This blog is in memory of Kristin Secor

We left the reserve, and any Wi-Fi, and headed out. We stopped for lunch at Whimpy’s, which was like a Friendly’s with a very basic menu-burgers and ice cream. This town had the last grocery store close to the park. (The main gift shop at Skukuza had a lot of snacks, side dishes, and ice cream)

***I lost a lot of photos, I THINK some did not save because I was offline so much, but no one can be sure!

"Stretching almost 400 kilometers across the low-lying north eastern border of South Africa, and covering an enormous two million hectares - larger than many small countries - the Kruger National Park is one of the greatest game reserves on Earth." - 101 Kruger Tales

With 147 mammal species, 500 bird species, and 14 distinct ecozones filled with insects, more than 100 reptiles, and the Big Five - elephants, lions, leopards, rhino and buffalo, Kruger National Park opened as a national park in 1926. It has a million visitors a year, many driving their own cars across the 2500 kilometers of gravel, dirt, and tarred road.

Kruger Park survives on tourism. If you drove every kilometer of accessible tourist road and could see 100 meters to your right and left, you would have still only seen 2.5% of the whole park. This tells you how massive the Kruger is. Within that 2.5% of mainly untouched Africa, incredible things happen, right before your eyes!

Que - The Greatest Showman “Come Alive”.

Skottel - A waist-high, gas-fired griddle used as an alternative to a wood or coal braai.

Braai - The South African word for barbecue, derived from the Afrikaans word braaivleis, meaning literally 'grilled meat'.

Rondavel - A circular, thatched hut. “The majority of accommodation units in Kruger are rondavels, continuing a tradition from the very first overnight huts built in the Park.”

We stayed at two different camps while at Kruger National Park in these two huts, with similar layouts, both had room for wheelchairs and both had a roll-in shower!!!

Our tour guy, Alfie of Epic Enabled, was actually one of the advocates that fought Kruger National Park to make the majority of huts accessible, because:

“Anyone can stay in an accessible hut, but NOT everyone can stay in a non accessible hut!!” INCLUSIVITY! Oh that’s the I in D.E.I. wait, that's not fraud & abuse - Uhmm, HELLO!

It blows my mind that out of all the countries in the world, it is South Africa that fights for inclusivity the most. It was our president who shut down D.E.I. right away, it makes perfect sense. If you don't hear my sarcasm you can just leave now!

The entire park is ring-fenced except for a small area in Mozambique. There are 9 entry gates, 24 rest camps, and 17 private safari lodges. All rest camps are surrounded by electric fence and a gate which opens just before dawn and closes at dusk.

Satara Rest Camp

Both were circular huts with thatched roofs, like Shakespeare's house in Stratford Upon Avon, England, African style. Our first stop was Satara Rest Camp, super simple, with minimal items! But you're in Kruger Park, what else do you need?!?

They had everything from tent camping to little town houses! I guess after dinnertime, the campers were known to throw their scraps to the hyenas, right outside the electric fence! Nothing goes to waste with hyenas around!

There was a ramp to the huts outdoor kitchen, small, just a table and 2 chairs, a sink, pots & pans, silverware and plates on the shelf. I think a fridge and 10 feet away, out in the open, was a charcoal grill, B.Y.O.Charcoal, Tongs and Lighter.

Our hut had 2 twin beds pushed together, with our bath towel and a hand towel folded on the dressed bed and a pillow. 2 reading lights, 1 closet and 1 window. You came all this way to Kruger to see animals NOT a luxury hotel room.

The bathroom was basic, a sink with little counter space, a toilet with the same unique, South African grab bars, a roll or 2 of toilet paper, and a roll in shower with an extremely small seat.

PRO TIP* use one of the plastic patio chairs as a substitute shower chair!

There was a shower curtain. No one saw these goods, no matter how long your trunk is! (get your mind out of the gutter! I was describing an elephant!!)

At this rest camp they had a coin operated washer and dryer. Maybe because of my wheelchair she helped us out, but we left the hut at 6AM. This was really hard on my fatigue! We put our dirty laundry in a bag, not a lot, we left a couple hundred, which in dollars was roughly $30. When we came back, she washed and dried and folded our laundry.

Yes, maybe we “wasted” money but we didn't have the time, so that small act of kindness was a life savor. It’s what we would spend in America at a breakfast restaurant; I bought a pair of adult Nike hightops for $250. So who knows, but maybe that money was a life savor for her, the possibility was worth it!

Skukuza Rest Camp

At the second camp Skukuza Rest Camp, the hut was pretty much the same, slightly bigger, the beds were separated and their kitchen area was screened in.

I have difficulty rolling over in bed, so twin beds are pretty terrifying for me. When I went to bed, we moved the bedside table in front of my torso, and I had my wheelchair on the other side, so I could pull myself over, but at that time my caregiver physically had to help me turn over. Times like these make me feel like a burden.

