Category Archives: Mpumalanga Province

Our experiences in the reserves of Mpumalanga, South Africa

Manyeleti Magic 2024: Magnificent Lion Encounters

Whenever we tour our country’s premier conservation areas the magnificent Lion is usually at or near the top of our guests’ wish lists, and in this respect our Manyeleti Magic photographic safari at the end of June certainly did not disappoint. We can reflect on some terrific encounters with the King of Beasts!

Lions after dark, surveying a nearby herd of wildebeest using a termite mound as a lookout point.

Being out of camp at first light gave us and our guests the best chance of finding lions on the move; still active before the warmer parts of the day lulls them into a sleepy mood which doesn’t provide the best photographic opportunities. As an added bonus the golden light of early morning, just as the sun rises above the tree tops of the savanna, really shows the lions off in a most regal glow!

Sunrise catches the royal family of lions

Magnificent Male Lion

Young male Lion

Lioness on the move

Magnificent Male Lion

On our final excursion from Buffelshoek, on the day that our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photographic safari concluded, we were treated to one of the most memorable lion sightings you could ever hope for. In a large clearing we came across a notorious group of lions consisting of three brothers with a very close bond, their half-brother and a half-sister which had broken away from a pride in neighbouring Sabi Sands and were now roaming across Manyeleti and adjacent reserves resulting in some nervous tension with the prides currently staking claim to those territories. The beautiful males and their very imposing female sibling gave us a show that we will all be thinking about for a long time to come!

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

Two of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

The female from the Kambula Breakaway pride

One of the males and the female from the Kambula Breakaway pride

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

The female from the Kambula Breakaway pride

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

Three of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

Two of the Kambula Lions at Manyeleti

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

Three of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride with a very affectionate bond

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

It is experiences like this that will continue to call us back to Manyeleti and we’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!

Manyeleti Magic 2024: Hunting with Painted Wolves

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One of the absolute highlights (yes, another one!) of our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photographic safari and workshop was the time we got to spend with three hunting African Wild Dogs – or, to translate their Latin scientific name, Painted Wolves – and a bunch of opportunistic Spotted Hyenas who had much trouble keeping up. We followed along for many, many kilometers and were astounded not only by the dogs’ fascinating behaviour but also by how well our guide Beckson knew the Manyeleti’s roads and tracks and how expertly he anticipated the dogs’ movements, time and again putting us (Hannes Rossouw and myself) and our guests in perfect position to photograph the frenetic action!

African Wild Dogs in playful mood before starting their hunt

African Wild Dog, or Painted Wolf

Painted Wolves on the hunt

Spotted Hyena looking a little winded from trying to keep up with the dogs

Spotted Hyena

We’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!

Manyeleti Magic 2024: A Leopard Surprise!

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Midday on the last full day of our 2024 Manyeleti Magic Photo-Safari this past June we were whiling away the hours in Buffelshoek Camp, our base for the trip, photographing a variety of birds including a pair of very obliging Pearl-spotted Owlets, a pair of Red-billed Hornbills feeding their chicks in their mud-cell nest, and a family of Cardinal Woodpeckers. Our group of eager photographers were certainly kept very entertained and busy!

Red-billed Hornbill at the nest

Red-billed Hornbill nest, opening almost entirely enclosed by mud

Yellow-billed Hornbill

Cardinal Woodpecker

Pearl-spotted Owlet

Pearl-spotted Owlet (showing eye-spots on the back of the head)

It was the commotion of a group of Vervet Monkeys that moved through the camp just minutes before that first alerted us to the fact that something dangerous was about. We soon picked out the shape of a Leopard moving through the long grass, headed for the waterhole just outside of camp. Pretty quickly we were all – cameras at the ready – in the open safari vehicle and on our way towards the beautiful but very shy animal. It didn’t drink long and crept down into the drainage line, disappearing from sight.

Leopard

We searched high and low for it for several minutes, but the leopard vanished just as quickly as it appeared. If this little Three-banded Plover, who was at the water’s edge the whole time, knew where the big cat went it wasn’t giving up the secret.

If this little Three-banded Plover, who was at the water’s edge the whole time, knew where the big cat went it wasn’t giving up the secret.

Manyeleti Magic 2024: Rhinos and Oxpeckers

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With poaching still an enormous concern in South Africa it was wonderful to enjoy a couple of great sightings of white rhinos during our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photographic safari in June.

White Rhino

White rhinos

White Rhino cow and calf

White Rhino

Invariably the rhinos we saw were accompanied by both red- and yellow-billed oxpeckers that were not at all shy about the intimate spaces they were inspecting for ticks!

Red-billed Oxpecker inspecting a White Rhino’s ear

Red-billed Oxpecker diving into a White Rhino’s ear

Red-billed Oxpecker

Yellow-billed Oxpecker

Red- and Yellow-billed Oxpeckers sharing a rhino

Manyeleti Magic 2024: Cheetahs

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We had two terrific late afternoon Cheetah sightings during our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photographic safari at the end of June. Our guests were most appreciative of these two beautiful models!

Our first cheetah sighting of the trip was courtesy of this male patrolling and marking his territory. We could follow along for quite some distance and our guide positioned the vehicle expertly for great shots, even in the fast-fading light.

