Early morning at Phalaborwa Gate, one of the gateways into the Kruger National Park.
“Door” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge
Door
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Category Archives: Limpopo Province
Force of nature
Few things will stop an African elephant bull at full speed… This photo was taken near Babalala, between Shingwedzi and Punda Maria, in the northern Kruger National Park.
“Forces of nature” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge
Early Bird
Being out and about at first light is often richly rewarded in South Africa’s wild places, as was the case with this memorable encounter with a spotted hyena near Letaba Rest Camp, in the Kruger National Park.
“Early Bird” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge
Ephemeral
Fleeting beauty at drying pools in the Shingwedzi River, in the northern Kruger National Park.
Fleeting beauty along the Shingwedzi
Fleeting beauty along the Shingwedzi
“Ephemeral” is this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge theme
Remembering the Mphongolo Buffaloes
This herd of African buffalo, making their way out of the dry, dusty bed of the Mphongolo River in the Kruger National Park, during a visit in September 2014, is another sighting we’ll not forget in a hurry.
This is our fourth entry into the 5 Day Black-and-White Photo Challenge. There are only two rules for this challenge:
1. On 5 consecutive days, create a post using either a past or recent photo in B&W.
2. Each day invite another blog friend to join in the fun.
Today we’re inviting Sreejith Nair, author of “Santiago the Shepherd” and another long-standing friend of de Wets Wild, to join the 5 Day Black and White Photo Challenge. Sreejith, you’ve shared some amazing photos of India’s people and places and we hope you’ll consider joining in!
Scale
The Elephant Hall in Letaba Rest Camp, in the Kruger National Park, allows a deeper appreciation of just how big the African elephant really is…
Inside Letaba’s Elephant Hall
Inside Letaba’s Elephant Hall
Inside Letaba’s Elephant Hall
Lifesize statue outside Letaba’s Elephant Hall
Lifesize statue outside Letaba’s Elephant Hall
Inside Letaba’s Elephant Hall
“Scale” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge
Our 2014 in pictures
Looking back at the fantastic places we stayed at while exploring South Africa’s wild places in 2014…
Pafuri River Camp, February 2014
Letaba, Kruger National Park, February 2014
Swadini, Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve, February 2014
Glen Reenen, Golden Gate Highlands National Park, March 2014
Giant’s Castle Game Reserve, April 2014
Shingwedzi, Kruger National Park, April 2014
Orpen, Kruger National Park, April 2014
Berg-en-Dal, Kruger National Park, May 2014
Skukuza, Kruger National Park, August 2014
Satara, Kruger National Park, August 2014
Shipandani Hide, Kruger National Park, September 2014
Shingwedzi, Kruger National Park, September 2014
Glen Reenen, Golden Gate Highlands National Park, November 2014
Skukuza, Kruger National Park, November 2014
Chelmsford Nature Reserve, December 2014
Ntshondwe, Ithala, December 2014
Mantuma, uMkhuze, December 2014
Chane Cheese Farm, December 2014
Mpila, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, December 2014
Midmar, December 2014
Glen Reenen, Golden Gate Highlands National Park, December 2014
Converge
Tracks in the sand bear witness that these pools in the Shingwedzi River are a magnet for animals in the northern Kruger National Park
“Converge” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge
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Spring in Kruger: September 2014
Well, according to the calendar it should have been spring. But judging by the temperatures we experienced, it seemed the Lowveld had skipped that season all together. It was only late September, but daytime temperatures rose to the upper thirties. The land was parched and animals were congregating in numbers at the last remaining water sources. It made for thrilling game viewing and just reminded us again that every season holds its own special appeal in the Kruger National Park.
Over the last couple of weeks, we already shared with you some of our most memorable sightings of the trip. Finding five cheetahs moving along the Shingwedzi River was exciting in the extreme, we were enthralled watching the interactions of different species of game at marvelous Mooiplaas waterhole, we laughed for joy at the playful antics of baby baboons, our encounters with the elephants of northern Kruger kept us on our toes and we empathised with thirsty, tired buffaloes along the Mphongolo. Time to wrap up now, and what better way than with a gallery of images taken during our four night stay – one night in the Shipandani Hide (near Mopani), and three nights at special Shingwedzi Rest Camp.
Ready to get underway; sunrise at Phalaborwa Gate
No visit to Northern Kruger would be complete without visiting the Elephant Hall at Letaba
Impala lily and aloe thorns
Lifeblood
Tsessebe
Ostrich near Tinhongonyeni, Kruger Park
Shipandani Hide
The neighbours at Shipandani
The neighbours at Shipandani
Just before sunrise, from Shipandani Hide
The cleaners can be a nuisance
Kori bustard close-up
Playful at Bowkerskop
Playful at Bowkerskop
A pool in the Shingwedzi
Verreaux’s eagle-owl near Shingwedzi
Verreaux’s eagle-owl near Shingwedzi
Taking it slow at Shingwedzi
Sharpe’s Grysbok
Baby baboon missing out on attention
Sunrise along the Shingwedzi
Egyptian goose
Alert impala
Grey duiker
Vervet monkeys
Oh, you are so beautiful…
… I could kiss you!
Waterbuck
Epauletted Fruit Bats roosting in a palm near our accommodation at Shingwedzi
Feathered friends visiting our cottage at Shingwedzi: blue waxbills and a green-winged Pytilia
Feathered friends visiting our cottage at Shingwedzi: Blue waxbills
Feathered friends visiting our cottage at Shingwedzi: Mourning Dove
Feathered friends visiting our cottage at Shingwedzi: Crested Francolin
Feathered friends visiting our cottage at Shingwedzi: Arrow-marked babbler
The dry Shingwedzi
Striped Skink hiding in a hollow tree trunk
Nyala and buddies
One of several large buffalo herds we encountered
One of several large buffalo herds we encountered
One of several large buffalo herds we encountered
Giraffe
Hi!
Tiny sandgrouse chick trying to hide on a gravel road
Steenbok
Peaceful scene next to the Shingwedzi
Heading for camp in the late afternoon
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
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
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.
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