The Last Post

Finally back in Port Elizabeth after 51 days away, its time to wrap up the blog with a round-up of our experiences.  We arrived home to find the drought broken, everything beautifully green, storage tanks overflowing and the dams filling up nicely.  Even the Karroo was greener than we've ever seen it, with dry river beds now full of water.  It has been bitterly cold and wet since we got back and we look longingly at the weather forecast for the Kruger, with its lovely warm daytime temperatures and wish we were still there.
A few stats for the stats-minded:
Km travelled  -  about 6500
Caravan parks stayed at  -  16
Most northerly point  -  Crooks Corner at about 22 deg S
Hottest day  -  37 deg C at Skukuza
Coldest night  -  Way below freezing (windscreen washer froze) at Aldam Estate in the Free State
Highest altitude  -  1843m outside Volksrust
Best caravan park  -  has to be Silver Rocks near Modimolle (Nylstroom).  Brand new, state of the art, well-designed, pity it is accessed by 3km of badly corrugated gravel road.
Favourite caravan park  -  without a doubt Punda Maria, the most northerly camp in the Kruger.  The bird hide, the waterhole, the scenery, the few cars on the roads, the whole package in fact.  The facilities are just about adequate, but the overall experience is amazing.  We often heard that there is a shortage of game in the northern part of the Park, but this wasn't our finding at all.
Best things we did on the trip, in no particular order; attend a performance of the Drakensberg Boys Choir, stay overnight at Ndzakha tented camp in Manyeleti, stay 2 nights at Tzendze Rustic Camp.
Best sightings, also in no particular order; leopards at Skukuza, cheetah at Satara, rhino at Berg-en-Dal, moonlight elephants at Punda Maria, Bateleur eagle in the waterhole at Punda Maria.
Although we did have a favourite camp, we enjoyed all the Kruger camps we stayed at,  Each has its own distinct character and should be enjoyed for what it is.
As for the funny things that happen on a trip such as this, it was agreed at the outset that 'what happens on the trip, stays on the trip'!
All I can say is, thank goodness we can laugh at one another, and at ourselves, although sometimes it takes a while for the sense of humour to surface.
A few titbits;
Chasing monkeys with a catty does not end well.
No dessert buffet is safe when Cathy is around.
When shopping at the Spar, must remember to engage handbrake.
Alan Carter should work for the CIA
Wife with map should be trusted over GPS
If you have left your caravan step at home, a plastic crate with the breadboard on top is not a good substitute.
Having almost 50% of the men on tour (when there were 8 caravans) named Mike causes confusion
Crocs can be hazardous to ones health (the shoes, that is)

So, what did we learn?  The KNP is about far more than the flora and fauna.  It was, and is, a frontier place, just that now there are new and different frontiers than back in the days when the Park was founded.  There are wonderful people who staff it and whose committment shines through.  There are wonderful people who visit it and we were lucky enough to meet some along the way.
For those who care to dig a little deeper, there is a wealth of historical detail and many fascinating stories to be uncovered.

This diary was started to keep our family informed about our travels.  Amazingly enough we have had several hundred hits from South Africa, England, America, Canada, Denmark, Turkey, Singapore, India, Australia and Brunei.  Thanks to all of you who came along for the ride  -  hope you enjoyed! We certainly did!

Crooks Corner at last

After our stay at magical Tzendze the next stop was Shingwedzi, a favourite from last year.  Once again we had an excellent site on the fence, and were rewarded by this civet cat which came each night looking for the small birds that fall foul of the electric fence each day.  The civet is a strange looking cat, weighing about 10 kg and seeming to have been assembled from parts left over from other animals.  The drives around Shingwedzi are especially good 

with beautiful riverine forest and spectacular trees, and abundant game and birds.  The S56 from Babalala Picnic site back to Shingwedzi was one of the best  with a sighting of a Verreaux's (giant) Eagle Owl the icing on that day's cake.

 We left Shingwedzi a day early and travelled up to our last camp at Punda Maria.  Once again we landed a great site on the fence, 30m from the bird hide and with a great view of the waterhole.   

There has been a constant procession of wonderful birds and animals to keep us enthralled.  One of the best visits was on the first night when between 30 to 40 elephant which came to drink.  There are no 'streetlights' in this camp, but it was one night away from full moon, and the sight of the grey giants ghosting along in the moonlight was one which we will remember always.

