Kruger Self drive Jan 2019 - Call of The Woodland Kingfisher

[Hads]

@Dave Williams - yes you can buy meat to BBQ in the main camps, they actually have a reasonable selection to choose from including game meats (impala, kudu, wildebeest, warthog). They also have milk, coffee, cereals, rusks etc and toiletries.

The kruger app should come in handy.

Out of Curiosity I notice you are spending more time in the northern half of the park, any reason for this? When you get a special sighting you will have a great chance of enjoying it on your own.

[Game Warden]

@Hads due to the file size, I edited out the video file in post #9 - if possible please do take a moment to upload it to Youtube and then link to it in a follow up post.

 

Thanks, Matt.

[Game Warden]

@Hads Just been reading through this report, great photos and sightings and what with @Dave Williams's trip planning, it's making me itchy to get back to Kruger and explore some of the lesser visited areas.

 

Great stuff.

 

Matt.

[Dave Williams]

1 hour ago, Hads said:

@Dave Williams - yes you can buy meat to BBQ in the main camps, they actually have a reasonable selection to choose from including game meats (impala, kudu, wildebeest, warthog). They also have milk, coffee, cereals, rusks etc and toiletries.

The kruger app should come in handy.

Out of Curiosity I notice you are spending more time in the northern half of the park, any reason for this? When you get a special sighting you will have a great chance of enjoying it on your own.

 

Crowd aversion Hads! I have included 9 nights in Bushveld camps deliberately as I like the idea of small is beautiful although I may well be proved wrong, we'll see. My only disappointment is that I haven't been able to get in to Biyamati but there's always a next time if we enjoy ourselves ( which I know I will!).

The predator sightings might be fewer further north but so are the number of people at a sighting from what I can gather. We had 10 days in Etosha a couple of years ago and I thought it was brilliant even though I only saw 2 Lions,2 Elephants and 3 Rhinos ( and very few people too). I'm just as interested in everything else, particularly birds. The north is meant to be really good birding in Kruger so I'm hoping that quite a few migrants will have arrived by the time we get there in mid October. I'm praying it doesn't rain too much. I need warmth as well as dry weather for my other half who likes to relax in the sun with a good book while I'm off with my camera.It literally dampened the whole experience in Etosha during January as their 8 year drought came to an end with tremendous amount of rain at times. Great for the park and the wildlife not so good for Claire who ended up chauffeuring me. If she ends up doing that for a longer period this time my future visits will be doomed!!

 

[Hads]

@Game Warden no worries about the video, thanks very much for all your hard work getting Safaritalk back up and running.

Kruger is an awesome park especially if you have plenty of time available, self driving gives you that extra freedom to explore.

 

@Dave Williams it is a great idea especially staying mostly at Bushveld camps - I am sure the northern section of the park you will love. I thoroughly enjoyed Biyamiti because of the 20km stretch of private road and the location on the overlooking a river (with small pools of water only).

[Hads]

Time to get cracking back into this report and try get it finished.

After I spent some time with the lions I continued south abit down to Nkaya pan and came across a breeding herd of Ele's leaving - how great is it being on Safari.

 

 

 

 

I'll go first mum......

 

 

I headed back to camp after this to go have a cuppa.

Edited April 14, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

After a break back out camp FIL and I headed out for our afternoon drive - FIL was keen to see the Lions and so was I, so that is where we headed.

We did not drive too far this afternoon due to the heat.

First up Mr Ele on the move.

 

The lionesses were keenly watching the big male but were still not aloud near the kill, it was strange that no more of the kill had been eaten (very little anyway).

 

 

 

 

 

 

This lioness I got to see very close , within about 3 meters later on in the evening as I did a night drive - I remember her wounded eye.

 

As the girls tried to get closer the big guy would growl.

All mine 

 

 

 

The girls would just lay back down and wait.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

Today was a big day for me in Satara as tonight I had booked myself onto a Night drive, I have done a night drive many years ago but it was very quiet.

