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 (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

Lockdown on an African Game Farm

When South Africa's initial hard pandemic lockdown eased slightly in May 2020, to allow travel for workers in an expanded list of essential sectors, my cousins were allowed to take occupancy of their game farm, and a few weeks later I joined them to help them start transition from a private game farm to a semi-luxury bush and wildlife destination.

So in the mild mid-winter of the north-eastern lowveld of South Africa I spent hours every day walking the roads and trails of this beautiful piece of Africa.

My "work" consisted of:- noting the mammals and birds I saw, heard and/or tracked; identifying and noting interesting trees and plants; naming roads, trails, and places of interest etc. etc.

This relatively short break from the city kept me mostly sane during the insanity of 2020.

 Here are some of my pics..... 

Walking on the farm

Taking a lunch break

An interesting collection of spoor

Some of the wildlife on the farm. There are also zebra, wildebeest, impala, duiker, mongoose, snakes, squirrels.............

Nyala male

Late afternoon from the viewing deck

"Toffee" the friendly eland

On Safari in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Part 1 - the far north

Zebra, Itala Game Reserve

Some time back, I guided a safari to the game reserves of northern Kwa-Zulu Natal (aka Maputaland and/or Zululand) for my good friends and clients, Dave & Jean. 

Here's the link to the post on that safari:- Zululand – from Zebras to Whales, Owls to Twinspots

Map of Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal

 I've longed to return ever since and when my cousins Simon & Diana asked me to put together another safari for their second visit to South Africa, I planned it following the same itinerary but with a few more days.



So, after much anticipation, we set off  from Johannesburg in mid-February, for our 12 day extended safari of Zululand.

Our itinerary took us to 1. Itala GR (2 nights) nestled in the dramatic foothills of the Great Escarpment, 2. north-east to the floodplains of the Maputo and Pongolo Rivers (Ndumo GR, 1 night), then south to the beautiful open plains, dense sand forests and wetlands east of the Lebombo Mountains, 3. Mkuze GR (2 nights), south again to the steep hills and deep valleys of the 4. Hluhluwe & iMfolozi Rivers (1 night at Hilltop, 2 nights at Mpila), and finally 3 nights on our stunning Indian Ocean coastline, at 5. Cape Vidal. On the way south to Durban, we also popped in to the Dlinza Forest aerial boardwalk in Eshowe.

Due to the number of photos I'd like to show you I've split the post about this safari into 2 and I will just cover Itala, Ndumo, Mkuze and Hluhluwe-iMfolozi in this first part. At the bottom of this post you will find the link to the 2nd part.......

Impala, Itala

1. Ithala Game Reserve

 With masses of plains game and fantastic birding (being a transition zone between high altitude wet grasslands and the lower, sub-tropical zones of KZN), there's always lots to see at Itala.

Their elephant, however, are very shy & generally hide in the Pongolo River hills.

Looking down towards the Pongolo River valley

Late summer in this part of South Africa tends to be warm and humid with long grass and lush vegetation. So although we saw a lot of animal life, good photographic opportunities were thin on the ground (not like the grass ;)).

I didn't mind that at all, as I so enjoyed just sitting back and watching everything going on...

Giraffe on the way into Ndumo

2. Ndumo Game Reserve

The main purpose of our 1 night at Ndumo was to do a morning birding walk and visit Nyamithi Pan.

Ndumo Rest Camp

Sadly for us, although always good for the bush, the whole region received over 6 inches of rain just a few days before we got there, so in all the reserves we visited, the guided bush walks had been cancelled due to the sogginess of the ground or localised flooding.

Never the less we had an absolutely amazing morning at the bird-hide on the Pan, with hundreds of Yellow-billed stork perched in the trees on the far bank, dozens of pink-backed pelican and many other water birds.

Nyamithi Pan

Pink-backed Pelican

an interesting spider

3. uMkhuze Game Reserve (iSimangaliso Wetland Park)

Next stop was uMkhuze. The western gate into the reserve is nestled in a valley at the foot of the Lebombo's and the road cris-crosses the river, by low level bridges(fords), many times before hitting the open plains. After all the weekend's rain, it was quite nerve-wracking to ease our way through the fast flowing water over each bridge.

Our game drives the next day were most notable for the birds that we saw. Firstly this Southern-masked weaver busy building his next right next to the bird-hide, and then the 30 minutes plus we spent in the middle of a massive Red-billed Quelea nesting colony with thousands of Quelea's building nests, feeding young and flying over and around us continuously. The racket was quite incredible and impossible to describe.

Red-billed Quelea

After a mostly wet & cloudy day, our last morning at uMkhuze dawned clear and turned into a stinking hot day..... The giraffe, zebra & other plains game gave us a really good showing on our way out.....

4. Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve

This is Kwa-Zulu Natal's flagship "big 5" destination and our first afternoon in Hluhluwe lived up to it's reputation despite the scorching heat.

from Hilltop Camp

After a long, hot day game viewing in both uMkhuze and Hluhluwe, the view from our bungalow at Hilltop Camp, whilst sipping on our gin & tonics,  was "the best" ever!!


The next morning we spent a while on the trail around the inside edge of the camp, enjoying the views, birds, red duiker and Samango monkeys. A late breakfast & then we headed south to Mpila camp. The day was once again searingly hot and all the animals had disappeared into the shady thickets.




So we were very grateful to arrive in camp (Mpila) and spend what remained of the afternoon enjoying the Vervet monkeys, warthog and impala that grazed, rooted and scavenged around our chalet in a never-ending cycle..... whilst sipping on our G&T's of course!!

Vervet monkey

Please click on this link to get to Part 2 of our amazing KZN safari......  On safari in Kwa-Zulu Natal - Part 2 From hilltop to beach