The African Buffalo of Kruger National Park

To me, these are the least impressive of the Big 5. But that's just a personal preference. Maybe because they are in abundance and not that threatening looking. But, looks can be deceiving. They are part of the Big 5 for a reason. They can be very dangerous to the hunter, especially if wounded.

These animals are large and heavy with the adults exceeding 1500 lbs or about 750 kg. They mainly eat off the grasslands, so they must consume large amounts to maintain that weight.

I don't recall seeing any walking alone. They are quite gregarious creatures and generally run in large herds. There is safety in numbers, and they use that to their advantage. If a pride of lions should come upon them to feed, the buffalo will use their numbers to gang up on them and stave away their attack.

Both the females and males have horns and are capable of inflicting damage. The male horns are more distinctive with the curvature at the ends of them.

They have a strange glare to them if they look at you. It is said of the them, that they look at you as if you owe them money. Well, if that's true I will gladly pay!

My encounters with the buffalo in the park were quite benign. To me they just seemed like cattle grazing along not paying much attention to the tourists driving through their home in their vehicles. I guess we all just get used to things after awhile, but I would hate for the tables to be turned and have to tolerate them grazing through my house whenever they felt like it.

Here you can see them together in their small herd. I never witnessed a herd of 100's so I cannot tel you how larger the herds can get. the herds I witnessed were more in the 10's.

The ground was quite bare in this area so I am not sure why they were even there, Perhaps they were wandering through or perhaps they had already cleaned out the place.

These appeared to be of the female variety based on the curvature of their horns.

Who do you think will stop first? If you guessed the human, you are right. The animals in the park are conditioned to know they have the right of way so don't play chicken with a buffalo. They likely outweigh you and your compact.

Here's the male. See how his horns are curved inward at the top?

There's that look I was talking about. He is looking for that $20 he thinks I borrowed from him. But hey, I think it was your brother that gave it to me! Oh well, I guess I better pay you.

The African Buffalo, one of the Big 5 at Kruger National Park.

The Elephant Of Kruger national Park in South Africa

The African elephant is the biggest of the Big 5 in this country. They are actually the biggest animal to walk the earth. They can weigh over 6 tons! They are truly impressive up close. And I was up close to them many times in my self-drive through Kruger Park.

The African elephant is notable for their large ears. These ears are used to radiate heat to keep them cooler in the African heat.

They often roam in clans made up of different families. It is the female elephant, half the size of the male that leads the clan. Well, you know what they say...ain't nobody happy if momma ain't happy!

The elephant feeds on grass and leaves from the trees on the Savannah. Lucky for me they don't eat meat. I don't think my compact car would have offered much protection.

You can see the shadow of my small car in this picture:

I often was surprised by these large beasts in the park. I would go around a corner and there they were. Or I would see them suddenly emerge from the trees. Of the 5 animals of the Big 5, these were the most abundant,

They are a part of the Big 5 because of their unpredictablity and danger they pose to those that used to (and still do) hunt them. Of course, it is illegal to hunt them today, but they are often poached. The lure of the big payday in the ivory tusks is too much for the poor locals.

As a result, there are not as many elephants with large tusks anymore. As the large risked elephants are removed from the gene pool, only the smaller risked animals pass on the genes. Darwinian science in action.

I was definitely most nervous around these animals. They are very imposing by not only their size, but numbers as they move in a clan.

I have heard too many stories, not only in South Africa but also India, of the unpredictability of these monstrosities. You just never know what's going on in their massive heads. Having heard the stories, I believe the old adage about elephants having long memories. I believe they do remember the abuses they have suffered at the hands of man.

One story I heard told when I was in India was that a certain tribe had hunted and killed one of the elephants in a clan. Years later, the clan came to the village and ransacked it as an act of vengeance. They remembered that tribe and what they had inflicted upon the elephant clan, and sought revenge.

I have no idea if that is a true story or simply village legend. But the story was told to me convincing enough that I believed it anyway

Whenever I saw them in advance I stopped the car. I didn't want to get any closer than necessary. I also didn't want to be the cause of any alarm. But, at times close encounter's could not be avoided. I would exhale a sigh of relief each time they passed.

These are certainly beautiful creatures. Although nervous, I enjoyed watching them in their natural environment. I actually rode an elephant in Thailand once. I'll post the pictures some day, but it wasn't my proudest moment. It was my early traveling experience and I was not aware how mishandled these animals were at the time. Not all my travel adventures have been good.

I absolutely loved Kruger Park. I actually went twice and the second time was equally intriguing. The elephants enhanced the experience giving a feeling of both awe and exhilaration. I'm happy all the encounters here went peacefully.

GIF: not an original photo

The Big Five - Kruger National Park, South Africa

There is a term in Africa called The Big Five. It's in reference to five particular animals: the lion, leopard, black rhinoceros, bush elephant, and water buffalo. On my self drive through Kruger park in South Africa I was on the lookout for these.

They are called the big five game animals because historically they have been the hardest to hunt on foot. This is a term that goes back to British colonial days when these were more widely hunted. Today they are hunted by poachers. They are considered the hardest to hunt on foot because of the danger involved. Today the Big Five is more of a tourist thing, how many can you spot when on a safari.

In this post I'll introduce you to the Big Five as I experienced them on my self drive safari. As always, these are all original photos and no stock images are used (it's probably obvious).

Encountering these animals can be a big scary, even in a car. My car was very small and at times I was very close to these big animals. If the bigger ones chose to attack, my car would offer little protection.

I'll post the Big Five here and provide more details and pictures/videos on posts over the next 5 days.

---

The Elephant

As I've posted before, for me this was the scariest of them all. I knew from my trips to India these are very unpredictable animals. I've heard numerous stories of the damage they can inflict. You just never know what's going through their heads!

Lone elephants like this was less a concern to me (maybe foolishly so). But many times I came in view of a herd of elephants. This caused increased anxiety because of the multiplicity of unpredictability. Additionally, if there were baby elephants with them that added an exponential factor.

These are beautiful creatures to watch in their own environment. This is not a zoo I was driving through, but their natural habitat.

---

The Rhinoceros

Most the time I viewed these at a distance. Only once did I get up close to one of these magnificent beasts. This photo op was the only time.

These animals are just so strong! That's the frightening aspect of them. Knowing they are one of the 5 most dangerous animals to hunt on foot, combined with their size, made this a very nervous stop for photos. But then who could resist?

There are seldom any park rangers nearby in this huge park and many times I was the only person viewing. So if you get in trouble you're on your own!

---

The Lion

I hope you can see him in the picture lying in the grass. These could be difficult to spot. I only had one close encounter with them. I'll post on that in this series.

I don't remember actually ever spotting these on my own. For me, they were the hardest to find. I only encountered them when I saw another vehicle stopped and taking pictures. These majestic beasts garnered a lot of attention and people would stop for long periods photographing them. Lucky for me, or I may never have seen one on my own.

---

The Buffalo

Second to the elephants, these were the most common sitings of the Big 5. These didn't make me as nervous as the rhinos or elephants, simply because they just seemed so friendly to my naive eyes. I mean, I just felt like getting out of my car and patting their heads!

They could often be seen in the distance wallowing in the waters. But occasionally I got lucky and I would get a close encounter like this one.

---

The Leopard

Although I spotted these more than lions, they were still very difficult to find. See this one lounging in the tree?

Leopards and cheetahs look very similar. Their spots are different but that's difficult for me to detect. I mostly discerned the difference by their habitat. Cheetahs can't climb trees.

I have a separate post on a fantastic encounter with a leopard I'll post in this series. Additionally , I'll post more detailed photos and videos of all the Big 5 individually.