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Hi all,

In 2 weeks time our family will be back in Kruger. We are so excited!
We have been dreaming about this trip for a full year now and I know we will experience 10 wonderful nights in Kruger!
We leave for paradise on the 22nd of June

Our planned trip looks like this:

3 nights @ Bnd
2 nights @ LS
2 nights @ Tamboti
1 night @ Olifants
2 nights @ Crocodile bridge

Will give a detailed trip report when we return...

Hi all,

Thanks for the great wishes!! Just one night then we will be in KNP

Tomorrow this time we will be at BnD. Just can't wait....

Hi all!

Ready for the first day of our trip!

Day 1 : 22 June 2008

We left the Vaal early on the morning of 22 June 2008. We were very excited to return to the place we have been dreaming about for the past year. We also travelled in our new X-Trail, bought especially for our trips to all our wonderful national parks in SA.
We travelled safely to our first pitstop at Milly's restaurant for an early lunch.



We entered the park at Malelane gate at 13:00. It was amazing to smell the bush and to escape for the next 10 days from all the things going on in the world outside the park. I'm pretty sure that this is the place on earth closest to heaven.

As we entered the park we travelled directly to Berg en Dal on the S110 tar road.
We absolutely adore this camp! Probably the camp with the best "Kruger" atmosphere in the park. We booked there for 3 nights. On the S110 tar road to the camp we saw a lot of different animals, and the promise of what's to come in the next few days...
S110 tar road
Animals:
Vervet monkeys
Bushbuck
Cape Buffalo (1)
Impalas
Crocodile (2)
Elephants (2)


White rhino (2)


Birds:
Fish-Eagle
Vultures
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

We got bungalow #80 as requested a few weeks before our trip. We unpacked and went for a walk with our baby in the camp. She is now 14 months and her only mission is to explore everything by herself!




What a great start to our trip! It felt as if things just can't get any better but believe me they did...

Hi S&J. Get them hooked when they are young eh

Hi all,

Think it is about time for the report on Day 2 in the park. Thanks for all the responses, will make sure you guys hear all about our 10 days in the park!

Day 2 : 23 June 2008

Well at 6:15 that morning we left the gate at Berg en Dal for our morning drive of about 2 hours. We decided to break the day up in a morning drive, afternoon at the camp and another drive late afternoon. That is to give Antonique (baby) time to play at camp and explore Berg and Dal.

We went on the Majulu (S110 sand road) as we left the gate and travelled the loop, back on the S110 tar road to camp. We saw the following animals:

S110 sand road

Animals:
Impalas


Giraffes


Lion (1 male)


Kudu (3)
White rhino (1)
Zebras

S110 tar road

Animals:
Impalas

Birds:
Giant Kingfisher
Lilac-breasted Roller
Magpie Shrike
Spurfowl

We also saw the carcass of a giraffe on the Majulu loop:



Back at camp at 8:30. Very excited about the male lion that we saw on our first day. What's even better is that we were only two cars at the lion sighting and we stayed there for about 20 minutes.

We decided to make a potjie that afternoon before our next drive so that we could have supper ready when we return late afternoon. Good plan if you have a baby that is hungry, needs to be bathed and put to bed during the time you normally prepare supper!

Before our drive that afternoon we were treated to a very special sighting from the camp fence. We saw elephants passing our bungalow fence at midday on their way to the dam at Berg en Dal to drink water. We followed them along the fence to the dam where we saw them drinking water and taking a mud bath. Very special sighting!!





We went on our late afternoon drive at 15:00. All the cooking done... ready to eat when we return. Travelled on the following roads:

S110 sand road

Animals:
Giraffes
Elephant (1)
White rhino (3)


Birds:
Lilac-breasted Roller

S120 road
Impalas
Kudus

S114 road
Impalas
Elephants

S121 road
Impalas

We returned to camp at 17:15. We had a nice peaceful evening (only from 20:00, when Antonique fell asleep ). We had a nice potjie and a glass of Amarula while discussing the days sightings and dreaming of what we will see the following day and days to come...

Hi all,

Things have been very hectic lately at work. This makes me miss the tranquility of Kruger even more! Did not get time to post the next edition of our trip report. Think it is time for the report on Day 3 in the park. Thanks for all the responses, will make sure you guys hear all about our 10 days in the park!

Day 3 : 24 June 2008

We left camp this morning at 6:25 for our morning drive.

Our route for that morning were planned as follow. We travelled on the S110 tar road to the H3. Before we reached the H3, I had a sighting (and smell!)of a different kind...


