Author Archives: DeWetsWild

About DeWetsWild

Nature and wildlife enthusiast and tour guide, based in Pretoria, South Africa.

Gone, but not forgotten

Dedicating this post to three of the most magnificent tuskers that roamed the Parks of South Africa and that we had the pleasure of seeing before they departed for heavenly pastures.

Masbambela (of Kruger)

Hlanganini (of Kruger)

Isilo of Tembe

“Gone, but not forgotten“is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge

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Please vote for de Wets Wild in the 2014 SA Blog Awards

If you enjoy de Wets Wild as much as we enjoy sharing our love for South Africa’s wild places with you, please vote for us in the 2014 SA Blog Awards by clicking on this badge. We’ve entered both the Travel and Environment categories, and you may vote for us in both.

Thank you for your support!

Introducing “Kruger History”

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Tonight we take deep pleasure introducing you to a brand new blog: Kruger History

Authored by friend and colleague Joep Stevens, Kruger History is dedicated to the life and times of South Africa’s oldest and most famous National Park. If there is any person on this planet more infatuated with the Kruger National Park than the de Wets, it would be Joep. He is a treasure chest of knowledge and is sure to provide captivating insights into the history of the Kruger Park and the Lowveld of South Africa.

In his first post, Joep gives a brief overview of the road to the Kruger’s proclamation and subsequent expansions to the Park.

We wish you and Kruger History every success, Joep!

Photo courtesy of Joep Stevens (www.krugerhistory.com)

Tribute to a hero of conservation: Ian Player

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The 30th of November 2014 is a sad day in South Africa’s conservation story, with the passing of one of this country’s most influential environmental activists, Dr. Ian Player, at the age of 87.

Dr. Ian Player (Photograph from www.http://wildernessfoundation.co.za/)

Dr. Ian Player
(http://wildernessfoundation.co.za/)

Dr. Player was the driving force behind so many of South Africa’s crucial conservation successes, from saving the southern white rhino from extinction to protecting the dunes of Lake St. Lucia from being mined, but his most important legacy is probably the establishment of a network of organisations dedicated to the protection of the world’s wilderness areas.

Many of the wonderful reserves we so love to visit are what they are today due to this visionary man’s hard work and ethos, and we owe him a personal word of gratitude. Our upcoming visits to uMkhuze, Imfolozi and iSimangaliso will be especially poignant.

Please visit the website “Ian Player, A voice from the Wilderness” for a precis of his life’s work and achievements.

A quick sojourn to Skukuza

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Roughly two weeks ago I was invited to Skukuza Rest Camp, in the Kruger National Park, and of course this was the perfect opportunity to mix business and pleasure again. Unfortunately Marilize and Joubert couldn’t join me on this trip, but instead I enjoyed the company of a colleague as passionate about the Park as I am.

We drove to Kruger on the Sunday afternoon and could enjoy the scenery and wildlife along the way from Phabeni Gate to Skukuza. It had been raining all day, and some more in the weeks prior to our arrival, and fresh, green growth was sprouting all over.

Despite heavily overcast skies, Monday afforded us more opportunity to experience the Park, before and after our important meeting of course. The rains heralded the start of the impala lambing season, and many other kinds of animals were getting into the birthing action too.

Alert impala

Hadeda Ibis

Buffalo remains on Skukuza’s promenade

Ample opportunity to enjoy the antics of Skukuza’s vervet monkeys

Purple-crested Turaco

Bearded Scrub-Robin

Bushbuck

Lazy lioness

Threatening clouds over the Sabie River

Impala lambing season

Hyenas are commonly encountered at Skukuza

Fruit bats under the thatch of Skukuza's shop

Epauletted Fruit Bat under the thatch of Skukuza’s shop

And then Tuesday dawned, with bright and sunny skies, but for us it was time to head back to Pretoria, via Lower Sabie and exiting the Park at Crocodile Bridge.

Baboons abound along the Sabie

Yes, they’re fast asleep!

Laughing dove in Lower Sabie

Glossy starling in Lower Sabie

Expertly camouflaged tree agama

Signs of spring all around

Arrow-marked babbler in Lower Sabie

Glossy starling after taking a bath

Warthogs drinking from the Sabie

Life and death in the Sabie

Leopard Tortoise enjoying freshly sprouted grass

Newborn warthogs

Common Emperor Moth at Crocodile Bridge

Nothing like an unexpected bush visit to rejuvenate mind and body! This last gallery sums it up so well for me; even such a short visit to the Kruger Park can deliver unexpected and very memorable sightings. While doing our walkabout at Lower Sabie Rest Camp, I came across this tree agama being irritated by a large ant…

Notice the ant on this agama’s leg?

