Earlier this year in February I visited my brother. He reminded me of his wish to go to the bush, as he has never been there before. Always intrigued by my stories and pictures, he would like to go as well, but felt he needed a little advanced company. So he proposed to go just the two of us to experience the bush and get a fast-track visit, packed with excitement and packed with all there is to know about the bush. So it was decided and in the days following, booked. Anyone familiar with the bush knows it is not just about lions and elephants. Of course, they are the kings of animals and a must see. For me, the bush is a complete shutdown of my regular schedule at work and being absorbed by that. All senses get occupied, even the smells are amazing: you will forget about just anything. Birds, animals, insects, plants, trees, the weather, the tension in the air, the interaction with the bush and knowing why and how to interact with the bush was the target of this trip, in 10 days. Also, unless you go to the 7 star lodges, there is no guarantee to see anything: the bush is not the zoo, it is not the National Geographic Channel. If you expect that, you should stay home and turn on your TV.
We choose a period to go as a compromise between holiday availability and the best time of year to see wildlife. September it was. We booked in the southern region of Kruger Park (KNP), as this is the region where one can find most of the animals and concentration of animals is the highest. The first 5 days we stayed in Skukuza, the largest camp, the last 5 days in Jock Safari Lodge (see map). I will try to summarise what we saw in this one blog, it was amazing.
On entry, just a few kilometers from Malelane gate where we entered the park, we saw a large group of vultures feeding on an impala carcass, probably killed my a car or truck, as there were no obvious signs or kill marks. The group of vultures was basically ruled by one very dominant bird, who chased other birds away from the impala.
| Cape Vulture |
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On our first drive the light was dim, with an overcast. Animals and birds showed themselves well, as the temperatures were moderate. One of my favorite birds, for its typical spine chilling sound, a Burchell’s Coucal showed himself well, as he was preparing for the breeding season.
| Burchell’s Coucal |
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| Click on the player to hear his call:
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And of course, we saw our first usual suspects.
| Our first animals |
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| Burchell’s Zebra |
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| a lone male Elephant Bull, eating while walking |
On the second day, I suggested to go and visit the local bird hide at Lake Panic, near Skukuza camp. The hide is placed low over the water’s edge, providing a nice low view over the lake. Crocodiles and Hippo could be just an arm’s length away. It also gives a very intimate view to the birds visiting the lake and of course, waiting for the kingfishers. I was lucky to get close to 2.
| Kingfishers |
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| Malachite Kingfisher, click on the player to hear his call:
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| Brownhooded Kingfisher, click on the player to hear his call:
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My brother thought that sitting at a hide is too much time lost, asking for too much patience and took the car out to tick the bush animals from his list. Great was my joy when he came back with a very nice image of a juvenile Bateleur Eagle in pleasing late afternoon sunlight.
| Bateleur Eagle Juvenile |
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The next day we drove more up north, in the direction of Tsokwana. This area is known for its larger planes and the number of cats in the area. At one waterhole a couple (male & lioness) were probably enjoying their honeymoon. As we arrived, there was not much going except two lions sleeping. Once in a while, the male lion lifted his head, to check out all the viewing and ravving vehicles.
| Male Lion |
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At the same location, just a view yards away from this couple, a warthog was browsing. He must have had a lot of experience with lions: he looks as if he wasn’t one to mess with and looked like he survived a lot of chases in his life.
| Confident Warthog |
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On our way back to the main resting camp at Skukuza, we made a long detour to visit some of the spectacular viewing points. These high points are located nearer to Lower Sabie where a stunning view over the savanna can be seen at a picnic site.
| Lower Sabie Savanna |
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| Photographing at Orpen Dam |
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| The Baboon caught on camera at Orpen Dam |
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Our last day at Skukuza we spent the morning driving along the Sabie River. It was still at the end of the dry season and many animals congregate near water sources. We saw a great number of animals, before we turned off to head to Jock’s. The most eye-catching ones were a couple of quibling hyenas.
| Hyenas |
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But by far the nicest encounter was with a Leopard. As we drove up down from the Sabie river banks, we could spot this cat lying and resting at the side of the road. We stopped about 100meters ahead, to prepare cameras and be ready for the action. As soon as all preparations were done, we slowly approached and as we came closer he woke up, sat up, gave us a brief glance and walke away, parallel to the road. We followed him for a while, at no more than 10 meters away, but all this time he looked away from us. Not one single time he turned his head to us, just kept walking parallel to the road, the head even turned away from us a little bit. It felt as if this leopard had seen is fill in cars and tourists and was just not in a modelling mood. We worked out a plan: we would just drive 100-200 meters forward until the next slight corner, turn off the engine and wait until he would appear heads on. When we next saw him he crossed the road and walked on the other side !! Anyway, it was a very exciting encounter nonetheless and we managed to get a few nice pictures.
| Leopard |
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| Just waking up |
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| Portrait cop, cropped from image below |
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More images can be found on Kruger 2009 Gallery.