Kruger National Park, South Africa.

As usual, we rose early on our last day in the park. Our plane was scheduled for an afternoon flight to Johannesburg, so there was plenty of time for another game drive. There would be plenty of time to sleep on our flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam. We would savor one more trip around Skukuza Rest Camp before heading to the airport.

My first four photos of the day were of a leopard sitting in a tree. Unfortunately, my pictures of the leopard were not quite in focus, and they were indeed not good enough to share. Fortunately, Dries captured a sharp image of the last leopard sighting of our trip and was willing to share it with my readers. You can see more of his South African photography on his blog here.

We traveled along and near the Sabie River and captured photos for our albums. It was a good morning for spotting animals, even though it threatened to rain.

We happened upon a small troop of baboons, and I took this shot, taking advantage of the soft light of an overcast sky. I captured photos of a few individuals on the ground, but this was the best close shot.

Only three minutes after the shot of the baboon in the tree, I captured a view of a sidestream of the Sabie River. When I processed the photo, I noticed one young baboon from that nearby troop was gazing out across the river, no doubt surveying his domain.

Savvy park tourists give Cape Buffalo plenty of room when crossing the road. As I zoomed in slightly on the Z7 II, the herd looked closer to us than it was.

My first sighting of a Little Egret was much farther from us than those cape buffalo. Google tells me that the Little Egret, with its elegant white plumage, is easily recognized by its slender black beak, long black legs, and, in some populations, bright yellow feet. They are now found in various habitats across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

Of course, I must include at least one shot of an elephant enjoying breakfast in the soft, overcast light. On our morning drive, we saw three of the big five, missing only the rhinoceros and lion.

Google tells me the giraffe is the tallest land animal and can reach as much as 18 feet (5.6 m). However, their long necks have only seven bones, as many as those of humans and most other mammals.

Too soon, it was time to head to the airport. As we drove out through the main gates, Irving pulled to the side of the road so we could get a photo of the main entrance to the camp. We encountered a traffic jam on a one-way bridge that delayed us a bit, but we arrived at the airport just as we heard our boarding call.

Though the recent fire caused fire and water damage and the main terminal building was closed, tents and furniture were provided just outside the building. The baggage retrieval area had been converted to a security area where passengers were screened and suitcases tagged for loading. After waiting for baggage to be loaded on the plane, we were allowed to walk to the aircraft. When we got to the top of the air stairs, I looked around Kruger National Park and vowed to return one day.

I have a few more photos from our last game drive. They are on my Flickr site here. This post concludes my Friday Kruger National Park posts. I have many more adventures to share, both in Kruger and in and around Cape Town. They will be included in my ongoing Travel Tuesday series.

John Steiner