Believe me this one was a shocker because baby Antonique is teething!
After changing the nappy, we turned onto the H3 towards Afsaal, where we ate breakfast. We returned to camp via the H3, then took the S120 (Steilberg road) joining up with the S110 sand road (Majulu). We saw the following animals:

S110 sand road
Animals:
Buffalo


Giraffes
Elephants

Birds:
Lilac-breasted Roller


S110 tar road
Animals:
Impalas
Elephants

S120
Animals:
Impalas
Kudu (3)

Birds:
Red-billed Hornbill

H3
Animals:
Wildebeest
Spotted hyena


Impalas
Elephants
Kudu (1)


Birds:
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

Back at camp we took a walk and relaxed the rest of the afternoon. Saw elephants and waterbuck drinking at the Berg en Dal dam during the afternoon.


We also packed a few things in the trailer as we will be leaving for Lower Sabie early the following morning.

Later we travelled on the following roads on our afternoon drive:

S110 sand road
Animals:
Impalas
Giraffes
White rhino (3)


Birds:
Magpie Shrike (2)
Woolly-necked Stork (1)

S110 tar road
Animals:
Impalas
Elephants (2)
White rhino (1)

We returned to camp just before gate closing time.


We enjoyed a braai on our last evening. Very excited about our move to LS the next day but also sad to leave Berg en Dal. Berg en Dal just has that something different... we are not quite sure what it is, but it has a charm that make us want to come back for more...

Hi all,

Ready for day 4 of our trip!

Day 4 : 25 June 2008

We left camp this morning at 6:50. We were very excited about our next camp, Lower Sabie. We love that area but haven't been fortunate to get a booking there lately... up to now!

Our route for that morning were planned as follow. We travelled on the S110 tar road to the H3. From the H3 onto the H1-1 and then onto the H4-1.
On the S110 we were lucky to see 2 lions next to the road.



Other sightings on the S110 that morning:
S110 tar road
Animals:
Impalas
Elephants
Buffalo
Giraffes
Duiker

Birds:
Lilac-breasted Roller
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

Sightings on the H3 that morning:
H3
Animals:
Wildebeest
Impalas
Elephants
Warthogs
Giraffes
White rhino
Zebra

Birds:
Eagles (not sure what kind)
Bateleur

Travelling on the H1-1 we saw:

H1-1
Animals:
Bushbuck
Impalas
Elephants
Warthog
Giraffes

Birds:
Brown Snake Eagle

Baby Antonique also enjoyed the day in KNP


On the H4-1 we saw:

H4-1
Animals:
Baboons
Bushbuck
Kudu
Crocodiles
Hippo's
Impalas
Giraffes

We arrived at LS camp at 14:30 and had to unpack very quickly as I booked a sunset drive for myself that evening. My wife was kind enough to look after Antonique by herself that evening! The sunset drive was a wonderful and cold experience! We saw only general game... no predators, but it was still worth it!


Went to bed that evening... very happy to be in the best possible place in the world!!!

Hi all,

Ready for day 5!

Day 5 : 26 June 2008

We left camp early this morning at about 6:00. We were very excited because we heard the constant roar of lions through the night. Lower Sabie is a lovely area and I understand why this camp is basically fully booked right through the year. As we left the gate the guard on duty told us that the lions can't be very far off... maybe a kilometre away.

Our route for that morning were planned as follow. We travelled on the H4-1 road and turned onto the H10. We then turned onto the S128 and from there onto the S29. Then back to the H10 and onto the H4-1 back to camp.

It was a beautiful morning and I could just sense that we were in for some great sightings...



H4-1 road
Animals:
Bushbuck
Buffalo
Lions (2 lions sleeping opposite the Sabie river next to the rocks)


Sightings on the H10 that morning:
H10
Animals:
Crocodiles (bridge over Sabie river)
Hippo

The S128 produced the following sightings:
Animals:
Duiker
Hyaena (2)
Black-backed jackals (3)
Lioness (1)
Impalas
Giraffes
Small-spotted Genet

Birds:
Vultures (not sure what kind)

I must tell you more about our Hyaena/Jackal sighting! Driving along the S128 we saw 2 hyaenas next to the road. We stopped and switched of the engine. We then discovered that they were busy eating... you could hear bones crunch as their strong jaws opened and closed. Then we saw 3 jackals... actually trying to steal some of the hyaenas kill. It was amazing to see how sly these jackals were, and I could not believe their braveness or stupidity. Each time the hyaenas chased them away from the kill, but each time the jackals managed to get a piece of meat before they ran to a safe spot to eat. This happened a few times until the jackals had enough to eat. They then disappeared very quickly into the bushes. What made this extra special was the fact that we were the only people at this sighting.




