Waiting with great excitement for the gates of the game reserve to open is, for most people, an unconventional start to the morning, but it’s a regular routine for us de Wets…
The theme for this week’s photo challenge is “Good Morning!“
Near the town of Howick in the Natal Midlands, and conveniently close to the N3-freeway, you will find one of Kwazulu-Natal Province’s most popular playgrounds, the Midmar Dam Nature Reserve.
Midmar Dam
Most of the visitor activity is centred on the large Midmar Dam. Being the venue for the world’s biggest open-water swimming event, the Midmar Mile, held annually in February, the public resort with its well-kept lawns is especially geared to the enjoyment of a wide variety of water sports. Along the 15km of developed shoreline are zones set aside for picnics, fishing, powerboating and yachting, and a restaurant is located near the entrance. Accommodation options ranges from camping sites to fully equipped chalets.
At full capacity the Midmar Dam covers over 1,800ha, with the land area of the reserve covering an additional 2,844ha. A section of the reserve is set aside as a game park hosting a selection of non-dangerous mammals, including the rare oribi antelope, and a wide variety of birds, including the majestic fish eagle, in natural surroundings where visitors are allowed to walk, cycle or drive around in their own vehicles.
We found Midmar an excellent base from which to explore some other wild places in the area, particularly the Queen Elizabeth Park Nature Reserve, Karkloof Conservancy and Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve, as well as the many country stalls, farms, art galleries and eateries that make up the “Midlands Meander”.
Heavy thunderclouds hanging threateningly above an already overflowing Pioneer Dam, at Mopani Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park
“Saturated” is this week’s photo challenge from WordPress
Our September 2013 trip to the north of the Kruger National Park afforded us the opportunity of visiting our favourite Shingwedzi Rest Camp for the first time following the devastating floods in January 2013.
Most of Shingwedzi has re-opened for visitors, with only some facilities, including the restaurant, remaining out-of-service – a sterling effort getting the camp up-and-running again so soon!
Revamped Shingwedzi shop
The view downstream from camp, to where the causeway is now buried beneath a thick layer of sand
View upstream from camp – a huge pool of water now houses hippos and crocodiles where previously there would have been nothing but sand in the dry season
Shingwedzi accommodation
Shingwedzi camping site
Shingwedzi main building – reception, shop and restaurant
Shingwedzi accommodation
Shingwedzi camping site
Driving around the area, the impact on man-made infrastructure and the natural environment was still clearly evident eight months after the flood waters of the Mphongolo and Shingwedzi Rivers swept through here in the dark of night.
Elephant at a pool in the Shingwedzi River
Deep sediment deposits where the Shingwedzi burst its banks
Bent trees and shrubs along the Shingwedzi river
What’s left of the Kanniedood Dam wall. Not a single tree remain standing in the immediate area below the broken dam – before the flood you could not even see the wall due to the dense plantlife!
Debris, deep sand and newly formed pools of water along the course of the Shingwedzi River
Nature is resilient and we have no doubt that the Shingwedzi area will remain a firm favourite for many of the Kruger faithful, the de Wets included! Have a look here to find out why we love Shingwedzi so much!
The blotches, and the lines between them, on a giraffe’s hide are as unique as human fingerprints. These photographs were taken during our recent trip to the North of the Kruger National Park.
“From lines to patterns” is this week’s photo challenge theme
Never a day passes in the Kruger National Park that is not full of surprises.
We will be heading back home to Pretoria tomorrow, but today we had great sightings of huge elephant and buffalo herds, jackals, a massive eland bull, several grysbok and even an albino impala.
The highlight of the day was seeing a young male lion walking casually past a mixed herd of elephant and buffalo on the Dzundwini loop-road near Punda Maria – that’s three of the “Big-5” in the same spot! Unfortunately I could only manage a shot of the lion and elephant in the same frame.
It was a cool, overcast day at Punda Maria in the Kruger National Park today, and this buffalo wasn’t impressed with us disturbing his slumber!
We were very fortunate to have encountered two of the rarer antelope species to be found in the Kruger National Park today: a roan antelope bull mixing with a herd of tsessebe, near Babalala picnic spot in the north of the Park
We bid you good evening from Letaba Rest Camp, in the Kruger National Park!
We arrived through Phalaborwa Gate early this morning and will spend one night here at Letaba before moving on to Punda Maria in the morning.
We had a fleeting late-morning sighting of a leopard on the prowl, but the highlight of the day unquestionably has to be the time we spent with the magnificent old elephant bull Masthulele, currently the biggest of Kruger’s tuskers, where he was feeding in the Letaba River not far from camp.
Edit: SANParks announced in September 2017 that Masthulele died during 2016.
This is the view from inside our accommodation here at the Golden Gate Hotel and Chalets, in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, where we’re visiting for the weekend in celebration of the Park’s 50th anniversary.
Jealous? 🙂
We published a special post for this special occasion: “Celebrating Fifty Years of the Golden Gate Highlands National Park”
“Inside” is the theme for this week’s WordPress photo challenge.
DeWetsWild 