Advertisement
Published: January 11th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Wildebeest
A wildebeest doing what wildebeest do best. "Happy New Year!" Our hushed celebrations rang out into the warm Summer air, as glasses of champagne were clinked together joyously. I found myself mesmerized by the surrounding night, staring out across the swirling blackness of the Shingwedzi River, I could only just detect the outline of the horizon in the distance. Apart from celebratory camera flashes and the magnificent scattering of stars, the lights from the 24-seater Landy were the only other source of illumination. I took a sip of champagne and smiled to myself in the night air. This was the first time I was spending New Year in the Kruger National Park and I couldn't think of a better place to be.
We entered the park at Phalaborwa gate on the 29th and, after a stop at Letaba, headed north to Shingwedzi rest camp where we would stay for five nights. On one of these nights we looked forward to seeing in the New Year in a place where the date hardly seemed to matter. The inhabitants here are wild animals. The New Year begins in August for them when the first rains moisten the dry ground ushering in new life. Nevertheless, it seemed fitting to spend
Solitude
Andrew watching the Letaba River. the first day of a new year in a setting where the cyclical nature of life and death plays such an important role.
It was also the first time I had ever been this far north in KNP and tales of the hidden treasures of the northern terrain were fresh in my mind. We wound our way along the H-9 between Phalaborwa gate and Letaba rest camp, the monotony of the mopaneveld broken only by the familiar root-like branches of the occasional baobab. The ground was arid and rugged, as is often the case north of the Olifants River. The beauty of the north is that it is unique and stands almost in complete contrast to the more tourist-popular South. The roads are quiet even during the holiday season and the comforting sense of isolation that is inherent to this place is its main attraction.
Geologically, the Kruger National Park is divided vertically down the centre into two primary foundations, granite in the west and basalt in the east. The granitic grasses of the west tend to be sour (sourveld) and are not favoured by grazers. In addition to this the scarcity of water in the north results
The Locals
Letaba is known for its resident bushbuck. They are tame enough to touch and we just couldn't resist petting this adorable calf. in the sweet basaltic grasses often being rejected by grazing animals for areas where water is more readily available. The outcome of this is a lower carrying capacity for game in the north. However, along the magnificent flood plains and watercourses in the north the abundance of flora and fauna is enough to please the most stubborn of tourists.
We approached Shingwedzi on the H1-6 and the vegetation changed from dull mopaneveld to a brilliant riverine wonderland. There is something magical about this area. We crept slowly through the shade of glorious jackal-berries, weeping boer-beans, sausage trees and natal mahoganies which line the river banks. The camp was the heart of the original Shingwedzi Game Reserve and is bursting with history. The area was originally popular for its iron mines and the name “Shingwedzi” means “circle of iron” in Shangaan. It is also a part of the original “Ivory Trail” which stretched past Shingwedzi on its way to “elephant country” in the far north. The area was deemed unfit for human life by Kruger’s famous ranger James Stevenson-Hamilton and this sense of remoteness still prevails here.
The chalets we had booked are amongst some of the older in
Let Sleeping Cats Lie
Lions sleep up to 18 hours each day and are not bothered much by vehicles. They are often seen in the Kruger park sleeping quite near to the road. the camp and it wasn't long before we were unpacked and drinking cold beers in the shade of the mopane trees in front of the huts. They are quaint and simple, providing comfortable lodgings at a reasonable price. Although perhaps one of the newer units with air-conditioning would be advisable during the Summer months! Gazing up into the crisscrossed branches of the trees and laughing as we recounted the tales of the day I felt at home. We got the braai going with a little help from the ubiquitous squirrels which provided much entertainment.
The best game driving around the Shingwedzi area is to be found on the Mphongolo loop north of the camp and on the S50 to Kanniedood Dam in the east. We were lucky enough to spot a leopard with a cub whilst meandering along the Mphongolo River and Kanniedood Dam yielded fantastic crocodile and hippo sightings. Whilst sightings of game are less frequent than in the southern areas of Kruger, the birding in the north is fantastic with a multitude of water birds making the rivers and dams here their summer homes. We were fortunate enough to spot a number of saddle-billed stork, giant eagle
Blissful Terrapin
Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd fame once wrote a love song entitled Terrapin. This little guy seemed quite happy about it. owls, and African fish-eagle and a multitude of predatory birds (which were unceremoniously dubbed tawny eagles or brown snake eagles for a lack of an extensive bird knowledge!)
On New Year’s Eve we embarked on an extra late night drive - a special that was offered by the camp management. We couldn't resist the offer. As we prepared for the drive, the stillness of the night was eerie. There were no alcohol-infused screams to be heard, no blaring music or loud laughter, only the recognizable calling of nightjars and the ever-present chirping crickets. This was indeed a memorable New Years. The drive yielded fantastic sightings of civet, African wildcat, and hyena pups and culminated in hushed celebrations and champagne on the Shingwedzi bridge.
After a day of well earned rest we woke on the second day of the New Year and absorbed the African sunrise. Then it was off to Crooks Corner, the intersection of the South African, Zimbabwean and Mozambiquean borders. Famed for its popularity amongst ivory poachers and gunrunners in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, this area was used as an escape route for wrongdoers who wished to evade the law by hopping over
Watchful Gaze
Waterbuck are a favoured prey of leopard and these females kept a close eye on us. the border, hence the name. The road from Pafuri to Crooks Corner has got to be one of the most scenic in the entire park, with a proliferation of fever trees dissolving into thick riverine vegetation. The region is littered with Nyala and one can't shake the feeling of being beamed out of the conventional bushveld of the KNP and placed in an entirely new world. Leopard are sometimes seen here and although we were not fortunate in that department, the superb beauty and sheltered topography of the area proved to be enough.
On our final day we ventured down the entire length of the park from Shingwedzi to Malelane gate. This long journey allowed us to truly witness the contrasting habitats of the north and south - The shift from mopane-dominated woodlands to the open savanna to the mixed thorn thickets of the far south. We had ventured to the outer most reaches of the park and basked in the first rays of light of the new year. As we drove away from the gate I watched the waning sun begin to fade into the orange hills in the distance. I smiled once again. The old master of
The Intrepid Adventurers
A somewhat posed image (Andrew wasn't actually looking at anything through the binoculars), although Tania and Taneel were watching a rather colourful little spider burrowing in the sand. the parks never ceases to astound...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.079s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0522s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb