Month: October 2023

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Kruger National Park – Day 3

Day 1 is here

Day 2 is here

Day 3 was an early start, queuing at the camp gate at 5:30 to be on the road at sunrise, exploring the area north of Satara, towards Olifants camp.

This turned out to be the day on which we found Wild dogs, after a long search, despite having been informed of their exact location. We eventually found them late morning, resting in deep shade among the trees, very hard to spot. As a result this was not an ideal photographic opportunity, but managed to take a few pics, just to document that we had seen them.

Much of the morning and later also the late afternoon was spent trying to photograph birds in flight, with limited success.

First, a pair of Fish Eagles at the viewing site at Olifants rest camp

Several attempts at Lilac Breasted Rollers (Troupant)

White-browed Coucal (Vleiloerie)

Southern Ground Hornbill

During the course of the day, we also saw quit a few elephants, a hyena, Kori Bustard, Red crested korhaan, Waterbuck, kudu

and a bit frustratingly, given my dislike of baboons, probably my best photo of the day, a troupe of baboons in a tree at Olifants bridge.

We also managed to get a family portrait of some lions in the grass,

saw some elephants crossing the Olifants river

and played around with some landscape and sunset/sunburst photos.

We ended the day with some venison sausage and chicken kebabs on the braai.

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Kruger National Park – Day 2

Kruger National Park Day 1 can be found here

Hennie and Bernhard of B1 Photo Safaris picked us up at 06h30, to go looking for Wild Dogs, but we only found vultures in the location where the Wild Dogs had been seen earlier.

Along the way we also saw some Hornbills

and Nyala

The bird sightings continued with a Brown Hooded Kingfisher and a rare sighting of a Verreaux Eagle-Owl sitting out in the open.

Then it was time to move on from Skukuza to Satara, with some great sightings along the way. First was a Giant Plated Lizard and a few metres away a Rock Monitor.

We also found a lion sleeping in the middle of the road, some giraffes, elephants, steenbok and many impala

But the most exciting of the day, was a leopard which we nearly missed because it was lying partially hidden under a bush. When we stopped, it got up and crossed the road right in front of us.

Just before arriving at Satara, Bernhard got news that the unique white lion, which lives in the area, had been seen just north of the camp. Arriving at the sighting, there was the expected traffic jam, everybody wanting to see the lion, with the lion fast asleep next to its brother, ignoring the cars and people.

We decided to check in to our accommodation first and then went back for a second look. He was still quite lazy, but at least lifted his head, yawned and then got up to move a few metres before lying down again, giving us some opportunities for photos.

The day ended with a beautiful sunset.

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Kruger National Park – Day 1

We were very excited for our first visit to Kruger National Park since our honeymoon 34 years ago. Little did we know, when planning the trip, that we would start out quite as exhausted after staying up late to watch the Springboks beat France in a very tense Rugby World Cup semifinal and then having to rise very early to be at the airport on time.

Our flight from Gqeberha to OR Tambo International airport was uneventful. At OR Tambo we had a few hours layover and decided to grab a Wimpy burger for brunch.

From OR Tambo, we got an Airlink flight to Skukuza.

We arrived in overcast conditions

After being welcomed by Hennie and Bernhard from B1 Photo Safaris and checking in to our accommodation at Sanparks Skukuza Rest Camp, we went for our first drive in the Park. It soon started raining and as a result, there wasn’t much opportunity for photography. We saw a fresh leopard kill in a tree near the camp, but no leopard in sight.

Our next sighting was of a very lazy honeymoon couple resting next to the road,

followed by a very wet Black-winged kite.

On our way back to the camp we stopped off at the leopard kill again, but still no leopard in sight. However, a few hyenas were seen walking down the road nearby.

Back to camp for an early supper and catching up some lost sleep.