The northern parts of the Kruger National Park suffers from an inaccurate perception that predators there are fewer and harder to find, and consequently that part of the Park sees far fewer visitors than the area south of the Olifants River. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy – fewer people looking for predators means fewer people finding predators – that suited us just fine when we visited the area around Shingwedzi Rest Camp during the winter holidays. We returned home bragging about several splendid encounters with lions, leopards, spotted hyenas and both side-striped and black-backed jackals and hardly ever having to share the experience with other visitors. Please don’t let the secret out though – we’re only telling you! 😉
Black-backed Jackal at Shipirivhiri Waterhole
Spotted Hyena seen at night right from Shingwedzi’s fence
Spotted Hyena scavenging from a buffalo carcass in the Mphongolo River
Serene leopard near Punda Maria
Catnapping leopard near Punda Maria
Beautiful leopard encountered near Red Rocks
Lioness in the early morning twilight, just a stone’s throw from Shingwedzi’s gate
One of the two Kings of Babalala
The two Kings of Babalala
The two Kings of Babalala (Photo by Joubert)
One of the two Kings of Babalala
One of the two Kings of Babalala
Beautiful male patrolling his territory at Red Rocks
Beautiful male patrolling his territory at Red Rocks
Beautiful male patrolling his territory at Red Rocks
Beautiful male patrolling his territory at Red Rocks
Beautiful male patrolling his territory at Red Rocks
Watchful Lion (Photo by Joubert)
Getting up is hard work for this Lion (Photo by Joubert)
Ready to tackle the day ahead!
Beautiful male patrolling his territory at Red Rocks
Big male lion in the bed of the Mphongolo River
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Isn’t it just lovely to go where others don’t go!
Anyway, I hope you soon post about all the predator butterflies you spotted among all the cats and dogs! 😉
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Our butterfly post was almost the first one after we returned, AJ – do you forget so quickly? 😛
https://dewetswild.com/2019/07/05/beautiful-butterfly-bounty/
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No… never… the more the merrier!! 😉
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Ongelooflik om leeus en luiperd te sien!
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Ons was besonders gelukkig, Aletta!
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Wow! That lounging leopard is so majestic!
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They’re incredibly beautiful animals, Kathy!
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Nice kitties and bowows.
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They definitely are!
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Lovely to see such lovely animals without the jostling. We avoid Kruger cos of the traffic in such situations, so what you reveal is encouraging.
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I know it’s a lot farther for you to travel to the north of Kruger, Carol, but you will find it so worth your while!
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Thanks. It sounds tempting and it is not quite as far as places in Botswana ☺
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Perfect to build into a tour to Botswana then – perhaps with a night or two at Mapungubwe and Marakele too!
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We have been thinking along the lines of combining with the two M’s you mention. Thank you.
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Just ask if we can help with any info!
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That is kind of you. Thank you so much. We are off to parts of the Cape in October so will think more about it after that.
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That’s a lovely trip and time of year to look forward to! And the planning is half the fun, isn’t it?
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☺
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Your Kruger posts have encouraged us to follow-up on planning to visit there next year 🙂 We have not been there for a very long time and have not been north of the Letaba before. We are planning on going in May-June next year, and as you suggest we will go via Marakele (3 nights at Tlopi) and Mapungubwe (3 nights at Leokwe) and then on to Kruger staying 3 nights each at the following: Punda Maria (safari tents), Sirheni Bush Camp, Shingwedzi and lastly at Shimuwini Bush Camp and then leave at Phalaborwa Gate. We decided to stick to the northern areas and we hope we are not covering too much ground. We prefer smaller camps and to be away from crowds. Shingwedzi is a big camp, but you say that the roads do not get congested around there, and that is encouraging. Thanks for all the info and lovely photos that you share.
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Wow, Carol – that is a wonderful itinerary and you are going to have an amazing time for sure! Such special places you’ve picked and I am not even going to try and predict which you’ll enjoy most – each of them so special for their own reasons. With an itinerary like that to look forward to I’ll already be losing sleep from the excitement!
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Thanks, Dries. We are hoping to mix it up with some drives (e.g up to Pafuri) and around the areas we stay with just spending time chilling in the camps. We hope it won’t be literally chilling at that time of the year at least at night? Also hope that there will still be standing water in the rivers that are starting to dry at that time. Too bad the migratory birds will already have left, but can’t have everything 🙂 This is a “luxury accommodation” trip for us and will make a change from our usual camping. And yes we are looking forward to it. Love that more northern vegetation …
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The nights in the safari tent at Tlopi next to the dam will probably be the coldest, but nothing you won’t be able to cope with, and with the animals congregating at the water’s edge while you’re enjoying the braai fire you might not even notice! And you’ll already know to pack something warm for those early-morning game drives in the Lowveld that you can easily take off again by 09am-ish, so I won’t mention it…
The Luvuvhu River at Pafuri and Letaba River at Shimuwini is most likely to still be flowing nicely in May and early June, while the Mphongolo (at Sirheni) and Shingwedzi should still have nice pools attracting constant streams of wildlife, especially the big herds of buffalo and elephant.
