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Called there during the B'n'D weekend, saw hammerkop and lots of terrapins. Have seen ellie there on previous visits.
No pin board, don't think they usually have them at hides.
The entrance was a mess, overflowing dustbin and another black bag just inside the gate with all litter around it, I picked as much up as possible
At least they have repaired the steps up to the hide, was very dangerous.
This hide is sponsored by Sasol perhaps I must contact them to give it a little TLC.

Photo from about 3 weeks ago. Not much visiting while we were there, but it looked promising. Note that some maps show this hide on the corner of the S25 and S119, as does the description on this website. However, it is in fact further along on the S119 - on a previous visit, I continued along the S25 in confusion and missed it.

Certainly more waterthere than I have seen there from previous years, in fact in June '05 it was totally dry.
Interesting to note the amount of green algae covering almost the entire pan in Acekam's pic but not seen in Freda's.
Wonder if it had been removed or just not visible?
I remember reading an article in the Kruger Times in Feb where it stated that that algae was not very good for the animals, Hippo in particular and caused liver damage.

Been there with and without water, saw plenty birds but no animals, but a few 100 meters down the road a herd of ellies which kept us entertained for ages as they played in water pools.

Whenever I'm in the South....not too often (26 27 28 Dec 06 at Biyamiti so will definitely go there. Have seen Thick billed Cuckoo down the road from hide, at hide saw the Afsaal wildog pack drink for 10 minutes and i've seen Black bellied Starling, Knob billed Duck, and Greater Honey guide. Its a great setting in the best part of the South

I have searched all sources of bird lists in Kruger. I could not find Black-bellied Starling in any of them. You were indeed very lucky to have spotted it. Should send it in to Trevor Hardaker for rarities list.

Wild Dogs Drinking at Gardenia

Black-bellied was recorded during the 2005 KNP birding weekend by a team(s) from Crocodile Bridge.

As far as I know this area, between Croc Bridge and Berg-en-Dal, is where they have mostly been seen.

That is correct it is the only known area in KNP where they are found....

Ja Mark there are 5 main packs in the big South bulge of the Park. .... Skukuza Pack usually dens around the Paul Kruger statue South of Skukuza and is often seen on the road to Kruger gate many KMs away. Then there is the Pretorius Kop Pack which I have only seen from the air flying with Gus when he was doing his weekly flight check of the 5 packs in the South (The Alpha female in each pack had a radio collar fitted so we just flew around high all morning until we heard the beeps then it was low over the deck until we had a visual from the very slow flying Parks Board Pilatus fixed wing....very interesting morning) The Afsaal Pack is quite small I have been told so when 5 individuals pitched at the hide it could have been them as the Malelane/ Bergen dal Pack is huge and its Range is big as well right from BND camp right through to Mocambique Boundary East of Croc Bridge Camp!!!. I cant remember the name of the 5th pack.... hope that helps for your next trip.

Wow Thanks So Much Peter

I have seen the Berg-En-Dal Pack & the Pretoriuskop Pack so far.

Was there this morning.

Bit of a problem with graffiti, although bins, steps etc were impeccable!



A quiet day, until this one came along!



And then a lone buffalo a few beers later!...

We spend quite a bit of time there, so am pleased to see some water around.

Have on more than one occassion seen a number of water dikkops hanging around this water hole, was there on Saturday 21 March 09 and saw about 10 of them.

At the moment it is SO FULL, the water almost reaches the road/parking area.

In April 2008 my mom and I stopped (only car) and as we walked down the passage, heard elephants. By the time we got to the hide, the first ones were just appearing from the left. They kept coming, a whole herd, it was fantastic! A big one at the back of the herd walked passed the hide - VERY close - very exciting! and I realised he could crush the hide in a second if he wanted to... was SO nice to be so close to them without confines of the car. They didn't drink but rather mud-bathed a bit and played around and eventually off they went again until you could see them no more. One of my highlight experiences in the KNP - elephant is my fav animal : )

Have also seen bats there - I always look up in the hides to look for them, even pop your head outside and look up (good spine-twisting exercise) where we saw a few on this hide too. Don't ask me what species! But the one we saw inside was one of the horseshoe types with a rusty coloured fur, too cute! I thought I had posted these pics before, but this would have been the logical place to put them. These were sitting on the outside:

These are Mauritian tomb bats and are normally seen roosting like this

Do you have a pic of the horseshoe?