Article and photos by: Africa Geographic Stories & Simon Espley

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Discovering the Greater Kruger – On Foot!

This walking safari got off to a rollicking start.

The previous day I met up with my UK-based Africa Geographic colleague and long-time friend Christian Boix, two safari first-timers and our trail guides Hanri and AD and spent our first night in the mobile camp deep in the Greater Kruger. The husband and wife first-timers had landed in Africa that same day, from Denmark, and this was their first night in Africa! Lions and hyenas calling from the darkness during your first night in Africa…

So, next morning we got up with the dawn chorus and enjoyed smoky coffee from the glowing coals and a basic breakfast, learned from Hanri and AD what to expect and how to behave, and headed out. We had not cleared the perimeter of the camp when Hanri ushered us to the base of a large tree, because not far ahead a large bull elephant was sauntering down the track towards us.

The reason for his presence was that a family herd was converging on the area, with several bulls in tow, keen to check out the ladies. We hastily moved onto a low ridge, with our camp for the night behind us and the large gathering of elephants in front and below us, in a drainage line. There was tension in the air, because the cows were not happy with being goosed by the big bulls, and they bellowed and ran around with their tails in the air, with the little ones all confused and running in circles. The Danes had enjoyed their first walking safari encounter, and it was a corker!

Eventually we decided to leave the elephants to their socialising, and skirted around the herd. The late summer bushveld was thick, and on a few occasions we encountered bull elephants, inbound for some action. One large bull got our hearts racing when he got all big on us – standing tall, fanning his ears out wide, kicking the ground and glaring down his tusks at us – before veering away and crashing through the dense scrub. Our guides were wide awake, and yet totally relaxed, as they interpreted the elephant’s body language and kept us away from his personal space.

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