The big White Rhino Encounter

Just imagine driving around from the morning in Kruger - which on its own is a fantastic feeling - and waiting for the next game and figure what is about to show up around the next area. Neither Tarryn nor me imagined that our first encounter with one of the Big 5 would be such a majestic moment.
Cruising slowly on the asphalt roads for about 3 hours and paying attention to every detail and every movement in the bush can really use up all your concentration energy. We just relaxed our mind and chatted about the impalas. And when we least expected there he was: our first White Rhino we had ever seen. It was almost a mixture of a shock and amazement. You truly have to be there to enjoy, but I hope my photos will share some of this excitement with you.

Tarryn spotted first the huge and grey body in the distance, which looked like a tank. We stopped the car and remained silent. Minutes passed by and the rhino started moving. Right toward us. Since this was our first time, we didnt know what to expect and I can tell U the adrenaline level in our blood was up in the sky. And it was just coming closer and closer. Probably 20 minutes passed by although "out" in the wild time is measured on a different scale. Finally it stopped near a dry and green patch of grass right beside our car. We saw the heavily built body in its full reality. These are the wonderful moments in Kruger. You are in the safety of your car, the wild animal doesnt recognize you as a threat or as a human, but if it attacked we wouldnt have been safe anymore whether we were in a car or not. But this didnt happen, we were silent spectators of this little show and enjoyed watching the white rhino.

Another 15 min could have passed when the body started moving closer to the road and just passed across the road along with the funny passengers on his body.Even if there are almost 9,000 White rhinos in the park, its still not that easy to spot one. We met people who had been in the park for days and still hadnt seen a rhino. Yeah the wildlife is unpredictable.
Since there were no more cars on the spot I had the privilege with Tarryn to be part of this amazing encounter. If we had seen only this one individual we would have been content for the day. But in the wild every minute brings you something else, so the excitement just started ...













































Two Red-billed Oxpeckers are traveling on the rhinos back while ticking parasites hidden in the thick skin.