Tag Archives: travel

Summer Snapshots from Kruger: Cheetah Concerns

DeWetsWild conducted a two-week tour of the Kruger National Park with altogether nine people to see out 2025 and ring in 2026 and every day for the month of February I’ll be sharing just a few of the many memories our group collected.

One very hot afternoon we were nearing Muzandzeni Picnic Spot when we came across an obviously distressed female Cheetah, calling non-stop as she walked. Other visitors at the scene informed us that she was separated from her cub when the pair came across a troop of baboons. Great was our relief when the cub appeared in the road ahead and the two Cheetahs were reunited.

Cheetah female searching for her cub

Cheetah cub

Cheetah female and her cub reunited

If you’d like to join me on a guided tour of South Africa’s wild places, of even if you’d just like a bit of help putting your reservations together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Summer Snapshots from Kruger: Who’d think that a Leopard sighting could get even more exciting!?

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We found a Leopard up a tree with the scraps of an impala kill near Tshokwane Picnic Site one morning. Leopards are always a prize sighting and, being on one of the roads less in that part of the Park, we could enjoy the sight of the large cat lying lazily on a thick Marula branch to our hearts’ content.

Leopard in a tree with its kill near Tshokwane

Suddenly a herd of Impala came dashing from the other side of the road, heading straight to the tree in which the Leopard was. The Leopard immediately jumped up and moved down the tree, being ever the opportunist on the lookout for an easy kill. Our attention however was caught by the sight of a massive female Spotted Hyena (radio-collared as part of a research project) chasing after a newly born Impala lamb at an amazing speed. We had only a split-second glimpse of the chase but it was clear the hyena would be the victor.

Spotted Hyena chasing an impala lamb

With hyena and impalas vacating the scene in a flash our attention could return to the Leopard surveying the landscape from its elevate perch, having never jumped to the ground in the chaos.

Leopard in a tree near Tshokwane

If you’d like to join me on a guided tour of South Africa’s wild places, of even if you’d just like a bit of help putting your reservations together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Summer Snapshots from Kruger: Family Life in a Baboon Troop

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Baboons are always a treat to watch, and thankfully they’re quite commonly encountered in the Kruger National Park. From the playful antics of the youngsters to the long-suffering expressions on the faces of the adults it is impossible to watch them without a smile (or recognizing at least one of your own family members!). This troop entertained us royally one morning on the main road between Satara and Tshokwane.

Baby Baboon

Mom catches a baby just in time before he jumps on his meditating sibling…

“Does your nappy need changing?”

Wrestling match interrupted

Little one being a bully

Dad just doesn’t have the nerve to watch…

Playful baboon youngsters

Wondering when mom’s lecture will end…

Family bonds

If you’d like to join me on a guided tour of South Africa’s wild places, of even if you’d just like a bit of help putting your reservations together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Summer Snapshots from Kruger: Buffalo on the alert

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We didn’t get to see many buffalo during the trip, despite them being among the mammals with the highest population in the Park. This was probably as a result of the good rainfall the Park was receiving, leading to a flush of green grass and easily accessible water in areas well away from the tourist roads. It was actually during a downpour that we found a small herd just south of Satara. One of the cows in the group was noticeably nervous and on high alert, and while we never could figure out why she was so highly strung it was clear she wasn’t to be messed with!

Very alert buffalo cow near Satara

If you’d like to join me on a guided tour of South Africa’s wild places, of even if you’d just like a bit of help putting your reservations together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Summer Snapshots from Kruger: Thunderstorm Loading

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December heralded one of the wettest summer seasons on record in the Kruger National Park and surrounding Lowveld (and it isn’t over yet!), which culminated in extensive flooding and severe damage to infrastructure and even loss of human life in the towns around the Park by the middle of January. This image is of a particularly terrifying thunderstorm we witnessed developing and then unleashing its fury on the plains east of Satara.

Thunderstorm heading for Satara

If you’d like to join me on a guided tour of South Africa’s wild places, of even if you’d just like a bit of help putting your reservations together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Summer Snapshots from Kruger: The thrill of finding lions on the road!

