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Took some really nice pics while this ellie was 'mudding' and drinking... and decided that if you put that up in a quizz it could be ANYWHERE so took one through the fence so people could realise it was in a camp...

At BnD I had the best drive of my life.
We just arrived at the park.
At about 4, we decided to go for a little drive, you know, see an impala here and there.
1 abd a half hours later, we came back and saw four of the big five. in total we didnt drive more than 12 km.
the very next morning as we left, we saw rhino on the road,my personal record on the fastest time in seeing the big five
SO whenever I hear people say that BnD is a terrible place for game, I have the perfect retaliation.
Also perhaps intially with all the building and roads the animals couldve been frightened away, now they have settled and are abundantr there.

Within a 12 km from BnD saw Leopard, Rhino, Buffalo, Elephant and Lion ... not to mention Impala as well ... never forget Impala

We are visting BnD in December. This will be our first attempt at birding in Kruger. Looking at the posts we have a good chance of seeing the big 5.

It is our first stay in BnD and we booked perimeter bungalows. Does anybody know which bungalows we should ask for?

Yes Gwen, you will see the dam area from there. It is just to the top of the walking path alongside the dam. There are many trees on the wateredge which may hamper views of the dam considerably.

@ Everyone: Also remember that walking alongside the dam on the camp path is on own risk. Don't come cry by us Argentinia if a leopard takes you out there. You will see the warning board on the fence.

Berg-en-Dal is surely situated in one of the more picturesque areas of Kruger. I heard about several people not liking the camp very much because the building style is so much different from the older traditional camps. Personally I love the camp.

Regarding game viewing I will categorize it as an "average" area. Buffalo, giraffe, klipspringer, kudu, lion and leopard are all quite regularly seen. But it is a very good area for elephant sightings. I reckon Berg-en-Dal area ia about the best in the whole park to see wild dog and white rhino.

Personally I will not really bother to travel any other routes than the S110/H3 circular route. You can do this as an early morning drive before breakfast. After breakfast you can do exactly the same road again and see totally different game. Your late afternoon drive can be very rewarding again. The H3 between both S110 junctions is a good road for leopard and white rhino. Matjulu is a wonderful spot for elephant. I had my best wild dog sightings on the gravel part of the S110. And white rhino is fairly common on the S110 (tar and gravel).

The S119 (Mhlambane Loop) can also be a very rewarding piece of road. Had beautiful sightings of lion and big buffalo herds on this road.

This camp always produces something if you stay on the boundary fence. I've seen the following in 9 nights spend there (Seen from my chalet)
Hippo, waterbuck, blue wildebeest, Zebra, impala, hyena, wild dog, elephant & white rhino. I've just missed lion, my neighbours showed me the tracks they made next to the fence minutes prior to my arrival from a morning gamedrive.

This is also one of my lucky cheetah & leopard areas (Seen outside the camp)

I can recommend this camp when the dry seasons in the Central and Northern areas set in, as the game then seems to flock in this direction.

Don't think the wetness has got anything to do with it. Pkop gets the most rain in the whole Park and it is host to good cheetah populations.

The environment just don't suit cheetah. They like open flat terrain which BnD is not.

I was very surprised to hear about your cheetah sightings there. Well done indeed.

Cheetah sightings were noted frequently (mother & 1 cub) during Dec03/Jano4 around Malelane camp turnoff. We've only managed to pick up their tracks, did not get the sighting though.

Over the Matjulu bridge

Hi
Saw Cheetah on the road from Malelane Gate Road to B&D Camp in these years 96, 97 and 99. I have not since seen them in the area. Have not visited B&G last two years though, so not up to date on recent cheetah sighting there.

Hi drp_69 and welcome
No problem at all with Berg-en-dal, it's a lovely camp.
It is one of the more modern camps, only 20+ years old and nearer the edge of the Kruger than most, which could be the reason they still have accommodation.
It has a nice restaurant, shop and petrol station.
Go for it and have a wonderful trip,

Hi drp_60. As Freda, I can also give you a total thumbs up on B&D If you read through this thread, you'll see some people believe that the fact that B&D is close to the boundary detracts from the experience (somewhat). In my opinion not so.

We've stayed there for two nights in Dec. '05. I wouldn't describe the restaurant as "awesome", but just "nice" as per Freda's comment. However, there were notices up explaining that the new caterers were still in the process of taking over, so it might have improved since our visit.

The road to the camp is in my opinion as safe as any other road leading to the other gates of KNP.

Other than that, I would definitely recommend B&D. We had an awesome time there in December. Leopard caught an impala in a ravine just outside the fence and stayed there for a few days for all in the camp to see. We also saw the big five during our 2 day stay at B&D and just missed various wild dog sightings when we were there.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Hi drp_69. I agree with Freda and Obelix. I think it's a great camp. We had a great sighting of two male lions on the S110 leading to the camp and saw one of the biggest herds of buffalo we've ever seen on the S110 (Matjulu Loop).

The accommodation is very modern. We also had dinner at the Restaurant and enjoyed it. If you can find accommodation there, you should definitely give it a try. You'll have a great time.

It is on the S114 and is the Timfenheni just before the S121.