Travelling on the S29 we saw:

S29
Animals:
Impalas
Warthog
Kudu
Waterbuck
Zebras
Steenbok

Was surprised to find the Mlondozi dam empty!!


Back at camp we decided to prepare our food for that evening... so we could just warm it up later. We took a walk through the camp and looked at all the bungalows where renovations had been done.

Our afternoon drive was in the direction of Crocodile bridge. We travelled on the S82, H4-2, S130 and the H10

On the H4-2 we saw:

H4-2
Animals:
Kudu
Impalas
Giraffes
Lion (1)
Elephants
Warthogs

Birds:
Fish-Eagle

S82
Animals:
Impalas
Warthogs

S130
Animals:
Kudu
Impalas
Giraffes
White rhino
Warthogs
Zebra
Mongoose

H10
Animals:
Crocodiles (bridge over Sabie river)
Hippo

Birds:
Pied Kingfisher


We arrived back at camp at 17:20. We ate the food we prepared earlier that day and tried to get baby to sleep. Antonique is a sound sleeper and normally she falls asleep before 8pm. But that night was a different story... we struggled till 9:15 when she eventually fell asleep! What made this even more stressful was the fact that we had planned to meet up with Mads and Betelgeuse that evening and they had to wait until Antonique were asleep! Anyway, we had a nice enjoyable evening with them and we discussed all our wonderful KNP sightings, as well as the things that frustrated us, like irresponsible people in the park, speeding in the park, poaching etc.
We went to bed just before twelve that evening.

We had a wonderful day!

Hi all,

It has been a while... we are very busy and finding time for our trip report isn't all that easy! Anyway we decided to return to Kruger for a 4 night breakaway in October! We will be staying at Orpen for 2 nights and Tamboti for 2 nights. I promised myself to finish this trip report before we embark on our next trip from the 1st - 4th of October 2008.

Enjoy day 6!

Day 6 : 27 June 2008

We left LS camp that morning at about 6:10. We were very excited because we were heading for Tamboti. We've read quite a lot about this wonderful tented camp on the forum and just couldn't wait to experience the camp firsthand.

Our route for that morning were fairly simple. We planned to stay on the tar roads as Lower Sabie and Tamboti is far apart. We travelled on the H10 towards Tshokwane and from there turned onto the H1-3 towards Satara. Then turned onto the H7 towards Tamboti camp.

It was a beautiful morning... Lower Sabie is really an amazing area with regard to sightings, sunsets and the general landscape. We just love that place!

Sightings for that day:

H10 road
Animals:
Baboons


Impalas
Klipspringer
Steenbok
Warthogs
Waterbuck
White Rhino
Hyaena (2 early morning close to the bridge at the H10 turnoff)

Was VERY surprised to find the Orpen dam also empty!! Seems this is a very dry year in KNP.


We had a nice breakfast at Tshokwane and then continued our trip to Tamboti

Sightings on the H1-3 that morning:
H1-3
Animals:
Blue Wildebeest


Baboons
Buffalo (1)
Impalas
Giraffes
Kudu
Elephant (1)
Waterbuck (1)
Zebras

We stopped at Satara for lunch. Took this beautiful photograph of our



The H7 produced the following sightings:
Animals:
Baboons (again)


Buffalo (1)
Impalas
Giraffes
Crocodile (1)
Warthogs
Waterbuck
Zebras

Birds:
Bateleur (3)
Red-crested Korhaan (1)

We arrived at Tamboti at 14:30. I asked for tent no.40 and we got tent no.40! What a wonderful little camp! We unpacked and settled on the deck to enjoy the amazing view over the Timbavati river (which is dry in June). That night Junita prepared a nice meal which we enjoyed on deck with a glass of Amarula. We also got a visit from a hyaena patrolling the fence!

The only thing I missed was a proper spotlight, as there were a lot of nightlife down in the riverbed.
Tamboti was also quite chilly at night and early mornings... very different from all the other camps we visited. Tamboti is personally my favourite camp!

Hi all,

Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas. It has been a while but it is now time for day 7 of our trip.

Day 7 : 28 June 2008

Tamboti is different from all the other camps. A real bush experience. It was very cold early that morning, felt like our Gauteng winter mornings. As you can see from the picture, baby Antonique was planning our trip for the day


We decided on the following route for our morning drive. We travelled along the H7, then onto the S106. Back onto the H7 until we got to the S36 turnoff. We travelled along this road and then we took the S126. Back onto the H1-3 towards Satara and from Satara we took the H7 back to camp. Now that you've got the route let's look at the wonderful sightings of that morning.

