DeWetsWild and Hannes Rossouw Photography invite you to Manyeleti Magic, 27 June to 1 July 2024. A one-of-a-kind photographic safari in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve, an integral part of the Greater Kruger National Park.
DeWetsWild, Hannes Rossouw Photography and Irving Knight Safaris invite you to a one-of-a-kind photographic safari in the Kruger National Park. Serene Sirheni, 1 to 5 May 2024.
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been showing you some of what we experienced during a holiday visit to the Kruger National Park in early January. There was the excitement of a wild dog hunt, endearing hyena pups, smiles thanks to dung beetles and baboons, the royal presence of lions and leopards and even a concert by the Skukuza frog choir. The Kruger National Park is an amazing place, and well deserving of its position among the great wild places on the planet. We just cannot stay away.
The Kruger National Park is one of South Africa’s premiere bird-watching destinations, and even more so in summer when the park’s prolific birdlife is boosted by summer migrants from as far away as Eurasia. This gallery is but a tiny morsel of the amazing diversity of birds we encountered while exploring the southern reaches of the Park in January.
The Kruger National Park is even better known for its astounding variety of mammals, which at almost 150 recorded species is among the highest of any conservation areas on the planet! The animals are so used to the gawking people driving around them all day that it makes for wonderful photographic opportunities.
Far less glamorous – some may even call them creepy-crawlies! – but equally as important in the natural cycles that drums the beat in the Kruger National Park is the extraordinary variety of insects, fish, amphibians and reptiles that you may encounter if you keep your eyes peeled.
We’d love for you to join DeWetsWild on a guided tour of the Kruger National Park or to help you arrange a self-guided visit. Don’t hesitate to reach out!
DeWetsWild, Hannes Rossouw Photography and Irving Knight Safaris invite you to a one-of-a-kind photographic safari in the Kruger National Park. Picture Balule, 26 April to 1 May 2024.
No matter how often you visit our national parks and game reserves or how many encounters you have with these regal cats, you just don’t get blasé about seeing Lions in the wild. Our most recent visit to the southern Kruger National Park earlier this month delivered some very exciting and some not so exciting, but still very memorable, sightings of Lions.
Our first Lion sighting of the trip came at the bridge over the Nwatimhiri River, where a small pride of lionesses and youngsters were lying in the long grass and trying their best to blend in with their surroundings.
Not much further we found the Lubyelubye pride walking along the road with a cavalcade of vehicles following them. As they walked past our vehicle they were close enough to touch, not that we’re foolish enough to ever attempt that – watch how carefully Joubert videos the passing procession from inside the car! 😉
Early the next morning we were on our way from Skukuza to Tshokwane when we came across three lionesses stalking a zebra in dense growth. The zebra did not notice the lions until it almost step on the closest one, but it still got away! Thrilling to watch for us but I thought I saw a rather miffed expression on the faces of the lions…
Sometimes you have to work really hard for even a glimpse of a lion, as this one relaxing in the shade in the heat of the day proves.
Being out of the camp gates as soon as they open improves your chances of finding the lions up and active. On our final morning in the Kruger National Park we found this group of 4 lionesses walking over the Sand River Causeway.
We were still wondering where the males associated with the group of female’s we’d just seen could be, when we found these two lazing on the Marula Loop road only about 2km further.
If seeing lions in the wild is on your wish list we’d love for you to join DeWetsWild on a guided tour of the Kruger National Park or to help you arrange a self-guided visit. Don’t hesitate to reach out!
Chacma Baboons are great entertainers and most visitors to the Kruger National Park enjoy seeing these animals. I suppose that’s because their obvious intelligence, playful nature, endearing family interactions and the occasional aggressive altercation is like a mirror held up to our faces.
We’d love for you to join DeWetsWild on a guided tour of the Kruger National Park or to help you arrange a self-guided visit. Don’t hesitate to reach out!
Outside of the reception office at Skukuza in the Kruger National Park is a beautiful pond, which by night is transformed into a stage for dozens of frogs of various kinds. For us it has become a tradition to visit the pond every night we spend in Skukuza to admire the sights and sounds of animals that are becoming ever more rare in the modern world.
We’d love for you to join DeWetsWild on a guided tour of the Kruger National Park or to help you arrange a self-guided visit. Don’t hesitate to reach out!
The Kruger National Park has a healthy Leopard population and the Skukuza-area of the Park is renowned for excellent encounters with these big cats, especially if you know where and when to look for them. During our short visit earlier in January we had three memorable Leopard sightings to share with you.
We were still readying our cameras at the Malelane Gate shortly after arriving when some kind folks told us about this Leopard lazing in a tree just a few kilometers into the Park on the way to Skukuza. We were grateful it was still in the same spot when we got there – starting your visit with a Leopard sighting is a very good omen of things to come!
Our next Leopard encounter was with this individual of whom we caught only a quick glimpse along the main road leading to Lower Sabie from Skukuza before it melted away in the lush summer vegetation.
In January the Park’s Rest Camps open their gates at 04h30 in the morning, with there then being still quite a while before first light. Skukuza’s gates had just been swung open and we joined the first few cars heading out when this brute of a Leopard male stepped out onto the road at the 4-way crossing not even a kilometer further. In our wild places an early start to the day is often handsomely rewarded!
We’d love for you to join DeWetsWild on a guided tour of the Kruger National Park or to help you arrange a self-guided visit. Don’t hesitate to reach out!
Here’s a fun video Joubert took during our latest visit to the Kruger National Park of a dung beetle hard at work. Watch the female catching a lift!
Even if Spotted Hyenas were not the most numerous large predator around Skukuza Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park – and I think they are – they’re definitely the most frequently encountered, a fact borne out yet again by the many rendezvous we had with these fascinating creatures during our visit to the Skukuza-area earlier in January.
Spotted Hyena near Leeupan, north-east of Skukuza Rest Camp
On a night drive from camp, following the course of the Sabie River, we crossed paths with several clans all searching for food.
We paid frequent visits to a Hyena den just a few kilometres south of the camp, where the many curious cubs kept us well entertained. These encounters were definitely in the “cute and cuddly” category.
We were awed by their tenacity when we spent time with this group of four Hyenas who were following the hunting wild dogs we shared with you a few days ago. While they couldn’t keep up with the pace of the painted wolves they were not put off, hoping that if they stayed on the spoor of the dogs they would catch up with them and could steal their meal. As it turned out the kill was quickly consumed by the wild dogs and the hyenas were left without a morsel by the time they arrived, but I am sure this will not prevent them trying again!
Definitely the scariest run-in with a Spotted Hyena during this latest trip was with an individual who popped into the Tshokwane Picnic Spot while we were having breakfast. Luckily he didn’t stay long and moved off again without using those powerful jaws on any of the humans.
We’d love for you to join DeWetsWild on a guided tour of the Kruger National Park or to help you arrange a self-guided visit. Don’t hesitate to reach out!
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