She does!

Taking aim

Out comes the tongue!

And gone is the ant…

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Please vote for de Wets Wild in the 2014 SA Blog Awards

Thank you for your support!

Converge

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Tracks in the sand bear witness that these pools in the Shingwedzi River are a magnet for animals in the northern Kruger National Park

Converge

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

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Please vote for de Wets Wild in the 2014 SA Blog Awards

Thank you for your support!

2014 SA Blog Awards

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If you enjoy de Wets Wild as much as we enjoy sharing our love for South Africa’s wild places with you, please vote for us in the 2014 SA Blog Awards by clicking on this badge.

We’ve entered the Travel and Environment categories.

Thank you for your support!

Angular

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The Witpoortjie Falls, in the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, where we spent several hours today enjoying the scenic surroundings, soaring eagles and the company of wonderful friends.

Angular

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

Surrounded by splendour at Golden Gate

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Few places can compete with the Golden Gate Highlands National Park when it comes to sheer scenic splendour. Visiting the Park is always a pleasure, and our November 2014 visit was no exception. The Park is looking beautiful following the first good spring rains, and walking or driving around, there’s just so much to take in!

This way for great scenery!

Peace and tranquility at Golden Gate

Crystal clear mountain streams

Mushroom Rocks

The view from Glen Reenen

Double rainbow over Golden Gate

Rainbow over Glen Reenen

Misty sunrise

Valleys cloaked in mist

Glen Reenen

The road to Clarens

Fresh water in abundance

Thunder and lightning over Glen Reenen

Lighting up the skies over Glen Reenen

Craggy heights silhouetted at sunrise

Summer is the best time for bird-watching, when the migrants from cooler climes arrive and many male birds are adorned in their breeding plumage. In addition, Golden Gate is home to several rare and endangered species, and we were lucky to encounter some of them.

We had daily sightings of the rare bald ibis on the Oribi Loop at Golden Gate

Endangered bearded vulture in flight

Bearded vulture at the feeding station

Red-winged starling looking after our car

Cape Longclaw

Of course, a National Park wouldn’t be complete without large mammals, and Golden Gate has its fair share of animals adapted to the climatic extremes of a mountain environment.

Black wildebeest seem to like running around…

Black wildebeest, at rest for a change, on a plateau

Black-backed jackal setting out to forage at dusk

Grey rhebuck

Baboons

Baboon jockey

Zebra in the mist

At speed

Dwarfed by the spectacular scenery

It is always rewarding to bend the knees and appreciate the smaller, less obvious, of Golden Gate’s inhabitants.

Natural beauty

Seems not only human females require flowers for the romance to blossom – these beetles are mating on a Hypoxis stem

Stink bugs

As disgusting as they may be, flies are an important component of the ecosystem

Industrious ant

Fungus cropping up all over after the rains

Aardvark hole

Termite mound damaged by an aardvark

After seeing Golden Gate looking so lovely, we can hardly wait for our next visit at the end of December!

The stork is making deliveries in Kruger!

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I’ve just arrived back from a quick two-day working visit to a very overcast Skukuza in the Kruger National Park. It’s amazing to see how quickly the Park is turning green after the first sprinkling of summer rains, and now some brand-new additions to Kruger’s animal population are making their debut. The stork will be kept very busy in the next couple of weeks!

Vervet sisters with their babies

Baby bushbuck

Impala bundle of joy

Piglets will be pigs, after all

More photos to follow in an upcoming edition of de Wets Wild!

Spring in Kruger: September 2014

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Well, according to the calendar it should have been spring. But judging by the temperatures we experienced, it seemed the Lowveld had skipped that season all together. It was only late September, but daytime temperatures rose to the upper thirties. The land was parched and animals were congregating in numbers at the last remaining water sources. It made for thrilling game viewing and just reminded us again that every season holds its own special appeal in the Kruger National Park.

Over the last couple of weeks, we already shared with you some of our most memorable sightings of the trip. Finding five cheetahs moving along the Shingwedzi River was exciting in the extreme, we were enthralled watching the interactions of different species of game at marvelous Mooiplaas waterhole, we laughed for joy at the playful antics of baby baboons, our encounters with the elephants of northern Kruger kept us on our toes and we empathised with thirsty, tired buffaloes along the Mphongolo. Time to wrap up now, and what better way than with a gallery of images taken during our four night stay – one night in the Shipandani Hide (near Mopani), and three nights at special Shingwedzi Rest Camp.