Kruger Park December 2014 Self Drive and walking safari

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@Hads

 

As I joined Safaritalk several months after you began your trip report, I'd never seen it until today.

Thank you for returning to share such great photos with us.

The ranger bicycling with a rifle sparked a smile.

Ground hornbills, kudu, rhinos — so much to enjoy.

Tom K.

[Marks]

Wow, that poor giraffe. Excellent job documenting an unusual condition, though.

Bold vervets at the rest site.

Glad you returned to us here.

Edited December 6, 2015 by Marks

[Hads]

Thanks Tom K, It has taken time but I will get this trip report completed over the next 2 weeks.

[xelas]

@@Hads

 

Any trip report with Self driving in its titles gets my attention. As you have added also a walking safari, and a bunch of great photos, I am also looking forward to the rest of it-

 

The guide/ranger on the bike photo is interesting but why the collage of three photos??

[Hads]

Hi Xelas,

Thanks for the reply. I had a glitch in my camera when down loading and the ranger photo had this problem, but I liked the scene I got of him.

Cheers

[Hads]

Hi Marks,

Good to be back on board, hope to get the trip report completed ASAP.

[Alexander33]

@@Hads

 

How did I miss this report before? Enjoying it very much. I'm jealous of your ground hornbill shots. I still haven't seen one!

[Hads]

 

Ok I better get cracking on this report ( I have spent to long reading many other great trip reports, Kallica's self drive reports are absolute gold and makes a self drive in Kruger like driving to your local shops)

 

Anyhow I,m here to give some info on what a walking safari is like in Kruger.

Firstly Kruger has 7 Guided walking safari locations (Bushman trail, Nyalaland trail, Metsi Metsi Trail, Napi Trail,Oliphants Trail, Sweni Trail and Wolhuter Trail.

Dad and I decided on the Sweni trail from advice from my South African brother in-law purely because my passion is Lions and Sweni is in Cat country but seeing Cats on foot is difficult I am lead to believe and you need some luck and good timing of course.

Each camp site can have a max 8 walkers - we had the full compliment of 8.

 

We stayed at the Sweni camp for 3 nights which included 4 walks, a morning walk for approx. 4-5 hours and an afternoon walk for approx. 2 hours and then of course a Sundowner.

After the morning walk you would come back to the camp and have some lunch and chill out for 3-4 hours which was nice because being December and very hot it was nice to relax.

 

Staff - We had the 2 rangers (Job and ??) and there was also a very nice lady cook/cleaner at the camp. The rangers were fully trained and had exceptional knowledge of all the Flora and Fauna, animals large and small.

Most of all they were good fun to be with and were more than happy to answer plenty of questions.

The rangers ensured things ran smoothly and everyone is clear on what instructions mean and when to stop, gather behind a tree but " whatever you do don't run". There has been some sad stories of tourists not listening and animals getting shot e.g Rhino's

 

Accommodation - The hut we stayed in was pleasant but very small, just enough room for 2 single beds. The camps do not have power at all, they supplied small solar panel lamps for basic lighting, we did have torches and head lamps. There are 4 huts in total plus the staff quarters and kitchen.

 

Showers/Toilets - Yes there was gas fired hot showers and toilet facilities, basic but very nice.

 

Boma and Meals - The dining area was very open and large enough to have a large dining table with some fridges/freezers run with kerosene. All meals are supplied (3 meals a day) Breakfast is basically a coffee and rusk, Lunch and Dinner were 2 courses including a dessert. I rated the food highly, basic but homely hearty meals.

If you drink alcohol/ cool drinks you need to take your own. We also took some snacks for our walks, they also supplied some fruit and nibbles on the walks

They supply cold water and tea/coffee.

The kettle is always on the coals ready to go.

When dinner was ready it would get wheeled out on a trolley and there would be beating of drums.