 The drive up to Punda Maria took us past a huge herd of buffalo, who were all very skittish.  When we finally got past them, we saw the reason why, these two gorgeous lionesses were stalking them

with intent!  Another memorable sighting was the female Bateleur Eagle which landed in the muddy waterhole in front of us and spent about half an hour there.  This was the first time we have seen one on the ground for any length of time.  They are a common sight in the air, but much harder to see on the ground.  They are a lot bigger than they seem in the pic, being about 70cm long and about 3kg in weight.  On Wednesday 15th we watched the lunar eclipse, then on Friday 17th it was off to Crooks Corner.  Another lovely drive with lots of spectacular baobab trees along the way.  Photos dont do these giants justice, as one cant get out of ones vehicle to stand next to one to give a sense of scale.   We had a breakfast picnic at the Pafuri picnic site then drove to Crooks Corner to be photographed with the mighty Limpopo behind us, Zimbabwe in the left background and Mocambique to the right (across the river that is!)

Tomorrow we start the long haul home, and the final entry with some last thoughts will come from Port Elizabeth.

Tzendze - yet another special place

On June 9th we set off from Letaba for our two night stay at Tzendze, not quite knowing what to expect.  The rest of the party extended their stay at Letaba, planning to meet up with us at Shingwedzi on the Saturday.

 Tzendze has to be one of the jewels in the Kruger crown, and it is kept polished to a brilliant shine by the amazing and delightful Roger and Elina, both of whom have been at Tzendze from the beginning.  (and, no, they are not a couple)

Tzendze began about 5 years ago, as the satellite camp to Mopani, 10 miles further north.  Mopani has no campsite, and so Tzendze came about.  Both are designed as low-impact facilities.  At Mopani the almost 100 bungalows are blended sympathetically into the surrounding landscape and are not visible from the road.

 Tzendze has no electricity, with solar power providing the lights in bathrooms and kitchens, and gas heats the water.  The individual camp sites are spaced well apart and nestled into the existing vegetation.

There is no gate guard and campers are asked to observe standard park opening and closing times, and the (very heavy!) gates have to be opened and closed each time one passes through.  The peace, silence and tranquillity have to be experienced to be believed.  The star display at night is incredible as there's no ambient light.

 We found game hard to come by during our time there, although there is a resident leopard, and lion and cheetah were both around.  That didn't really matter though, as the place was magic enough in its own right.

I was fortunate to spot some open-billed storks in a nearby pond - not a good pic, but proof of sighting!

 The real stars of Tzendze though, are Roger and Elina.  Their welcome is warm and gracious, and the camp is run to a very high standard.  They make their final 'rounds' at about 6 in the evening to check that everyone is happy, Roger with his file tucked under his arm in case he needs to record anything.  Kruger could do with a few dozen Rogers and Elinas!

Tzendze is the kind of place that automatically makes one lower ones voice in order to better able to hear the silence! It is also strikingly different from the older model KNP camp which imposes itself on the lanscape.  Mopani and Tzendze have clearly been designed to slip into place as seamlessly as possible.

Anyone who noticed the rookie error in a previous blog in which I identified a nyala as a tsessebe, just know I stand corrected, so you can all stop tsk-ing!

Satara and Letaba

 On Sunday May 29th we left Skukuza and travelled up to Satara.  Once again we had a lovely site on the fence, although not as much game passed by as the watercourse to the southwest had dried up, but still lovely and tranquil to just sit and stare out at the veld.  Game drives around Satara are always very productive with big herds of plains animals, and therefore lots of predators.  There were many good lion sightings, unfortunately not by us though!

The rest of the party went on a night game drive on the Tuesday night, which we elected to miss as we were going out to Manyeleti the next day.  The drive was notable mainly for Cathy losing her glasses, luckily in their hard case, when she stood up to operate the spotlight.  After several trips out over the next couple of days, Bruce finally spotted the glasses, and on their way home they saw these 3 beautiful cheetah and sent us a text.  Well, off we rushed for our first cheetah sighting.

First time I had seen them in the wild and what a treat it was.  They are more gorgeous than I expected and we were able to watch for about 15 mins.  Then they lay down in the long grass and became totally invisible.  Also at Satara I was completely fascinated by the resident tiny (15 cm) African Scops Owl, which sits in a tree outside Reception and sleeps during the day.  It is just above head height and within arms reach, but hundreds of people walk past it every day and don't see it, and the owl is quite unconcerned.

