September is generally regarded as the start of the spring season in South Africa, but with the rainy season still weeks away and temperatures starting to climb higher as the days grow longer, it is a very dry period of the year in most of the northern parts of the country. In our wild places, like the Kruger National Park, animals are seen congregating at or near the few remaining sources of water. The Mopani area of the Park is well served by several reliable waterholes and here visitors to the Park can expect interesting sightings of birds and animals taking turns at the water’s edge.
A Steenbok drinking from a puddle in the Ngobeni streambed
Elephants on the banks of the Letaba River
Mopani is situated on a hill overlooking the large Pioneer Dam, making this the most prominent of the area’s water sources. Visitors can get close to the water along the trail through the camp or at the Pioneer Hide.
White-faced Whistling Ducks
Black-winged Stilts
Goliath Heron
African Jacana
Yellow-billed Stork
Black Crake
Lazy Hippos
Juvenile Black Crake
White-faced Whistling Ducks
Squacco Heron at Pioneer Dam
Wood Sandpiper
Big Nile Crocodiles makes Pioneer Dam a dangerous place
Immature African Fish Eagle
Marico Sunbird
Another large body of water in this section of the Kruger Park is Grootvlei Dam, more distantly located from Mopani along the S50 gravel road to Shingwedzi.
Elephant bull drinking from Grootvlei Dam
Plains zebras drinking from Grootvlei Dam
African Fish Eagle at Grootvlei Dam
Black-winged Stilt
Flock of Cut-throat Finches at Grootvlei Dam
Enormous Nile Crocodile at Grootvlei Dam
Grootvlei Dam harbours many Nile Crocodiles
Watch this short video of a big Elephant bull drinking from Grootvlei Dam on a hot September morning:
On the way to Grootvlei visitors can make a detour first to the Mooiplaas waterhole, where a drinking trough is fed by a windpump and reservoir, and then along the Nshawu Marsh where several springs provide water even in drought years. Both these places are also well frequented by large predators waiting for thirsty herbivores to ambush.
Elephants at Mooiplaas Waterhole
Elephant at Mooiplaas Waterhole
Elephant herd walking away from Mooiplaas Waterhole
A lion in the light of early morning, searching the Nshawu Marsh for easy pickings
Elephants, plains zebras and a giraffe around one of the springs in the Nshawu Marsh
Because Mooiplaas (meaning “pretty farm”) is so close to Mopani, we love whiling away the last few minutes before the gates close there, and that’s exactly what we did when this herd of Elephants were having their sundowners.
South Africa’s Kruger National Park is renowned for wonderful encounters with African Elephants, and our quick visit last week proved no exception. We were based in the Mopani region of the Park, where mopane shrubs and trees dominate the plains and elephants congregate in their numbers near permanent water sources, like the Tihongonyeni waterhole. It was on our way to Tihongonyeni late one morning that these two bulls decided to make use of a flimsy shadow cast over the road by a big tree to rest their tired legs. Every time we ventured closer to try and sneak past on the verge of the road, the bull nearer to us would give a warning step or two in our direction, trunk outstretched, and so I’d back up again. Eventually we waited half-an-hour before the two eventually allowed us, with a shake of the head and a toss of the trunk as if they’d grown tired of our meekness and just wanted to be rid of us, to pass them.
Impressive tusker near Tihongonyeni
African Elephant bull near Tihongonyeni waterhole in Kruger
African Elephant bulls near Tihongonyeni waterhole in Kruger
African Elephant bulls near Tihongonyeni waterhole in Kruger
Here’s a short video of an encounter we’ll remember fondly when passing that way again in future.
… as much as we do, then the Kruger National Park with its large population of African Elephants really is a must visit destination! This is just a few of the hundreds of elephant photos we took during our visit to the Park in June 2023, with a short video as bonus (and don’t miss the cute little baby trying to drink from the river alongside his mom around the middle of the video!).