 

Setting - The camp site itself over looks the Sweni stream and our hut directly overlooked a water hole. The view from the Boma was up quite high also overlooking the Sweni stream and another distant waterhole where you would see game come and go. It was a nice area to sit back and read a book and take in the setting and watch various animals come for a drink.

 

Cost - The 3 nights accommodation, meals and walks cost 4000 Rand PP (Approx $400 AUD) which is awesome value I think, plus tips at the end and

 

Game Viewing - The game viewing like anywhere always depends on the season, the rainfall etc. We had reasonable sightings and I was happy with what we had seen. The birdlife around the campsite is quite good (Woodland Kingfishers, Sunbirds, Hornbills, Hoopee etc)

 

Walks - As I mentioned above there were 4 walks in total for the 3 days, 2 morning walks and 2 evening walks finished off with a beer or 2 .

The destination for the walks was always quite a distant from camp, maybe 30-45 mins drive which I enjoyed because you got a mini game drive before going on your walking safari.

 

Walkers - Their were 8 of us walkers on this trip, There was a great guy called Sean from Ireland, A couple from Germany and a family of 3 from Austria plus Dad and myself from Australia (Aust-ray-liya). The mix of people was good and everyone seemed to have good common interests.

Dad and I got on really well with Sean.

Sean also completed 2 other walking Safari's (back to back with the sweni walk) on the Oliphants and Nyalaland trail which he rated highly as far as the setting goes.

If I have missed any info on the general set up please ask questions and I will do my best to answer.

 

The best thing I enjoyed about the walking safari was you enjoyed with only 8 people 2 rangers and a chef in remote settings others do not generally get to see unless you are on a walking safari.

Being on foot you also have small amount of adrenaline ready to run through you which we did get to experience.

Edited December 9, 2015 by Hads

[Hads]

A few more photo's before I go into detail about the walks.

I forgot to add in the morning you get a wake up call with a basin of warm water delivered to your hut, how good is that!

 

How I wish I was there now......

"The dust in my boots, the rhythm in my feet and the beat in my heart say Africa"!

Edited December 9, 2015 by Hads

[Marks]

 

This is just stunning. The sun looks like it's bleeding or melting into the cloud. Very cool!

 

Everything sounds good; looking forward to hearing about the walks.

[KaliCA]

Thanks for writing about your experiences. That poor giraffe is a very sad sight. Wondering how long he can survive this way.

You can be happy with your leopard sightings as they remain so elusive, even in Kruger. We have been visiting Kruger twice now for 2 weeks each time and our most intimate sightings have happened there. This year we watched lions hunt and kill and Impala, our first ever kill we witnessed and it was very emotional. I think Kruger is wonderful and stil very wild and you have so much freedom planning your own visit. Just great. Like you, we love the Wildcard and only wish other countries would follow that tourist-friendly example.

I'm looking forward to hearing about how difficult the walks are and what you have seen at eye level.

[Hads]

Well this walking trip report is not going to write itself.

Marks and Kallica I'm glad you are enjoying the report so far.

 

The walk trails are a great wilderness experience but do not go on a trail expecting to see many animals.

The animals see , smell and hear the group well before you see them and most often quickly take cover and disappear quickly.

You are more likely to see more animals inside a vehicle than on foot.

However you may get lucky and have a rare experience.

I believe the trails are a wonderful experience and are definitely worth doing.

A good guide also makes the walking safari a great experience and a lot more enjoyable.

The age bracket for these walks is from around 15-65 years old. My Dad is in his 60's and completed the walk without a problem. Being summer though the temperature was quite warm even for a couple of Aussie's.

The German father on our trip however had a bad cold and only managed 1 day of walking due to the heat and feeling terrible, I really felt sorry for him.

 

Day 1 walks

We were woken at approx. 4.45am with a knock on the door and hot water poured into a bowl outside our hut.

The billy (kettle) was boiling and the rusks were out ready for a quick breakfast.

I was very excited for the walk and could not wait to get out in the bush on foot.

We drove for about 40 mins south of the sweni camp before we started walking.

