Category Archives: About

Watching a Common Moorhen chick grow up

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Over the past several weeks we’ve been fortunate to watch the resident pair of Common Moorhen raise their chick at the little pond in the centre of our local Moreletakloof Nature Reserve.

We first noticed the parent pair with more regularity in late August, with the onset of warmer spring weather. Soon after, we had our first glimpse of the chick and since have returned to visit as regularly as we could – the dam always featuring on our hike at some point and usually we’re lucky to get at least a glimpse of the chick. The rate at which it has has grown is absolutely astounding and it will soon be independent of its parents.

Common Moorhen parent
Common Moorhen parent
Common Moorhen parent
Common Moorhen parent
Common Moorhen chick on 4 September 2020
Common Moorhen chick on 4 September 2020
Common Moorhen chick on 4 September 2020
Common Moorhen chick on 10 September 2020 being fed by one of its parents
Common Moorhen chick on 10 September 2020
Common Moorhen chick on 10 September 2020 being fed by one of its parents
Common Moorhen chick on 10 September 2020 being fed by one of its parents
Common Moorhen chick on 24 September 2020
Common Moorhen chick on 24 September 2020 being fed by one of its parents
Common Moorhen chick on 24 September 2020
Common Moorhen chick on 24 September 2020
Common Moorhen chick on 15 October 2020
Common Moorhen chick on 15 October 2020
Common Moorhen chick on 15 October 2020

Pilanesberg for a day

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Yesterday, Joubert and I slipped away for a day visit to the Pilanesberg National Park. We’ll soon be telling you all about our amazing day in the bushveld, but until then we’ll share this little teaser of what’s in store.

Lions preying on buffalo in the Pilanesberg National Park
Lions preying on buffalo in the Pilanesberg National Park

 

World Wildlife Day 2020

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We can’t think of a better way to celebrate World Wildlife Day than to look back at the 64 species of South African wildlife we gave special attention to here at de Wets Wild over the past year.

Click on the first image, scroll through the gallery and by the end of it you are sure to believe, as we do, that South Africa is a treasure chest of beautiful creatures that you absolutely have to visit!

Garden Commodore (wet season colouration)
Black-collared Barbet
Cape Batis (female)
Boomslang
Drakensberg Malachite
Olive Thrush
Golden-breasted Bunting
River Lily
Cape Turtle Dove
Common Blue (Leptotes sp)
Jackal Buzzard
Speckled Rock Skink
White-rumped Swift
Highveld Cabbage Trees
African Olive Pigeon
Rainforest Brown butterfly
Levaillant’s Cisticola
Southern Rock Agama
Cape Canary
Common Tree Ferns
Male Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Yellow Pansy butterfly
African Hoopoe
Common River Frog
Common Sugarbush
Garden Acraea on exotic lantana
Rock Monitor
Male Southern Double-collared Sunbird
Ouhout leaves
Drakensberg Prinia
Gurney’s Sugarbird
Forest Canary
Rock Kestrel
Capped Wheatear
Cape Bunting
Cape Crow
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
Mopane leaves are uniquely butterfly- or spoor-shaped
Olive Sunbird
Thread-waisted Wasp and caterpillar prey at Marakele
Red-billed Teal
Beautiful impala lily flowers
Flap-necked Chameleon
Bennett’s Woodpecker (male)
African Monarch butterfly
Kurrichane Thrush
Sausage Tree Fruit
Purple-crested Turaco
Red Toad at home outside our cottage
White-crowned Lapwing
Brown-veined White
Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow
Velvet Ant female – This flightless wasp mimics an ant whle searching for unsuspecting prey.
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
Black-bellied Bustard
Citrus Swallowtail
Orange-breasted Bush Shrike
Large-spotted Genet in Tamboti
Martial Eagle
Common Dwarf Gecko
Sabota Lark
Sickle Bush flowers
Emerald-spotted Wood Dove
Two-pip Policeman (butterfly)

Our 2019 in pictures

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Looking back at all the places we stayed in while exploring South Africa’s wild places in 2019!

