The "Not a Trip Report" - Trip Report. Kruger South to North and Back South Again
Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:08 am
The trip was just myself and my 19 y o son.
No one else invited.
Didn't want wife, daughter, family or friends who weren't going to embrace our program.
We both obsessed Kruger-holics - Drive as much as possible. And into photography.
Have learnt the hard way, that if people aren't into that, it makes it unpleasant for all involved.
South was a mare. Chaos at every sighting. Even common stuff like Kudu.
Had a really horrible experience at a Lion sighting on the Sk / LS road - beyond disgraceful.
As for the "jeep jockies". Way too many. Some are polite and would stop and tell you about something further on. But the majority were absolutely rude and selfish, hogging a sighting and blocking everyone else's view to earn their $$$$$ tips. I started making a note of the vehicle number and was going to report them. But after a day I realized it was a waste of time, there were too many not behaving, and nothing would be done.
One thing I have noticed, is that last Kruger trip, camps and Afsaal was where they stopped. Now it's every picnic spot.
We went to Mlondozi. No where to park, no where to sit. Full of people yapping at the top of their voices.
But enough of the negative.
Did quite a few of the roads in the South and all those ones had been graded. Only one that we drove on was in a bad condition was the link road to Orpen Dam. (can't remember S number).
As I said, the north was fantastic. Quiet and peaceful. Distances can be a bit big. And the Mopane also gets monotonous at times.
Haven't been to Pafuri in 40 odd years. What a magical place. Well worth the drive to and from Shingwedzi.
Overall sightings were great.
It was very dry. And sightings on roads near water was far better than other roads but that was to be expected. Took some pre planning before a drive to try and maximize that.
Did a fair amount of birding.
No migrants and non-breeding plumage meant that over species count was lower than I had hoped, but still ticked over 100 species.
No one else invited.
Didn't want wife, daughter, family or friends who weren't going to embrace our program.
We both obsessed Kruger-holics - Drive as much as possible. And into photography.
Have learnt the hard way, that if people aren't into that, it makes it unpleasant for all involved.
South was a mare. Chaos at every sighting. Even common stuff like Kudu.
Had a really horrible experience at a Lion sighting on the Sk / LS road - beyond disgraceful.
As for the "jeep jockies". Way too many. Some are polite and would stop and tell you about something further on. But the majority were absolutely rude and selfish, hogging a sighting and blocking everyone else's view to earn their $$$$$ tips. I started making a note of the vehicle number and was going to report them. But after a day I realized it was a waste of time, there were too many not behaving, and nothing would be done.
One thing I have noticed, is that last Kruger trip, camps and Afsaal was where they stopped. Now it's every picnic spot.
We went to Mlondozi. No where to park, no where to sit. Full of people yapping at the top of their voices.
But enough of the negative.
Did quite a few of the roads in the South and all those ones had been graded. