Sadly, our month in the Kruger Park has come to an end and we are back home in Pretoria this evening. After breaking up camp and packing up, we had only a two-hour drive to the Orpen Gate left of our Satara Summer. Still, Kruger had one very unusual sighting up her sleeve for us – a spotted hyena walking straight past a cheetah as if it wasn’t even there, less than a kilometer from the Park’s gate!

Glory to God for blessing us with an amazing Christmas holiday and for keeping us safe on our travels.

We’re taking it easy this evening but will soon get to all the unanswered but deeply appreciated comments!

Buffaloes drinking at Nsemani Dam

Knob-billed Duck male

Giraffes on the way to Orpen

Hyena and cheetah interaction at Orpen

We know it must sound like a terrible cliche by now, but “Wow! What an amazing day we had AGAIN!” The Kruger National Park just keeps delivering the most amazing and thrilling encounters for us! Our route today took us north, to Olifants, Letaba and a little beyond.

Spotted Hyena

African Wild Cat

Leopardess in a tree

Her interest peaked by a growl from the male, the leopardess moves to a lower branch

Leopard male and kill

Pied Kingfisher

Wire-tailed Swallow

Yellow-billed Kite

Olifants River

Flap-neck Chameleon

Rock Monitor

African Openbill Stork

Elephant youngsters testing their mettle

Tsessebe

Big Elephant Bull

Gorgeous Tusker N’wendlamuhari (2020/01/02)

Vervet Monkey

Leopardess eyeing an injured wildebeest calf

Kudu at sunset

Satara sunest

Saddle-billed Stork

Happy New Year, everybody!

We spent our 1st of January exploring the western reaches of central Kruger Park, sticking to the back roads around Nhlanguleni Picnic Spot and avoiding the holiday crowds.

Wahlberg’s Eagle

Baboons use precarious beds

Baboons use precarious beds

Spotted Hyena

Spotted Hyena

Black-backed Jackal

Knob-billed Duck pair

Lioness in the shade

Buffaloes at a waterhole

African Fish Eagle

Elephant youngster

Elephant Bull

Fleeing Blue Wildebeest

Tree Agama female

It’s New Year’s Eve at Satara in the Kruger National Park, and what a day it was!

Saddle-billed Stork

Plains Zebra

Light-coloured Giraffe

Bushbuck ewe

Wattled Starlings

White-faced Ducks

Which way to the lions?

Big herd of Buffalo at Nsemani Dam

Marabou Stork

Leopard near Nwanedzi

Elephants digging wells in a sandy riverbed

Lioness close-up

Four lionesses owning the road

Waterbuck youngsters

Baboon chasing a Black-backed Jackal

Happy New Year to all our friends and followers. May 2020 bring you and your loved ones lots of happiness and good health.

Our long drive to Nwanedzi and Tshokwane this morning was handsomely rewarded (we didn’t expect anything less), so we spent the afternoon hours lazing around our shady camping spot at Satara.

Cantankerous old buffalo bull

Newly fledged Verreaux’s Eagle Owl chick with parent

Guineafowl sunrise

Crowned Lapwing

Mauritian Tomb Bat

Grey Heron at Sweni Hide

Red-billed Oxpecker on buffalo

Elephant bull

Common Diadem (male looking a bit worse for wear)

Temmink’s Courser

Steppe Buzzard

There’s a leopard hidden in the Sausage Tree

Steenbok

Kruger’s synchronized swimming team practicing

African Grey Hornbill

Woodland Kingfisher in silhouette

Satara Sunset

In contrast with yesterday, today’s weather at Satara in the Kruger National Park was much cooler, very windy and overcast. The animals and birds appreciated the respite from the heat as much as we did, and put on a glorious show!

Hyena seen before sunrise

Cheetah on the road to Orpen

Big bull drinking at Rabelais

Wild dogs near Orpen

Wild dogs near Orpen

Senegal lapwing

Newborn Blue Wildebeest

Shongololo (large millipede)

Blue Wildebeest drinking

Crocodile at Girivane

Close-up of aRed-crested Korhaan

One-tusked Elephant Bull

Baby Blue Wildebeest with mom

Blue Wildebeest creche

Assassin hidden in the flowers: a Crab Spider feeding on a careless Honey Bee

White-browed Scrub Robin

Red-billed Oxpecker lining nest with fur

Southern Black Tits

Secretarybird in flight

Black-headed Heron

Warthog on the run

Black-backed Jackal

Big old elephant bull

Small crocodile blocking a causeway

Kori Bustard displaying

Wattled Starling (male in breeding colours)

Lioness

A hot – VERY HOT – day in the Satara-area of the Kruger National Park today; 40+°C in the shade, but still Kruger shared her bountiful beauty generously.

Black-backed Jackal

Elephant cow and calf

Elephants at Gudzani Dam

Tawny Eagle

Mocking Cliff Chat

White-browed Scrub Robin

Free-tailed Bat

Plains Zebra family

Double-banded Sandgrouse (male)

Double-banded Sandgrouse (female)

Grey Duiker

Baboon

Impala

Plains Zebras

Saddle-billed Stork

Lion

Today was one of those days we’ll remember for a very long time. Blood, gore, birth, death and drama. It was as if the soundtrack of Disney’s “The Lion King” was playing on repeat. The lions I told you about last night killed a wildebeest within sight of camp and probably every person in camp was able to tick the King of Beasts today. One of the first things we saw as we started our day was a hyena walking away with a chunk of wildebeest leg in his jaws. We saw a newly born baby wildebeest that couldn’t have been more than an hour old. And we found an elephant trapped in a muddy pan, unable to get up, and fighting a losing battle for its life. And in between there was still so much more! Nature isn’t always pretty and we realise just how fortunate we are to see scenes like these playing out as it has done for millennia without human interference. Still difficult not to let our human emotions cloud our interpretations of what we saw though…

Hyena with a chunk of leg

Elephant sunrise

Honey Badger

Rainbow Skink (male)

Ostrich family

Marabou Storks

Marabou

Gentle Tusker

Angry lioness

Jackal testing a lion’s patience

Lioness

Domestic violence, lion style…

Rock Monitor

Grey Go-away Bird

Newborn Blue Wildebeest

Big old bull, but couldn’t save his friend

Comforting a fallen comrade

Elephant stuck in a muddy pan

Steenbok

Giraffe silhouette

Beautiful Kudu bull

Vulture sunset

Vulture silhouette