Today we moved camps to Cape Vidal, another of the overnight options in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Cape Vidal is located on the Indian Ocean coast, on a stretch of land wedged between Lake St.Lucia and the sea and surrounded by forests, wetlands and grasslands.
Elephant bull emerging from the forest (photo by Joubert)
Young elephant showing off (photo by Joubert)
Young elephant showing off (photo by Joubert)
Young elephant having a good scratch
Elephant herd on a stroll (photo by Joubert)
Elephant drinking from a seasonal pan
White-eared Barbet
Kudu bull
Crowned Hornbill
Samango Monkey (photo by Marilize)
Log Cabin 25, Cape Vidal, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, March 2022
Today was our last full day here, but we’re still loving every second in the uMkhuze Game Reserve! Tomorrow mid-day we will be moving on to Cape Vidal, an old favourite of ours located in an entirely different section of the iSImangaliso Wetland Park.
Today we spent the whole day – from sunrise to sunset – at uMkhuze’s Kumasinga waterhole with its brilliantly placed photographic hide. We’ll share loads more photos from today once we’re back home, but here’s a little teaser of a gallery.
Pink-throated Twinspot
White-browed Scrub Robin
Rudd’s Apalis
Purple-crested Turaco
Marsh Terrapins
Blue Wildebeest
Vervet Monkeys admiring their reflections
Slender Mongoose
Nyala bull horning the mud
Nyala ewe and lamb
Dancing Impala (photo by Joubert)
Thick-billed Weaver female
Grey Waxbill
Warthog family
European Bee-eater (photo by Joubert)
Male Eastern Blacktail Dragonfly
Common Waxbill
Sombre Greenbul
Eastern Natal Green Snake at Kumasinga Hide, 21 March 2022
It’s school holidays again in South Africa, and we’ve arrived at beautiful uMkhuze Game Reserve – our first stop on a planned two-week tour through the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.
Plains Zebra
Jameson’s Firefinch
Blue Waxbill
uMkhuze scenery
Chalet 12 in Mantuma Camp, uMkhuze Game Reserve, Isimangaliso Wetland Park, March 2022
Brown-hooded Kingfisher (photo by Joubert)
Impala ewe
European Bee-eaters bathing at Kumasinga (photo by Joubert)
uMkhuze scenery
Pied Wagtail in flight
Pied Wagtail
Looking up into the branches of a massive fever tree
The beautiful Malachite Kingfisher is, true to its name, mainly a piscivore though it’ll also feed on frogs, tadpoles and aquatic insects. They hunt from preferred perches, diving into the water to snatch their prey. Its diet dictates that this species is always found near water, ranging from tiny streams and sewage ponds to large rivers, dams and estuaries, provided there is sufficient growth of plants in and along the water providing perches. They are usually seen alone or in pairs.
Nesting in burrows they dig themselves in the earthen banks of rivers and streams, monogamous pairs of Malachite Kingfishers may breed throughout the year but usually coinciding with the rainy season. Clutches of 3-6 eggs are incubated for 2 weeks by both parents, with the chicks fledging when they’re between 3 and 4 weeks old. They start fishing for themselves about a week after leaving the nest and become fully independent from the age of about 7 weeks.
The Albany Sandveld Lizard, also known as the Striped Sandveld Lizard, is a lizard species endemic to South Africa – in fact, it is found only in a corner of our Eastern Cape Province that includes the Addo Elephant National Park, a few nearby conservation areas, and the agricultural and urban land in between. The IUCN considers it to be of least concern.
Excluding the exceptionally long tail, this attractive lizard measures 7cm at most in length. It is secretive in nature and inhabits various thicket vegetation types. They feed on insects and seem especially fond of termites.
We were visited by this friendly fellow while having a picnic in the Addo Elephant National Park.
Albany, or Striped, Sandveld Lizard at Jack’s Picnic Spot
Albany, or Striped, Sandveld Lizard at Jack’s Picnic Spot
Albany, or Striped, Sandveld Lizard at Jack’s Picnic Spot
Albany, or Striped, Sandveld Lizard at Jack’s Picnic Spot
After seeing how beautifully the summer rains transformed the Marakele National Park, we made some hasty plans for a day visit to the Pilanesberg National Park the following weekend. The Pilanesberg Mountains are the concentric remains of an ancient volcano and was transformed from farmland to a wildlife haven in the 1980’s. You’re welcome to click on the first image in the gallery and scroll through the photo’s to join us on our drive through the Pilanesberg.
Early rays of sunshine colour the Pilanesberg
Deep pool in the Mankwe stream
A Tsessebe dwarfed by the landscape
Tsessebe close-up
Monotonous Lark
Crossing the Mankwe stream again
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
Blue Wildebeest
Steppe, or Common, Buzzard on Mankwe Way
Walking underneath a Giant Kingfisher at Mankwe Hide
Beautiful scenery around Lake Mankwe in the Pilanesberg National Park (20 February 2022)
Female Red Bishop (photo by Joubert)
Beautiful scenery around Lake Mankwe
White-throated Swallow
Beautiful scenery around Lake Mankwe
African Pied Wagtail
An immature Green-backed Heron being very distrustful of a large Nile Crocodile
Malachite Kingfisher
Black-backed Jackals
Black-backed Jackal
Black-backed Jackal (photo by Joubert)
African Hawk Eagle
Blacksmith Lapwing
Common Waxbill
White-fronted Bee-eater (photo by Joubert)
White-fronted Bee-eater (photo by Joubert)
An immature Green-backed Heron in flight (photo by Joubert)
Makorwane Dam
Nile Monitor on a rocky bed
Black-winged Kite
African Leopard butterfly (photo by Joubert)
Brown Snake Eagle
Elegant Grasshopper (photo by Joubert)
Helmeted Guineafowl
Baby Leopard Tortoise
African Wattled Lapwing
Batlhako Dam
Impala Ram
Impala Ram
Impala Ram (photo by Joubert)
Rathlogo Pan
Elephant at Rathlogo Pan
Baby Hippo resting on mom’s back at Rathlogo
Young elephant
Young elephant with a spring in his step (photo by Joubert)
Elephant Family
Tiny, tiny elephant baby
Tiny, tiny elephant baby (photo by Joubert)
Blue Wildebeest
Big Elephant bull at Pilanesberg Centre (photo by Joubert)
In Middle February we had the opportunity of a quick weekend visit to the Marakele National Park in the Waterberg of Limpopo Province. With us still experiencing a good rainy season here in the north of the country, the Park’s scenery was lush and green and it was good to see the Waterberg (Water Mountain) living up to its name.
