Monthly Archives: October 2015

Getting to Pafuri

Last week, we were so excited to tell you about our time at Kruger National Park’s newest accommodation offering, the Pafuri Border Camp, that we skipped over the part of our visit leading up to our time in the extreme Far North of the Park.

We’ll take this opportunity to rectify that now.

We arrived at Phalaborwa Gate on the Friday, early enough to allow a slow drive along the H14-road up to Mopani Rest Camp, where we were booked for a one-night stopover on the way to Pafuri Border Camp.

Tired old elephant bull crossing the road

Zebra at Ngwenyeni

Crocodile along the Ngwenyeni stream

Big herd of elephant crossing the Letaba

Black crake at Shipandani Hide

A quick afternoon sojourn past Mooiplaas, the Nshawu Vlei and Tinhongonyeni delivered no less than 6 tsessebe sightings, lots of energetic zebras, good numbers of other animals and birds, and a very dramatic storm brewing over the plains…

Tsessebe just near Mopani

Zebra cantering at Mooiplaas

At full stretch

Getting started

Again with the running!

Secretary bird

Reedbuck female

Tsessebe at Nshawu Marsh in Kruger National Park

Another energetic zebra

Blue wildebeest marching away from Tinhongonyeni

Storm brewing over Tinhongonyeni

Wind-blown jackal

That evening we enjoyed a lovely meal at Mopani’s restaurant, the howling wind putting an end to any ideas we might have had of braaiing (the traditional South African barbeque) at our bungalow. Afterwards we searched for nocturnal animals among Mopani’s natural vegetation, and were not disappointed.

Mopani bungalow no3

Scrub hare in Mopani

Free-tailed Bat leaving the roost

Leaving Mopani as soon as the gate opened Saturday morning, under heavy skies accompanied by a constant soft drizzle, we anticipated at least one good predator sighting. Sure enough, near Olifantsbadpan, we had a terrific encounter with two big female spotted hyenas and three of the cutest, most playful cubs you could imagine. Only afterwards did I realise that they were so close to our vehicle that I didn’t manage even one full body photo of them!

Spotted hyena

Spotted hyena cub

Spotted hyena

We expected to have good sightings of elephants around Shingwedzi, and our favourite rest camp delivered the goods just as we had hoped. It was still raining softly as we set of from Shingwedzi after breakfast, heading northward past Babalala Picnic Spot. The north of the Kruger Park is also well known for its exceptional birdlife and all these special sightings made the long road seem much shorter.

Waterbuck

Tree squirrel

Greater Blue-eared Starling

Great white egret

Saddle-billed stork

Elephant bull

Elephant crossing

Woolly-necked Stork

Kudu female

After a quick turn in Punda Maria for lunch, fuel and to stock up on some last minute goodies, we could tackle the last stretch of road to the magical paradise that is Pafuri.

Treat

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It doesn’t matter whether you wear clothes or feathers, no one can resist a picnic!

Treat2

Marilize and Joubert had a family of yellow-billed hornbills join them for a picnic at Afsaal, in the Kruger National Park.

Treat3 Treat1

“Treat” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge.

Careful

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Careful now, that’s quite close enough!

Buffalo

This buffalo, seen at Pafuri in Kruger National Park, made it abundantly clear that we shouldn’t venture any closer…

“Careful” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge

A new treasure unveiled in Kruger; the Pafuri Border Camp

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An omnipresent sense of history permeates the grounds and buildings of Pafuri Border Camp, with the call of a wild frontier on your doorstep clarion clear and impossible to refuse.

Here at Pafuri in the Far North of the Kruger National Park, Harold and Tiny Mockford built their lives, raised a family, grew old. From 1938 to 1985, Mockford was the recruiting agent and administrative officer at the labour recruitment station established at Pafuri by the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (WNLA, colloquially simply “Wenela”, later TEBA – The Employment Bureau of Africa) to provide migrant workers for the mushrooming gold mines at Johannesburg.

