Rhino Walk

One of the great things about Berg en Dal camp and one of the reasons I chose this camp was the fact that it had a 'hiking trail'. The trail covers the perimeter of the camp hugging the fence closely. You can see all kinds of animals on this walk.

On our last evening we decided to see what the Rhino walk was all about. The route is clearly marked with Rhino-footprints. :) A nice little touch.

We took some water and our cameras and off we went.

The vegetation on either side of the fence is very lush and the big trees are quite overhanging. I kept thinking that leopards were good at climbing trees. Some of the trees had little electrical hats to prevent this from happening, but they did not seem to set my mind to rest.

Out first sighting was a terrapin,

We then saw this unidentified beetle clinging for dear life to the fence.

Another Dwarf Mongoose came to see what all the commotion was about.

I cannot contemplate any human being stupid enough to feed a wild animal. Not just in the Kruger, but any wild animals. It is a very stupid and irresponsible thing to do. BUT unfortunately believe it or not it happens every single day!

During the walk we got a good look at the accommodation on offer, next time we will definitely be staying in one of these beautiful bungalows close to the boundary fence.

When we reached the end of the trail we decided to backtrack back to the tent staying close to the fence in stead of cutting across the middle of camp. What an excellent decision that turned out to be. Guess what waited for us at the waters edge....

We were so close we could hear them swallowing, gulping down mouth-fulls of water like a very thirsty marathon runner.

We just stood there watching them. Tiptoeing from spot to spot to get a better/different view. All of a sudden we heard a great noise... People! They were talking and pushing a very loud trolley down the nearby stairs. They saw the rhinos but ignored them and just kept on laughing and making a big noise.

The Rhino's immediately stopped drinking and fled. Running at full speed for the cover of the bush. At first I was very angry at these people but then I focused on the rhino's. These huge creatures running at full speed is quite a sight. It sounded like a steam train. They were huffing and puffing to safety in a cloud of dust. One of them ran over a small tree without breaking stride. A M A Z I N G!