After a briefing from our guides about walking etiquette we were out on foot.

 

About 30 mins into the walk I briefly spotted a large male lion, but the lion saw us coming and took off like a bandit.

We walked in the general direction and only found his spoor, however it is an exhilating experience being on foot tracking a male lion knowing he more than likely is watching your movements.

Our walk was for 4-5 hours and our guides were very informative along the way.

We spotted a variety of game which included Giraffe, Wildebeest, Zebra, Impala and plenty of bird life along with a platoon of Matebele ants ( I think that is what they called them) on the March in single file which was very cool.

Our first rest stop was just after we came across a herd of approximately 20 elephants which was fantastic sitting on a log up wind of them having morning tea watching these amazing animals. I think one of the elephants may of got a smell of us and often looked intently in our direction.

The walk crossed a few stream and dry river beds and I must admit it is quite nerve wracking walking in and out of these river beds not knowing what is around the corner. We past a impala carcass a few days old hanging in a tree, but there was no sign of Mr leopard.

We also came across the skeleton of a dead rhino which unfortunately had been poached as the horn was cut off cleanly. Unfortunately the Mozambican border is not that far away.

 

Before lunch we headed back to camp and enjoyed a fantastic elephant washing himself in the waterhole directly below the camp.

 

Our afternoon walk was not as long only but had abit more excitement involved.

On our drive out we spotted a loan Lioness who was quite"breasty" and obviously had cubs close by but they were not revealed. She had an injured foot and was limping quite bad.

The rangers said we are not to walk here and we drove on further and had our walk seeing mainly Impala, Giraffe and Zebra.

We got back to the car and drove back towards were we saw the lioness to have our sundowners.

We found her and decided about 500 metres away we would exit the car and climb onto a large rock (kopje) and have a well earned beer.

We all got out of the car and a couple of people were about to walk up onto the rock only a few meters ahead of the guide when he whispered loudly "Lioness stop".

We all looked up quickly and there was beautiful lioness in the crouch position maybe ready to do something, very lucky for a couple of people they did not walk up at that moment. What great awareness from that ranger.

 

We all slowly walked around the rock and walked about about 50 meters away. She did not seem to mind and sat with us for about 30 mins.

There was also another lioness up on top of the rock on the other side but she took off quickly.

How good is this sitting down in the African bush having a cold beer watching a beautiful lioness only 50 metres away.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Hads

[Hads]

Here are a few more photo's of Day one's walks, Enjoy .

Edited December 22, 2015 by Hads

[Hads]

Final pics from Day 1 walk - we meet the Lionesses - for me this was one of the highlights of the whole trip.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Hads

[Hads]

and a few more to give you the general idea

Edited December 22, 2015 by Hads

[Hads]

Day 2:

 

Well I had made a slight error on day 1's report. We actually saw the impala carcass on day 2.

It was the same ritual in the morning with an early wake up call and a coffee and rusk on the run.

 

I will not elaborate as much on these walks but we headed in a more westerly direction today.

Much more of the same animals were seen, one memorable moment was when we came across a lone baby warthog that was left alone by it's mother when it saw us and left the baby.

The ranger got me to try and taste the ash of a lead tree ( apologies as I think I am wrong here as it was 12 months ago), the Africans use this to chew on to clean there teeth, It tasted very bitter.

Back at camp for lunch we had a beautiful bush buck come down for a drink.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Hads

[Hads]

Our last morning consisted basically of a sleep in to about 6am and then breakfast before leaving the sweni camp and driving back to Satara.

We arrived back at Satara about 8:30 am in the morning.

We collected our car and decided to drive up to Oliphants for lunch and then check back into Satara camp for our final 3 nights.

Our drive from Sweni to Satara we were very lucky to see 2 cheetahs laying under a tree.