African Leopard Butterfly
The little dam at Bollonoto Hide
Kudu bull
Kudu bull
Steenbok
Warthogs
Marakele scenery
European Bee-eater
Cape Chestnut flowers
We were booked into Tlopi Tented Camp again, and with its wonderful view of the dam and mountains beyond and an abundance of animal life all around it was as near to heaven as can be imagined.
Tlopi Tent #1 (Plover), Marakele National Park, February 2022
Tlopi scenery
Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake at our tent
Male Eastern Blacktail Dragonfly (photo by Joubert)
Adult African Fish Eagle in flight
Immature African Fish Eagle in flight
Sharptooth Catfish (photo by Joubert)
Sharptooth Catfish (photo by Joubert)
Red-veined Dropwing Dragonfly (photo by Joubert)
On Saturday afternoon we explored the plains and foothills of this section of the Park. Animals were to be seen in abundance, but the amazing scenery also kept clamouring for attention.
Young Kudu bull
White Rhinoceros (photo by Joubert)
Marakele Scenery
Marakele Scenery
Plains Zebra
Marakele scenery
Kudu cow
Kudu cow
Marakele scenery
Marakele Scenery
White Rhinoceros
White Rhinoceros (photo by Joubert)
White Rhinoceros
White Rhinoceros
White Rhinoceros
Marakele scenery
Young Red-billed Oxpeckers
Impala lambs
Marakele scenery
Elephant
Tlopi Tented Camp, Marakele National Park, seen from the Mbidi Loop
Some very interesting insects came to visit our fully-equipped safari tent after dark.
Ground Beetle
Wahlberg’s Bush Cricket
Sundowner Moth
Sundowner Moth
At dawn on Sunday morning there was just one place we wanted to go; up to the Lenong Viewpoint atop the Waterberg. The narrow, steep, winding road that takes you there, the immense vistas and the fresh air up there takes our breath away every time.
Steppe, or Common, Buzzard
Klipspringer on top of the Waterberg
Marakele scenery
Marakele scenery
Mountain Reedbuck at Lenong Viewpoint
Marakele scenery
Buff-streaked Chat
Marakele scenery
Marakele scenery (photo by Joubert)
Marakele scenery
Marakele scenery
Eventually we had to descend from the mountain, go back to Tlopi to pack our belongings, and head for home – at least we could console ourselves with a few hours drive through the Park to get to the gate and the outside world.
In celebration of World Wildlife Day we take a look back at the 86 species of South African wildlife we featured in detail here at de Wets Wild during the past year.
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
A Flying Handkerchief – the male Mocker Swallowtail – seen along the trail in Hilltop Camp
Red-throated Wryneck
Rain Spider, the size of a cake plate!
Rain Spider Wasp (Tachypompilus ignitus)
Forest Buzzard
Outeniqua Yellowwoods (Podocarpus falcatus) towering over the road near Nature’s Valley
Terrestrial Brownbul
Green-banded Swallowtail butterflies
African Pygmy Kingfisher
Eastern Coastal Skink
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
Novice butterfly
Black-bellied Starling
Sweet Thorn in Doornhoek Picnic Site
Livingstone’s Turaco
Bushpig boar
Neddicky
African Wood White
Malachite Sunbird
Pig’s Ear flower
Bar-throated Apalis
Elegant Grasshopper
White-throated Canary
Scimitar-horned Oryx
Boisduval’s Tree Nymph (female)
Olive Woodpecker
Bell’s Hinged Tortoise
Lobatse Hinged Tortoise
Natal Hinged Tortoise
Speke’s Hinged Tortoise
Dark-backed Weaver
Natal Rock Crab
Denham’s bustard
Rufous-eared Warbler
Black Harrier
Amethyst Sunbird Female
Black Mamba
Common Sandpiper
African Grass Blue
Black-throated Canary
Suni (Photo by Joubert)
Chestnut-vented Warbler
False Dotted Border
Brimstone Canary
Forest Leopard butterfly
Jameson’s Firefinch
Common Bush Brown
Long-billed Crombec
Our best ever sighting of a wild python!
Green-backed Camaroptera
The Common Myna is an alien invasive species
Common Starling
House sparrow at Mpila
Feral Lovebird
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Rock Dove
Indian Peafowl
Mallard drake
Common Waxbill
Wanderer butterfly
African Pipit
Our friendly breakfast Olive Grass Snake
Western Osprey
Blue Pansy
Red-breasted Swallow
Natal Sand Frog
Wire-tailed Swallow
Sharptooth Catfish (photograph courtesy of Niel de Wet)
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