H7 road
Animals:
Baboons (1)
Blue Wildebeest

Impalas
Giraffes
Kudu
Warthogs
Waterbuck
Zebras

Birds:
African Fish-Eagle (1)

Eagle (unknown to us) (1)
Crested Barbet (1)

Sightings on the H1-3 road
Animals:
Baboons
Blue Wildebeest
Buffaloes

Impalas
Kudu (1)
Lions (2)
Waterbuck (1)
Zebras

S36
Animals:
Red Duiker (1)
Impalas
Elephant (1)
Zebras
Ostrich (1)
Dwarf Mongoose

The S126 produced the following:
Animals:
Blue Wildebeest (1)
Impalas
Giraffes
Zebras

A nice cat footprint:

Kudu
Warthog (1)
White rhinos

Baby Antonique decided to take her nap on this wonderful road


The S106:
Animals:
Impalas
Kudu
Zebras
Springhare (1)


We arrived back at camp between 13:00 and 14:00. We enjoyed wonderful sightings during the morning, but the best was yet to come. As we passed the fence next to our tent we saw the following:




This elephant bull was so close to us we could actually hear his stomach growl while he was eating. We saw how he used his trunk to break branches off and we could hear him crunching away on various plants and trees. A truely memorable experience

We went for a late afternoon drive on the Rabelais loop. We didn't see much, but enjoyed the afternoon in the bush. Sightings on the drive:

The S106:
Animals:
Impalas

The H7:
Animals:
Blue Wildebeest (1)
Warthogs

The S140:
Animals:
Impalas
Birds:
Kori Bustard (1)

We returned to camp just before gate closing time. That evening I was visited by a Hyaena at the fence.

Probably hoping for some meat from our braai He stayed for a while, but left soon enough as he realized he is not going to get any meat. Is there still people feeding these animals? I hope not!!!

Hi all,

I managed to find some time for day 8 of our trip. Hope you enjoy this insert.

Day 8 : 29 June 2008

We left Tamboti this morning bright and early for Olifants. We stuck to the main roads namely the H7, H1-4, H1-5 and the H8.
We were blessed with many different sightings during the day - the most in a single day thus far.

H7 road
Animals:
Blue Wildebeest
Baboons
Impalas
Giraffe (1)
Kudu
Crocodile (1)
Elephants
Steenbok
Warthogs
Waterbuck

Zebra

Birds:
Eagle (1)(unsure what kind)
African Grey Hornbill (1)
Kori Bustard (1)

On the H1-4 road
Animals:
Blue Wildebeest
Baboons
Buffaloes
Hyaena (1)



Impalas
Giraffes
Kudu
Crocodiles
Lion (1 male)


Leopard
Elephants



Hippopotamus

Steenbok
Warthogs
Zebra

Birds:
Vultures (3) (not sure what kind)
Kori Bustard (1)

H1-5 road
Animals:
Zebra

H8 road
Animals:
Impalas
Giraffes



The leopard is a very sad story... my wife and about a 100 other people saw the leopard lying between the rocks about 70m from the road. I couldn't see this elusive animal, even though my wife patiently directed me a thousand times

We arrived at Olifants early afternoon.


This is truely a beautiful place. The views from camp is out of this world.


We went for a short drive late afternoon to explore the area, as we only booked 1 night at this camp. Antonique had to make 100% sure all was well with her hair before we left camp


On the S44
Animals:
Blue wildebeest
Impalas
Nyala (1)

S92 road
Animals:
Impalas
Elephants



Hippos
Waterbuck

H8 road
Animals:
Impalas

A few pictures of the Olifants:




It was a windy night - not ideal for a braai. We decided to get takeaways from the restaurant. I remember falling asleep later that evening, listening to the hippos down below in the Olifants river.

Hi everyone!

Can't believe I'm still not finished with this report But I must say, I spend most of my time reading all the other trip reports on the forum.

Well today I'm going to post day 9 of our wonderful trip

Hope you enjoy

Day 9 : 30 June 2008

We left Olifants early that morning for our final camp, Crocodile bridge. We were looking forward to our stay there, as the area around Crocodile bridge is famous for lots of big 5 sightings

We travelled on the H8, turned onto the H1-5, then onto the H1-4 and H1-3. From Tshokwane we followed the H10 to Lower Sabie and then the H4-2 to Crocodile bridge. We also travelled about 5km on the H6 as news spread about lions next to the road.
Also travelled on the H7 for a few kilometers to try our luck there.