Cottage 27, Glen Reenen Rest Camp, Golden Gate Highlands National Park, March 2019
Thendele Cottage #12, Royal Natal National Park, March 2019
Giant’s Castle, Unit 7, uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, March 2019
Thutong Environmental Education Centre, Marakele NP, April 2019
Pretoriuskop Bungalow 116, May 2019
Hut # 2 at Skukuza’s Nwaswitshaka Research Camp
Camping at Shingwedzi, Kruger National Park, June 2019
Giant’s Castle, Unit 26, uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, June 2019
Camping at Crocodile Bridge, Kruger National Park, September 2019
Tamboti Tented Camp, Tent # 6, December 2019
Camping at Satara, Kruger National Park, December 2019-January 2020

Growing up with a love for nature: Joubert turns 10!

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Today is Joubert’s 10th birthday.

Marilize and I thank God for creating Joubert for us and us for him. What more could we need? What a blessing it’s been to watch this bright and beautiful little boy grow up to share our appreciation and deep love for South Africa’s wild places.

Looking back at some photos of him enjoying the great outdoors brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart. Has ten years really flown by so quickly!?

Happy Birthday, Joubert!

2 Months old: October 2009. First visit to the Kruger National Park, and time for a nappy change in the bush!
7 Months old: March 2010. Climbing trees at Olifants in the Kruger National Park.
7 Months old: March 2010. Off-roading pram along the Rademeyer Spruit in the Moreletakloof.
9 Months old: May 2010. Did Dad see the elephants? Spekboom Hide, Addo Elephant Park.
9 Months old: May 2010. Surrounded by Guineafowl in the rest camp at Wilderness in the Garden Route National Park.
1 Year old: September 2010. What to do with these francolins? Biyamiti, Kruger National Park.
1 Year old: November 2010. Game-viewing at Chelmsford Nature Reserve.
1 Year old: November 2010. Time to learn more about birds. Mpila, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.
1 Year old: November 2010. Playing on the beach at Cape Vidal, iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
1 Year old: November 2010. Time for a picnic in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
1 Year old: December 2010. Chasing butterflies through a field on the North West Province farm where Grandpa grew up.
1 Year old: April 2011. Looking for the Big 5 in the Kruger National Park.
1 Year old: April 2011. Just look at that interesting lizard! Letaba, Kruger National Park.
2 Years old: August 2011. Joubert appreciating the view from unit 14 at Olifants
2 Years old: October 2011. Short, unsteady legs over big rocks at Pilanesberg National Park.
2 Years old: December 2011. Inspecting a dead butterfly picked up at the Willem Pretorius Game Reserve.
2 Years old: June 2012. Making the acquaintance of a bushbuck at Letaba in the Kruger National Park.
2 Years old: April 2012. Happiness in a forest at Royal Natal.
2 Years old: June 2012. Just how big is that elephant skull!? Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve.
3 Years old: August 2012. Photographing a warthog at our cottage in Mpila, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.
3 Years old: August 2012. Something’s very interesting on the ground at Midmar Nature Reserve.
3 Years old: September 2012. Closer inspection of a nyala ewe in Pafuri Picnic Site, Kruger National Park.
3 Years old: December 2012. Practicing balancing at Ithala Game Reserve.
3 Years old: January 2013. Wet morning in the Moreletakloof.
3 Years old: February 2013. In the hide at Lake Mankwe, Pilanesberg Game Reserve.
3 Years old: March 2013. At the entrance to Chelmsford Nature Reserve.
3 Years old: April 2013. Best seat in the house: Mlondozi Picnic Site, Kruger National Park.
3 Years old: May 2013. Following an elephant at Tembe
3 Years old: July 2013. Almost as high as a pony! Golden Gate Highlands National Park.
4 Years old: August 2013. Being silly at Queen Elizabeth Park in Kwazulu-Natal.
4 Years old: September 2013. Showing one of Letaba’s bushbuck where to go for tastier leaves. Kruger National Park.
4 Years old: November 2013. Taking photos of dung beetles in Pilanesberg National Park is serious business!
4 Years old: December 2013. Fun and games in Golden Gate.
4 Years old: December 2013. Is it safe to venture forth? Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.
