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Our long awaited visit to Kruger had eventually dawned. This would be our 11th trip to Kruger but with a difference - we would be camping for the first time. The costs of accommodation (with a roof over your head) have escalated to the point where big decisions had to be made - either camp or no Kruger. So it was with some trepidation that we pointed our Landy Defender north for the 1600 km trip to Punda Maria on the afternoon of Thursday 02 August. We reached Aliwal North by 18h00 and checked in for an early night brfore departing at 04h00 the next morning. This was a long haul - we hoped to reach Punda Maria before closing time but did have a Plan B if this did not materialize. I must confess that it felt quite strange driving through Johannesburg in a Landy towing an off-road trailer laden with camping gear! The first shock to our system was the number of toll gates - it cost us nearly R400 by the time we reached Loius Trichardt! The 1100 km that we covered went smoothly but we decided to pull in at a guest farm just outside Loius Trichardt where we spent the night - this was the sensible thing to do as we found out the next day. A huge helping of oxtail settled the "inner man" before a good and well deserved night's sleep beckoned. We set sail quite early, stopping in Louis Trichardt for last minute supplies before tackling the very challenging 120 km to the Punda Maria gate. This is why I said we did the right thing to stop over for the night. This drive was absolute hell - we witnessed some of the worst driving that I have ever seen which meant that it was a very slow drive. It was also sad to see how this beautiful part of the country has been totally ruined.
We eventually arrived at Punda gate at about 10h00 and were delighted to have reached our beloved park. Well things soon turned sour when I proceeded with our check-in. The facilities at the gate were really shabby and dirty, there were scores of locals hanging around the area and the old fellow who was manning the paper work seemed pretty clueless and not at all helpful. What disturbed me was an arguement that ensued between him and a fellow who clearly wanted entry to the park. It was obvious that this guy did not have the proper clearance papers to enter but he eventually got his own way and zooted off through the gate!
We checked in at Punda and set off to find a nice camping site - we thought being easrly would be great because we would be able to find a spot near the waterhole. Well this was a pipe dream - all occupied! Nevertheless we found a nice isolated site next to the fence up near the service entrance. Setting up camp went quickly despite the heat and soon we had our home for the next 4 days ready.
We had a nice cold beer and a rest before setting out for our first afternoon drive, deciding to head to the Klopperfontein Dam. The drive along the R60 was relatively quiet but things picked up once we turned onto the R62. This lone Buffalo posed for a nice pic





There is a lovely Baobab tree next to the S62 near the Klopperfontein waterhole. I wonder how old this tree is? It must have many stories to tell



A little way further we were very excited to see a couple of Eland in the distance. These were the first Eland that we had ever seen in Kruger.



The Klopperfontein Dam is one of my favourite spots to park off at so you can imagine our disappointment when we found the dam to be nothing but a huge mud bath! There were plenty of thirsty animals standing around too





The elephants seemed to be finding water deep down under the mud - it did seem a bit messy!







When the elephants departed there was a air of desperation as the animals tried to get to the "elephant made" waterholes. The mud was knee deep at times which clearly alarmed the Zebra



Further down near the dam wall the Zebra had discovered a hole which contained black muddy water which some of them drank out of sheer desperation. The scene was quite chaotic with Zebra all clamouring for whatever drop of water they could find



These Zebra made use of the dust and dry ground to rid themselves of unwanted parasites





We headed back via the H1-8 and H13-1 seeing this lovely Brown Snake Eagle and a handsome Elephant bull







Back in camp we soon found out that the Vervet Monkeys had raided our camp - chewing at our cooler box and even eating a hole out of our ground sheet - these critters became a real curse during our stay at Punda. We lit our fire, cracked open a nice cold ale, sat back and soaked up the bushveld air. We were back.... I kept worrying about how dry the conditions were and the desparation of the animals at Klopperfontein bugged me immensely. I suppose that is the on-going cycle of nature.

