A Side Trip to Kruger Park with the YA's

On the way from Tzaneen to Durban we drove right past Kruger Wild Animal Park 
so we spent the night there and went on a game drive.  As we were driving 
to our destination, look what was   crossing right in front of us.  
Finally, we saw a herd of elephants.  We were very excited to 
say the least.

    We drove for awhile and saw a variety of other animals and then the most wonderful
 sight of all--this herd of elephants playing in the water.  We watched them for 
about 15 minutes and the great thing was there were no other cars at that time 
so no one scared them off.  It was truly an incredible sight watching them play 
and splash and roll in the mud.

There were several baby elephants which was really fun.  I quite like this picture.

This looks like a mom, a junior, and a baby.

I probably took 30 pictures of these two play-fighting in the water.  

And then it ended--so sad.  What a treat for us.

Endangered species but unfortunately can't remember its name.

So far the best hippo picture we've been able to get.  We were quite far away.  They kill the most people of all the animals--quite vicious.  That's why no one learns to swim over here and they don't seem to have many public swimming pools either.  Between the crocodiles and the hippos, you do not venture into the local waters.  We often see "Watch for hippo" signs along the road.

The party animal at work with Grandma hiding behind the camera.