Blogs from Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga , South Africa, Africa - page 2

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Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Kruger National Park December 1st 2020

It's Safari time, it's Krueger National Park time. We packed and left Hazyview our close dry again from last night’s drench. 45 km to the Krueger Gate one of several official entrances to the park. The Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of 20,000 km2 and extends 360 km from north to south and 65 km from east to west. The administrative headquarters are in Skukuza. Areas of the park were first protected by the government of the South African Republic in 1898, and it became South Africa's first national park in 1926. A UNESCO site for International Man and Biosphere Reserve. Today several private concessions adjacent to Krueger have been incorporated. Limpopo National Park situated to the North of Krueger which has a large perimeter ... read more
Paul Krueger
different traffic rules
welcome to Krueger Tourist

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Kruger National Park November 5th 2020

Here we are, it has been 5 full weeks we are back in South Africa and it feels so good to be back! Yes, there is home, the diving, the golf, but also amazing wine and food! This is my own little paradise found! The country has now opened, or is in the process to open to anybody with a negative covid test. So at least we know it will be easier to go in and out in the near future. The second wave of Covid hasn't hit yet here. Not sure if and when it will happen, but we are ready to stay home if we need to! December being the school holidays month here, I also plan that we stay mainly home for most of the month. So after spending few weeks at home, ... read more
Jacaranda time in South Africa....gorgeous...
Fun moment...
Wild dogs, pretty rare to spot...

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Kruger National Park November 28th 2019

Today is our last full day on safari as we head to the airport at 8:30am tomorrow morning. Kevin plans to go out tomorrow for a short time but I’d rather rest up a bit and pack for our 36 hour six flight trip back to San Diego. Today we were one of the last vehicles to leave the lodge and all of the others before us headed in one direction. Gary didn’t want to follow the crowds, if you want to really call them crowds as only about 30 people have access to the reserve we explore every day. The public have to stay on the paved roads and cannot get out of their windshielded cars. We, on the other hand, go down dirt roads, go off road and sometimes get out of our open ... read more
owl
Two owls
Snail on the road

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Kruger National Park November 27th 2019

We said a sad goodbye to our friends at Ebony Lodge at noon and took off on the 12-seater plane to head east to our final lodge, Lebombo. This lodge is located within its own private concession which lies within the Kruger National Park. This lodge has a very modern design and our suite is beautiful but that’s no surprise since it’s a Singita property. We did have several stops on the flight here and we enjoyed listening to the pilots perform their duties as we sat right behind them. Upon arrival at Lebombo, we were greeted by our new guide, Gary, and his tracker, Sully. We were also teamed up with a young couple from Brooklyn. We unpacked, freshened up and headed out on our first game drive. The terrain here is more rocky that ... read more
the four cheetah brothers climbing the ridge.
Looking for snackalopes.
Posing for the camera

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Kruger National Park November 27th 2019

Today started out at 5:30am which is quite normal for us now. We had a quick coffee and headed out for the morning game drive. Gary stopped the cruiser just down the road and Sully got out to give us a lesson in tracking animal prints. We learned the difference between and cat and a dog print, and I don’t mean a kitty cat and a poodle either. I mean the difference between jackal or African wild dog and a leopard, lion or cheetah. Dogs have two lobes at the back of their paw and cats have three (cheetahs will also leave claw marks). This print was from a female leopard because of the size and no claw mark. We then proceeded down the road and came to a river crossing. Again, Sully and Gary had ... read more
The White Lion
Sully and Gary spot the rhinos.
bite your fingernails and leave our horns alone!

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Kruger National Park September 13th 2019

Zuid-Afrika===Botswana===Zimbabwe (een dagje)===Botswana===Zuid-Afri Vrijdag 13-09-2019 1e Vakantiedag Vandaag is het dan zover. We gaan op reis. We staan op tijd op, ontbijtje, de laatste spullen in de backpack, laatste dingetjes opruimen en dan staat onze wegbrenger Willem al voor de deur. Gisteren hebben we al via internet ingecheckt, eenmaal op Schiphol kunnen we de bagage afgeven en dan op naar alle “security checks”. Controle handbagage, paspoort controle…..het gaat allemaal snel en dan mogen we ons een beetje zien te vermaken. Eerst wat euro’s omzetten naar Afrikaanse randen en wat US dollars, dan wat wandelen langs de winkeltjes en op tijd richting gate F3. Het vliegtuig “de Iguaçu” staat al te wachten en er wordt snel begonnen met instappen. We vertrekken aardig op tijd en hebben een vlucht van 10.10 ... read more
Onweersbui boven Afrika.
De tuin met volle maan bij Airport Game Lodge.
Koppeltje muisvogels

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Kruger National Park September 1st 2019

Op 15 september 2019 hopen we ons 30 jarig huwelijk te vieren: Reden voor een mooie reis! Beste meelezers: Hier onder vind je onze vakantieplannen. Ik verstuur deze blog als we op het punt staan om aan onze reis te beginnen. Ik ga onderweg natuurlijk ook een blog bijhouden. Maar ik heb geen idee wanneer ik deze kan rondsturen. We gaan weer kamperen en zullen vooral veel in allerlei parken verblijven. En hier zullen niet vaak wifi punten zijn en dan kan ik wel schrijven, maar niets naar internet uploaden. ...maar zoals mijn opa altijd zei: Geen tijding is goede tijding.........Ga er maar vanuit dat wij genieten! November 2018 snuffelen we al eens rond op de website van Riksja reizen, zoeken wat mogelijkheden op en bezoeken vervolgens het R... read more
Blyde River Canyon
Hippo
Giraf


We started today at 4:30 for our final morning safari into Kruger National Park. Today's goal: rhinoceros and leopard. Today's actual hits included: elephants, hyena, cape turtle doves, emerald-spotted wood doves, duiker grey antelope, tawny eagle, battaliers, vultures, wild dogs, RHINOS on 3 occasions(!), vereaux eagle owl, warthogs, and LIONS(!). We saw so many impala (antelopes) they felt like part of the family. Though we never found the elusive leopard, today's "hunt" was very successful. The highlights were the rhinos and the pack of wild dogs. Our guide, Mary-Anne, was super excited to have found these two species for us. Though many attempts have been made to tame/domesticate the wild dogs, even those reared from birth, none have been successful. We should also mention that during our breakfast break at a picnic area, we were being ... read more
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Today began epecially early, with a 4:45 wake up call. We barely had time for coffee before departing the hotel for a morning Safari. The intent today was to hunt (photo hunt) for cats. Though we did see some lions from a great distance a couple times, today was mostly the day of the kudu. Our first site of the day was the rise of the sun over Kruger Park. Think lion king. The sun came up among mostly above acacia trees and possibly some marula. Mary-Anne did an excellent job positioning our van throughout the day to get amazing shots of this picturesque scene and many others. (Visitors to Kruger Park are strictly prohibited from exiting their vehicles.) As we made our way through the park, we encountered a number of species, not limited to ... read more
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Picking up from where we left off... After finishing last night's blog, everyone put a few more logs and pieces of coal on their respective fires and made their way to bed. Just as he was about to fall asleep, Jake moved his leg and felt a soft, warm thing by his foot. Panicking that there was some sort of animal in his bed, he gave it a good kicking, only to find out it was a hot water bottle that someone on the hotel staff had put in as a warm-up. It was a moment of panic and a water bottle, not a wild beast. Today we started early, with breakfast at six and on the road to Kruger National Park around seven. The drive took roughly three hours including one pit stop along the ... read more
Elephants
Elephant
Friends




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