DAY 2

Were were up early and set off to drive the picturesque Mahonie Loop. What a lovely way to start the day! We drove really slowly simply soaking up the fresh morning air, sightings would be a bonus. The game did, however, seem very scarce and the only noteworthy sighting that we had was this family of Crested Guineafowl





On returning to our campsite which we had turned into a "monkey proof" fortress we found these little devils had raided our neighbours tent - matches were even a temptation! I wonder what this chap would have done if a match had caught alight!





I decided that enough was enough and went up to reception to report (I am sure many have done this before) the problems that the monkeys were causing. The dear lady at reception simply gave me a blank look and shrugged her shoulders - not interested. She then pointed out a fellow standing outside and told me to talk to him - apparently somebody with a bit of clout. He went on to give me a long lecture saying that it was our own fault that these monkeys had become problematic because "you people feed them..." Well that was not the answer that I was looking for. He clearly sensed my irritation and undertook to see if he could do something about it. Quite honestly I don't think he was at all bothered. We resigned ourselves to fighting off monkeys for the next 3 days.

The waterhole near the fence attracted a steady stream of game, Nyalas, in particular, were in abundance.



I wished that I could train this chap to chase the monkeys away!



It was intersting watching this Nyala bull sticking his horns in the mud - not sure why he was doing this







These Blue Waxbills visited us at our tent

DAY 2 CONTINUED...

We decided to do a circular route via Klopperfontein Dam again as part of our afternoon drive. This hornbill perched in "our" tree before we left



Just out of camp we found a giraffe enjoying its evening meal



Once again we saw a number of really nice Ellies along the H1-8 near the Mandadzidzi waterhole





The Klopperfontein area alive with animals - we saw more Eland and another first for us - Tsessebbe. Once again a number of expectant antelope had gathered around the dam











Once back on the tar leading up to Punda we were held up by a Buff road block





The mopani trees in this area give off beautiful colours in the evenings

DAY 2 continued...

In the late evening, just as it was getting dark these Ellies arrived at the waterhole - it is amazing how quietly they move, simply appearing out of nowhere. I was sitting in the hide killing a bit of time and first saw the dust cloud as they neared the waterhole.







The evening was rounded off with a tasty potjie and a bottle of Merlot

DAY 3

It was our intention to visit the Pafuri area today but, being a Sunday, we feared that the picnic area would be over run by day visitors - this happened to us before and certainly spoilt our day. We thus opted for a trip down to the Shingwedzi area.

Soon after leaving Punda we found this Sharpe's Grysbok grazing next to the road



We set sail down the H1-7 taking a slow drive in order not to miss any sightings. We stopped at the Sisha West waterhole to photograph this LBR that seemed to be taking a bit of strain from the chilly wind that was blowing



While I was taking the photograph SO spotted an unusual antelope in the distance near the water. On closer inspection we discovered that this was in fact a Roan antelope - another first for us. We had seen Eland, Tsessebbe and Roan in the space of three days which was very satisfying. Here is the pic - just for proof!



We stopped off at Babalala for a pitstop and then debated whether or not we should take the section of the S56 down to the Sirheni turn-off or rather continue down to Boyela and then take the S57 down to the S56. This first section had never yielded much for us in the past but, simply because we wanted to get onto a quiet road, we opted to take the S56. Evidence left on the road suggested that a huge herd of buffalo must have slaked their thirst at the Babalala waterhole very recently. We abled on down the road searching amonst the mopani for any sign of life. A sudden movement on our right caught our attention so we reversed back and could not believe our eyes









The lioness was totally at ease with us watching her let her 4 cubs suckle. We spent at least 20 minutes with them all on our own. She eventually got up and moved off to where she joined another lioness. One of the cubs seemed to be quite a bit bigger than the others which make us think that this cub belonged to the other lioness. I have heard that lions do practice allo-suckling. Sadly this mother was really in bad condition and had a bit of a limp. Here is her mate



We eventually decided to move on down our favourite drive in the northern reaches of the park - the Mphongolo Loop. We could hardly believe that we had had these Lions all to ourselves - certainly made the right choice by deciding to take this section of the S56!

