Kruger National Park 1,000,000 Footprints to save Africa

Kruger National Park – 1,000,000 Footprints to save Africa Launch

Our outreach trip to the Nkomazi District culminated on Saturday 26th July 2014 with an early start. The 1,000,000 Footprints Team were met at the Crocodile Bridge Gate of the Kruger National Park by 18 VERY excited young children, representing the 9 schools we visited earlier in the week, eager to begin their adventure.

After donning their colourful “1,000,000 Footprints” T-Shirts and Bongi’s Quest Caps, they clambered into the 24-seater bus, kindly sponsored by Union Motors Nelspruit, and our day began! It wasn’t long before we encountered the first of the “Big Five” sightings!!! Elephants!!!! What a fantastic experience. The elephants were right in the road and we were treated to a SCARY charge by one of the tiny babies, who thought we needed to be taught a lesson! A small herd of Buffalo was next followed by two awesome sightings of rhino. While we were not lucky enough to see any ‘cats’ the trip was by no means boring – we were privileged to see many other animals and birds along the route. Chris Daniel of Bongi’s Quest kept the children entertained with plenty of interesting information about the animals, birds and the bush while Chase Kurucz, a local Field Guide imparted his knowledge to the ‘oldies’ in the lead vehicle.

One of the highlights of the trip was our stopover at Lower Sabie Camp. The children unfurled one of the 50 metre-long banners along the stretch of road leading out of the camp and we spent a good half hour taking photographs, and generally admiring this awesome display of unity. Many people visiting the camp stopped to ask questions and take photographs of their own. What a sight to behold. The colours of the T-Shirts mixing with the colours on the banners made the moment very special indeed!

Lunchtime saw us heading out of the KNP to the Henk van Rooyen Holiday Resort in Marloth Park for a well earned Boerewors Braai sponsored by Spar Malelane, Needles Lodge and Maqueda Lodge. Another special moment was capturing each of the 18 children’s messages to the world on video. At 15h30 the “1,000,000 Footprints” Team waved a fond farewell to all these wonderful children whose lives have been impacted forever. This, indeed, endorses the success of the campaign in Nkomazi.