I did not take many photo's mainly because the quality of night photo's I take are poor 

But with the lion kill only 9km's away I thought we may head there for a look (which we did). We headed off at 8pm and returned to camp at 10pm

The night-drive was fantastic, we saw 3 separate prides of lions, the first pride was the lions on the zebra and nothing had changed, the male was not eating and not sharing with the ladies.

However when we got close to the kill one lady screamed out "LIONS" scaring one of the lionesses (the one with the eye injury) and she ran into the rear of the safari truck right were I was sitting and then she sat down right under me I could of almost touched her, she was panting very heavily in the heat of the night and after her scare.

 

Photos with my phone

 

There was also a hyena circling around in the distance but stayed away.

After spending time with this pride we headed back towards Satara then turned West down the H6 where we came across more lions who were on the hunt, they crossed close by in front of us, there was plenty of Zebra around.

I could not believe it, we followed them for a km or 2 before they headed away into the bush.

It was all very exciting - we then headed back towards Satara when we came across 2 more lions near the Nwanetsi bridge (Male and female) - who seemed abit wary of each other as there was some growling going on.

Unfortunately we could not stay long with the last pair  Lions as it was 10pm -  sorry for poor photos.

 

 

 

 

We also saw on the drive plenty of Hare's, Elephant, 2 x Genet, Wildebeest, Zebra and steenbok - overall an awesome drive , a pity we could not stay out longer.

I slept well tonight after an awesome day in Kruger.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Hads

[vikramghanekar]

Lovely  trip report!

Is there an agency which can handle the bookings for rest camps in Kruger + car hire?

or you have to book online through SanParks website?

I am asking this because of potential credit card issues in India for foreign currency transactions. It's much easier to pay an agent through bank transfer the entire amount in one go.

Thank you for sharing this.

Please keep posting.

Cheers

Vikram

[Peter Connan]

Vikram, I am sure there are agents that can help. One is (I think) Krugerpark.com. note that I have not used them myself...

[xelas]

@vikramghanekar, about every local, and foreign travel agent will be happy to assist you with booking the Kruger NP accommodations ... they will all use the Sanparks as this is the company that runs those non-private camps.

Saying this, it is equally easy also to do it yourself; only if the camp is fully booked then a travel agent might have a way to find you that extra free room. However, as you have mentioned, sometimes paying the travel agent the full amount would be much easier then using the credit card or multiple deposits bank transfers.

 

For Namibia trips, I have used mrs.Dry from Discover Namibia. She actually operates out of South Africa (Hermanus), and if I would need to use an agent in South Africa, she would be my first call.

[Towlersonsafari]

@vikramghanekar  we use Lawsons-

https://lawsons-africa.co.za/

 for all our south Africa trips and very helpful they are too-if they can put up with us.....

[Hads]

@vikramghanekar When I have gone to Kruger my father in law generally books direct with SANPARKS, I have also dealt with them before when I did my walking Safari at the Sweni Trails. I found them to be very good. I am not sure if they can help with car hire though.

Thanks @Peter Connan, @xelas and @Towlersonsafari for your tips as well.

Working long hours at present - will finish report once I am on days off again.

[Hads]

There is no sleep ins for myself and FIL when we are in Kruger - even after the night drive (which was fantastic) we were up and left Satara rest camp by around 4:45am.

We headed south down the H1-3 and then turned down the H6 to see if any of last nights lions were around, no such luck but there was plenty of Zebra's and a large Bull Elephant rubbing itself on a tree, at one stage he was on his back legs trying to reach forage in the tree .

I was too slow trying to get photo's of the Ele standing  

 

 

 

This Guy had a hard night by the looks.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We only went down the H6 for a few km's and turned back and got back on the H1-3 again and past the Zebra kill - well the zebra was finally eaten and we got a quick sighting of another lioness. She looked like a different one as her coat was not as clean and golden as the others from yesterday. Apologies for poor picture quality.

Their was vultures enjoying some left over scraps as well.

 

 

Hooded Vulture

Where is it?

Mr Marabou hoping to get some leftovers....