4 Years old: December 2013. Quiet contemplation atop a hill at Ithala Game Reserve.
4 Years old: March 2014. Setting off on a walk in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park.
4 Years old: April 2014. Joubert de Wet, Horse Whisperer, at Golden Gate Highlands National Park
4 Years old: April 2014. Calling francolin chicks to come closer at Giant’s Castle.
4 Years old: April 2014. Different perspective on wildlife photography in Kruger National Park.
5 Years old: November 2014. Looking for jewels at Golden Gate Highlands National Park.
5 Years old: December 2014. Chancing being blown off the jetty at Charter’s Creek in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
5 Years old: December 2014. Figuring out Grandpa’s binoculars
5 Years old: December 2014. Posing at the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife logo at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park’s Centenary Centre
5 Years old: December 2014. Braaiing at Ithala Game Reserve.
5 Years old: December 2014. Wildlife photography at kuMasinga Hide at uMkhuze Game Reserve.
5 Years old: April 2015. Skipping stones on Loskop Dam.
5 Years old: May 2015. Titanic impression on a trout dam at Kamberg in the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park.
5 Years old: May 2015. Kamberg tranquility with Mom.
5 Years old: June 2015. Boat cruise on Lake St. Lucia.
6 Years old: August 2015. Scientific experiment from atop a boulder at Tendele in Royal Natal.
6 Years old: September 2015. Photographing the photographer at Ithala Game Reserve.
6 Years old: October 2015. Showing off his ticklist in Pafuri Picnic Spot, Kruger National Park.
6 Years old: December 2015. Again Joubert and a Letaba bushbuck! Kruger National Park.
6 Years old: December 2015. This sign in Rietvlei Nature Reserve doesn’t scare Joubert!
6 Years old: March 2016. Photographing a mangrove-crab at Umlalazi Nature Reserve.
6 Years old: June 2016. Antlions are so interesting! Satara, Kruger Park.
7 Years old: December 2016. Taking a break in Golden Gate Highlands National Park
7 Years old: December 2016. Getting wet at Royal Natal National Park
7 Years old: March 2017. Nsumo Picnic Site, uMkhuze Game Reserve, iSimangaliso Wetland Park
7 Years old: April 2017. Low with the flow at Giant’s Castle
8 Years old: September 2017. Photographing an animal burrow at Nylsvley Nature Reserve.
8 Years old: December 2017. In the information centre at Addo Elephant National park
8 Years old: December 2017. Walking in the Karoo National Park
8 Years old: December 2017. The cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean in the Table Mountain National Park
8 Years old: December 2017. Sunset over the Atlantic
8 Years old: April 2018. Opening the gate at Haak-en-Steek Cottage in Mokala National Park
9 Years old: August 2018. Celebrating his 9th birthday at Rietvlei Nature Reserve!
9 Years old: December 2018. Joubert the photographer, Mpila, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park
9 years old: March 2019. Joubert photographing guineafowl at Thendele
9 years old: March 2019. Walking in the Mountains
9 years old: May 2019. Joubert at Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary
9 years old: June 2019. Photographing a bull elephant crossing a road near Shingwedzi in the Kruger National Park
9 years old: June 2019. Photographing elephants near Shingwedzi in the Kruger National Park
9 years old: June 2019. Playing cricket (his other great love) in the camping area at Shingwedzi in the Kruger Park.
9 years old: June 2019. Joubert photographing San rock art at Giant’s Castle
9 years old: June 2019. Joubert photographing reflections at Giant’s Castle
10 years old: August 2019. Joubert at Rietvlei Nature Reserve celebrating his 10th birthday party
10 years old: August 2019. Joubert sitting next to the ranger-guide on a tour to see Rietvlei’s lions

World Wildlife Day 2019

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What better way to celebrate World Wildlife Day than to look back at the 301 species of South African wildlife we featured here at de Wets Wild over the years?

Click on the first image, scroll through the gallery and by the end of it you are sure to believe, as we do, that South Africa is a treasure chest of beautiful creatures that you absolutely have to visit, and fully deserving of its reputation as one of the ten most biodiverse countries on the planet!

