Kgalagadi: September 2009 (Part 7)

We woke up to what was promising to be a beautiful sunrise in the Nossob river valley. We had an early coffee and struck out north towards the furthest ends of the Park. The plan was to head out towards Polentswa and make jaffels at Lijersdraai picnic spot.

The sunrise was in fact glorious...

We reached Cubitje Quap waterhole. This is a popular hunting spot for raptors like the speedy Lanner Falcons. Flocks of doves and sandgrouse frequent the waterhole in the morning hours.

We looked the other way from the waterhole - and lo and behold there was a Lanner Falcon with a fresh kill, a laughing dove. What a wonderful sighting!

Unfortunately for us, the road further north was very quiet except for these Bat-Eared Foxes.

After our jaffel-lunch we went a bit further north to the Kannaguas waterhole, where some thirsty Blue Wildebeest were milling about.

We turned around to go and have a nap before our afternoon drive (at this point it was a 60km drive back to camp). We saw a Secretary Bird on the way home...

Back at Cubitje Quap there were some Bateleur eagles taking a noon bath.

Upon completing our afternoon nap and swim we headed out to Marie-se-draai again. It pains me to say that it was another very quiet afternoon...but then again just being in the wide open spaces of the Kalahari is a privilege on its own...

This would be our last night in Nossob...on the following day we would head back to the Auob river for one night in Mata-Mata and our last night in Urikaruus Wilderness Camp.

There be giants here...

This past December we spent some time in the Kruger National Park - oh wait, it's now called the 'Greater Kruger Transfrontier Park'. The summer sees the bushveld transformed from the dull yellow and brown of winter into a lush green paradise. This also makes spotting the wildlife a little trickier, but it also brings a lot of beautiful migrant birds from the Northern Hemisphere.


We headed north to avoid the hustle and bustle of the southern part of the park. The north is quieter - not just in terms of visitor numbers but the game is also more spread out. But the sightings you DO get are a lot better since most of the time there isn't a traffic jam at any of the sightings.


The north of Kruger is also where most of the larger elephants roam. The vegetation suits them - and if you ask me - the smaller number of tourists also suits them...


We came across this bulky bull north of the Shingwedzi rest camp on a rainy day when we were the only ones driving out.

Applying HDR to this picture helped me pull a lot of detail from the moody rain clouds behind the elephant, as well as from its skin texture. I also quite like this shot as a black and white conversion.

As you travel to the utmost northern part of Kruger, you meet less and less people, and you also wind your way to a magical place called 'Pafuri'. This is a region of lush riverine forests, exotic birdlife and the ruins of ancient civilizations. The Levuvhu river winds through a dense fevertree forest and ends up joining the Limpopo river at a junction called "Crook's Corner". This 'corner' gained its notorious name from the fact that many fugitives from justice came here to escape the arms of the law of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia). At the time the place was literally a no-man's land and all the fugitives would sit and watch as the law-enforcement from the 3 countries fought over who could arrest them.

Here are some shots I took while driving through the area. You are not allowed to get out of your car so these were all taken from the car window.

I could spend hours in these tranquil forests.


So, the next time you book a trip to Kruger, don't just hang around the nexus of Skukuza and Lower Sabie, even Satara. Head north, and let your soul unwind...


Till next time...take care.


Morkel Erasmus