The following Sunday we moved on to Letaba, which has a very scenic riverside setting with a lovely terrace and walkway.  Our best sightings here were this elephant, which although not the biggest in the group, had very long tusks and seemed to be in charge of his little herd.  The other good sighting was of the tsessebe which I saw in the shade of a bush along the river and was very pleased with as there are estimated to be only about 220 in the KNP. 

Equally, there are onlyan estimated 300 cheetah in the Park, so we have been truly fortunate with rare sightings.   

After 4 nights at Letaba, we continued to Tzendze for two nights, the rest opting to remain at Letaba, until meeting up again at Shingwedzi.  By now we were back to 4 caravans, the other 4 having left from Satara to go back to PE.  More of Tzendze later, as it deserves a post all to itself.

Manyeleti - Place of Stars

According to Villiers Steyn's excellent article in the March 2011 edition of go! magazine, Manyeleti is Shangaan for 'place of stars' and it is certainly that.  No ambient light and zero pollution must make Manyeleti a stargazers dream. There are a few expensive luxury tented camps in Manyeleti, but African Ivory Routes have two tented camps which are a budget option at R250 pernight for two people.  As we were caravanning at Satara in the KNP it seemed an ideal chance to experience something totally different.  The booking was made and on June 1st off we went as excited as kids on an outing.  We elected to stay at Ndzhaka, in the middle of the reserve, which is on the banks

of a (dry when we were there) river with the tents set among trees and linked by wooden walkways. The feeling of being completely alone, seated at ones campfire, with nothing but complete silence and the odd animal noise, is hard to describe.  We felt completely safe, although apparently I did spend a lot of time saying 'what was that? and 'did you hear that noise'?   

We were looked after by the charming Monica and camp manager Derek, both of whom could not do enough for us - thanks guys.Our expectations were well managed by Villiers's article but for one small thing. The article stated that African Ivory guests are allowed to self-drive in the reserve between sunrise and sunset. This is, according to Derek, not so, as African Ivory attempt to run a low-impact operation, and prefer clients to use the game-drive option.  This is meant to be made clear to prospective guests when booking. We were only allowed to self-drive because we were the only guests that night, so lucky us!  

 The fences between Manyeleti and its neighbours were removed in the 1990s, so game roams freely over a wide area.  We were not fortunate enough to see lion or leopard (must have been dining with the rich and famous next door neighbours !) but saw the other members of the big three.  We also saw grey rhebok and side-striped jackal both of which were new sightings for us.   All in all, a fantastic experience - even if it was 3 degrees C that night!  Ndzhaka is a jewel of a camp and we felt very special and priveliged to have it to ourselves for the night. Our camp chairs were straight out of a movie about the Desert Campaign, and the bucket shower a novelty which we were too frozen to use! So yes, there is some basic maintenenance needed, but take all you think you might need, and be aware that it is a budget operation, and you will be rewarded by a unique and wonderful place, which may not retain that character for much longer - go while you can!

Skukuza Story

On Tuesday May 24th we left Berg-en-Dal and travelled up to Skukuza, where we met up with the Anemas, Borchardts, Dekkers and Youngers who had all arrived from PE the day before.  We had never been to Skukuza before and were looking forward to yet another new experience.  The excellent go! magazine guide to the Kruger refers to Skukuza as 'HQ' and thats exactly what it is.   

There are two banks, a Post Office, two restaurants, a very well-stocked shop, full time doctors, research and teaching facilities, and the very impressive James Stevenson-Hamilton Museum.  The museum houses an excellent reference library and many interesting exhibits.  When we visited, the winning entries from the Agfa Wildlife Photographic Competition were on display, and there were some absolute showstopping pictures. 

Whil wandering around the camp I saw these wide-eyed pre-schoolers (above left) being given a talk by a ranger (far left) and dutifully chorusing out their responses to what he was telling them.

 We also visited Lake Panic bird hide a short distance from the camp, and even if you are not a birder it is well worth the visit.  I managed to catch this African Jacana just taking off. 

 As we left Skukuza early on the morning of Sunday 29th, we spotted these three hippo in a pool next to the causeway across the Sabie River.  It was so cold that you can see a puff of breath hanging above the hippo in the middle, and the mist hanging over the river in the pic below.

There is a lot of history connected with Skukuza, much of it to do with James Stevenson-Hamilton who was Warden there for 40-odd years.  He was originally a big-game hunter who morphed into a passionate conservationist.  The tea-towels in the gift shop have it that his nick-name was Skukuza, meaning 'he who organises'.  When I checked this with the young lady at the museum, she told me it was a Siswati word meaning a removal, or a clearing away, referring to the original hunter trbes who lived there.

