Escaping to Kruger (1) - The journey north

 

After another four months in urban, semi-isolation I was feeling a desperate need to get back to the bush. I'd been wanting to return to the Parfuri region of Kruger ever since the birding course I did with Eco-Training there in 2009. So with that target in mind I started planning.

The Parfuri is the northern-most section of Kruger, stretching along the Luvuvhu and Limpopo River floodplains and bounded by Zimbabwe and Mozambique. 

Most of it is inaccessible to the general public. You have to be a guest at one of the private lodges, or on course with Eco-training to get to see it's highlights.

It's a very long drive from Johannesburg, so I planned to enter Kruger further south at Phalaborwa and stay a night each at Letaba and Shingwedzi Rest Camps on my way north to start the birding course.

Juvenile Southern Ground Hornbill

 

Being near the beginning of the rainy season, the bush was a weird mix of browns and bright greens.

At the start of my trip, there was some fresh, new, green grass coming up, especially near the roads, and the mopani trees/shrubs were all shining with brilliant new leaf.

Skittish zebra at Mooiplaas waterhole

Zebra and wildebeest looking for that new grass

 The downside of this time of the year is the abundance of cloudy skies, so not ideal for photography.

A bull elephant getting clean water from source!

Goliath heron moving between pools

I came across several small herds of buffalo, also looking for roadside green grass. 

 

 

What was interesting about this group were the dozens of Wattled starlings keeping close to snap up any disturbed insects.

 

Then after 2 days of slowly making my way north, I coast down Baobab Hill, with it's stunning view over the river floodplains and distant hills of Zimbabwe, and know I'm close to my base for the next week.

Rather than making this a very long post, I've broken it up into 3 parts.

Click on this link to see the next post:-  Escaping to Kruger (2) - Birding in the Parfuri