Elephant family
Elephant family
Elephant cow in profile
Elephant bulls gathering at a self-dug waterhole in the dry Timbavati River
Elephant hogging Malopenyana Waterhole for himself (photo by Joubert)
Big old Elephant bull
Elephant family (photo by Joubert)
Smiling baby elephant (photo by Joubert)
Bull elephant in a hurry
Elephants (and a buffalo to the side) making their way to the waterhole at Babalala
Elephant warning (photo by Joubert)
Elephant Cow and baby
The Elephant’s Tail
Elephant youngster (photo by Joubert)
Elephants drinking from the Pioneer Dam at Mopani Rest Camp
A huge bull Elephant on his way to the Mooiplaas Waterhole
African Buffaloes are social animals that may congregate in herds many hundreds strong. Several such exceptionally large herds roam the Kruger National Park and we were fortunate to encounter some of them during our visit in June ’23. We also came across many lone bulls with their very intimidating attitudes – usually older ones that have been evicted from the breeding herds.
Big Buffalo Bull
Buffalo herd in the Nwaswitsontso River
Two young Buffalo bulls currying favour with a very commanding mature bull
Buffalo bull (photo by Joubert)
Buffalo cow
Buffalo cow with stunted horns accompanied by a bull (photo by Joubert)
Buffaloes (photo by Joubert)
Young but very imposing Buffalo bull
They might be at the water, but they’re not Water Buffalo – these are African, or Cape, Buffaloes
Old loner
Lopsided Buffalo cow
Death stare from a buffalo bull (photo by Joubert)
Buffalo Bull
Buffalo portrait
Buffalo close-up
This short video will give you a sense of the immenseness of these special buffalo herds:
Buffalo lend themselves beautifully to monochrome photography, and the slow passing of the huge herds gave us ample opportunity to play around with our cameras.
Of all the “Big 5” animals none are as difficult to find as the Leopard. Seeing one is usually the highlight of a visit to a nature reserve in South Africa. Having six sightings of these beautiful cats – of which four were on one day! – will mean our latest visit to the Kruger National Park will not soon be forgotten!
Our first sighting, near Lower Sabie late afternoon just minutes before the gates closed, was not very awe-inspiring, even by Leopard standards. Being as lazy as only cats can be this individual did not even deign to show us its face.
Lazy Leopard near Lower Sabie
Early one morning while travelling along the S56 Mphongolo Loop north of Shingwedzi we came across a pair of Leopards in a tall tree – a smaller individual very high up in the tree and visually afraid of the bigger one below guarding the remains of a kill. Visitors who were on the scene before us later shared how the male stole the female’s kill and chased her to the top of the tree where he was too heavy to get to her.
Lofty Leopard (Photo by Joubert)
The male at the lowest fork of the tree, with the kill well hidden (photo by Joubert)
The arrow indicates how high the female climbed into the tree to escape the male. By the way, parking into the veld and hanging out of your vehicle like the visitors in the Land Cruiser is not only bad etiquette but also dangerous.
After spending quite some time at the Leopards in the tree we decided to move on to breakfast at Babalala Picnic Spot when, only 4km further along the same road, we found a young and curiously calm Leopard next to the road at the turnoff to Sirheni Bushveld Camp. She posed beautifully for all the photographers in the car, not fazed in the least by our proximity! Having been treated with such grace by the young princess we slowly backed away from her so that she could repose in tranquility.
Young Leopard at the Sirheni turnoff (photo by Joubert)
Young Leopard at the Sirheni turnoff(Photo by Joubert)
Young Leopard at the Sirheni turnoff (photo by Joubert)
Young Leopard at the Sirheni turnoff
Young Leopard at the Sirheni turnoff (photo by Erlo van Aswegen)
Young Leopard at the Sirheni turnoff (photo by Joubert)
Mere minutes later, still sauntering along the S56 towards Babalala, we found our third Leopard encounter for the morning where it was using a small outcrop of rocks as a vantage point and being particularly interested in a huge kudu bull lying nearby. The kudu soon saw the Leopard and did not even think the cat enough of a threat to stand up. Knowing it was outgunned, the Leopard gave the kudu a wide berth and disappeared into the dense shrubbery next to the Shisha stream.
Leopard looking out for prey from a rocky outcrop (Photo by Joubert)
Leopard looking out for prey from a rocky outcrop
Leopard descending from the rocks to try its luck with a kudu bull
Stealthily moving closer (photo by Erlo van Aswegen)
Keeping cover (photo by Joubert)
Leopard posing beautifully (photo by Joubert)
That same afternoon, still extremely excited about our morning, which by then also included sightings of other charismatic or rare species of wildlife including lions, roan antelope, tsessebes, buffaloes and elephants we found our fourth Leopard sighting of the day along the S50 Kanniedood Road southeast of Shingwedzi. The apparently heavily pregnant female was in a hunting mood and stalking a mixed herd of impala, kudu and waterbuck mingling on the bank of the river. She was soon discovered however and slinked back across the road and out of sight.