 The train in the top picture is parked at the original Skukuza Station and dates from the time when the railway line ran through the (then) Reserve.  Sabie was a popular overnight stop, with passengers disembarking to light their braai fires next to the train.  The story is told that one night, on the way south to Komatipoort, the driver stopped at Newington Siding but on seeing no waiting passengers, steamed merrily on.  Unfortunately, the passengers were all up trees taking refuge from hungry lions.  They spent a very uncomfortable night in their trees, and thereafter the railway management installed permanent ladders at the trees in case of need!  The growing rail traffic and the increasing number of animals being killed be trains led to the re-routing of the line outside the park boundaries and the last train ran in 1972.  This was Selati 3638, which is now the focal point of the Selati Station Grillhouse.  Off to Manyeleti tomorrow for a totally different experience!

Leopard Morning







We arrived in Skukuza on Tuesday 24 May and did not leave camp for the first 2 days.

 On Thursday, feeling guilty, we got up at 6.45 and went for a pjama drive (self explanatory!).  On the Maroela Loop we came across a car stopped near a dry river bed.  We asked what they were looking at, and were told two young leopards. 

First one, then the other emerged from the undergrowth at the roadside, and walked down the road jostling one another like two naughty kids on their way to school.

We freewheeled back down into the dry river bed and watched them cross and disappear into the bush on the other side.

 It was all over in less than 5 minutes, but what a sighting!

 The couple who had spotted them initially thought that the mother was somewhere close by and that the youngsters were being sent out on their own to learn some independence.



There's a rhino in my front yard!

  Friday May 20 we were up bright and early (well, early anyway) leaving Crocodile Bridge for Berg-en-Dal, our 3rd Kruger camp.  We have been to B&D twice before and always been lucky enough to get a site on the fence, which is first prize as the scenery is lovely and lots of game goes by. 

It was third time lucky as we found a spot on the far fence with 180 deg views.  Bit of a job getting up there, but thats what 4x4 is for! The bird life was excellent, with two pairs of cardinal woodpeckers tapping away, and two brownhooded kingfishers hunting insects from a tree right at the fence.  Fortunate enough to see one swoop into the grass and come up with a scorpion which was gobbled with relish!

There were many other birds new to me and Cathy was kept busy answering all my questions.

We did a number of game drives and saw an abundance of animals.  We had 3 (yes 3!!!) leopard sightings in one week.  This was especially exciting as in our previous 2 visits we had never seen one. The one in the pic (left) was only spotted because a car was already stopped and she(he?) was gone in less than a minute.

If you enlarge the pic you can see I was lucky enough to get her(him?) looking straight at me.  On Sunday all 3 couples drove up to the picnic site at Afsaal, about an hours drive away, for a skottel breakfast.  On the way we encountered this rhino calf, who was not a bit afraid and was especially fascinated by the Lahana's car (large white object - Mommy sustitute?).  The mother just kept grazing placidly and didn't seem at all worried that Junior was  

in the road.

It was super to see Alan and Mary Carter at Afsaal, as they have been travelling since early March.  The tame bushbuck there pose picturesquely on the little knoll and then come down and do the rounds of the picnic tables looking for handouts.  After breakfast we all trooped off to look at the resident Scops owl in one of the tall trees in the picnic area.  Without Alan's help we would never have
spotted it as they are tiny - only about 15 cm tall and look like
a piece of tree bark. 

Its always hard to decide on the best time of day when camping in the Kruger.  Is it the cool early morning when the coffee is on the go, and the decision as to what to do with the day is up for grabs?  Or is it early evening, when everyone is returning from their game drives and comparing notes, the camp gates are being closed to keep out unwanted visitors, the fires are being lit either for cooking or socialising, and the drinks are being poured?  On the morning of Monday 23rd it was very definitely the early morning, as I put the kettle on and opened the caravan door to find 3 large (I know, they are all large, but up close they are MASSIVE) rhino and 2 elephant just the other side of the fence.  The ellies did not hang about for very long but we watched the rhino for about an hour.  One of the rangers came and joined us, and while I was right at the fence taking the pic (above left) I asked him how rhino proof the fence was, as I was getting a rather beady eye from about 3 metres away.  'Not very' was the reply.  Needless to say I retreated sharpish - not wanting to test that particular theory!     

