Wise advice about Kruger
Here we are sharing observations, advice, tips and nice-to-knows that were accumulated over a period of forty years of visiting Kruger. Some of them have been included in the Enjoy Kruger Series. These will be expanded on a continuous base as we and future generations just get wiser and wiser.
Observations
Not visiting Kruger is like not swallowing that last piece of tasty fillet covered with brandy-pepper-creme sauce.
Allowing your kids to throw tantrums in the vehicle while driving in Kruger, is like taking monkeys out of the bush, but not succeeding in taking the bush out of the monkeys.
If you're a seasoned visitor and till date did not do a potjie in Kruger, you probably don't like potjie - which is actually contradictory to visiting Kruger, or you are unable to make it - which is also contradictory to visiting Kruger, or you are just too lazy - which is just a disgrace.
Every moment in Kruger is a memorable one!
Tips
If you go on an early morning drive, don't worry or waste time with brushing your teeth. Take a swig of raw whisky. (Just kidding! Brush your teeth. Lions don't care for morning breath.)
If you don't have enough money now to do a game-drive in Kruger, hang in there: when you're sixty you get a forty percent discount on any drive as long as it is between a Sunday and Friday.
Don't drink too much of anything before a game-drive - believe me, it's the worst. You can read about my own harrowing experience over in the Wow! Moments
what a relief! post. The driver of the vehicle will stop at any fauna or flora brought to his attention, but not for you to take a quick leak in the bush!
Advice to Consider
With speed limits of fifty kilometers an hour, Kruger presents an ideal location for your learner-driver to enhance his or her driving skills. Nobody will hoot, shout or nastily glance at the learner-driver even if he/she progresses only at ten kilometers per hour.
Whenever you travel in Kruger, whether on a short or a long drive, always take along enough water, other drinks, and snacks. You could get stranded in the middle of nowhere!
Nice to know
A group of owls is called a “parliament of owls” and sometimes also a “congress of owls.” You might have guessed why. They are called such because owls are commonly associated with knowledge and wisdom and supposedly the parliaments of governments are made up of the wisest a country could offer. The phrase probably had its origin in Greek mythology. A wise old owl assisted Athena, the god of Wisdom and Strategy, to understand the value of truth. The owl subsequently became a symbol of wisdom. It makes sense that the phrase dates back ages, as nowadays there are very few parliaments, if any at all, that can boast about their wisdom in formulating legislation beneficial to its citisens.
A group of giraffes is called a “tower of giraffes,” some even are so grand as to call it a “turret of giraffes,” which means exactly the same. It's called this because when seen from a distance they look like a group of towers and when close to them they actually tower over you.
A group of zebras is called a zeal or a dazzle. Now is that not bedazzling to know?
You can actually eat dried impala poop - it's only grass. But do so only when you have nothing else to eat. Many are currently just sort of tasting and licking it when they hold their impala poop spitting competitions. This is quite a well known and fun event among South Africans, especially those living in the Lowveld.
There is much more to the Kruger Sausage Tree than meets the eye. That large sausage that can be a foot long or longer, is not the stuff that they make South Africa's famous “boerewors” from. Actually it is a fruit enjoyed by many types of birds and antelope in Kruger. But that's not all. It also has a use for humankind, although it cannot be eaten by humans. The peel or skin is used in the fermentation process of local alcohol brews in the Kruger-region. The fruit itself is sometimes ground to a pulp and combined with some other elements to make an ointment to treat skin ailments, especially skin cancer. The pods are also used to produce a red dye for the colouring of clothes. The bark of the tree is used to make a kind of a canoe called a Mekoro, which have been used for thousands of years as transportation in the Okavango River delta in Botswana. So next time when seeing these trees, do show a bit more respect to them.
Exploring the Impala Lily: This is not a lily growing on an impala - those medium sized very sleek and nice looking antelopes which are abundant in Kruger. Neither is this a lily looking like an impala. It is actually not even a lily but rather a small tree that blooms between July and October in South Africa. It is only very distantly related to lilies. The Impala Lily belongs to a class of flowering plants called the Dicotyledons (basically meaning it has two seed leaves) which differ from the flowering class of true lilies, called Monocotyledons, which only have a single seed leaf. If you have visited Kruger between July and October you would have observed those strikingly pink flowers which are found all over Kruger. Have you ever wondered why that small tree is called an Impala Lily? Obviously it is named after the graceful impala but why? Well it seems there is a very simple reason why and that is because the Impala Lily occurs and grows abundantly in the same regions where impalas graze, which basically is everywhere in Kruger. Now is that not peculiar and rather funny. In East and north Africa they call the same little tree a Desert Rose because it survives in arid and very hot desert temperatures. So if named after the habitat in which it grows and survives, a more appropriate name in South Africa would rather have been Kruger Lily. Some antelopes graze on Impala Lilies but not impala. Actually this is a poisonous little tree and domestic animals could die from eating it. The Namibia Bushmen tribe used the plant to make poison which was put on the points of their arrows when hunting. One poison arrow could kill a fairly large antelope. The little tree, in addition to its beauty, also is put to good use. While poisonous it is also harvested because of medicinal and healing elements. Sadly, poachers have also included the Impala Lily in their range of targets and nowadays it is a protected plant.
Why do you think they call a group of rhinos a crash of rhinos. Well, the reason is that on the spur of the moment, rhinos just charge when offended and when they do charge, they will not stop until crashing into their target, unless it can speed or run away, and even then they will chase the target as long as they can. Check out the many video clips on YouTube. Come to think of it, you don't need a group of rhinos, meaning two or more to call it a crash of rhinos. A single rhino when charging will cause a great crash on its own. I think all rhinos, whether as a group or single, warrants the noun “crash of rhino/s.” So next time you spot a rhino just shout: “Rhino Crash!”