Hello, my name is Chrissie and I have an addiction – to Kruger Park. Yep, another visit in the books. My Mom is here visiting and any time we have a visitor it’s an excuse to go to KNP. Not that I need much of an excuse…..

We were originally meant to spend five days and nights in the park, but we only got to spend two days and nights. I’ll take it! If you guessed that COVID-19 had a hand in our plans, you would be correct. On our first night in the park, President Ramaphosa announced a nationwide lockdown that would start in three days. We were told by the ranger the next evening that we had to be out of the park the next day by 4pm. We were literally some of the last people out of the park before they shut it down. I do wish we had seen some of those lions in the road on the way out.

Reid and the kids were at home preparing for lockdown and we were shamelessly enjoying the last of our freedom – and enjoy we did! In all seriousness, we kind of knew it was coming and had prepared appropriately before we left. We got home with a day and a half to finish preparing for lockdown. Back to the park!

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We definitely tried to make the most of our time and spend some long days in the car. It was all worth it. Once again, we stayed in Lower Sabie campground. We had some great sightings. The impala were starting rutting season, so lots of fighting going on. We even saw some lions. The cubs we saw in October had certainly done some growing. There were still lots of baby animals in the park too.

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The park cleared out considerably after the first evening, when the President announced the lockdown. As a result, it was the least crowded I’ve ever seen it. We were able to linger at sightings and enjoy the animals without feeling rushed to share. It really was a wonderful trip.

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Until next time, Kruger! For now, I get to watch online. If you’re interested, the rangers are doing online safaris twice a day. You can join here: https://wildearth.tv/safarilive/