Colleague and friend Hannes and I might only have had two days in the Kruger National Park before we moved on to the Manyeleti Nature Reserve (of which I will start telling you in the next installment) recently, but we still had some terrific sightings around Mopani Rest Camp – even more than we could’ve expected, and we had some pretty high hopes!
The charm of the Kruger Park really lies in the amazing diversity of habitats, plants and wildlife that finds sanctuary there.
No matter the weather or the time of year, the Kruger National Park is always a slice of heaven for bird-watchers!
Seeing a Ground Hornbill trying to snatch something from between some mopane branches was a very entertaining sighting!
Buffaloes roam the north of the Kruger National Park in enormous herds, but there are also many old bulls that have broken away from the breeding groups and can be quite disagreeable!
You know that I can never get enough of Elephants, and in the north of the Kruger Park there’s ample opportunity to enjoy these magnificent creatures, so I still have a few more photo’s and a video to share!
Of course the large predators also get us very excited, even for people who visit the Park fairly regularly like we do. We’ll be remembering our two leopard sightings – one while we had just driven into the Park, and the other the following day – every time we pass those spots in future!
Remember that if you are looking to visit the Kruger National Park by yourself or guided by someone who knows it intimately, DeWetsWild is there for you!
DeWetsWild 
Superb pictures 😍
Thank you kindly, and welcome here!
Thank you for sharing this absolute treasure trove of photos! What a fascinating fact about the left ‘handed’ elephant! Who knew??!!
I love elephants because they really are so fascinating, and so when I get a chance to watch them closely the left or right “handed” characteristic is always something I look for. The tusk that is most worn, called the “slave” tusk, is usually shorter than the “master” tusk because that “grass notch” eventually breaks off, only for a new one to start forming as the elephant keeps using that tusk more than the other.
Marvellous images
Thank you very much, Sue
Pleasure!
Kruger, I find, never disappoints. You certainly did get an amazing amount out of your two days. Your photos are amazing and the videos are incredible – better than watching Wild Earth!
Your waterbuck photograph had me looking hard to find who the ‘bum’ belonged to!
Thank you, Helen. As always you are much too kind. ❤
Glorious, oh SO glorious! I really need to make a plan to travel north again 🙂
It must be the Lowveld of your youth pulling at your heartstrings, Anne
Definitely: its shadow follows me wherever I am!
Sjoe, so ‘n groot verskeidenheid diere – die Kruger is regtig ‘n juweel van ‘n park om wilde diere te sien! Hoe mooi is die nabyskoot van die steenbokkie en jou video laat ‘n mens amper voel of jy self daar in die park is 😉. Elke keer as ek na ‘n foto van ‘n buffel kyk, dan dink ek dit lyk kompleet of hulle horings op hulle koppe vasgeplak is! En dit kan net ‘n luiperd wees wat dit kan laat lyk of dit baie gemaklik is om op so ‘n tak van ‘n boom te kan lê. Puik post Dries.
Veral op warm dae dan laat n luiperd die diep koelte so op n dik boomtak baie aanloklik lyk! Ek glo net nie hulle hou van deel nie…
Good day DeWet, as a person who has visited the KNP for many years as a tourist guide, and eventually working there for SANPARKS, I must thank you for your excellent channel on DeWetsWild. Your posts bring back many wonderful memories of the park, and I must compliment you on your excellent photography, both on stills and on video! You remind us (my wife and I) of the wonderful years we spent living there. Thank you once again!
Thank you so much for your kind-hearted and generous comment, John! I am sure unknowingly our paths must’ve crossed in the Kruger at some point, probably more than once, and I hope that we’ll have a chance to meet next time that happens.
Those zebras sure had some itches that needed scratchin’! Great videos, Dries.
Thank you very much, Lois. Zebras are very photogenic animals, that’s for sure!
Teh portrait of the steenbok ram is beautiful. Such an interesting face.
Steenbok is definitely one of our most beautiful antelope, and thankfully quite common even outside the game reserves
Nie aldag dat mens ‘n klipspringer so rustig sien nie. Die Sharpe Grysbok is ook skaars; mooi foto.
Baie dankie, Ineke. Ek moet erken dat ek n groot liefhebber van ons verskeie soorte bokke is – groot en klein – en dat dit my nogal frustreer as mense net by hulle verby ry sonder om eers twee keer te kyk!
Mens wonder of daardie mense regtig kom vir die diere en natuur. Ons het altyd selfs vir die massas Rooibokke gestop, net om dit te geniet.