White backed vulture

Edited May 1, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

Just north of Kumana dam we came across a resting herd of Buffalo's - about 50 in total. One big guy had very curly horns - well they looked curlier than normal.

We enjoyed sitting with these guys for sometime on our own - FIL is a farmer and loves to check out the condition of all the animals, especially the Buffies!

Buffalo's have a real presence about them - these guys were right next to the road....What a wonderful morning so far which only gets better.......

Mr Curly Horn

Mr Sleepy

Mr Tired

Mr Hungry

Mr Angry

Edited May 1, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

It was only about 6:30am and we had already had a wonderful morning.

The thing I love about self driving is that you can take whatever route you like, we come to the S86 - N'waswitsontso loop which is only a few km's long, roughly 4km's in total.

The track follows  closely along the N'waswitsontso river.

Every so often you get a glimpse along the river bed - I spotted a tail in which I thought was a monkey - as I reversed back I was excited to find 7 lion clubs playing on the river bed.

How awesome, we had these guys all to ourselves - we pulled up to a good viewing spot and stopped and had a coffee and rusk and watched the cubs for a good while - they were also keeping an eye on us.

Sorry abit of lion cub overload - it looked like there was varying ages amongst the young cats.

 

 

 

They have spotted us.

 

 

 

 

 

FIL liked this little guy with the curly tail.

 

 

After awhile they slowly made their way up the river bank and into the long grass.

We left them feeling super excited and pleased with this wonderful sighting.

Edited May 6, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

We headed further south and this time took a detour along the S37 Trichardt road until we got to the S35 - Lindana road and continued on until we got to the Orpen dam look out.

Conrad recommended taking the S37 due to the amount of plains game he and Ethan saw, especially Elephants.

We were not disappointed, the grass was quite lush and there was plenty of animals out and about.

The southern part of the S37 has beautiful open plains.

Only a mother can love them....

 

Interesting body positioning by the Ele's.

Dust bath time.

 

 

 

 

Relaxed Ostrich

Water bath

Mr Hippo

 

Comb bill duck.

Poomba family

Edited May 6, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

We left Orpen dam and decided to head to Skukuza rest camp for lunch, we had a sensational morning.

A quick stop at Tshokwane and got a take-away coffee and then we headed along the H1-2 to Skukuza - a few nice bird sightings along the way.

Bateleur.

 

Saddle billed stork looking for lunch

 

 

Pied Kingfisher at Skukuza on the Sabie River

 

I stopped and talked to a ranger in the carpark - he mentioned that he had seen a leopard sleeping in a tree on the S114.

As we were heading to Biyamiti rest camp we decided to try our luck - yes she was still there in a Marula tree - what a super day in Kruger  .

 

Let's find a spot more comfy.

 

 

 

That's better

 

And this is how we left her - she went into a deep sleep and we moved on southwards - things could not get better.............

 

But they did ..........Kruger was spoiling us today.

 

2 White Rhino

 

 

We turned onto the private Biyamiti road the S139  -This Lovely little Steenbok was there to greet us.

Followed by a stunning big Tusker

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

We arrived at Camp around 4pm and checked in.

Biyamiti rest camp has plenty of shade and it overlooks the Biyamiti river - the river close to camp had a couple of nice pools of water close by.

The accommodation itself was very good - typical bushveld camp chalets each with it's own braai pit.

 

 

 

 

We had a little visitor at camp - having a dust bath.

 

I still had 90 mins before gate close time and decided to go for a drive up to a sensational viewing area only a few km's from camp - FIL stayed back for a well earned rest.

Once again I had some special sightings in the golden light.

 

Relaxed Cape Buffalo

Stunning Male Kudu

This guy looked very angry.

Oxpecker family having dinner

 

Baby Poomba's

 

Back at camp FIL and I thoroughly enjoyed our beers listening to the sounds of Africa.

Music to our ears.

Edited May 6, 2019 by Hads

[pomkiwi]

@Hads Great report and photos - what a super day getting to Biyamati!

