In the picture below, you can see blood in the fur around the mouth, so it looks like they had a fairly recent kill.
We couldn't believe we saw Cheetahs on our first full day in the park. And we were far from being finished with today's drive.
Next, we saw a male Bushbuck (or ram). 
Then there was another Giraffe ... right by the road.
Next we saw another new animal tucked into some sharp-thorned acacia trees. It was an adorable Steenbok, a tiny antelope with big, beautiful eyes and ears.
Well, we finally made it Skukuza, the largest "Rest Camp" in Kruger. It's actually classified as a town, and this centrally located camp is also where the administrative headquarters for the park are located. In addition, there are more accommodations, more restaurants, and more services here than anywhere else inside the park. There is a bank, an internet cafe', the best shopping (grocery and otherwise), and medical facilities, plus a lot more.
Now, with that said, one website says this: "But if you want a secluded truly wild experience this is probably not the camp to stay in. It is always busy and often full." So, we will visit Skukuza more than once, but we're glad we're not staying here at all during our three weeks. Today, we had lunch at Skukuza and sat under one of the lapas, an open-air, thatch-roofed structure, supported by poles. This particular lapa was a roosting area for fruit bats, specifically the Wahlberg's Epaulette Fruit Bats.
Well, if bats can be cute, these were.
Eventually, we headed back south, and there was more to see. Our next new antelope species was the Klipspringer. Klipspringer is Afrikaans for "rock jumper", and they are known for their impressive agility in the rocks.
Moving on, we saw our first elephants of the day. We had a large bull with only one tusk and a small herd.
We also saw two more distant lions.
And just before getting back to Berg-en-dal, we came across two rhinos that had been cooling off in a mud bath.
Whew. It was a long, wonderful, exceeding-all-expectations game drive. But there was still daylight left when we got back to camp, so Linda & I took a walk.
And we got to see one of the birds we were hoping to see - the African Hoopoe (pronounced hoo-poo). It didn't have it's crest feathers splayed in full headdress style, but we were glad we got to see one.
As it got closer to dark, we found a troop of Vervet Monkeys. They are known to hang out in the camps and picnic areas looking for an easy meal, so I'm sure this won't be the last we see of them.
Vervet Monkeys are one of only two species of monkeys in Kruger National Park. The other is the Chacma Baboon which I'm sure we we'll see soon.
After our walk, we joined the others for dinner and cocktails at Jackie & Tony's bungalow. Tony roasted a couple of chickens on the braai. We'll have another 5:30 a.m. start in the morning, so it was an early night. What an amazing day!
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