Most people who visit Kruger National Park make a point of going to the southern part because of its accessibility and proximity to international airports and the main centres of the region. Fortunately the landscape is favourable for seeing an abundance of animals, including the Big Five. Whilst it is nice to be able to see all these, one pays a price and the price is overcrowding, with many vehicles vying for positions to see the animals. If, like us, you’re used to the relative peace and quiet of the game reserves to the north of South Africa’s borders, these crowds can be a bit off-putting. So it was with happy hearts that we left Satara as soon as the gates opened and headed north to the quieter part of the Park – our destination for the day being the camp at Punda Maria.
It’s a long drive of 245 kms and with a speed limit of 50 kms per hour it’s a good day’s journey. It takes a long time to cover the distance because you stop often to look at birds and animals. Our first great sighting was a tree full of White Storks. They looked like baubles on a Christmas tree!
We hadn’t gone much further when we were confronted by a small herd of elephants walking down the road towards us. There was no way of getting past them and they seemed determined not to leave the road. They ended up pushing us back a kilometer or two as they plodded steadily towards us, unconcerned about the time we were losing. After what seemed like an eternity they left the road and we were able to proceed. The area north of Olifants Camp has large tracts of Mopani trees, a favourite with elephants, so we were to see many more on our trip up to Punda Maria.
Dawn in the Park is an awesome time. We came across a Yellow-billed Kite feasting on a hare. The Kite was undaunted by our presence and made the most of its meal while we clicked away and got some nice photos. The Kite wasn’t eating alone – can you see the beetle that was also interested in getting a piece of the action?
Spurfowls and Koorhaans are also found in great numbers along this route. They favour the road for some reason, which makes it easy to get photos of them.
The variety of animals thins out as you head north, so unless you’re a birder, you could be disappointed. We saw loads of Spotted Hyenas, which I will blog about separately, but apart from them and the elephants, there were hardly any other animals. Raptors, both large and small were plentiful, the smaller one’s being Amur Falcons, which were everywhere. Close to Shingwedzi we saw a Broadbill Roller for the first time on the trip. This, together with colourful Red-headed Weavers (both male and female), was very exciting. There were European Rollers everywhere – it would be nice if the Broadbills and Racket-tail Rollers were as prolific.
We actually arrived at Punda Maria in good time, but the heavens opened up as we were unloading our vehicle, so poor Rob was drenched. Nothing that a good cup of coffee couldn’t sort out though. Next blog about the lovely area between Punda Maria and Pafuri – new ground for us.
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