[Hads]

That evening back at camp at Biyamiti I followed a young female elephant along the fenceline.

She was in a hurry and then stopped under a Marula tree to eat some fallen fruit - apparently the Ele is a regular while there is some nice fruit to eat.

As I sat and watched her she would now and then give me a suttle little Mock charge and flap her ears at me.

I felt quite brave on the other side of the Electric fence - such a great experience being this close to her.

Poor quality phone pictures but you get the idea.

 

Marula fruit for dinner

 

 

The view in front of our Chalet overlooking the Biyamiti River.

 

 

Edited May 10, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

Today was our last full day in Kruger.

What can I say but it was another wonderful day with special sightings. FIL was behind the wheel.

It all started on the private Biyamiti road about 3 km's from camp towards the crocodile river road the S25.

We came across these guys playing in the river bed - and yes we sat there and enjoyed watching them on our own before they ventured into the bush on the other side of the River.

What a cracking start to the day - we probably got 15 mins with them before they moved on.

 

Play time

Someone is watching us guys......

 

 

Let's go.

 

Onto the S25 and there was plenty of plains game around.

This big tusker was coming up from his morning mud bath.

Impressive tusks.

 

We got to the southern section of the dirt road the S28 - Nhlowa road. Their was quite abit of traffic starting to come in from the crocodile bridge gate  .

Yes we are in the southern section of the park  now... but the game viewing can be fantastic along this dirt road with nice open plains in the southern section of it.

 

A couple of female lionesses where laying about 10m off the road behind a bush and in the very long grass - we caught a glimpse of some ears but moved on as there was a few cars.

 

However further along I said to FIL, STOP - what's that way over in the distance...... With the binoculars we spotted Mr Spotty. 

The cheetah was scanning the area and then put his head down and walked off ............luckily for us he was walking directly in our direction - how good is this.

 

 

 

 

 

Here she comes

 

 

Walking straight in front of the car........

Down the road abit and crossed into the long grass and kept going.

You never know when something is going to happen on Safari. - FIL and I have been blessed this morning.

These guys are always great to watch.

Spectacular pair of Bateleurs 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

Just south of Lower Sabie we came across a family of Elephants having their morning swim in the Sabie River.

 

 

Okay team that's enough lets get moving.

Single file please

 

FIL and I then went to Lower Sabie for a leg stretch and got a well earnt Coffee and Rusk.

Edited May 10, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

Leaving Lower Sabie rest camp FIL and I stopped at the beautiful Sunset dam. It is always worth sitting here for awhile and see what is going on. There was plenty of water as well.

There was a couple of Hippo's having a disagreement and one fled and crossed the road down towards the river.

 

Who else is in my pool...

 

Ok mate I see you...

 

I can hurt with these teeth........

Ok you win .......

A lovely Fish eagle overhead.

 

A little further up the H4-1 was some chilled out Buffalo's with a Cattle Egret getting some nice lunch.

 

 

As we continued on there was a single car driving very slowly along the road, the driver was a young german guy looking intently into the bush looking for something.

We asked him what he had seen - LLLeeoopaaard he said excitedly.........We started searching intently and then he finally appeared a bruiser of a Male Leopard hidden in the bushes.

We were all excited  and followed him as he walked through the bushes catching a glimpse here and there.

 

 

Out he comes - I was shaking a fair bit as he was very close and my photo quality suffered  .

I could not believe it , a leopard this close to us and only 2 cars.

 

Stunning.

 

 

 

Passes between us and our German friend.

Bye guys and then he walked off deep into the bush on the other side of the road.

FIL and I gave each other another high 5.

 

We continued on towards Skukuza for Lunch, we said goodbye to our friendly German friend - "if we see you in Skukuza I will buy you a beer mate for sharing your sighting".

 

A nice Tawny Eagle on a river loop track followed by a couple of Buffalo having a mud bath.

 

  

 

 

Edited May 10, 2019 by Hads

[michael-ibk]

Wow, some truly exceptional sightings, wonderful stuff!