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My general impression(May 2005) of this hide was:

There were good numbers of hippo with a very tiny calf in the water. Many grey herons around. 1 Goliath heron on the far bank not visible from the hide, but visible before entering the hide.

It is not the best bird hide in the Park for viewing birds. But it does attract numerous other game species and the hippos are the main characters here.

Game viewing was great when I was at the hide in June. Saw crocs, hippos, impalas, vervet monkeys, grey herons, Egyptian geese, little bee-eaters and wire-tailed swallows.

Also seen lots here, including openbilled storks, grey herons, hamerkop, bee-eaters as well as the hippos, elephant, monitor lizards and baboons.

View to the left:



View to the right:

I visit the place at least 30 times a year. Beautifulllll!!! (Sorry for my spelling) Lots of birds, always hippo real close-up and even crocodile. Best sighting yet: A big elephant bull real close up.

The hide is underneath a big Huilboerboon (Weeping Boer-bean) with lovely red flowers in spring.

According to "A dictionary of Kruger National Park place names" the meaning of the name is: In ZULU; Ntanda-nyati - (the waterhole) preferred by buffalo.

Other names previously used were: Mthandanyati, Nthandanyathi (Almost mis-spelled that one!)

I saw 2 male Hippos having a huge fight there as the rest of the pod looked on in amazement. I was so close to them...
Baboons had also recently been in the hide and they had defacated all over the place.

On the way out we bumped into the resident Black Rhino that is often seen there. Only my second BR sighting in 35 years!

The baboons seem to have made this their evening toilet. Nice place though, just mind where you sit!

Saw civet on the way there and had to wait for huge ellie to move before I could leave.

The birdsounds in the morning is lovely.

At the Nthandanyathi birdhide, 10 /03/ 06.
There are a family of Bats now roosting in apex of Roof.
Their droppings combined with the daily Baboon droppings are creating quite a mess
There were also a pair of European Swallows? trying to make a nest in the hide, bringing in mouthfuls of Mud.... also contributing to the mess!
Interesting that every few minutes, the swallows harassed the bats, and chased them all over the hide, trying to evict them?
Sadly, Some two legged animals had left numerous beer cans and bottles, and chip packets on floor... very nice!
I visit this hide often, and this litter was a first.... but probably not last... and i did remove the rubbish!
NB - If you have the chance to sit it out, this Hide has been very rewarding for Birding and numerous good Animal sightings, for me. Give it a go...

Visited Nthandanyati on 1 Sept 2007 .
The state of the hide & surroundings is below standard , much litter in area , but if dispersed by primates , there must be a way of making dustbins baboon proof ?
Interior has been vandalised , bird posters missing , graffiti on walls where posters should be , graffiti on benches and window sills .
Can this hide and others which are in a similar state not be properly maintained ?
Compare Nthandanyati with certain others which I have visited recently , eg with Shipandane , (which was immaculate in March of this year ) , and it is obvious that some of these hides are in a state of neglect .
Can this be brought to attention of management ?

We were there last week and a full work team was there repairing it banging away and so the resident open billed storks were long gone as well as the hippo while this was going on...We didnt even sit down as the strong smell of creosote gets Jane's Asthma going

Saw a lot of hippo action on my recent trip.



when coming out of the hide saw some lovely action between plovers and a secretaty bird. The secretary bird eventaully had to dart off with all the dive bombing

When we were last there, we saw a day old hippo calf walking around with its mom on the other bank. So cute....

There was also a hippo war, where males were fighting each other and it looked like they were trying to get to the baby.

Saw a huge tusker there in June last year... wasn't Duke but the bull had huge tusks... he trundled down to the stream and had a long drink before disappearing into the bush with a trumpet... late afternoon, so he was glowing . The hide looked great and clean... so hope everything is unchanged!

Any pictures?


Also seen loads of hippo, usual bird life, giraffe, wildebeest. zebra and impala as well.