Comprising the beautifully restored and period-furnished residences inhabited by the Mockfords and other WNLA / TEBA staff, the Pafuri Border Camp will offer overnight accommodation in three very spacious self-catering units: the one-bedroom (4-sleeper) Mockford Cottage, the three-bedroom (6-sleeper) Doctor’s House, and the four-bedroom (8-sleeper) Mockford House. Relaxing on the wide verandas that wrap around the houses, enclosed by mosquito gauze just as they were when their original inhabitants lived there, it is hard not to imagine what daily life entailed for those who lived and worked here all those years ago. The camp’s deep swimming pool will be a delight on hot summer days, as it was no doubt for the family Mockford. A small room next to the tiny reception office will be dedicated as a museum in which Pafuri’s fascinating history can be regaled. More “modern” amenities, such as a fuel station, shop and restaurant, is available at Punda Maria Rest Camp, approximately 65km to the South-West.

Arriving at Pafuri Border Camp

The reception building

Mockford Cottage, Pafuri Border Camp

Doctor’s House

Mockford House

Southern Foam Nest Frog in Pafuri Border Camp

Pafuri Border Camp nightlife

One of the biggest highlights of the new Pafuri Border Camp is its proximity to Crooks Corner, the Luvuvhu River and Pafuri Picnic Site. Being first to arrive at the river viewpoints in the morning and the last to have to leave those serenely beautiful scenes in the evening is a privilege not to be underestimated. Crooks Corner, so named because the borders of South Africa, Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia) and Mozambique (then Portuguese East Africa) meet here and allowed scoundrels of all description to escape the long arm of the law, has a very special allure in the golden light of sunrise and dusk. Spending time along the Luvuvhu as the riverine forest slowly awakes in the morning delivers a serenity to the human spirit that must be experienced to be truly appreciated.

Buffalo river crossing at sunset

Pafuri’s fever tree forest

Pafuri serenity

Pafuri Picnic Site

Baobab flower

Baobabs in spring

Pafuri’s fever tree forest

Pafuri sunset

Sunrise over Crooks Corner

You can bet that the birdwatching fraternity will be ecstatic at the news of Pafuri Border Camp’s opening. Pafuri is South Africa’s bird-watching mecca; the diversity of its feathered inhabitants simply astounding.

African Hawk-Eagle

White-backed Vulture

Southern Ground hornbill

Common Ostrich in northern Kruger

Lilac-breasted Roller

White-fronted Bee-eater

Meves’s Starling

African Jacana

Martial Eagle

Immature Crowned Eagle

White-crowned Lapwing

White-fronted Bee-eater

Black-chested Snake-Eagle

Broad-billed Roller

White-crested Helmet-Shrike

Kurrichane Thrush

African Fish Eagle

Wire-tailed Swallow

Red-crested Korhaan

Mammalian wildlife abounds in the Luvuvhu’s riverine bush, with nyala, impala, warthog, baboon and vervet monkey occurring in exceptional numbers. Several other species, including elephant, buffalo, hippo, waterbuck, kudu, blue wildebeest, zebra, and seldomly-seen predators, add to the show. An astonishing number of Nile crocodiles, some in excess of 5 meters in length and probably weighing more than a ton, rule the murky waters of the Luvuvhu.

Vervet monkey

Nile crocodile

Plains zebra

Blue wildebeest

Baboons

Buffalo

Young nyala ram

Nyala female

Buffalo

Nile crocodile

Warthog

Buffalo bull

Nyala bull

Water monitor

Hippos

Plains zebra

Where there’s this much life, death is never far away

Come 1 November 2015, this new destination, hard not to describe in superlatives and quite literally a stone’s throw away from the border post into Mozambique, will open to its first official guests. We recently had the immense pleasure and privilege to spend two nights at Pafuri Border Camp while the finishing touches were being made to the accommodation. It is sure to prove very popular with nature lovers and history buffs from all over the world. Bookings for Pafuri Border Camp is through South African National Parks. Via the N1 highway and Kruger’s most northern entrance, Pafuri Gate, the camp is located approximately 620km from Pretoria.

(Google maps)

Marievale’s for the birds (and birdwatchers)!

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This past Sunday, my brother introduced Joubert and me to the Marievale Bird Sanctuary, a popular destination for birdwatchers and photographers in Gauteng’s Far East Rand.

Marievale protects 1012 hectares of the much larger Blesbokspruit RAMSAR wetland, surrounded by mine dumps and other development. Facilities include two 4-bed chalets overlooking the wetland for overnight visitors, a conference centre, picnic sites, walking trails and several photographic hides. The roads in the reserve are rough gravel, for the most part easily traversed in a normal sedan.

