Author Archives: DeWetsWild

About DeWetsWild

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

Buffaloes of the Mphongolo

It was hot. It was dry. It was dusty. The bellowing and snorting of buffalo filled our ears, their smell hanging thick in the air. The ground around our position was already littered with the trampled dung and tracks of hundreds of the animals. And still more of them kept coming, making their tiresome way in single file up the steep bank of the Mphongolo, then standing at the top catching their breath before rushing after the rest of the massive herd disappearing into the mopane. The last thing a tired buffalo needs at the end of a long, hot Lowveld day is to be caught alone when darkness falls…

Catching their breath in the Mphongolo road

Crossing the Mphongolo road

Catching their breath in the Mphongolo road

Crossing the Mphongolo road

Waiting their turn

Up the steep bank in single file

Stragglers making their way into the river from the opposite bank

Still they keep coming from far in the distance

Up the steep bank in single file

Still they keep coming from far in the distance

Up the steep bank in single file

Still they keep coming from far in the distance

Tired old cow further burdened with a load of Yellow-billed Oxpeckers

During our September 2014 visit to the Kruger National Park, we encountered several exceptionally large buffalo herds around Mopani and Shingwedzi Rest Camps. This sighting however was the most memorable and we’ll undoubtedly think back to it every time we pass the location in future. The dry winter season had seen to it that the Mphongolo River was reduced to little more than a few stagnant pools surrounded by deep, soft, dusty sand. These pools sustain an incredibly diverse array of birds and game through the dry winter, making the 30km-long S56 Mphongolo River Loop, which follows the river course and offers dozens of good vantage points over the river, one of the best drives in the Shingwedzi area.

Descent

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There’s the right way, and then there’s the quick way 😉

Downhill at the St. Lucia Crocodile Centre, in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Mind your step at the Bourke’s Luck Potholes, in the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve

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

Dodging elephants in Northern Kruger

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The north of the Kruger National Park is elephant country. When visiting the area, as we did at the end of September (again 😉 ), the problem is not so much finding elephants as it is staying safely out of their way while enjoying the sighting!

Rather don’t hang out of your vehiicle like this near elephants, especially a herd with calves.

Viewing from a safe distance

The youngsters are often playful

While dad enjoys resting in the road…

The youngsters are often playful

On the way to the river

Bull towering over a SUV

Take this bull as an example. When we arrived at the scene, he was standing out in the open in the middle of the road, but immediately then walked, in reverse, to behind this big tree, from where he kept watching us from either side. Having seen this behaviour before, we knew that he was planning an ambush and was just waiting for us to get closer so that he could have some fun with us. We thought better of the challenge and turned back…

Elephant ambush…

Travelling along the rivers in the heat of the day, we came across breeding herds and solitary bulls making their way to the water for a drink and a swim, and resting in the cool shade of the riparian trees.

Crossing the road on the way to the river

Time for a drink

Resting a tired trunk

Dust bath

Relaxing in the shade

Playing in the pool

Nice shade, on the road…

Cooling off

Nice shade, on the road…

Crossing the road on the way to the river

Enjoying the riverine vegetation

Crossing the road on the way to the river

Enjoying the riverine vegetation

“You’re in my way!”

Elephants will dig wells to reach underground water

On the way to the river

Kruger is famous for its big tuskers, and we were fortunate again to encounter about half-a-dozen bulls carrying above average ivory. We always cherish sightings of bulls this size as they’re living proof of the successes of those working very hard, day in and day out, to preserve and protect our natural heritage. The Park has a dedicated researcher monitoring these enigmatic animals, to whom you can submit photos and the location of any sightings.

Promising tusker, but seems to be suffering from “floppy trunk” disease

Drinking from the reservoir

Old bull with single long tusk

Jousting with his young apprentice

Big bull

Stretching to reach the juiciest leaves

Tusk split along its length

Fantastic attitude

Stretching to reach the juiciest leaves

Elephant whiskers

Tusker on the plains

The biggest tusker we encountered on this trip

If you love elephants as much as we do, then head for the north of the Kruger National Park. You are sure to have some special encounters, and if you treat them with respect, heed their body language and don’t invade their space, you’ll be perfectly safe.

Cover Art

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One day, some day, we hope this will become a reality 😉

the de Wets Wild Guide to the Kruger National Park, by Dries, Marilize & Joubert de Wet

“Cover Art” is this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge theme

Boisterous Baby Baboons

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Driving around the Kruger National Park, especially along one of the major rivercourses, you’re bound to come across a troop or two of baboons. Watching their behaviour and especially their human-like interactions is extremely entertaining.

We encountered this little group one afternoon along the Shingwedzi River, during our September 2014 visit. While the big male watched, sometimes with what seemed like considerable concern for their well-being, the energetic little ones were clambering into a small tree and jumping down again, over and over again, their happiness clearly written all over their faces…

Shingwedzi jungle-gym

Refraction

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Dew droplets on a spiderweb at Chelmsford Nature Reserve turning the world upside-down…

$Refraction$

“Refraction” is this week’s WordPress photo challenge theme

Marvelous Mooiplaas

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There’s several waterholes in the Kruger National Park that have delivered us consistently good wildlife sightings over the years. One such drinking place is Mooiplaas, an artificial waterhole supplied by a borehole and windpump, adjacent to a natural wetland, about 5km to the south of Mopani Rest Camp. Directly translated from Afrikaans, Mooiplaas means “pretty farm”. The waterhole undeniably lives up to its name both in scenery and for the constant stream of birds and animals moving from the surrounding mopane vegetation to slake their thirst.

We visited Mooiplaas again on Heritage Day (24th September) while on our most recent visit to the Park. We arrived in the heat of the day, and found the place brimming with animals. Elephants, tsessebe, zebras, wildebeest, ostriches and a lone kori bustard were milling around, and from their behaviour we deduced that there must be predators around. Sure enough, in a clump of mopane shrubs, we saw two lions hiding from the heat; the female just out in the open enough to get photographic proof. It was obvious that these lions were not interested in hunting, and the animals could safely venture to the water for the moment. A young elephant bull caused a bit of an uproar among the plains game when he caught the lion’s smell on the wind, and started running around wildly, kicking up dust as he went.

Elephant at Mooiplaas

Tsessebe like open areas

Tsessebe and zebra at Mooiplaas

Tsessebe at Mooiplaas in Kruger National Park

Tsessebe

Lioness in hiding

Elephant mayhem at Mooiplaas

Plains zebra

Tsessebe

Mooiplaas

Kori Bustard

After checking in for our night at Shipandani Hide, we decided to stop by Mooiplaas again in the late afternoon, and found that the lions had still not moved from their shady hideout. A group of elephant bulls were drinking from the reservoir, and a variety of birds were searching for food in the dust, but there was no sign of the large herds of zebra and antelope that frequented the area earlier in the day. Perhaps they understood that the lions would not be resting for much longer…

Elephants at Mooiplaas

Lioness at Mooiplaas

Collared pratincole

Throughout the night in the hide we could hear the lions roaring towards Mooiplaas, and of course that’s where we headed as soon as the gates opened. If the lions had made a kill during the night, the carcass wasn’t anywhere we could see it, and we had to be content with a far-off sighting of two large males lying in the grass some distance from the otherwise deserted waterhole.

All too soon we had to leave, as we were heading for Shingwedzi and still had to return the keys for the hide to the reception at Mopani. Leaving Mooiplaas behind, we knew there would be more wildlife spectacles unfolding there that day. And we knew we’d return to Mooiplaas again as soon as we have the chance…