Plains Zebra
Cape Mountain Zebra
Ground hornbill
Black rhinos
White Rhinos
Kudu
Nyala bull
Bushbuck
Eland
Buffalo bull
Von Wielligh’s baobab in summer
Lion Kings of Addo
Oribi ram
Southern Reedbuck are extremely common around Lake Saint Lucia
Mountain reedbuck ram
Grey Rhebok
Waterbuck, S100, Kruger National Park
Variegated slug eater
Male Samango Monkey
Red duiker
Elephant crossing the Napi Road (H1-1)
White-backed Vulture
Palm-Nut Vulture, Umlalazi Nature Reserve, March 2016
Cape Vulture
Lappet-faced Vulture
Bearded Vulture
White-headed Vulture
Hooded Vulture
Common Duiker
Springbok Ram
Klipspringer in typical habitat
Crowned Hornbill
Trumpeter Hornbill
Red-billed Hornbill
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
African Grey Hornbill
Sharpe’s Grysbok
Steenbok Ram
Impala Ram
Cheetah, S41, Kruger National Park
Black Heron “canopy feeding”
Crimson-breasted Shrike
Blue wildebeest are curious creatures
Black wildebeest
Blesbok ram
Tsessebe in thornveld vegetation in Ithala Game Reserve
Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest
Dominant Red Hartebeest bull
Gemsbok in the Karoo
Roan Antelope Bull along the Nshawu marsh in Kruger Park
Ostrich male
Standing proud
Blue Crane in Ithala Game Reserve
Grey Crowned Crane
Secretarybird
Kori Bustard
Red-crested Korhaan
Crested Guineafowl – iSimangaliso Wetland Park
Curious Helmeted Guineafowl
Marabou in flight
Saddle-billed Stork
African Openbill
Yellow-billed Stork at Sunset Dam
Woolly-necked Stork
Hamerkop
African Sacred Ibis
We had daily sightings of the rare bald ibis on the Oribi Loop at Golden Gate
Ground Woodpecker
Drakensberg Dwarf Chameleon
Bush Blackcap in Thendele
Mauritian Tomb Bat, Nyalazi Gate, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park
Wild dogs on the hunt (Hluhluwe-Imfolozi 27122014)
Spotted hyena
Leopard on the Maroela Loop, near Skukuza in the Kruger Park
Hadeda Ibis
Glossy Ibis
African Spoonbill
White Stork
Juvenile African (Edible) (Lesser) Bullfrog
Grey heron at Lake Panic
Goliath Heron
Black-headed Heron
Great Egret
Red-billed quelea
Western Cattle Egret
Little Egret
African Darter in flight
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Shimuwini Bushveld Camp – Hippo
Egyptian Goose
African Stonechat male
Northern Black Korhaan male
Lilac-breasted Roller
Swainson’s Spurfowl
Black-backed jackal
Southern Masked Weaver
Red-billed Oxpecker
Yellow-billed Duck
Red-winged Starling
African Fish Eagle flypast
Red-knobbed Coot
Evil-looking juvenile Baboon
Laughing Dove
Black Crake
Grey-headed Gull
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Pied crows at the remains of the blesbok
Warthogs drinking from the Sabie
Natal Spurfowl
Cape Glossy Starling
White-bellied Sunbird Juvenile Male
Reed Cormorant
Pied Kingfisher
Water Thick-knee
Cape Robin-Chat
Blacksmith Lapwing
Bold crocodile near Olifants
African Black Duck
African Jacana
Tawny Eagle
Pink-backed Pelican in flight
Chinspot Batis (male)
Dark-capped Bulbul
White-fronted Bee-eater
White-faced Whistling Duck
Common Moorhen
Crowned lapwing
Vervet Monkey
Blue waxbill
Black-shouldered Kite
Leopard tortoise feeding on fresh shoots next to the road
Cape Weaver
Three-banded Plover
Rock hyrax, or dassie
Verreaux’s Eagles at Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens
Banded Mongoose
African Green Pigeon
African Wattled Lapwing
Crested Francolins
Scrub Hare
Burchell’s Coucal
Grey Go-away-bird
At night, Skukuza’s bushbabies come out to play
Scarlet-chested Sunbird (male)
Crested Barbet
Yellow Mongoose
Black-headed Oriole
African Scops Owl
