Blogs from Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga , South Africa, Africa

“I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want.” – Andy Warhol A wonderful added advantage of selecting camp sites never visited before, is the element of the “unknown.” Without exception, each one of the four visited thus far has delivered big time in terms of each being very different and unique from the others. There is no “one size fits all” and there is a real sense of anticipation setting off for the next destination. Shingwedzi had us enthralled due to its totally different layout and location on a wide and currently, dry river bed. The next leg of this superb adventure was a gentle nudge northward along the H1-7 having done the necessary research to get us to Sirheni Bush Camp; 36kms away. “Kruger Routes- ... read more

“Crocodiles are easy. They try to kill and eat you. People are harder. Sometimes they pretend to be your friend first.” – Steve Irwin Slipping off into slumberland in Kruger is easy. Waking up is a bit more frenetic and chances are high you won’t sleep late. The gentle lullaby at night of the Scops Owl is replaced, in the very early morning, by the loud shrieking calls of the different Francolin species. Other noisy birds add their morning voice to this cacophony of sound. Much more effective than any alarm clock, the bonus of this early start is a cup of coffee to hand gazing into the early dawn light of a new day. Planning a trip thoroughly through Kruger is worthwhile and to pull it all together, one needs a collection of the right ... read more

Again 5 AM up and into the bush. After the rain during the night we woke up to much cooler weather, needing a poncho on the jeep to shield us from the wind chill. The bush was alive, birds singing from every tree. Giraffes and Zebras feeding happily. We were expecting activity today. And true a herd of African Wild Dogs was spotted, so without further ado, we made our way there. A group of may be a dozen of them were just about to rip apart a hunted baby Impala. One of them carrying part of its neck and clearly visible the head in its mouth. African Wild Dogs are extremely hard to spot we were told, so again lucky us! Call it beginners luck. We decided just to stay with them for the morning, ... read more

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

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