Tag Archives: Kruger National Park

Monkeys Wedding

Driving Mahonie (mahogany) Loop north of Punda Maria camp in June 2022, I heard parrots shrieking. Big old trees abound, including Mkuhlas – the Natal Mahogany Trichilia emetica. Scanning the trees I spotted them. Hey, they’re bigger! Those are Cape Parrots. A new species for my trip. Whoa, Wait. There’s been some splitting. These are now a new species: It’s a LIFER: Grey-headed Parrot (Poicephalus fuscicollis)!

And now I see it’s also called the Brown-necked Parrot, dunno why? The ones I saw had a grey heads and necks.

Up near Pafuri, soft rain fell in bright sunshine. A Monkey’s Wedding! This is baobab and mopane woodland country. The sunlight emphasised the ‘autumn’ colors of the mopani leaves. It was neat to see the dirt roads drizzled clean, with no vehicle tracks, making it easy to see if there were any new animal tracks.

– looking downstream from the bridge over the Luvhuvhu –

At the bridge over the Luvhuvhu, another LIFER: a Mottled Spinetail (Telacanthura ussheri). Baobab trees hint at the possibility of their presence, but I’ve tried in vain for years to see them clearly enough to identify. Today they co-operated!

In Punda camp I got parked in by a German couple in a huge overland truck. To get out I nudged one of their huge spare tyres with my spare tyre so I could make my turn, causing the lady to rush out shouting blah blah like a Karen. I said relax, fraulein. Later they pulled into a site near mine and that was it, no door or window opened, they stayed inside. They had aircon running, and an onboard toilet, shower and kitchen. I didn’t see them stick a nose outside the whole time they were there! They must have though, as the next day there were two deck chairs outside. Touring in a hermetically sealed truck, keeping Africa at arms length! Different.

Not much accommodation north of Punda Maria. A couple of private lodges, and a camp near the Mocambique border which was full, but “Try River Camp,” the helpful fella at Pafuri gate suggested. I was glad he did. So Saturday and Sunday nights were outside the park at Pafuri Rivercamp, a lovely spot, I recommend it. It rained on the way there, ca.4pm and on & off to 7pm. The camper proved rainproof and cosy in my beautiful campsite under big shady trees. Each site has its own rustic shower and kitchen with gas geyser and paraffin lamps. As I fell asleep Eastern Olive Toad ‘ruarks’ from the nearby Mutale River filled the night. The Mutale flows into the famous-for-birders Luvhuvhu, which I finally got to see after reading about it for decades. The Luvhuvhu flows on into the more famous Limpopo where SA, Zimbabwe and Moçambique meet near ‘Crooks Corner,’ land of myths about crooks, rustlers, smugglers and fugitives.

Saddle-bill Stork

White-crowned Lapwing

Heuglins Robin-chat (white-browed)

Mosque Swallow

Magpie Shrike

Black-crowned Tchagra

Brown-crowned Tchagra

Burchells Coucal

White-crested Helmet-shrike

Tawny Eagle

Bateleur

Collared Sunbird

White-bellied Sunbird

Marico Sunbird

Terrestrial Brownbul

White-fronted Bee-eater

Fish Eagle

Red-bill Firefinch

Red-headed Weaver

Pin-tailed Whydah

Long-tailed Paradise whydah +○

Greater honeyguide calling

Wire-tailed swallow

Rock Martin

Dickinsons Kestrel

Cut-throat Finch

Red-billed Quelea

Terrestrial Brownbul

Black-headed Oriole

Red-capped Robin-chat

Yellow-bellied Greenbul

Yellow-breasted Apalis

Scimitarbill

Golden-tailed Woodpecker

Emerald-spotted Wood-dove

Verreaux’s eagle Owl heard

‘Pafuri picnic site is beautiful’ is an understatement. I have little doubt most places called ‘Eden’ are a pale shadow of Pafuri picnic site on the right bank of the Luvhuvhu. Bias, sure.

Notes for next time: Check out Kloppersfontein again. Spend a full day at Pafuri picnic site, a really a very special spot on the Luvhuvhu – see the insert pic in the collage above. Lots of birds; Big gang of Banded Mongooses; Big Nyala bulls soft-shoe stepping around each other in an elaborate polite-yet-wary macho display, vervets being chased by the camp superintendent. Nyala road nearby is beautiful.

~~oo0oo~~

Next – on to Mapungubwe.

Small World

Mopani camp was full. How about Letaba? I asked. Sorry, its also full. Sometimes getting into the Kruger National Park can be challenging. Let’s look outside the Park, Jessie; say within an hour of this Phalaborwa gate. Aha! She found Tingala Lodge on booking.com within our budget – set at R900 for the both of us sharing. And what a happy diversion it turned out to be. About 15km north of the Phalaborwa gate into Kruger Park, Tingala Lodge is terrific.

While we chilled on the big patio overlooking a waterhole, a lady arrived in a double-cab bakkie and I noticed a couple of cases of Painted Wolf wine being carried into her room. When she joined us on the patio where I was nursing a G&T, I said, ‘Lovely Wine, that Painted Wolf. My sister sells it in Durban.’

