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    Big 5 and more: Kruger Park gallery is online!

    Administrator on Sep 19, 2012
    Tagged in: Wildlife, Safari, Kruger, Africa

    During the last 3 to 4 months I've been working my way through the raw images of my latest trip through Kruger Park in South Africa. For me personally taking time away of the images makes me a better judge afterwards. Favourite images change during the past 3 months and an image that was discarded earlier may be included in the overview afterwards.

    The leopard in late afternoon light is an image any photographer would love to make and when I made it, I was over the moon for a week :-), two months later the encounter with the elephant that came walking up to the car with the rising sun behind his back was a favourite.

    When reflecting on the trip, camping inside the park was definitely a must-do-again for the future and I still have a soft spot for the south and the area around Lower Sabie. The open plains, with the occasional trees and the density of rhino's in that area always makes for good game viewing.

    For now though it's time to visit other parts of the world and in Africa Namibia and Botswana cry out loud for a future visit. Luckily the memories remain through the images I brought home. Those interested are most welcome to view the Kruger Park gallery. Should you wish to leave a comment, it's always highly appreciated :-)

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    Kruger Revisited

    on Jul 02, 2012
    Tagged in: Self-drive, Safari, Kruger, Camping
    In 2011 I visited Kruger NP in South Africa for the first time (also see South Africa Gallery Online) and we immediately had plans to revisit South Africa's parks.
    Plans were made for a combination of Namibia and Kgalaghadi but it turned out we were way to late to secure a place on the camp-sites we had in mind. Hopefully we'll enjoy these parks one day in the future!
     
    Kruger has a much larger capacity for people camping and travelling there, so we rented a Land Rover Defender with rooftop tent and went for a 3 week trip through the south of the park.
    This turned out to be an awesome way to explore the park and have a feeling of total freedom.Setting up camp is done within 5 minutes and breaking camp takes about the same time. With moderate temperatures it's great to eat and relax under the starry South African Sky. And like the Land Rover at home this car also had it's own peculiarities: squeaky brakes, a door that won't lock and oil lights that come up when you don't expect it and a drivers seat that would turn really hot because of lousy isolation of the parts underneath it. Highly recommended for that extra "flavour" to your trip ;-)
     
    When driving into Kruger on the first day we had within 5 minutes a sighting of a small herd of giraffe in the most gorgeous afternoon light. What a way to return to this park and one of the reasons I love Africa so much. The quality of the light can be so stunning one would almost forget to take some photo's
     
     We made a tour that basically took us from the Berg and Dal area in the south west corner of the park towards Orphen gate in the mid west section of the park. We travelled for 4000 kilometers in the park, and although this does sound like a lot, there never was a feeling of being rushed or utter boredom in the car. A morning drive would normally be from 6.00 till 10/11 o'clock, then it's getting to a good picknick spot (or leave Kruger for some shopping in a nearby town) and when the light get's better around 15.30 we would make a drive that would take us to the camp a few minutes before closing time (and dusk) at 17.30.
    This years sightings were all we could have wished for. Rhino's, elephants and giraffe were a daily certainty and we must have seen at least 2 out of 3 days lions. Love must have been in the air as we were able to witness 30 to 40 mating sessions between them. After a first quick glimpse of our first leopard along the Biyamiti road, the S29 delivered again with a sighting of a leopard in one of the best trees possible. 
    While driving towards Satara from Lower Sabie we had our first sighting of a cheetah that was posing for 10 to 15 minutes on a road sign and gave us ample opportunity to have it's photo taken in the grassland next to the road.
    The biggest surprise was when we encountered a large pack of wild dogs during our last 30 minutes in the park. An experience I can only describe as total Awesomeness!
    Reflecting on this trip I realize that I now have more inner rest to take the time to work on the images. The feeling of being rushed because you might miss
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    South Africa Gallery Online

    Administrator on Feb 20, 2012
    Tagged in: Safari, Kruger, Gallery, Africa

    In 2011 I spent almost 3 weeks in the Southern and middle part of Kruger National park in South Africa. Spending full days from dusk till dawn inside Kruger is a thing I can never get tired off.
    Back home there is always something else to do, so sorting through the images (still not finished as I type this) takes time. Today I posted about 40 images to the new South Africa gallery. Enjoy!

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