Our sightings for that day:

H8 road
Animals:
Impalas
Kudu




H1-5 road
Animals:
Impalas

H1-4 road
Animals:
Blue Wildebeest
Hyaena with pups (2 different hyaena sightings)










Impalas
Giraffe
Kudu


Steenbok (2)
Warthogs
Zebra


Birds:
Red-crested Korhaan (1)
Ostrich (2)

H1-3 road
Animals:
Blue Wildebeest
Buffaloes




Giraffes
Steenbok (1)
Warthogs
Waterbuck
Zebras

H7 road
Animals:
Impalas
Giraffe
Warthogs

H6 road
Animals:
Blue Wildebeest
Buffaloes
Impalas
Kudu
Steenbok (1)
Lions (2)

H10 road
Animals:
Baboons
Impalas
Kudu
Giraffes


Elephants
Steenbok (1)
Warthogs (Drinking water from a motorcar's aircon)


White rhinos

Birds:
Kori Bustard (1)

H4-2 road
Animals:
Baboons
Impalas
Giraffes
Elephants


Hippo
Warthogs
Waterbuck

Birds:
Brown snake eagle


We also came across a buffalo carcass, surrounded by vultures! We opened the car window and we could smell the rotten meat and hear the eerie sounds made by the vultures






More pictures:




We arrived at Crocodile bridge camp delighted to be booked in at bungalow no.9. According to many people, the bungalow with the best view.








We unpacked and had a wonderful braai that evening with a few hyaenas visiting us at the camp fence later that evening

Hi I'm back,

Thanks Lorrainepring, Meandering mouse, Petra Jacobs, Safrica and painter for the positive feedback

Now for the final installment of this report:

Hope you enjoy

Day 10 and 11 : 1, 2 July 2008

We left camp, Crocodile bridge, bright and early that morning. It was a very misty morning which made sightings difficult. Seemed as if the animals were still "sleeping" as there wasn't too much animal activity.







We travelled on practically all the famous roads in that area, the S29, H4-2, H10, S28, S130 and S137. Saw lots of general game, but no predators, until a bit later...

Our sightings for that day:

S29 road
Animals:
Impalas

S130 road
Animals:
Warthogs

H4-2 road
Animals:
Buffaloes
Impalas
Giraffe
Kudu
Crocodile (1)

Lioness hunting (2)





This was the highlight of our trip. We always wanted to see a hunt in the park and well... we did. Although not successful, we were speechless after we witnessed the whole episode. A female lion was sitting right next to the busy H4-2 road, a few kilometres from LS. Her partner was hiding in the bushes a few metres away. There was a herd of impalas right in front of us crossing the road. The impalas became agitated, I think they probably knew there were lions in the area but they didn't know where.
Then the two female lions made their move Chaos! - as each impala ran in a different direction. We couldn't see if the lions caught anything, but moments later the two ladies walk past the front of our car - exhausted from the chase. They looked at us and seemed a bit embarassed about the whole episode They then turned away, crossed the road and made their way down to the Sabie river.

Birds:
Lots of vultures

H10 road
Animals:
Hippo


S28 road
Animals:
Impalas
Giraffe
Duiker (1)
Blue wildebeest

S137 road
Animals:
Blue Wildebeest
White rhino (1)

After a very exciting morning we returned to camp. We spend the afternoon in camp walking around and relaxing. We left a bit later for our afternoon drive. Travelled on the S25, H4-2, H5 and S108

H4-2 road
Animals:
Impalas
Giraffes
Kudus
Elephants
Warthogs
White rhinos

S25 road
Animals:
Impalas
Warthogs

H5 road
Animals:
Impalas
Kudus
Hyaena (2)





S108 road
Animals:
Baboons

We returned to camp and had a wonderful braai on our last evening in the park.

More pictures of the day:







Baby Antonique at Lower Sabie:


"Train smash" at Lower Sabie:



Day 11 : 2 July 2008

We left camp early that morning as we decided the previous night to exit the park at Malelane gate. This will give us another opportunity to do some gameviewing

We travelled on the S114, S25, S110 and H4-2.

Sightings of that morning:

S25 road
Animals:
Impalas
Elephants
Hippo
Mongoose

Birds
Vultures

S114 road
Animals:
Buffaloes

Birds
African Fish Eagle

S110 tar road
Animals:
Impalas
Kudus
Elephants

H4-2 road
Animals:
Impalas

So we came to the end of another wonderful trip to the KNP.



Till next time...

Hi all,

Glad you enjoyed our report! Yes, writing these reports is hard work, but very fulfilling
Writing these reports makes you feel as if you are revisiting your trip...

We are really looking forward to our upcoming trip.
I have got a lot of ideas for our next report and I have learnt a lot from reading other forum reports.

Thanks for all the comments on this one