Tag Archives: travel

Satara Summer 2021 – 22 December

Today we spent exploring the Tshokwane area to the south of Satara, in the Kruger National Park. Tshokwane itself is a busy picnic spot with a small shop and restaurant where people love to stretch their legs while travelling through the Park and birdlife become accustomed to have camera-toting tourists following them around, while any and all the roads and drives around Tshokwane is sure to deliver something wonderful to see.

Young kudu crossing the road

Enormous tusker

Lions on the S37 near Tshokwane (photo by Joubert)

Spiteful elephant!

Elephant tussle (photo by Joubert)

Spotted Hyenas bathing at Vutomi

African Mourning Dove (photo by Joubert)

Male Knob-billed Duck strutting his stuff

Satara Summer 2021 – 21 December

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The Kruger National Park really delivers on every scale imaginable! These are some of our shots taken today in and around Satara Rest Camp.

House Sparrow (photo by Joubert)

Spectacled Weaver

Interesting fly that appears to be mimicking a bee (photo by Joubert)

Crab Spider

Male Tree Agama in breeding colours in Satara Rest Camp

Egyptian Goose

Hippos in a hurry at Sweni Hide

Lionesses on the S41 near Nwanetsi

Cheeky Giraffe (photo by Joubert)

Green-backed Heron (photo by Joubert)

Bushbuck ewe

Satara Summer 2021 – 20 December

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We’re still having a wonderful time at Satara in the Kruger National Park. The toughest part of every day is deciding which route to take; even after a week here there are still roads around camp we haven’t travelled on! Today we set off in the direction of Olifants for our morning drive, and focused on the loop along the Sweni River in the afternoon.

Black-backed Jackal finding grubs in elephant dung

Sunrise over the plains north of Satara

Spotted Hyena walking along the road near Balule

Exercise session at the Impala creche (photo by Joubert)

Flying Impala lamb (photo by Joubert)

Greater Painted Snipe female (photo by Joubert)

Advancing Buffalo herd

Chin-spot Batis on its nest

Young Kudu bull (photo by Joubert)

European Roller (photo by Joubert)

Satara Summer 2021 – 19 December

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Not to brag, but it seems our days here at Satara in the Kruger National Park are just getting better and better and better… We did a circular route today – Satara to N’wanedzi, onwards to Tshokwane, and then back to Satara via Nhlanguleni and Muzandzeni. The encounters we had were magic.

Buffalo bull (photo by Joubert)

Cheetahs hunting near Nwanetsi

Elephant owning the road (photo by Joubert)

(photo by Joubert)

Big male lion

Wet Baboon piggy-back (photo by Joubert)

Young male kudu (photo by Joubert)

Green-winged Pytilia (photo by Joubert)

Standoff between Vervet Monkeys and Water Dikkoppe (Water Thick-knees) at Mazithi Dam

Leopardess relaxing in a Marula tree (photo by Joubert)

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake (photo by Joubert)

Yellow-billed Hornbill (photo by Joubert)

Satara’s famous white lion (photo by Joubert)

Satara Summer 2021 – 18 December

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We’re still having a wonderful time in the Kruger National Park, and we’re going to have so many stories to tell you when we get back home!

Black-backed Jackal having a staring contest with a lion

Mighty lion

Dwarf Mongoose

Bateleur feast

Green-backed Heron

African Cuckoo

Waterbuck herd

Satara Summer 2021 – 17 December

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Today’s weather was a complete opposite to what we experienced on previous days of this visit to the Kruger National Park. It was drizzly and windy, with temperatures dropping by more than half from the low to mid-40ºC’s of the previous days to a maximum of 21ºC today. Still, we had some amazing sightings, especially in the early morning. These predator photographs were all taken by Joubert today.

Big male lion (photo by Joubert)

Big male lion, smiling for the camera (photo by Joubert)

Spotted Hyena (photo by Joubert)

Baby Black-backed Jackal (photo by Joubert)

Big Nile Crocodile (photo by Joubert)

Satara Summer 2021 – 16 December

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Another day of exceptional and wildly diverse encounters with the wildlife and scenery of the Kruger National Park.