A wonderful sighting - has to be close to the top of the list for this trip.  An extra treat that evening was the civet cat which ghosted past our campsite on the edge of the lamplight.  We hadn't seen one before, but it vanished into the undergrowth before we could get a better look. 

Yesterday we travelled up to Skukuza, to meet the other travellers and spend 5 nights but more of that next time.

The First Five Days

Our first five days in the Kruger Park have been absolutely amazing. We have seen more animals in this time than we could hoped for. 

 We set off from Badplaas on Sunday morning May 17th excited that finally 'Kruger Day' had arrived. A very pleasant scenic

drive via Ermelo and Chrissiesmeer brought us on to the N4 at Kaapmuiden and so to the Malelane Gate and in to the Kruger.  Our first camp was at Malelane satellite camp, which has to be the best kept Kruger secret. We had initially not planned to be here, but having cut short our time in the Drakensberg, we decided to see if we could get in to the Kruger early and found vacancies at Malelane.  There are only 15 sites, 4 chalets, one ablution block and a camp kitchen, plus a fence which looks to be more to keep the campers in than the animals out, but it is utterly charming.    

 After 3 days there, we moved on to Crocodile Bridge camp.  This is

another camp new to us and also really super.  It is spick and span with lovely friendly staff as befits a camp at one of the main entrance gates to the Park.  The causeway over the Crocodile River has been raised and the new entrance gate finally commissioned in a very modern interpretation of the more traditional pole-and-thatch entrance gate that we are used to. 

 We have had wonderful sightings in the short time since entering the park, notably not one but two leopard sightings which we have waited 3 years for!  As I write this we are at Berg-en-Dal, where we moved this morning, and a lion is roaring in the dry river bed on the other side of the (fortunately electric) fence.                                         
Then, for some of us the excitement was just tooooo much!!!             

The Hills are Alive...............!

The hills were alive with a lot more than the sound of music during our days at Dragon Peaks!

 We arrived there on Tuesday 10th after our enjoyable few days at Scottborough.  The scenery around Dragon Peaks is spectacular, especially at this time of year with the trees all in full autumn regalia, and colourful carpets of fallen leaves everywhere.

On Wednesday afternoon we attended a performance of the world famous Drakensberg Boys Choir at the neighbouring Choir School.  This was an absolute standout and will live in all our memories for a long time to come.  The boys give an immaculately rehearsed and polished performance, but in spite of how well-drilled they are, their individual personalities shine through and add a very special dimension to a truly wonderful experience.

That evening we had dinner in the resort retaurant.  There is always a 'gala' dinner arranged to coincide with the concert dates, and it rounded off a wonderful day.

 Off for a stroll on Thursday, Margaret was so overcome with the beauty of our surroundings that she just HAD to hug this very tall tree!

The mountain scenery was so beautiful that whichever way one looked there was yet another photo op waiting to be snapped.  Seen in the background of the pic on the left is Dragon's Back (if I understood the sketch map correctly!)

A stream runs throught the resort and has been dammed in several places; I was lucky enough to spot one of the resort horses posing next to this one. 

 The major peak overlooking Dragon Peaks is Cathkin Peak, seen below left with storm clouds gathering behind it.  On Thursday night there was a thunderstorm of Wagnerian dimensions, which kept us awake for most of the night as the thunder reverberated round the mountains. 

So it was a fairly tired group which set off for Badplaas at 7 on the morning of Friday 13th.   We did enjoy the sight of a dusting of snow on the mountains as we drove towards Winterton. The date should have warned us, as even before we were out of the gate, the computer of our car insisted that our difflock was on.  Well it wasn't, but by the time we had phoned the helpline, set up a VW dealer in Ladysmith, the fault light went off again.  So nerves frazzled for nothing!

Next excitement was the Lahana's caravan blew a tire.  It had to be changed at the roadside, with Margaret waving the red triangle and a pair of red swimming trunks, and Cathy a dishcloth, so that Mike and Bruce wouldn't get run over by passing traffic as they battled with the wheel.  There were a lot of stop/go sections due to roadworks so all in all it was a long day.  Some of us revived with a dip in the hot pools. (see left!)   Badplaas is an amazing  with every facility imaginable and is very well maintained and modern. 
Just one quick statistic, the trip from the Drakensberg to Badplaas saw us reach the highest altitude so far this trip and that was 1843m above sea level between Volksrust and Amersfoort.