Cheetah

Our second cheetah sighting of the trip was of another male using a fallen Marula tree as a vantage point from which to check for prey or danger – we never figured out which it was as he disappeared from view in a thorny thicket shortly after jumping off.

Cheetah

Manyeleti Magic 2024: Abundant Buffaloes

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The Manyeleti Game Reserve has a large population of buffaloes and we encountered several enormous herds of these bulky bovines while exploring the reserve on our recent Manyeleti Magic photographic safari. Being able to venture so close to animals this intimidating is always a thrilling affair.

One buffalo from a herd several hundred strong

A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective

Buffalo taking a little longer to chew this prickly grasshead

Old Buffalo bull

Buffalo cow with interesting headdress

Buffalo calf

Alert Buffalo bull

Buffalo cow

Young Buffalo bull

Manyeleti Magic 2024: A massive serpent in an idyllic location

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Late afternoon on the third day of our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photo-safari we were driving through a most beautiful spot of towering trees lining a stream and waterhole, with the most glorious golden light illuminating the scene. It was a little slice of paradise filled with various animals and birds and it is hard to describe just how blessed we felt to be there in the moment.

Giraffes congregating at the water to drink

Giraffe checking out the water before drinking

Nile Crocodile basking on a sandbank

Hippo eyeing us from the waterhole

Hippopotamus cow and calf

Hippopotamus calf

Our guide Beckson was the first to notice an enormous Southern African Rock Python slithering across the two-track road we were on. It was a magnificent specimen and must’ve only very recently shed its old skin as it was now resplendent with shiny new scales amplified by the golden light of the afternoon sun. With pythons, especially this size, being a rare sighting we all got off the vehicle and our guests had a chance to photograph the enormous snake from all angles before it moved underneath an old leadwood stump and disappeared from view. A most memorable encounter; the kind of which we’ve learned is pretty much par for the course in the magical place that is Manyeleti!

Shiny new scales on a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari

The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari

Just look at the size of this Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari!

Back from Manyeleti Magic

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I am fresh back from our Manyeleti Magic Photo-Safari & Workshop hosted in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography out of Buffelshoek Tented Camp, and what a trip it was – without a question one of the best I have ever had, and with 40+ years of visiting South Africa’s wild places that takes some doing! Of course I will be telling you all about it in good time, but here’s a little taste of what you can look forward to.

Red-billed Oxpecker diving into a White Rhino’s ear

Spotted Hyena

Bateleur pair

Lilac-breasted Roller

Cheetah

Young male Lion

Magpie Shrike

One buffalo from a herd several hundred strong

Pearl-spotted Owlet

The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari

Spotted Hyena

African Wild Dogs in playful mood before starting their hunt

A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective

White Rhino

Leopard

Hippo eyeing us from the waterhole

Cheetah

Lions after dark

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

Two of the Kambula Lions at Manyeleti

Buffalo taking a little longer to chew this prickly grasshead

Old Buffalo bull

Plains Zebras

Lilac-breasted Roller showing off its colours

Manyeleti Magic, 27 June to 1 July 2024

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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.

A final round-up of our January ’24 visit to the Kruger National Park

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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.

Lake Panic near Skukuza

Dawn at the confluence of the Mutlumuvi and Sand Rivers

View from Mathekeyane

Fruit of the Lowveld Chestnut Tree

Interesting mushroom sprouting from a lawn in Skukuza

Sausage Tree fruit

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.

Fork-tailed Drongo (photo by Joubert)

Marabou Stork

Male Village Indigobird

Common Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

White-crowned Lapwing

Pied Kingfisher (photo by Joubert)

Black-headed Oriole (photo by Joubert)

Bearded Scrub-Robin

Willow Warbler (photo by Joubert)

Southern Carmine Bee-eater

Yellow-billed Kite (photo by Joubert)

African Jacana (photo by Joubert)

African Hoopoe (photo by Joubert)

Brown Snake Eagle

Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)

Grey Heron using a hippo as an island

Grey-headed Bush-shrike (photo by Joubert)

Terrestrial Brownbul (photo by Joubert)

Southern Boubou

Southern Masked Weaver

Lilac-breasted Roller

Hamerkop

Three-banded Plover

Eurasian Golden Orioles

White-faced Whistling Ducks

African Fish Eagle

Trumpeter Hornbill (photo by Joubert)

Bateleur

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.

Impala Lambs

Impala Ram (photo by Joubert)

Impala Ram

Buffalo Bull

Southern African Tree Squirrel

Nyala bull (photo by Joubert)

Nyala bull

Hippopotamus

Elephant Cow (photo by Joubert)

Elephants drinking from a temporary stream

Common Duiker

Buffalo Bull

Hippopotamus

Cape Porcupine (photo by Joubert)

Elephant Bull

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.

Red-headed Signal Fly (Bromophila caffra)

Southern Foam Nest Frog

Common River Frog

Great Waterbug (Hydrocyrius columbiae)

Wahlberg’s Velvet Gecko

Platanna

Southern Tree Agama (photo by Joubert)

Rock Monitor

Nile Monitor (photo by Joubert)

Rock Monitor

Nile Crocodiles

Nile Monitor (photo by Joubert)

Male Rainbow Skink

Mozambique Tilapia

Platannas

Leopard Tortoise

Two-phase Emerald Moths mating

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!