The reserve’s vegetation comprises extensive stands of reedbeds (about 70% of its surface area) and flooded grasslands, interspersed with areas of open water and, during drier periods, mud flats frequented by impressive concentrations of wading birds. The area can hardly be described as pristine however, as the wetland itself owes its existence to the altered flow of the river caused by mining, railways and roadworks, inundating what would otherwise have been grasslands. Pollution from the mines and industries surrounding it, and upstream, is now threatening Marievale’s man-made wetlands.

Nevertheless, the list of bird species recorded at Marievale has around 280 entries; during the extremely enjoyable six hours we spent in the reserve on Sunday we managed to tick 70 of those. Many of the birds are quite accustomed to the steady flow of human visitors and offer excellent photographic opportunities from the hides or while walking and driving around.

Yellow mongoose on burnt veld

Whiskered Tern

Ruff

African Sacred Ibis

Blue-billed Teals

Red-knobbed Coot

Grey Heron

Crab crossing a road

Little Egret

Glossy Ibis

Pied Avocet

African Spoonbill

Great Crested Grebe

Little Grebe / Dabchick

White-throated Swallow

Goliath Heron

Reed Cormorant

Swainson’s Spurfowl

African Snipe

Long-tailed Widowbird

African Stonechat (Female)

African Stonechat (Male)

Egyptian Geese

Cape Shovelers

Cape Grassbird

Squacco Heron

African Purple Swamphen

Southern Masked Weaver

Cape wagtail

Marievale Bird Sanctuary is controlled by the Gauteng Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and is easily accessed from the R42 to Delmas, just 4km outside the town of Nigel (map drawn with Google Maps).

Klipspringer

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Oreotragus oreotragus

The Klipspringer is another of South Africa’s smaller, and cuter, antelope, between 49 and 65cm high at the shoulder and weighing between 9 and 19kg. Adult ewes are slightly heavier than the horn-carrying rams.

Klipspringer ram

Klipspringer ewe

Klipspringer

Klipspringer pair

Klipspringer ewe

Klipspringer

Uniquely among antelope, the Klipspringer walks on the tips of its hooves, allowing it to balance like a ballerina on exceptionally small areas. This is a handy adaptation to the rugged and rocky mountains, hills and outcrops they inhabit. Their very apt Afrikaans name literally means “Rockjumper”. More than 90% of their diet consists of browse; leaves, twigs, flowers, fruit and seeds, preferring young growth. They are independent of drinking water.

Klipspringer in typical habitat

Standing seninel on a rocky outcrop

Klipspringer in typical habitat

Klipspringer ewe enjoying the drizzle

Klipspringer ram on Nkumbe

Klipspringer peeking

Klipspringers are plentiful up at Lenong

Klipspringer ewe on Nkumbe Mountain

Klipspringer pair

Klipspringers

Klipspringer pair on Klipspringer Pass

Klipspringer

Klipspringer on the ledge! (photo by Joubert)

Klipspringer (photo by Joubert)

Klipspringer

Klipspringer pairs mark and defend small territories, in which they stay together for long periods, often for life. Small groups normally comprise the territorial pair accompanied by one or more of their lambs. Klipspringers are well camouflaged, and usually only observed when they stand sentinel on a conspicuous vantage point. They move around their rocky abodes with amazing agility, and are most active in the early mornings and late afternoons. Single lambs are born at any time of the year and have a life expectancy of between 7 and 15 years.

Klipspringer ram

Klipspringer unusually caught moving between more rocky areas

Klipspringer ewe

Klipspringer pair

Curious Klipspringer ewe

Klipspringer ewe

Klipspringer

The IUCN considers the Klipspringer’s conservation status as “least concern”, with a stable population of at least 42,000 on the African continent. Good places to search for Klipspringer in South Africa is the Karoo, Kruger, Mapungubwe, Marakele and Pilanesberg National Parks. Some authorities believe that three different species of Klipspringer occur in South Africa; the Angolan or Tyler’s Klipspringer (O. tyleri) in the extreme north-west corner of the Northern Cape Province, the Cape Klipspringer (O. oreotragus) in the south-west of the country and the Transvaal Klipspringer (O. transvaalensis) in the north-east, though these may well only be different subspecies based on slight variances in colouration, horn length and body size.

