Kruger National Park, Letaba

We came here from Maroela this morning, with a very wet and dirty tent. Last night we probably experienced our worst storm ever, and we have both camped separately on  the North Norfolk coast during storms which flattened practically every tent on the site, and boats were lost at sea. We shared our experiences with some South African campers, thinking perhaps it was the norm for here, but were told it was one of their worst storms too. After 3 or 4 days of really high temperatures, up to 40C, we were not surprised as the clouds built up yesterday evening and the air became even heavier, humid and oppressive. As we were clearing up our braai the flashes of lightening became to show in the darkening sky. Apart from one or two isolated smatterings of rain there was no indication of what was to come. We sat outside in the twilight and played cards as thunder and lightening circled around us. We decided to go to bed about 21.30, the storm seemed to have passed, less lightening and the thunder weaker. About 23.30 I woke to hear closer thunder and some sharp bursts of lightening, so I decided to get up and zip up the tent doors and windows John woke up and I had hardly returned to the tent when the wind began to roar, deafeningly, we were shouting at each other to make ourselves heard, and the rain had begun to cascade down, sounding like hail as it hit the tent. In a ferocious, whirl-wind type burst the front of the tent was torn from its pegs and lifted from the ground, and the rain drove in. John got up and went into the front area of the tent and laid, naked, on it to hold it down. Chairs and table had been blown over and everywhere was awash. I got up to help him by trying to hold down the upper part of the tent. It was the events of the next half of an hour that made this so scary. The bolts and flashes of lightening came with pauses and simultaneously cracks of thunder rent through the night sky. It was just the most terrifying experience. If we can find a positive side the intensity of the lightening enabled us to see what was happening, mainly the river running through the tent. There was one particular crack of lightening when I couldn't help but fall to the floor and cover my head, the noise was so deafening. This morning we learnt that the lightening struck the perimeter fence, about 50 metres from our tent and there were sparks and flames. We think it disabled the electric fence, this morning a couple of official looking men arrived and headed for the transformer. It was the proximity and ferocity of the thunder and lightening which made this storm so terrifying. It was all over by 00.30, the thunder and lightening had ceased, John, now wearing a pair of underpants, went round and secured the tent fly with 10 inch nails, we avoided the muddy muddle in the middle.  We both dried of and went back to bed, our sleeping mats were  damp but tolerable. This morning at 05.00 we got up to sort it out. After a hasty breakfast we piled everything into the car, keeping wet things separate as far as possible. My 99p shop plastic tablecloths which I always take camping came into their own once again.
We had a pleasant drive here through mixed terrain, we had to stop while a giraffe crossed the road, in no hurry at all and treating us with great disdain. We saw an enormous flock of vultures, clearing up some rotting carcass, there could easily have been a hundred of them, on the ground and circling above. The clouds drifted away and we arrived here to a hot sunny afternoon. It's 16.30  now, everything is dry and reasonably clean. Lots of sun and a stiff breeze has really helped. We have had a couple of beers and are about to light the braai. We have been told that the weather could be unsettled over the next few days, with the possibility of more storms because of the very high temperature. We hope none will be as bad as last night. This time John has pegged everything down with 10 inch nails, just in case.