Diceros bicornis ridiculis

For those of you who don't know, Diceros bicornis is the Scientific name for a black rhino. A rhino that is very rare and seldomly seen in the Kruger Park. In fact, before this safari my total has been 13 black rhinos seen in Kruger. But nature has ways of surprising you and dealing you the unexpected. What happened on my latest tour is unheard of.
During the last two days of my safari I've had a total of 4 black rhino sightings with 7 individuals. That is the same amount as white rhinos I've seen for the safari. It is absolutely unreal.
It started at the beautiful view of Nkumbe, where I've seen black rhinos before and would be my hotspot for them. Our attention was drawn to a mother and calf rhino, but on closer inspection I noticed that they were black rhino. The calf clearly walked behind the mother, a characteristic for black rhinos. While watching them, a bit further in the distance, another black rhino pair (mother and younger calf) strolled in the opposite direction. These were my first black rhinos for 2008, but not the last. Later that afternoon my excitement returned as we saw another black rhino browsing on the bushes along the Sabie River. That made it 5 in one day.
The last day unbelief started setting in as 2 rhinos, spotted in the distance by one of the guests, ended up being black rhinos as well. This time they seemed to be two adults, probably a male and a female. It's absolutely unreal. I've been coming to the Kruger for many years (30+) and it's the unexpected that makes me want to go out there every morning to see what excitement lies ahead.

Let the black rhino luck continue...

Simon

Kruger National Park safari guide with Wild Wings Safaris