Mahai is the larger of the two camping areas at Royal Natal National Park, and there aren’t very many camping sites that can compete with it for scenic beauty!
With South Africa preparing for a nationwide “lock-down” of a minimum three week duration in the face of the global pandemic, we’ve returned from the Drakensberg grateful for having had a chance to recharge our batteries in beautiful natural surroundings. We’ll be sharing many more photos from our latest trip in days to come and hope that they’ll bring you as much joy as the memories will for us in these trying times.
God bless you and keep you.
With a massive storm looming over the Drakensberg this evening we can look back on another fun-filled day in the great outdoors at Royal Natal.
Reflections at Mahai
The Cascades in the Mahai stream
Well, not really – our bookings were made long before the current health crisis and we opted not to cancel, figuring that it is nice to know that for a while at least we can breathe the fresh mountain air of the Royal Natal National Park again. So here we are.
We have a very basic trail camera that we set up for a few days along a quiet portion of the fenceline at Satara Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park, while we were visiting there over Christmas and New Year. It was quite fun flicking through the photos every day and seeing the variety of wildlife that come so close to camp, especially at night!
It’s really hard to believe that we’ve been home from the Kruger National Park for a week already. We’re still trying to adjust back to city life, would you believe!? Were still pining for Satara, our tent, our camping beds and almost daily braais (traditional South African barbeques)… So we’re going over our notes and imagining the 46 kinds of mammals, 195 kinds of birds, and myriad of insects, butterflies, scorpions, spiders, amphibians and reptiles we crossed paths with while camping at Satara for a month.
While we were on holiday many of you enquired after Joubert’s pictures of the trip, so here for your enjoyment and to ease our blues is a selection of his best photographs!
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!
We didn’t think it was even possible, but the Kruger Park definitely left the best for last – our first encounter ever with a truly wild White Lion, of which there are only a handful alive – 3 of them being in Kruger.
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.
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.
DeWetsWild 