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Pygmy -- go and enjoy

By the way , did you know that Shingwedzi was voted by Hon rangers as Best run camp for 2008 , 2010 and 2011 ?

Did you know that as from dec 2011 the day visitors picnic area was moved to just before the main camp entrance on the right , and there is no longer a view of the river ?
There was excessive congestion around the wht you know as the current / old picnic site , I understand the old one is / will be closed.

We were in Shingwedzi from 11 till 18 May and been kept awake by lions for 6 out of the 7 nights. Great camp with fantastic game viewing.

Shingwedzi is one of the best camps to spot Lions and I am saying from experiance because there is a huge pride of Lions which call Shingwedzi home and there main area is around and very close to the camp itself. I have stayed at Shingwedzi for many years now and every time I have stayed there, I have seen Lions and heard them at night as well.

Shingwedzi is awesome!!

Even with some new upgrades it still retains it's old world bush feeling.
The first time I ever stayed there, I felt I was in Africa proper!!

We are staying there in December, and can't wait!

Hoping the restaurant wont serve cold toasties though, as last time we were there Nov 2011 they were awful.

We will be staying at Shingwedzi in a few weeks from now!
I love the area around Mopani, and we always go up to Shingwedzi when we stay at Mopani.

Is it possible to do a day trip from Shingwedzi to Punda Maria? And Pafuri?

The north really is my favourite part of the park

Yes its is perfectly possible. A long day, you need to be out from gate opening time and back late

The Mahonie loop is the S99, the road that "circles" Punda Maria.

Hi Michael,
We stayed at Shingwedzi 27 and 28 July 2012. LOVELY CAMP. The story about the Lions is true .... quite vocal We saw some of the big named Tuskers in the riverbed in front of the Restaurant and there was a Verreaux's Eagle Owl in front of our hut.

Remember the S50 to the "South" of the camp. Here you visit a dry Kanniedood Dam. There is a beautiful bird hide along the way where we saw Kudu and Nyala at the hide, and further on the BEAUTIFUL Grootvlei Dam with Elephants, Tuskers and there was a large herd of Buffs at the same time. The usual impala, Kudu, Kori birds and a fish Eagle. You then carry on to Tihongonyeni where we nearly always see Roan, Tsessebe, Eland, Kori's, Kittlitz's Plover, named Tuskers.

To the North, you can visit Pafuri loop and Picnic area/ Crooks Corner/ Nyala loop, etc and go back to Shingwedzi before gate closing time.

Hi Ndloti,
Good to hear from you There was not much water in front of the hide, but on the right hand side it looks a bit better. Here are a few photos that we took on 28 July 2012:

To the left when you sit in the hide


Directly in front of the hide



On the right hand side


There were not any birds, but it was a windy day and still early. We saw Nyala, Kudu and Impalas around the hide.

Hi Ndloti,
That photos was indeed taken at the Nyawutsi hide. We did not visit the Kanniedood hide this time.

Oh dear

But Grootvlei has water still? The red rocks waterhole is closed. There really is not much to drink up there in such dry times

Good morning Cheetah,
When was the waterhole at Red Rocks closed? We were there on 30 July 2012 and there was enough water for a large herd of Buffalo. If you want me to I will post a photo this evening?

(I did post a pic somewhere of Grootvlei Dam with Tuskers having a bath end of July).

Tannie V

Ag cheetaikie! So good to hear that! Well, now I guess I'll have to write one!

I do know that sightings are better in dry periods - have experienced that numerous times. It just sounds like most of the water in the area is drying up. And with NO water - animals might migrate... Hopefully we'll get some early spring rains...



I must say - I would love to experience that as well. But for now - I want to see the North in springtime. Last year we saw the North in June. Also lovely! Still had quite a bit of water. I'm hoping some of the birds will be back by late Sept that we may have missed in June...

Good morning Bushbuddies,
You can maar go to Shingwedzi. We have been there end of July and saw an abundance of animals. Perhaps we should have written a TR

There was a giant eagle owl in the camp , and there were babies as well. We again took nice photos of crested guinea fowl and crowned hornbills. We even found a yellow spotted nicator. What was also nice was the large number of ground hornbills we saw .... there were 9 of them in one of the groups. We found them from Phalaborwe gate up to Pafuri.

Roan, Eland, Tsetse - we found them at Tihongonyeni and Klopperdam. A must is of course is Grootvlei Dam - there was enough water for a large herd of elephants and buffalo to play in the end of July.

Conclution - go and enjoy the North and Shingwedzi