Tree squirrel at the day visitors picnic spot
Yellow-billed kite
Pied Starling
Cape Grassbird
Male Double-banded Sandgrouse
Woodland Kingfisher
Cape Longclaw
Yellow-fronted Canary
Ant-eating Chat
Greater Blue-eared starling at Skukuza
Burchell’s starling
Bateleur (female)
Bearded Scrub-Robin
African Barred Owlet
Speckled Pigeon
Mocking Cliff Chat (male)
Chorister Robin-Chat
Karoo Long-billed Lark
African Penguin emerging from the surf
Black Girdled Lizard
Hartlaub’s Gull
Cape Sugarbird
Cape Grey Mongoose
Cape Spurfowl
Cape Cormorant
White-fronted Plover
Bontebok
Angulate Tortoise
African Oystercatcher
Knysna Turaco
Kelp Gull
Swift Tern
Cape Bulbul
White-browed Sparrow-weaver
Namaqua Sand Lizard
Double-banded Courser
Grey-winged francolin
Bush Karoo Rat
Karoo Korhaan
Meerkat / Suricate
Karoo Scrub Robin
Southern African Ground Squirrel
Karoo Prinia
Four-striped Grass Mouse
Steppe Buzzard
Red Bishop
Familiar Chat
Long-tailed Widowbird
Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake swallowing a skink in Shingwedzi
Spotted Thick-knee
White-throated Swallow
Dwarf mongoose in Pretoriuskop
Cape Sparrow male
White-breasted Cormorant
Cardinal Woodpecker
Karoo Thrush
Red-eyed Dove
Tree Agama in Crocodile Bridge
Speckled Mousebird
Cape Wagtail
Southern Boubou
Cape White-eye
Sable Antelope
Red-headed finch (male)
Bronze Mannikin
Southern Black Flycatcher
Green-backed heron
Water Monitor
The cute and tiny lesser bushbaby
South African Shelduck (male)
Temminck’s Courser
Pin-tailed whydah
Fiscal Flycatcher
Painted Reed Frog
Caracal
Striped Skink
Brubru
Southern Grey-headed Sparrow
Sunrise over the Augrabies landscape shows a lone Quiver Tree
Pale-winged Starling
Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra
Namaqua Fig
Orange River White-eye
Augrabies Flat Lizard male
Large Namaqua Porkbush
Pririt Batis
Western Rock Skink male
Sociable Weaver
Camel Thorn tree
Swallow-tailed Bee-eater
Pale Chanting Goshawk
White-backed Mousebird
Karasburg Tree Skink
Bat-eared Fox
Shepherd’s Tree
Burchell’s Sandgrouse (male)
Bibron’s Thick-toed Gecko
Kalahari Scrub Robin
Barberton Girdled Lizard
Eastern Nicator
Red-eyed Bulbul
Scaly-feathered Finch
Namaqua Dove
Marsh Terrapins at the hide in Karoo National Park
This trusting Golden-tailed Woodpecker distracted us from our breakfast at Tshokwane
Groundscraper Thrush
Verreaux’s (Giant) Eagle Owl
Fork-tailed Drongo
Bold honey badger at Nwanetsi Picnic Site
Cape Rock-Thrush (male)
African Dusky Flycatcher
African Pied wagtail
Tawny-flanked Prinia
Epauletted Fruit Bat at Skukuza Airport
African Snipe
Common Fiscal
Bokmakierie
Raucous Toad: Storms River Mouth has an amazing variety of toads and frogs that show themselves after dark
Collared Sunbird (male)
Green Milkweed Locust
White-crested Helmetshrike
Magpie Shrike
Rufous-naped Lark
Spur-winged Goose (male)
Red-necked spurfowl
Brown-hooded kingfisher
White-necked Raven
Foam Nest Frog
African Purple Swamphen
African Paradise Flycatcher (male on nest)
Is this how slender mongooses give a “high 5”?
African Mourning Dove
European Roller
Umbrella Thorn
Arrow-marked Babbler
Greater Striped Swallow
Sombre Greenbul
African Firefinch (male)
Golden Orb Web spider
African Mudhopper
Eastern Natal Green Snake
Red-capped Robin-Chat
Yellow-bellied Greenbul
Kosi Raphia Palms and Joubert
CMR Blister Beetle
White-eared Barbets – iSimangaliso Wetland Park
Common Ringed Plover
There’s beautiful specimens of the fever tree at uMkhuze
Common Tropical House Gecko
Giant Legless Skink
Yellow-throated Longclaw
White-browed Scrub Robin