Klipspringer ewe at Mlondozi Picnic Site

Klipspringer ram at Mlondozi Picnic Site

Klipspringer

Klipspringer on top of the Waterberg

Klipspringer Ram (photo by Joubert)

Klipspringer

Klipspringers

Klipspringer

Klipspringer pair

Klipspringer

Happy Place

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A selection of photos from Shingwedzi Rest Camp, in the Kruger National Park. As near as you can get to heaven on earth.

Shingwedzi Rest Camp

Elephant herd in the Shingwedzi

Almost there!

Shingwedzi entrance

Shingwedzi River

Heaven feels so close at Shingwedzi

Sunrise next to the Mphongolo River

Shingwedzi Rest Camp

Impala Lilies

Mopane leaves

Shingwedzi River

Drinking at Shingwedzi

Dusty buffaloes of the Mphongolo

Shingwedzi sunrise

Tree tunnel along the Shingwedzi

Shingwedzi sunset

“Happy Place” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge

Boundaries

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You better heed the signs at the Sudwala Dinosaur Park!

Boundaries

“Boundaries” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge

The joys of spring at Ithala

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We’ve been singing Ithala Game Reserve‘s praises on this blog for a long time and our recent Heritage Day long weekend visit to this South African treasure further cemented our belief that Ithala is one of our country’s prime conservation areas.

Colourful spring flower displays were in evidence all over the reserve, despite not receiving much rainfall yet. With over 900 plant species at Ithala, including some extreme rarities like the pepper-bark tree and Lebombo cycad, Ithala is a botanist’s delight. Unfortunately we don’t know the names of most, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t enjoy the show just the same!

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom (Hypoxis flower)

Ithala in full bloom

The giraffe is Ithala’s emblem, and we were lucky to enjoy several encounters with these curious animals.

The giraffe is Ithala’s emblem

Most large game species were eradicated from the area before the reserve was proclaimed in 1972, and Ithala therefore had to be restocked. Today it is home to all the species that occurred here historically, with the exception of lion, and all-in-all provides sanctuary to 83 mammal species.

Impala sprint

Mountain reedbuck

Plains zebra

White rhinos dwarfed by Ithala’s grandeur

Impala ewes

Impala ram portrait

White rhinos in long grass

Kudu cow and calves

Well-hidden kudu bull

Curious Kudu

Plains zebra profile

Plains zebras are so photogenic!

Vervet monkey

Warthog

Dusty zebra

Blue wildebeest

Warthogs on the run

Nah nah nah nah nah!

“Lean on me”

Black rhino sunset

Ithala’s a bird-watcher’s paradise, with a list of 318 species recorded in the reserve. While we didn’t tick quite that many species during our visit – most of the summer migrants have not yet arrived – we were very thrilled with our close-up sighting of a pair of blue cranes shortly after arriving. Being South Africa’s national bird, it seemed a particularly special treat for Heritage Day!

Golden-breasted Bunting

Blue Cranes

African Pipit

Rufous-naped Lark

Black-winged Kite

Red-billed Oxpecker climbing into a zebra’s ear

Bar-throated Apalis

Southern Black Flycatcher

Martial Eagle

Cape Rock-Thrush (female)

Cape Batis (female)

Golden-tailed Woodpecker

Ant-eating Chat

Little Bee-eater

Secretary Bird

Ithala’s not only about the big and obvious birds and animals, and closer inspection will reveal a multitude of insects, arachnids, amphibians and reptiles. We even encountered three of the reserve’s 41 snake species while walking around Ntshondwe Camp; they pose no danger as long as you don’t threaten them and true to form all three moved away very quickly and quietly.

African Monarch – With so many flowers in bloom, the abundance of butterflies is no surprise

Barberton Girdled Lizard

Natal Flat Lizard female

Solifuge a.k.a. Sun Spider

Talking about Ntshondwe, we just have to mention again how beautifully the accommodation units are placed into the natural vegetation, offering privacy and a really intimate nature experience.

Ntshondwe Unit 15, Ithala Game Reserve, September 2015

Its faunal and floral diversity aside, Ithala is richly blessed with amazingly diverse scenery. The reserve extends over 30,000 hectares, its area ranging in altitude between the 1,450m peak of Ngotshe Mountain to 400m above sea level along the Pongola River. The reserve’s vegetation ranges from grasslands to woodlands to dense riverine forest.