Wild boys in the Wild

After spending a few months in the blistering heat and humidity of Houston, Scott and I decided one day that the time was ripe for a trip.We debated Disney, maybe Mexico and then thought why not Africa. The twins were getting older, they would soon be three and by the time Brig was 3 he had been to Africa twice. We were torn as where to go; Botswana, South Africa or Mozambique. In the end we chose Kruger, we felt here the camping would be safe for the kids. By traveling to RSA in the winter we hoped for cooler temps than we had been experiencing here in Houston, we could minimize the malaria risk and with the bush not yet in full bloom maximize our animal viewing. After an 18 hour flight we arrived in Jo'burg, picked up our truck with roof top tents and all the camping equipment we would need: on board engel fridge (the best), dishes, gas with a "tete", table and chairs and room for everyone. The boys had been prepped for this trip by watching Madagascar, so for the whole drive to Kruger they kept asking "are we in the wild yet?". They had unpacked their new binoculars and were eagerly looking around every bend for a lion or giraffe. We spent the first few days in the Southern part of Kruger, basing out of the Skukuza camp. We would get up early in the morning fix coffee for us and oatmeal for the boys, pack a giant lunch pack filled with food, drinks and snacks for the day. The kids each had their own backpacks filled with books, crayons, binoculars etc. The camp had to be broken down; roof top tent folded and packed away, table and chairs stowed, clothing bags repacked in the truck and then we would head off. Usually we traveled with all the windows down, Brig was free to move around and everybody had animal they wanted to see that day. Reidar always chose the monkey(the similarity is remarkable), Soren would choose whatever Brig chose, usually crocodiles - maybe because they are green.

There are many picnic spots located around the park and we would stop at one for lunch. The boys made friends easily and would eat ice cream and play with the other kids. I think, when you are little, language is a one way street - you just talk nonstop- because, not once did the boys question why the didn't understand the other kids. The boys played with kids from the Netherlands, Afrikaaners and Germans, everyone just babbling away, laughing and running around. The early morning game drives were the best, and although it was possible, due to the boys schedule it did not make sense to take them on a night drive. Instead, every evening when we would return to our campground we would take the boys to one of the unheated pools. Then they would run around, finding bricks, sticks and other found items to make their toys for the night, I would make supper and then bed. Scott and I would eat after the boys were up in the tent and have a chance to talk to each other without the roar of Soren shouting "mummy, I need something eat".

 Every campground that we stayed at had a swimming pool, and all the camp grounds had instantaneous boiling water for coffee and tea, and a small number of electric cooktops, plus great washing up facilities and showers and baths. The boys thought it was funny that the zoo concept was reversed, we were the caged animals in the campgrounds and the animals were surrounding us. We were able to travel the length of Kruger from south to north, staying at

Satara, Letaba and finally the Punda Maria Camp. Most of the roads we travelled on were dirt, we seldom saw more the 3 or 4 cars during our game drives and we met some wonderful people along the way. We all slept in the same tent, the kids piled up like puppies at one end, and hopefully made some wonderful memories for everyone. And in the end we did see all the big 5, lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and cape buffalo, but somehow, that goal became secondary.