We left Hlane late morning to drive back into South Africa to Kruger National Park. From the north end of Hlane to the southern border of Kruger is about 130 kms with almost continuous sugar cane fields on both sides of the road. The outbound Swazi border post was very modern and seemed designed to accommodate much more traffic than we encountered.
At lunch at a riverside restaurant just outside Kruger, my friend ordered eisbein, which the waiter said was wild duck. When the food arrived, we discovered we had both misheard; it was wild dog, which she ate and I tried.
After checking in at Crocodile Bridge rest camp, a night-time game drive beckoned. A young Dutch couple were the only other guests on the drive (1). She explained that she can understand Afrikaans (2) if spoken slowly. During the drive, she asked the driver to turn off the engine and all the lights, so we could enjoy the night sky deep in the bush (3), including a clear view unto our milky way galaxy; beautiful.
Each passenger was given a spotlight to scan the surrounding land for animals. Thousands of eyes reflected the light back. We saw our first hippos. With their sensitive skin, hippos stay in pools of water during the day and feed in the grass and bushes, traveling up to 9 miles during the night. The Dutch college student (with excellent vision) spied an African Wild Cat, about the size and markings of a tabby house cat.
A group of impala on alert soon led us to discover a small pride of lions stalking them. The safari truck followed until two of the lions, having given up the hunt, began softly roaring. Upon returning to the camp, I had a restful night while warthogs kept the grass trimmed outside the tent
(1) She had just submitted her thesis for a bachelor's in philosophy, and took some time off for the trip.
(2) Afrikaans is the most common language spoken by whites in the area and was derived from Dutch.
(3) The stars are different than in the northern hemisphere, and the guide explained how to use the southern cross to orient oneself to the south.
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