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The central reaches of the Kruger National Park is lion country. On our first morning of the trip, taking an easy drive from Tamboti to Satara, we had no less than 4 lion sightings – two of them right on the road. The first of these was of two magnificent males lazily patrolling their territory along the Timbavati River, while the second was of a mating threesome – two males and a female – at the Nsemani Dam.

Lions on the road between Tamboti and Satara

If you’d like to join me on a guided tour of South Africa’s wild places, of even if you’d just like a bit of help putting your reservations together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Summer Snapshots from Kruger: An assassin caught in the act

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One of the things I love to do with my guests in the evenings is to take a walk through our camp looking for nocturnal wildlife. On one occasion we were strolling through Tamboti Tented Camp when we came across an Assassin Bug attacking a rather large Millipede. Now matter how much the millipede squirmed, trying to wriggle and writhe the assassin bug off its body, this was a fight it was not going to win… We watched as the assassin stabbed its prey with its proboscis (modified mouth parts), injecting its victim with saliva that is a concoction of toxins and digestive enzymes which eventually kills the millipede and liquifies its insides, allowing the assassin bug to suck its fill.

Assassin Bug attacking a millipede

If you’d like to join me on a guided tour of South Africa’s wild places, of even if you’d just like a bit of help putting your reservations together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Summer Snapshots from Kruger: The Sound of Summer

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Now, if there’s one bird who’s song can be considered to be the summer anthem of the Lowveld, it has to be the Woodland Kingfisher, loudly and proudly proclaiming its presence from early morning right through to the evening. I love their song so much that it is the ringtone on my phone. No matter where I am when I hear this sound my mind immediately wanders to one of our beautiful wild places and the cares of the world vanish for a while.

Have a listen here.

Woodland Kingfisher

If you’d like to join me on a guided tour of South Africa’s wild places, of even if you’d just like a bit of help putting your reservations together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Black Sparrowhawk

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Accipiter melanoleucus

The Black Sparrowhawk occurs widely over sub-Saharan Africa, and in South Africa is found at least in parts of all our provinces, though they’re very sparsely distributed in the arid central and western parts of the country. They prefer denser habitats, like forests, mature woodland and riverine thickets and have adapted to plantations of exotic trees, which aided an expansion in their range locally.

Black Sparrowhawks feed almost exclusively on a wide variety of birds, usually hunted from a secreted perch. They have a particular liking for doves and pigeons (as in some of the images below), francolins and domestic poultry but even owls, cormorants and egrets have been recorded as prey! Though persecuted by pigeon fanciers and free-range poultry farmers it doesn’t seem to have much of an impact on their population and the IUCN considers the Black Sparrowhawk to be of least concern.

The Black Sparrowhawk usually breeds from late autumn to early summer. Monogamous pairs work together to construct a stick platform densely lined with green leaves in a tall tree to use as a nest. Here the female will incubate a clutch of up to 4 eggs over a 6 week period while the male brings her food. The chicks are brooded by the female for the first 3 weeks after hatching and only then will she start helping the male catch prey for the young ones. The youngsters become independent of their parents at about 4 months of age. At about 900g in weight the female is almost double the size of the adult male.

Black Sparrowhawk

Black Sparrowhawk with a dove it killed

Black Sparrowhawk with a dove it killed being mobbed by a Pied Crow

Black Sparrowhawk with a dove it killed

As cute as monkey business can be!

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These two baby Vervet Monkeys, seen near Skukuza in the Kruger National Park on a recent tour, were most endearing – it was rather disappointing when their mothers decided it was time to get moving into the bush, as it was great fun watching their antics!

Baby Vervet Monkeys

Baby Vervet Monkey

I am a fully accredited and legally registered tour guide (with all the necessary insurance, professional drivers license and first aid certification) – don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like me to arrange a guided tour of beautiful South Africa and all her natural wonders, like the Kruger National Park, for you as well, or even just to assist with your holiday reservations for our national parks and nature reserves throughout the country.