DAY 3 continued...

The drive down the S56 was wonderful despite the fact that we did not see much. It did strike us that this area was terribly dry - the worst that we had ever seen it. This kudu bull was drinking at one of the very few puddles left in the Mphongolo river



We stopped off at Shingwedzi for brunch - once again the day visitors' site was squeaky clean and very quiet. After a good fry-up and a cup of coffee we set sail down the S50 in the direction of the Kanniedood Dam. Well dry is hardly the right word to describe the conditions in this area. The Kannieddod dam was vitually bone dry! We were gobsmacked. This picture will illustrate to you that there was merely a puddle in the dam



The vegetation also appeared to be almost devoid of any nutrition for the animals



The first thing that crossed my mind was "what happens to the Hippos and Crocodiles?"

There was nothing to see so we turned back at the dam wall and headed back to Shingwedzi. Along the way we saw this Saddle-billed Stork standing in the mud



We also saw a few Nyala and Vervet monkeys





We turned right onto the S135 before entering Shingwedzi and crossed the causeway which was of course bone dry. Along this route we found a herd of Zebra stampeding wildly all over the place. They had clearly been disturbed . This one dashed through a spruit (note it is missing its tail)



We waited a while to see if there were any signs of predators around before hastening up the tar road to Punda. En-route we saw this Pearl-spotted owlet

DAY 3 continued...

After a well deserved siesta we set off to do the Mahonie Loop once again. Along the way we came across an elephant with its calf right next to the road. On closer inspection it looked as though this poor elephant had a broken back leg



We saw a huge herd of Buffalo in the distance but other that that very quiet once again. Nearer to Punda we saw a Klipspringer high up on the rocks was well as Giraffe and a lone Steenbuck









This was our home whilst at Punda

DAY 4

This would be our last day at Punda and we had ear-marked this day for a trip up to Pafuri. We got up early and were so surprized to find a Bushbaby sitting on the fence right in front of our tent. Unfortunately no pics because I was half asleep! Incidently our braais had not been cleaned since our arrival - 3 days which was very annoying. We hoped that this would happen on our last day!

We took the short cut past the Klopperfontein mud hole and were greeted by this sad sight - a Sharpe's Grysbok which had suffocated in the mud. What did puzzle us is that the carcass was lying on "safe" ground next to the dam which meant that it must have been dragged out of the mud but had not been eaten! There were two impala lying dead in the mud - this had all happened since our last visit



En-route to Pafuri we saw a number of really big tuskers in the distance but not much else. We decided to drive the S64 Nyala Loop which nis the road leading to the Thulamela Ruins. This would be our first time on this road. This White-fronted Bee-eater was there to welcome us



Once again we were so shocked to see how dry it was - not a blade of grass to be seen in the Luvuvhu valley



However this is still a beautiful drive with magestic baobabs dotted along the skyline. One can only imagine what this area must look like after good rains







We met a rather cheeky young elephant bull along the way who made sure that we had to wait our turn before proceeding along the route. We managed to get passed - not without much trumpeting and dust!. We turned at the Thulamela gate where we saw large numbers of Nyala picking up whatever morsals were available and headed back to the Pafuri Picnic site to have brunch. Along the way we encountered the same Ellie - it seemed as though he new we had to head back his way because this time he was more determined not to let us pass. We eventually turned round and headed back quite a way where we found some nice shade to stop and give him time to move off. To our dismay after a few minutes he appeared round the bend and made a beeline for us. In desperation I fired up the Landy and made a big detour through the parched valley to get round him and out of harms way - illegal but very necessary! This Kudu cow made an appearance as we reached the tar road



The wind had come up and we decided to rather head down the S63 to Crooks Corner in the hope that the wind would die down before we had our picnic.