The Limpopo River at Mapungubwe is the most unpredictable of the lot – by the way, if you are going to spoil yourself with a guided night drive you really must enquire at Mapungubwe when you arrive whether they can arrange a drive to specifically look for Pel’s Fishing Owls for you, if you haven’t seen them yet. We haven’t seen one ever but I haven’t given up hope!
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I really appreciate your detailed comment, Dries, thank you, Yes we have learnt about layers (of clothes), but it is good to have that confirmed and to have the reminder 🙂
Interesting what you say about Tlopi, and so exciting about the animals coming to the dam. Thanks also for the information re the various rivers at that time of the year. Your photos in some posts of the buffalo and elephant in the Shingwedzi area are wonderful,
We had not thought of doing a night drive, but we too have not seen Pel’s Fishing Owls (except captive at a raptor rehab) so thanks for that tip for Mapungubwe. I recall years back, my mother-in-law describing seeing a pair, and she described it as being like watching a pair of Siamese cats flying around!
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I get very excited (carried away!) about our wild places! 🙂
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There is much to be excited about and your excitement is infectious 🙂
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Splendid photos! The cat images are amazing – especially the serene Leopard- and I love the black-backed Jackal. Great shots– did Joubert shoot these? Terrific series, de Wets.
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Thank you very much, Jane! Yes, some of these are Joubert’s – I captioned his with his name – and he’ll be thrilled by your comment. Thanks again!
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Amazing and so beautiful pictures!😊
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Thank you, John!
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Wow! Such amazing animal photography! I’m sure you are not too close to them but it looks like you are.
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Thanks Robert! They were in fact in most cases very near – luckily we were safely in our vehicle.
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What a feast of predators! Our recent week in Kruger produced a few predator sightings but accompanied by a scrum of vehicles all trying to get a decent view – such a privilege to have them to yourselves
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We really did have a great predator-bonanza up in the North, Don, and a privilege indeed that we didn’t have to compete with throngs of vehicles vying for the best viewing spot either – even more so considering that it was in the peak school holiday season! Where did you stay on your recent trip?
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We were in Olifants, Lower Sabie and Pretoriuskop – last minute booking meant we had to take what was going. We had 3 different sightings of Hyena pups which was unusual.
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Hyena pups are always a treat and I wish more people appreciated them as they ought to be! When I visited at the end of May there were 2 clans with tiny babies denning in culverts under the H1-1 between Skukuza and Pretoriuskop – were they perhaps still around when you were there?
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They are a treat as you say Dries, and so cute when young. We saw one pair of pups on the H1-1, the others were near Olifants and on the Tshokwane – Pretoriuskop road
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Good to hear at least one set of “my” cubbies are still around, the others have probably moved on to a different den – they often do as the numbers of lice and fleas in the den explode quickly!
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Hul lyk almal heel gesond en gelukkig. Luiperd se kind is baie moeilik om raak te sien. Is die wildtuin nog steeds baie ruig of het dit al goed uitgedun?
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Dankie vir die inloer, Ineke! Met ons onalngse besoeke het die veld nog heel goed gelyk – die mopanies het maar pas begin winter-kleure aanneem en daar was nog heelwat water in die lope. Dit lyk baie, baie beter as met ons besoek in die winter van 2016 toe die droogte die Park in n wurggreep gehad het.
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Dis goed om te hoor dat dit nie te sleg gaan nie. Met die droogte kry die diere maar swaar om te oorleef.
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Lions are generally photogenic and are magnificent creatures to behold, but this time the prize goes to the leopard pics. Not only are they lovely, but I know they are not all that easy to get!
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Thank you very much, Anne. Finding leopards are always exciting (and often tricky, as you’ve said), and having the sighting all to yourself simply amazing!
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We won’t tell anyone. It must be incredibly difficult to spot the leopards in particular.
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They are experts at hiding in plain sight, Tracy, and I don’t think I ever want to know how many leopards we drove past, or even walked past!
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Perhaps they suspect you aren’t tasty.😊
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They must be watching their fat intake! 😀
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🙂
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The leopard and the two kings….such impressive big cats. Great photos, Joubert!
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Thank you very much, Lois – he’ll be so proud you noticed his photos!
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