Some more Kruger Park Scenery
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One of the geological features in the Kruger Park is the Koppie (Kopjie in Afrikaans). It's a cone-shaped rocky outcropping in an area that is otherwise flat, so that a koppie stands out and can be seen for miles. Here is one famous for the Masarini Iron Age Archeological Site.
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We stopped there several times for breakfast, lunch, or tea--seems like we were always eating. There are several places like this in Kruger where you are allowed out of the car. They have a nice eating area and very clean rest rooms.
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After eating we took a tour of the Iron Age Village. There are leopards and lions on the hillside occasionally, so an armed guide escorted us.
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The village had a large hut where the iron smelting was done and several small rondavels where the king of the village, his wives and children lived. Some huts were built off the ground for storage--these had no doors but the roof could be lifted off.
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You can see how the little huts blend in with the landscape and wouldn't even be noticed by enemies from a distance. The large hut in the foreground was where they worked the iron ore.
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Another place we found interesting was the Letaba River. Here are two shots of the banks showing how the floods ruined them. The water washed away the hillside and left this cliff. The embankments were washed out on both ends of the bridge so it didn't touch the land on either side. Nearly all the railings were broken and bent.
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This side had bush all the way to the water which was all scraped away leaving this sand bank from which the animals can't get to the river. There were wide reed areas in front of the restaurant at Letaba that are all gone. The water nearly came in the restaurant which is on a high bank that overlooked the reed beds in which there were water fowl in abundance. The whole landscape was changed.
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Also at Letaba there is a very interesting museum that displays the tusks of the great elephants of Kruger Park's past. Some are ten and eleven feet long! Now back to the animals.
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Click on the giraffe to go to page seven.
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