Would I do a walking trail again, you bet I would it was fantastic being away from the general tourists and the experience on foot is what the bush experience is all about, and to do this with my Dad is very special for both of us.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Hads

[Hads]

Ok so we decided to go have lunch up the road at Oliphants before we could check in to our hut in Satara after 2:00pm in the afternoon.

We took one of the back roads up to Oliphants via the S41/S90.

We saw a beautiful Malachite kingfisher, some jackals, a teasing glimpse of another family of cheetah on a Wildebeest calf kill and a great tusker.

After check in back at Satara (3 nights in total) we went on our afternoon drive via the H7, S36 and S125.

Dad and I had a nice afternoon enjoying a late arvo beer with 2 fabulous Blond males, not very active but a great sighting non the less.

We were cutting our run back to camp very late and typical when you are in a made rush what do you come across.............. a leopard crossing the road causing a road block with a safari vehicle.

We spent a pleasant 5 mins following the gracious cat before we had to put the spinnaker up and set sail for home.

What a fabulous end to the day, we got to the gate with about 2 mins to spare.

The night only got better when we fired up the wood bbq outside our hut enjoying some warthog steaks and another refreshing ale and listening to the sounds of an African night

Edited December 22, 2015 by Hads

[Hads]

Last few pics of day 1 around Satara.

Apologies I am rushing to finish this trip report before I take off on holidays.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Hads

[Hads]

Ok last for the day.....

Edited December 22, 2015 by Hads

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@Hads

 

The photos and commentary you've added today concerning the walking safari are delightful!

I've been enjoying your trip report, yet the latest additions bring it to a higher level.

The immediacy of your images is appealing to me.

My sole walking safaris were little more than countryside strolls compared to your experience.

There's a palpable sense of drama underlying this segment of your trip report — great!

Thank you for making time to prepare and upload such a fine trip report for all to enjoy.

Tom K.

[Hads]

Thanks Tom for following this trip report.

Being my first trip report which has taken 1 year to nearly complete

I thoroughly enjoyed the walking safari mainly due to being part of the bush and the unknown to what could be behind a riverbank or tree.

The lioness experience was awesome.

Stay tuned for the final couple of days as I was very lucky to see a white lion cub

[michael-ibk]

Great walking experience - absolutely love that tiny warthog baby.

[Hads]

Cat and Dog morning plus and afternoon surprise.

 

After my 3 nights in Sweni walking I thought it would be pretty hard to beat, but today we had particularly good sightings. I saw my first kill - not what I was hoping to see but a kill all the same.

 

I had the billy on at 4:00am ready for a coffee and rusk. Dad was up once he heard me making movements.

We were out the gate just after 4:30am, pretty dark but it gets light by5:00am in summer. The morning was abit overcast and there was misty rain.

Our direction took us west down the H7 to Nsemani dam and then a loop around the S12/S40. Prior to reaching Nsemani dam we saw from a distance a pride of 5 Lions, 2 female , 2 sub adults and 1 male that struggled to grow a decent mane and looked quite comical.

We stayed with these guys for about 10 mins before they had enough and started to move on.

Great start to the morning - well not less than 10 mins later we came across a pack of Wild dogs numbering about 5 from memory, they were active and looked like they were ready to hunt.

We enjoyed our brief time with them and continued on the S12 and hit the S40 junction in the road were we came across 2 Hyena's on the move, something had there attention and it was head down and bum up and off they went.

Pretty happy with the morning we headed back East down towards the very popular S100 and ended up at the Sweni hide having a cuppa coffee enjoying some nice birdlife such as Woodland kingfishers (my favourite bird in Africa), Saddle billed storks, Black stork??, Egyptian geese, Yellow billed stork and a Hippo that looked like it belonged in a salad.

 

Yes I mentioned a kill.......................... a Lilac breasted roller had nailed a grasshopper !!

The one thing I really enjoy about self driving is that you can stay as long as you want at a sighting or hide and only have to abide by gate times.

Edited December 23, 2015 by Hads

[Hads]

Morning photo's continued

Edited December 23, 2015 by Hads