We took this photograph this morning as we were driving to the Malelane Gate to exit the Kruger National Park, another wonderful trip over far too quickly (more on this latest trip to follow soon!). I was struck just how out of place we, the gawking tourists in our metal cocoons, are when confronted with the raw primeval power of Africa’s big cats – to them, we must seem decidedly “foreign”.
It’s because of situations like these that the Kruger National Park is the place we escape to so regularly. On arriving this morning, these two white rhinoceroses blocked our way into the rest camp (the gates of which you can see just behind them)!
I’m participating in the LetsBeWild.com Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – this week’s challenge is Escape!
When we came across these two male giraffes in the early morning near Shingwedzi in the Kruger National Park, they were already quite tired from sparring with one another. Shortly after this picture was taken one of them aimed a solid blow to the other animal but missed badly, hitting his own head against a tree trunk – all he got for his trouble was a massive bump on the forehead and a bloody nose!
Just minutes before this picture was taken on the 17th of January 2006, a huge thunderstorm rumbled across the Pioneer Dam, overlooked by the Mopani Rest Camp, in the Kruger National Park. In this magical setting, with the afternoon sun dipping below the dark clouds, I proposed marriage to Marilize.
I’m participating in the LetsBeWild.com Wild Weekly Photo Challenge! This week’s challenge is weather!
Spring has arrived in paradise!
We’ve just returned from another visit to our favourite place on earth – yes, the Kruger National Park (no prizes for correct guesses!). We spent six days travelling the entire length of the reserve, from Pafuri in the north to Crocodile Bridge in the south.
The spring season arrives in South Africa in September, and it’s an excellent time to be out game-viewing in our country’s biggest game reserve. Here’s a collection of some of the thrilling sightings we enjoyed on this trip.
The Northern Kruger National Park is elephant country, and we encountered numerous bulls, including some large tuskers.
All the elephant herds we came across had small babies.
This one realised a bit late that mom had moved on, and ran as fast as his legs would carry him to catch up.
With spring’s fresh green growth, many young animals have already made an appearance.
Buffalo are numerous and occur throughout Kruger, sometimes as loners and other times in huge herds several hundred strong.
These two cheetahs were devouring an impala they had caught in the dry bed of the Shingwedzi river, only about three kilometers from Shingwedzi Rest Camp.
Near Satara, this warthog obviously had an altercation with a porcupine – we suspect it may have rushed into an already occupied bolthole a little too quickly!
Some of the rarer bird species also made special appearances.
This chameleon was trying to blend in with the surface of the road it was crossing
Of course, to many Kruger visitors the lions are the star attraction. We’d be lying of we said we didn’t share their enthusiasm for these magnificent animals and we were lucky to cross paths with a number of them on our latest excursion. A pride roaring right next to Shingwedzi Rest Camp’s perimeter fence in the darkness of early morning, their deep booming voices rattling the window panes of our bungalow, was a memorable experience.
Some of the antelope were getting well into the “springy” swing of things
while others were indulging in more sedentary pastimes.
With World Rhino Day and the plight of our treasured rhinos in the relentless poaching firing line fresh in our minds, sightings such as this one of an impressive white rhino bull was all the more special.
For all our travels in South Africa’s wild places we’ve only rarely encountered side-striped jackals, and this is one of the best images we’ve managed to capture of these elusive animals.
The absolute highlight of our trip was watching this acrobatic black-backed jackal (the side-striped’s much more common cousin) stalking and pouncing moles just north of Satara Rest Camp.
Any time we spend in Kruger National Park is always too little, and leaving through Crocodile Bridge Gate on our way to Pretoria, our heavy hearts could only be consoled by the knowledge that we’d be back soon…
This elephant bull, photographed near Letaba in the Kruger National Park, was clearly not in any mood to share “his” road!
This solitary baboon, in the Kruger National Park, was clearly ill at ease with his predicament (baboons being gregarious creatures by nature, normally occurring in large troops), choosing to survey his surroundings from a lofty perch.
South Africa is home to both species of African rhinoceros: the extremely aggressive black rhino and the much more placid white rhino. Encountering either species during our visits to our country’s wild places is always a thrilling experience and losing these beautiful beasts forever, due to human greed and superstition, is a thought too terrible to ponder.
As I post these images I cannot help but wonder whether the individual animals they depict are still alive and well?
The 22nd of September 2012 is internationally celebrated as World Rhino Day. The message that rhinoceros horn holds no curative or aphrodisiac properties needs to be spread loud and clear so that the market for rhino horn can be wiped out, and it cannot happen soon enough. There are many people from all over the world and from all walks of life working tirelessly, and even putting their own lives in the firing line, to protect these magnificent creatures from savage poachers, but the onslaught from the organised crime syndicates continue unabated – so far this year we’ve lost at least 381 rhinoceros through poaching in South Africa alone (according to the official figures published in September 2012).
Please lend your support by spreading the message of World Rhino Day to the world.
“Everyday Life” certainly depends on your perspective – to us de Wets this guided walking trail near Letaba in the Kruger National Park was a memorable and exciting experience, for the two ranger-guides it was just another day on the job (albeit a job they are very passionate about!)
A picture paints a thousand words, or so the often used cliche goes. And then sometimes Mother Nature dishes up a feast so grand that words alone cannot describe the experience nearly adequately enough. This recent sighting of a pair of leopards in the early light of 24 July 2012, on the Marula Loop near Skukuza in the Kruger National Park, ranks as one of my most memorable wildlife encounters ever.
DeWetsWild 