The Bribe Drive

After leaving Motswari, we stopped to pick up some food to cook at our Kruger rest camp (since we're in South Africa, we wanted to take advantage of having a braai (bbq grill)).  With the leopard detour and food stop, we got a much later start than we'd anticipated.  As we reached the Orpen Gate, the Kruger staff informed us that we'd never reach our camp on time if we traveled through the park, so we should turn around and head south to the next gate and enter there instead (speed limit in the park is 50km/hr - regular roads are 100 km/hr and no game sightings).  Argh.

Off Mike sped in our speedy BMW, until a Safrican police officer stood in the middle of the busy road and waved him over to the side.  After informing Mike that he'd broken Safrican law by passing over a solid white line, he told us that we had to go to the next large town and pay a 1000R (~$150) fine at the police station there.  Since there was no way we'd ever make it to our camp before they closed the gates if we made this detour, we ended up making a "deal" with the policeman to pay a 300R fine on the spot instead.  As we drove away, we could see him pocketing his nice bribe and looking to catch the next tourist speeding down the road.  TIA, man, TIA.

Off we continued to speed towards Kruger, and as we finally entered the gates, we breathed a huge sigh of relief.  Only a few more kilometers to go, and we'd make it to Skukuza rest camp before they locked the gates for the night.  But what do we come across just a few minutes inside of the gate?  A giantic traffic snarl, due to a leopard sighting.  The road was blocked in both directions, and the Monkeys and Polichs were out of patience.  Finally, some cars figured out how to reverse, and off we sped at our max 50km/hr speed to Skukuza, making it in just minutes before the gates closed.  Whew.  None of us wanted to spend the night outside of the gates in our BMW with elephants, lions, leopards, etc roaming around us.  Nor did we want to have to pay another fine/bribe to enter late.

We ended the day, relaxing in our very large but chilly bungalow, grilling out some kabobs, campfire potatos and corn on the cob.  We enjoyed some Ernie Els wine and Windhoek lager, and ended the evening with hot chocolate and amarula.   Good night, Skukuza