As expected the Limpopo river was bone dry but fortunately the Luvuvhu was still flowing. This is what Crooks Corner looked like



There were a few small crocs....



....and a few big ones sunning themselves here



We took a nice slow drive along the river bank heading back towards the picnic site. Along the way we saw Nyala





...a Korhaan



...an Impala doing his best to "chat up" the girls



...and a wise man surveying the countryside



We enjoyed our brunch despite the blustery conditions - must say it was quite a challenge lighting the gas though. Sadly one individual spoilt it for us and many others by showing off his skills with a catapult - really looked proud of himself. Yes, there were monkeys but why this idiot had to parade around the camp site taking pot shots at the monkeys that were sitting half way up these huge trees only he would know! Shame.



After a good break we took the high road back to Punda seeing Tsessebbe (really getting spoilt) and a few Zebra along the way







Well what do you know - our braai had been cleaned. I am afraid Punda did not score many points with us on this trip. While we were starting to do a bit of packing up this Yellow-bellied Bulbul visted us

DAY 5

We packed up early and were soon on our way to our much awaited 5 days at Tzendse. The visit was going to be all the more special because our son and his girl friend were going to drive down from J'Burg to spend the long weekend with us. We had heard so many favourable comments about Tzendse and were certainly not disapppointed. We checked in at Mopani



before heading the 8km down to Tzendse



We were allocated Number 3 as requested. This site is really nice and private and the passing traffic is no problem at all. We set up camp which included an extra tent for the family. We could not believe how nclean everything was - the braais looked as though they had been polished! Roger could teach the gang at Punda Maria a lesson or two! Having set up camp we had a snooze before heading out for a short drive to Mooiplaas waterhole once again spotting a number of Tsessebbe (no longer a rare sighting on this trip) as well as a few Blue Wildebeest.





We spent the rest of the late afternoon exploring this magnificent camp, meeting Roger and his good lady for the first time - what assets they are to the park. The children arrived on the stroke of 18h00 so the beers were opened, the potjie cobbled away and the stories went on late into the night.

We had great fun and it was really nice catching up with my family as the pic will show!

DAY 6

I got up early to do a short drive before picking up SO and the young ones to do a drive down to Olifants. Just past the Mopani turn-off I spooted these Buffalo with Egrets in attendance



Further north I was fortunate to come across this magnificent Kudu bull near Shildayengwenya



I turned at the S143 turn-off and headed back spotting these Giraffe along the way



They really blended in with the "winter" mopani trees



Word had got out that the Lions had pulled down a Buffalo right at the Mopani Restcamp gate so I headed in that direction. The No Entry road that heads left as you enter Mopani was jam packed with vehicles, clearly watching the Lions feeding. I went to reception and asked if I could get permission to drive the 50m down the road to see the Lions - the request was unceremoniously declined. Well I suppose it sometimes does not pay to do things legally! A quick drive to the Shipandane hide did not yield much - saw this Kudu en-route back to Tzendse



The family was waiting and ready to drive down to Olifants so we all bundled into the Landy and set off - nice to have a chaffeur. We stopped on the Letaba bridge to stretch our legs and watch the countless Waterbuck in the river bed. This was a first for B (my son) and J




We stopped off at Letaba for a visit to the Elephant museum which we found facinating. We checked the tyre pressure before heading down to Olifants via the S46/S44. This is a lovely drive but my word - the road was so corrugated that we all felt as though our teeth would eventally shake out! This was unfortunately the case on a number of the dirt roads in Kruger which is really not necessary. There was not much to see and to be quite honest we could not wait to get off this road.

The deck at Olifants must be one of the best "meal with a view" sights in SA. We relaxed here, had a few beers and a good lunch. The Olifants river had quite a bit of water





The birds were having a great time eating the juicy Figs on this tree







Some also waited patiently to raid our lunch!