Oh, she said, Your sister must be Sheila! It’s my wine. My husband is the winemaker. I’m visiting lodges promoting it, asking them to include it on their wine lists. All sales help with Wild Dog conservation. I’ve just stayed at Lion Sands.

‘Yep, Sheila’s my sister. I love the labels,’ I said, ‘Who does your artwork?’

Originally, an artist who worked on a game lodge in Botswana.

‘Which lodge?’

Lloyds Camp on the Savute channel.

‘I knew an artist at Lloyds Camp,’ I said, ‘Jenny Song, she was there when we visited way back when.’

It was Jenny! She did our original artwork.

‘What a lovely person, we got on so well with her. My wife Trish bought something she painted. We had such a special time there,’ I said. ‘When we flew in from the Delta, back in the day, we were picked up at the landing strip by Emma, a young pink-cheeked Pom who said she was the chef, and she was on guest-fetching duty that day. She loaded us into the open Landrover and drove us right up an elephant’s bum at the waterhole on the way to camp. When we got to camp Emma had prepared a delicious lunch for us overlooking the camp waterhole in the channel, and we ate and drank ice-cold beers looking down on eles heads as they drank freshly-pumped water.’

I’m that Emma! said this Emma! I worked with Lionel and Jenny Song in Lloyds Camp in 1993. I loved driving new arrivals to Pump Pan to watch the eles.

In 2022 we had bumped into Emma the pink-cheeked Pom from our 1993 trip to Lloyds Camp! You sadly just have to behave wherever you go – someone, somewhere will know you – even 29 years later!

I carried on reminiscing about our time in Savute: ‘Our fellow guests were cabin crew from SouthWest Airlines in Texas, the world’s biggest airline at the time. We had to chase lions because of them and Lionel.’

That would be Doug and Linda, said Emma, and you won’t believe it, I was in contact with Linda just yesterday. We have kept in touch ever since! She’ll be amazed when I tell her who I met today.

I’ve since read Lloyd Wilmot’s book and he mentions Doug and Linda.

~~oo0oo~~

The next day we were due at Mopani Camp in Kruger, so we only stayed one night at Tingala Lodge. I’d love to go back. The birding was terrific, and on the way out we saw an African civet in broad daylight.

~~oo0oo~~

Birds at Tingala Lodge

Dark chanting goshawk - Brubru - Pearl-spotted owlet

Buffalo weaver - Groundscraper Thrush

Fiery-necked Nightjar calling

White Helmet-shrike - Arrow-marked Babbler

Golden-breasted Bunting - Black-headed Oriole

Fork-tailed Drongo - Crested Barbet - Black-bellied Starling

Sabota Lark

Then a Civet cat in broad daylight as we drove out!

Chilling in the Mopane

Zena said We must go to Kruger, my man Martin is a fabulous guide. I said Let’s Go!, and when August rolled round there we were, chilling in the mopane woodlands around Mopani Rest Camp in the famous Kruger National Park, drinking gin and tonic, gazing out over Pioneer dam from our under-thatch bird-watching stoep.

– seek out chalet 43 in Mopani Camp –

Martin Brasg is an honorary ranger and runs Laughing Hyena Safaris. His experienced Kruger Park nose soon led us to great sightings – big ones, feathered ones and little ones too.

Suddenly! We spotted some spots in the mopane shadows! With great skill we tracked the shadowy spots through the dappled sun and shade of the mopane woodland. What could it be?

Hey, it was! It was a . . a . . leopard! Kruger’s holy grail. With great tracking skill, we had found it:

– Martin showed us how to tell that it was a boy leopard –

. . . ‘course, we actually found it the traditional Kruger Park way:

– check the Sharkie going offroad to shove in front of us – tut tut – most un-Natal-like –

To celebrate we had lots more gin & tonic, which improved our sightings even more:

A keen photographer and Canon ambassador, Martin aimed his long lens out the window and later let us have some of his pics:

. . and he made us a video:

and he taught us a new bird species: the Burchell’s Poupol

~~oo0oo~~

The Art of the Game Drive

I gave a talk in the Kruger Park once called The Art of the Game Drive. It was magnificent, complete with exciting sightings and livestreaming. Pity was, I had an unappreciative audience. Well, they were from behind the boerewors curtain, so . . you know how they are.

It almost sounded like they had a pet monkey with them, as they kept muttering Ari Aap as I drove them serenely in quiet splendour and exquisite comfort in my VW Kombi 2,1 in subtle camouflage blue and white. But you won’t believe this, when I stopped to examine old poo there was audible sighing. Philistines. The talks are still wildly popular, but I notice none of that particular batch were ever repeat guests. And I mainly have repeat guests. *

*Like Jessie. She has been a repeat guest dozens – scores – of times. She can appreciate the Art of the Game Drive. ‘Specially if she has her phone, her music and noise-cancelling earphones with her.

~~~oo0oo~~~