 

The results of the 2018 South African Blog Awards have been announced!

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We are so grateful to everyone that supported us in the 2018 South African Blog Awards, the results of which were announced last night. Thanks to you, de Wets Wild has not only been announced as runners up in the Best Environmental Blog Category, but we’ve also been voted the winners in the Best Travel Blog category for the second year running! Thank you so much, again, for all the support and encouragement you’ve given us! We consider ourselves blessed for being able to call this beautiful country home, and being able to share its wildlife treasures with you all.

Winners 2018 Best Travel Blog
Runners Up 2018 Best Environmental Blog

Our thanks also goes to the organisers and judges of the 2018 awards, with hearty congratulations to all the other great blogs featured in the results!

Our 2018 in pictures

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Taking a look back at all the wonderful places we stayed at while exploring South Africa’s wild destinations in 2018.

We hope that 2019 will be kind to all our friends here at de Wets Wild, and that we’ll continue to share in each others adventures!

Skukuza Unit 210, Kruger National Park, March 2018
Twanana Research Camp, Kruger National Park, March & May 2018
Haak-en-Steek Cottage, Mokala NP, April 2018
Chalet 26 at Augrabies Falls National Park, June 2018
Cottage 25 at Twee Rivieren, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, June 2018
Cottage 1 at Mata Mata, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, June 2018
Cottage 8 at Nossob, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, June 2018
Chalet 24 at Twee Rivieren, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, June 2018
Ntshondwe Chalet #20, Ithala Game Reserve, August 2018
Camping at Bakgatla, Pilanesberg National Park, November 2018
Umlalazi Log Cabin #1, December 2018
Chalet 16 at Mpila in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, December 2018

 

SA Blog Awards 2018

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It is time for the annual SA Blog Awards again! In 2017 we won in both the “Best Travel Blog” and “Best Environmental Blog” categories and we need your help to defend our titles!

If you enjoy De Wets Wild as much as we enjoy sharing our love for South Africa’s wild places and the wildlife that thrives there with you, please support us again in the 2018 South African Blog Awards? We’ve again entered the categories for “Best Travel Blog” and “Best Environmental Blog“, and you are allowed to vote for us in both. Clicking on the badge below will bring you to the voting site. After voting, you’ll receive an e-mail requiring you to click on a link to confirm your votes.

SA Blog Awards Badge

Thank you very much for your support – we really do appreciate it!

A thousand posts on de Wets Wild!

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Today we celebrate a major milestone for us here at de Wets Wild – our 1,000th post!

A huge word of thanks must go to our all our friends and followers for their support and encouragement over the course of the past 6 years! Thank you for sharing our love and passion for South Africa’s wild places and the creatures that find a home there with us – we hope you’ll continue to do so for many years to come!

Seems fitting now to have a look at some of the most popular posts and other highlights we enjoyed on this journey. (Clicking on the links provided should open the posts in a new window without closing this post).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, our “About” page (home page) is by far the most visited.

de Wets at Golden Gate Highlands National Park, July 2013
de Wet family at Ithala Game Reserve, December 2014
Wild de Wets
Giant’s Castle

But how and why the post about South African Hornbills come in second place, I have no explanation!? That they’re fascinating birds we won’t argue about.

Yellow-billed hornbill
Crowned Hornbill
Red-billed Hornbill