Spotted Hyena (photo by Joubert)

Central Kruger Scenery

Arrow-marked Babbler

Blue Waxbills

Amur Falcons at sunset

Storm passing over the plains of Satara, 16 December 2021

Central Kruger Scenery

Storm passing over the plains of Satara, 16 December 2021

Waterbuck in a lush central Kruger Park, December 2021

Vervet Monkey (photo by Joubert)

European Roller (photo by Joubert)

Satara Summer 2021 – 15 December

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Tonight just a quick collection of photographs taken today in the Kruger National Park.

Baboon gymnast

Hungry Hyena cub

Dwarf Bittern

Hangry Hippo!

Woolly-necked Stork

Enormous tusker

Baby elephant cuteness

Thank you also for all the comments received on posts in the previous days – I will still get around to answering them all!

Satara Summer 2021 – 14 December

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It’s the summer holidays in South Africa and we find ourselves back at Satara, in the Kruger National Park. We encountered these Painted Wolves, or African Wild Dogs, on the road heading into the Park from Orpen Gate today. These are all Joubert’s photographs.

Painted Wolves, or African Wild Dogs, on the road between Orpen and Satara

Springtime rejuvenation at Nylsvley

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Monday the 1st of November was a declared public holiday in South Africa, to allow for the running of the municipal elections. Of course this little gift of a long weekend was too good to pass up, so the de Wets headed north into the Bushveld for a two night visit to the Nylsvley Nature Reserve – one of our country’s most highly-rated bird watching destinations.

Duck’s Den #3 at Nylsvley Nature Reserve, October 2021

Jacana Hide

Vogelfontein

Giraffe traversing the plains of Nylsvley

Decaying log or natural scuplture?

One of the hides at Vogelfontein in Nylsvley Nature Reserve, with waterbuck in the foreground

Exploring Nylsvley in the early morning

Nylsvley sunset

Nylsvley sunrise

True to its reputation, Nylsvley delivered abundantly on the bird front during our visit, despite the fact that many of the summer regulars haven’t arrived in South Africa yet and despite most of the wetlands being completely dry at the end of the dry season. We managed to tick 82 species of birds without trying very hard.

African Cuckoo

African Stonechat

Arrow-marked Babbler

Black-winged Kite preparing to dive onto its prey

Blacksmith Lapwing

Blue Waxbill

Burchell’s Coucal

Burchell’s Starling

Cardinal Woodpecker

Chinspot Batis (photo by Joubert)

Common Myna – not a species you want to see in a Nature Reserve, being an invasive exotic

Crested Francolins

Crimson-breasted Shrike

Wahlberg’s Eagle

European Bee-eater

Grey-backed Camaroptera

Grey Go-away Bird (photo by Joubert)

Hamerkop

Helmeted Guineafowl

Northern Black Korhaan male in flight

Lilac-breasted Roller

Magpie Shrike

Ostrich (photo by Joubert)

Red-billed Queleas

Red-breasted Swallow

Red-breasted Swallow (photo by Joubert)

Rufous-naped Lark

Immature Saddle-billed Stork

Secretary Bird in flight

Southern Masked Weaver male

Spoonbill

Spotted Flycatcher

Spur-winged Goose (photo by Joubert)

Female Violet-backed Starling

Female Violet-eared Waxbill

Wattled Lapwings

Wattled Lapwing (photo by Joubert)

Wattled Starlings

White-browed Sparrow Weaver

Wood Sandpiper

Yellow-billed Hornbill with a stinkbug

Yellow-billed Storks

Besides the birds, another reason to visit Nylsvley is the sizable populations of three of South Africa’s rarer antelope species that are found here: Southern Reedbuck, Roan Antelope, and Tsessebe.

Southern Reedbuck ram

Southern Reedbuck ewe

Roan Antelope

Roan Antelope bull

Roan Antelope cow and calf

Tsessebe and suckling calf

Tsessebe

These antelope were just some of the 25 kinds of mammals we encountered during the 48 hours or so we spent at Nylsvley, ranging from bats, squirrels and mice to lofty giraffes.