The Impala Lillies in the parking area were a sight to behold



We headed back to Tzendse via the tar road, for obvious reasons. These Impala posed just outside the gate and then we saw plenty of Ellies along the banks of the mighty Olifants









The remainder of the day was spent in the camp. Here is our home on Site No 3. We really do enjoy our Oztent RV5 with the full extension - very easy to set up.

DAY 7

SO joined me for our early morning drive - we were very excited about our first visit to the much spoken about Thongonyeni waterhole on the Tropic of Capricorn Loop. We headed up the H1-6 which passes this famous landmark near Bowkers Kop waterhole



There was nothing much to report till the S143 turn-off. The drive from there down to Thonyongeni was also very quiet. We spent a good amount of time at the waterhole but unfortunately there was not much happenning. This area was very dry and the wind had also picked up which made conditions very unpleasant. We saw a Kori Bustard



SO gets very irritated whenever I want to photograph these birds - she says we see enough of them in Kgalagadi! This herd of wildebeest came down to water from the eastern side. We actually saw the dust cloud long before they made an appearance



We were a trifle disappointed at the lack of action at this waterhole but were glad to have been there. We did intend to pay it another visit before leaving Tzendse. The area south of Thongonyeni was badly burnt - not sure what these Zebra were doing there



He headed home via the Mooiplaas waterhole and yes, you have guessed it, we saw a herd of Tsessebbe there. These two had quite a serious sparring match







Before heading back to camp we headed to the Shipandane Hide



We paid this hide and the one on Pioneer dam many visits during our stay and to be quite honest saw very little to enthuse about. The settings are beautiful but somehow we seemed to miss all the action! This Blacksmith Plover was near the causeway below Shipandane



On the way to the Pioneerr Dam hide we saw this Kudu

DAY 7 continued...

After leaving bthe Shipandane hide we were only too pleased to head up to the hide on Pioneer Dam. There were two fellows in Shipandane who really thought that they owned the place - everytime you whispered to each other the beady stares and shaking heads would follow before looking back through the seriously expensive binoculars and lenses. I can't stand these people who seem to think that they are a cut above the rest - they actually never look happy!!

There was not much going on at the Pioneer hide except for this Green-backed Heron who was scanning the water for a bite to eat. This is a lovely hide but all the action seemed to be on the far side which was unfortunate



On returning to Tzendse were were visited right at our mcampsite by this magnificent Elephant bull with one tusk. He surely must be an emerging tusker - not sure if Ellies with one tusk qualify. The pic was taken with by cell phone so quality lacking somewhat



At one stage he was so close that we could virtually count his eyelashes! Later on during the evening another three Ellies visited us, once again coming right up to our fence - very special indeed

DAY 8

We had a bit of a lazy morning before heading off to the Makhadzi Picnic Site for mbrunch. We took a nice slow drive down the H1-6 before turning left onto the S48 Tsendze Loop. We were desperate to see ANY CAT before B & J returned to Johannesburg the following day. This promising drive yielded absolutely nothing but hey IT WAS DRY! We crossed over the H1-6 at the Malopenyana Waterhole where we saw these Ellies having a drink





The drive to Makhadzi was really horrible - shocking corrugations and no game except this stately elephant



The picnic site was very nice so we spent a while there before tackling the obstacle course back to Tsendze



There was quite a bit of action at the Middelvlei waterhole despite it being so dry and dusty





These Ostriches waited very patiently for their turn to drink



We relaxed in camp for the afternoon while B & J sadly had to start packing up. I took a sroll around the camp and found these Grey-headed Parrots high up in an Apple leaf tree
- one of my favourites. They never sit still and are quite a challenge to photograph









This Grey Hornbill was scratching around the campsite and found a tasty morsal from the previous night's braai

I absolutely love your TR and the photos are magnificent! We have never been to Punda Maria as always frequent the southern part of the park on our annual trips - but definitely on my To Do list now! For info I found this with regard to the photo of the elephant that you thought had a broken leg: looks like she is deformed poor thing - incredible how big the will to survive is!

http://www.krugerpark.co.za/krugerpark- ... 24526.html