The Kruger by Leon Heyes
In this country, we are so incredibly privileged to have wonderful, wildlife parks right on our doorstep. I cannot talk much about the KZN ones, but my favourite, by far, is the Kruger National Park. Because we have these wonderful opportunities, wildlife photography in this country is of an incredibly high standard. This is why it is so very difficult to get acceptances at any salon with wildlife images.
I try and make the pilgrimage to KNP at least once a year, but preferably twice a year. This year, sadly, due to personal reasons, it has only been once. This means that I had to make the most of it. My trip ran from the 1st to the 12th of September.
On the morning of the 1st of September, while leaving Maritzburg, just two kilometres from home a car bashed into me at the Athlone circle. This made me have second thoughts about going any further. Well, I thought, 2 kilometres down and 700 to go, I may as well do this, and I'm so glad I did.
When I go to Kruger, I usually reside in a timeshare unit just outside one of the gates. This time I spoilt myself with 4 nights inside the park at Berg-en-Dal camp, in the south. The reason I don't stay in the park very often is the cost. A bungalow costs just short of R2000 per night, and that adds up pretty quickly if you have four or five nights there. Yes, it does have its advantages and it also has it’s disadvantages. There is no radio, no TV, no Internet connectivity and no cell phone reception so you really feel as though you are isolated. Some people will say, “Oh well, that is wonderful!” but sadly, I do like to be in contact with the world! I suffer from FOMO!!
Although September heralds the start of Spring, the park has not seen rain for many months and everything is crispy dry! It was also noticeable that there had been a lot less veld burning than in previous years. This meant that there was a lot of long, yellow grass, which made game viewing exceptionally difficult. Most animals just disappeared into the grass, and the camouflage - even the zebra’s…made it very difficult to spot them.
Luckily, most of the major dams still had a bit of water. Sunset Dam was probably the fullest I have ever seen it but I am told that they do pump water into this dam from boreholes. Lake Panic was probably 10% of the size that it normally is, so bird viewing there was almost non-existent.
One good thing about a severe lack of water is that the animals have to come there sometime to drink. So if you are patient enough, and are prepared to sit and wait at a dam, you will probably see most of the animals.
One thing that is almost guaranteed is that if there is water, there are going to be elephants. I am aware that the elephant population within Kruger is getting unsustainably high and this I can attest too, because of the huge herds of elephants that congregate. They are social creatures and they do move in herds, so it is not uncommon to see 100 elephants at one spot at one watering hole. Really quite spectacular. They are so entertaining to watch, because of the love of water, and are heavily dependent on it. They love swimming, showering and dust bathing. Such a privilege and a pleasure to see.
I didn't travel any further north than Tshokwane picnic site. As in the past, again I had a scary moment with a troop of baboons. One mid-morning, at Tshokwane people were sitting around picnicking and having brunch…as one does there and a troop of baboons arrived and chased everybody. They then grabbed all the food they could and went off with it. This is pretty scary, considering that the huge Alpha male has incisors the same size as a Lion’s.
Another reason why it was pretty difficult to see a lot of game is because of the weather. In the 12 days stay I had a couple of days when the temperature was 41°…and if it wasn't 41, then it was 35 or 36. This does not help the cause of finding game.
They just hide away, under trees in the shade. If you are in tune with the veld you quickly learn where to look and how to spot game in difficult situations. (Last year there was 1 day that was 50 degrees!!). The Berg-en-Dal area was a bit sparse on any game and a lot of the roads were closed, so that didn’t help matters.
After my 4 days at Berg-en-Dal I spent a week at Ngwenya Lodge. Such a beautiful place and just 10km from the Crocodile Bridge gate. On 2 separate occasions, at exactly 6am when the gates opened, a herd of about 40-50 Impalas chose to walk over the access bridge in single file….at a snail’s pace. So strange to see this line of Impalas walking across the bridge. It’s a narrow, single lane bridge over the Crocodile river so everybody just has to wait patiently. In KNP the animals have right of way!
The second week was Lion week. There were Lions everywhere and on 1 specific day I had 7 Lion sightings. The problem is, when there are Lions, there is not much else…..everything hides, for their own safety! One thing that does not dissipate are the number of cars and traffic jams! HORRID!
No matter if the viewings are good or bad, or if the weather is cool or hot, it is ALWAYS a wonderful experience to be there and to be given the opportunity to recharge one’s batteries!
PS – my next trip is already booked…ie May/June 2026! Roll on May!