Mokala National Park - A gem of semi-arid savannah

 

Situated only 20 kilometers south of Kimberley, the Mokala NP is the newest of the South African National Parks.

It has 3 of the Big 5 African mammals, but it's primary focus is the rare antelope of Southern Africa.

This image is taken looking south-west over the open grasslands of the Lilydale section towards the dolerite hills and bushveld of the Mosu section. 

Note the red kalahari sand in the foreground.

On my first full day in the park I had wonderful sightings in the grasslands.......

a solitary Gemsbok (Oryx)

 

Roan Antelope

 

I spent some time at the lookout point over this waterhole in the middle of the grasslands, and had a herd of Eland antelope run past, without pausing, and then this small group of Tsessebe run down to the water.

 Most of the summer rainfall areas of South Africa have had a really good season this year and the grasslands were lush with most of the antelope looking fat and in good condition.

Eland

Tsessebe

Later in the morning I went south-west to the bushveld and saw many more tsessebe, giraffe, springbok, zebra, warthog and so on.

I also got a punctured tyre!! - the camel thorn trees in this part of the world have vicious thorns!!

Tsessebe

Tsessebe female and calves

Plains zebra and a midday drink

 

On day 2, after getting my tyre fixed at the nearby little settlement of Modderrivier, I had another great day in Mokala. 

This time I went meandering through the dolerite hills and valleys, which had abundant game, and then on west to the far side of Mokala, seeing more game in the flat, lush, thorn tree park lands.

Warthog close to camp

Buffalo sheltering from the heat

A herd of springbok coming down to drink.

Red hartebeest

Plains zebra

Gemsbok (Oryx)

Giraffe

 

I would definitely like to visit Mokala again, and perhaps stay in the other rest camp, Mosu, which is located in the hilly southern section.

I can also recommend Lilydale camp where I stayed this time. It's on the high bank above the Riet River and has glorious views. I include below, the view from my chalet's deck at 3 different times of the day.

Early evening and sundowner time

 Clear skies, and my first ever attempt at photographing the stars!

Dawn on my last morning

 

There had been some distant wildfires the previous day, so a little smoke in the atmosphere produced these wonderful colours the next morning.

This little gem of a park is well worth visiting. The official website recommends a minimum of 2 nights, but I spent 3 nights and had no time to get bored. 

So on your next road-trip between the south and north, or west and east of South Africa, plan to stop here for a few nights.

Escaping to Kruger (3) - And back south again

 

Levaillant's cuckoo

For Parts 1 & 2 of this trip to Kruger please click on these links...

 The Journey North 

Birding in the Parfuri

On our last morning at the Eco-training  camp, and for much of the rest of the day journeying back south to Shingwedzi - it rained, rained and rained.

The animals were all drenched and often looking "miserable, but life in the bush goes on.

 

 

Fortunately for me, the rain was not so hard that I had to always keep my car windows closed.

I got damp, but, hey, it's summer in the north-eastern lowveld, so I didn't get too cold.

 What struck me, was how another week into summer, with a bit of rain and more sunshine, the bush had generally got another 100% greener. I hope my pics can show you how much.

 

 

At Dzundwini Hill (near Punda Maria) I spent over half an hour enjoying the giraffe, impala and elephant feeding all around me.

 

These young waterbuck were a little far to get really great pics of, but I really loved the lush vegetation backdrop.

 

 

Being early December, there were impala lambs everywhere and not always sheltering away under the bushes.

 

 

 

Another 1/2 hour stop was with this troop of baboons and a small herd of nyala (females and youngsters) sheltering under some of the tall riverine trees along the Mphongolo River road.

They all looked so wet and cold!

 

 

 

On the second day of the journey south, I was based in Shingwedzi Camp, and I only took one, relatively short, mid-day game drive along the river. The weather had cooled down even further so there weren't a lot of large animals out and about, but I got some great birding.

 

These are just the birds that decided to perch in the bushes quite close to me,

Woodland kingfisher

White-fronted bee-eater

African hoopoe

Day 3, found me traveling south to Letaba Rest Camp, and although it remained overcast, the rain had stopped.

 In the morning I saw not much at all, except for this stunning Water monitor lizard at the bird hide.

 

By early afternoon I had hit Nshawu vlei which is a beautiful open area stretching over 20km north to south draining the water run off from the Lebombo range on the eastern border (of Kruger and South Africa). At this time of the year it has sweet, short, green grass, water and lots of animals!

 

 It was a long day on the road. and I was very thankful to have my favourite hut and view of the Letaba River to relax with a glass of wine. A big bonus was the sun breaking through and lighting up the river!

There are impala, waterbuck & birds in view!

As often happens, the weather was clear and sunny on my last morning drive out of Kruger. Of course the temperatures and humidity were exponentially higher.

This old buffalo interrupted his feasting for a brief moment to eyeball me...

It was an amazing trip to Kruger, the first since the pandemic really hit us, and until I can return to working (on safari with clients) in the Kruger I will try to do trips like this more often.

Escaping to Kruger (2) - Birding in the Parfuri

 

The Parfuri region in Kruger National Park

 

For the post on the first part of my  trip, click on this link  Escaping Kruger (1) - The Journey North

Baobabs are common

 

 I had booked on a Birding Course with Eco-training, but my main motivation was to "just be"in the Parfuri, enjoying the walks and game drives in areas and ecozones unique to this particular region of Kruger.

One consequence of this was that photography took a back seat, for a change. I always had my compact camera with me, but the Penatx and big lens stayed packed away in my tent.

 So no bird photos and any pics of animals are a little distant, or lower quality.

However, I hope you enjoy my landscape pics!

The Fever tree forest

Only 4 of us on the course

Between camp and the Limpopo River there is a wonderful Fever tree forest.

We saw a lot of birds, heard even more and had a bit of an adrenalin rush when buffalo ran through the thick bush not far from us.

 

Elephant & calf, not far from camp

One afternoon, we made the long drive to Crooks Corner on the Limpopo River, where the boundaries of 3 countries (South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique) all meet. 

A healthy herd of Eland antelope

  And the excitement!!!!  My first sighting ever of Eland antelope in Kruger. There were quite a few youngsters and some beautiful mature bulls. This was when I was sorry I didn't have my bigger camera with me!

Buffalo and baobabs

 On another morning we went to the spectacular Lanner Gorge where the Luvuvhu River cuts through the sandstone ridges symbolic of this part of Kruger.

  Some of flowers coming up after the early rains

 On our last full day, the two trainee field guides on our course were required to do their exams, whilst the two of us who were there just for "fun"went on a long walk with the camp's Chief instructor/manager.

 

 

We started out at 4.30am every morning, being mid-summer, and on this day we had a welcome break from the cloud cover to have a stunning sunrise.

Dragon-fly

Some of the insects we found.

Dung beetles

On the Luvuvhu flood plain

And in the late afternoon, we went for a drive and sundowner stop at the Mutale River gorge.

Overall, I had a wonderful 6 days in the Parfuri. It was mostly overcast, which is not great for photography, but certainly kept the temperatures a little more tolerable.

Then, I headed south for 3 days back through Kruger (see the next post for more animal pics).

Going back south again