Around the corner from our beds was the bathroom. This one had a tile floor again. It was a roll under sink, the toilet was between the shower and the sink, and it had the normal grab bar for South Africa but not like the U.S. with the same roll in shower and tiny seat.

I liked this camp better; there were a lot of monkeys in it, the camp was on a river so it was greener, they had a Train on a Bridge over the river. You could rent a room - the best views in the park!!!!!! This night in particular - my phone didn't save any pictures.

The river was big and they had a paved ramp down to the river. Above was a Restaurant. We got a table overlooking the river for appetizers and drinks. I got a pina colata. It was slushie and there was no whipped cream. I actually really liked it. We sat outside and were right on the riverview to watch the sunset.

***I lost a lot of photos, I THINK some did not save because I was offline so much, but no one can be sure!

The sunset down the river was beautiful. The waiters came out with lanterns. The dark night, with the dim light of the lanterns, the warm night breeze, the empty river and a lot of monkey chatter made this moment feel completely wonderful!!! A perfect honeymoon magic gem or an idyllic night with a caregiver.

They had a few gift shops, a milkshake bar, a spa, and more.

Each day, we were there about 4 days total, we went on 2 game drives. Once in the morning with the adapted van we were using throughout the trip, and another in the afternoon in one of the park safari vehicles. The park safari vehicle had a lift on it and we were able to stay in our own wheelchairs.

We saw so many animals, and they were all incredible!

QUE “Wildest Dreams” by Taylor Swift.

Just pretend it’s not really about a beautiful man who’s cheating on 2 women, as Wine & Crime would say, never meet a man.

Way better than a zoo, animals should be free, not cruelly captured and put on display like a freak show, just to fill the pockets of humans! – OK, I’m done….but probably not!

Game drives

We even got to witness a small pack of female lions watching a herd of elephants with babies, cross the deep river. Even the guide mentioned he hoped it didn't get bloody. SHIT GOT REAL - but no blood was shed as the elephants made sure to let those lions know they knew they were there and they were ready!

Probably one of the luckiest things we were able to see was White Lions - Yes, like Mufasa - The Lion King, but instead of being evil hunters, they were lazy and napping (Lions sleep 20 hours a day!) but the male lion could be seen licking clean a bloody paw. These lions are incredibly rare and there are only 3 within Kruger and about 100 total in the wild.

The best safari was on the last night. We boarded our last accessible safari bus for a game night drive. We saw it all, well, 4 of the BIG 5. Just an excuse to return to find the leopard. Any excuse I can get!

The Floods

We drove over what looked like a river without water, like an African sandbar. Turns out, it was. Back in the year 2000, there were the devastating South African floods. “The flood was categorized as the worst flood in southern Kruger ever.”

Lunch - picnic

The picnic areas, which are not fenced in, have gas fired skottle braais, you can rent. I wish we did this one morning and had a full fried breakfast as we headed further in the Kruger. In 101 Kruger Tales at that very picnic area, people were struck terrified as a wild adult leopard strolled right up to a flaming grill 10 feet away to lick off the cooking bacon! If only!

Alfie and Charles, set up tables and made us sandwiches. There were monkeys in the trees, watching our every bite. But, I was mesmerized by # 42 the Greater Blue-Eared Starling Bird, turquoise in color with yellow eyes. I wish they lived around me!

The Food

To be clear - this was no foodie tour, it was an accessible safari! Our guides cooked our own food. They catered to our vegan diets, which was amazing!

I grew up camping and this whole park felt much like camp, but the animals wanted to eat you!

Landscape

I didn't expect the rapidly changing landscape — one minute there would be no trees from the elephants eating them, then a rocky area with fields of long grass the lions would lay in, to the area of floods the hippos would roam, to the river with crocodiles stalking their next meal while leopards may rest up in the lush green trees, all within a couple miles.

Dog memorial

They have a dog memorial - Little Heroes Acre for the dogs who have passed there. Each dog had a story, AND many sacrificed their life for their human handlers. Truly man’s best friend! A few dogs died fighting off a poisonous mamba snake so the handler could run away. If that doesn’t sound heroic - are you even human?

Spa

The next day, my caregiver and I booked a back massage because sitting in my old manual chair for 12 days makes me greatly miss my chiropractor! AM Spa was near the camp’s hotel. It was nice to get a spa experience in the middle of Kruger National Park. To get a massage with lovely sounds of wild Africa right outside was like a piece of heaven!

The Weather

At the first camp it was cold and windy. The second camp, the first few days were partly cloudy on safari rides, but on a different road the sun would be out. The nights were usually cold and windy. The last few days we were very hot, I mean like 90 degrees hot!!!

It’s not goodbye, just See You Later

On our last morning on September 13th we had breakfast, and then left around 8:30AM and then started our 6 hour drive back to Johannesburg International Airport (woof). We stopped once for lunch and toilets as most of us had a flight out that night. My flight was onUnited from Johannesburg to Norfolk, Virginia, and then Norfolk to Boston, Massachusetts and we got home on September 14th.