Leopard along the Shingwedzi River (Photo by Joubert)
Leopard walking over the S50 to stalk a mixed herd of antelope (photo by Joubert)
Leopard walking over the S50 to stalk a mixed herd of antelope (photo by Joubert)
Leopard slinking away after being discovered by her prey
Leopard rushing away after being discovered by her prey (photo by Joubert)
Our final Leopard sighting of the trip (and I am sure we missed more than we saw thanks to their exceptional camouflage!) was before sunrise as we left Shingwedzi for a morning drive. This was a shy individual, trying to hide behind a palm frond for a minute or two and then deciding to retreat into the riverine vegetation lining the Shingwedzi.
Shy Leopard in the early morning (photo by Joubert)
Shy Leopard in the early morning (photo by Joubert)
I made a little compilation video of some of the Leopard encounters I told you about.
During the hours of darkness visitors to the Kruger National Park are not permitted to drive themselves around the reserve, both for their own safety and that of the Park’s wildlife. Nighttime in wild Africa is a fascinating time, however, with nocturnal creatures roaming the dark, and for this reason the Park offers visitors night drives of two to three hours in duration and under the guidance of skilled guides, with spotlights being used to seek out animals and birds that might otherwise be hard to see during daylight. We undertook one such excursion from Lower Sabie Rest Camp during our visit to the Kruger Park last week.
Hippopotamus (photo by Joubert)
Spotted Hyena (photo by Joubert)
Spotted Hyena (photo by Joubert)
Elephant (photo by Erlo van Aswegen)
Lion (photo by Joubert)
Lion (photo by Erlo van Aswegen)
With Joubert and his friend Erlo manning the cameras I could take a few video snippets of our drive. Hop on and come along!
Remember that DeWetsWild can also assist you with bookings for guided activities, like night drives, in the Kruger National Park when you make use of our reservation services for your holiday accommodation.
Yesterday I lamented the fact that we’d be leaving the Kruger National Park today and heading back home to Pretoria. Well, as is often the case, the Kruger still had one present in store for us before we left. This morning, just a kilometer from Shingwedzi Rest Camp, that gift took the form of a buffalo carcass, two bloody lionesses and the smallest pair of lion cubs we’ve seen in a long time!
Lioness feeding on the buffalo carcass
Second lioness walking along the road, having fetched her cubs to join the feast (phot by Joubert)
Cutest, tiniest cubs (phot by Joubert)
Second lioness walking along the road, having fetched her cubs to join the feast (phot by Joubert)
Second lioness walking along the road, having fetched her cubs to join the feast (phot by Joubert)
Cutest, tiniest cubs (phot by Joubert)
The cubs playing on the sandy riverbed
The cubs playing on the sandy riverbed
The two lionesses reuniting
The cubs joining their mom and aunt
The cubs joining their mom and aunt
The first female, very bloodied, walks away for a drink of water
Here’s a little video compilation of the cubs as they walked along the road with their mother:
Early one morning during our recent visit we found a sizable herd of Sable Antelope on the Kniekie Loop in the Mokala National Park. The dominant bull was particularly interested in one cow and we had a front-row seat as he turned on the romance.
Sable Antelope Bull
Sable Antelope Bull
Sable Antelope Bull
Sable Antelope Bull and Cow
Sable Antelope calf
Here’s a short video showing the Sable bull courting his mate.
On the last night of our visit to Mokala National Park last week I found this Bibron’s Thick-toed Gecko on the floor of the bathroom in Lilydale Rest Camp’s Chalet #1. I didn’t question it about its intentions but I did carry it outside to more suitable habitat. The towel was a very necessary precaution; she’s a biter!
Bibron’s Thick-toed Gecko found at Lilydale in the Mokala National Park
Bibron’s Thick-toed Gecko found at Lilydale in the Mokala National Park
Bibron’s Thick-toed Gecko found at Lilydale in the Mokala National Park
Bibron’s Thick-toed Gecko found at Lilydale in the Mokala National Park
Bibron’s Thick-toed Gecko found at Lilydale in the Mokala National Park
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