South African Safari: In Search of the Big Five
Day 1 We left our lodge before the break of dawn for a 45-minute drive to Kruger National Park Reserve entrance, bringing our boxed breakfast and bottled water with us. We were warned to limit our coffee or water consumption before the game drive for there were no toilet facilities in the wild. Forty minutes later, I saw an orange glow of light poking through a dark layer of morning clouds hovering over the silhouetted mountain. I pulled out my iPhone to snap a picture of the beautiful scenery to Instagram the picture to my friend who told me that South Africa was touristy. I decided not to take pictures but enjoy the stillness of the morning. I had been on adventure trips enough to know the drill, so I tend to set my expectations low. The beautiful scenery so far seemed to be a prelude to a wonderful safari. We arrived at the gate at 6:00 am where our safari jeep and a ranger named Smart was waiting for us. There were eight of us in the jeep and I felt lucky...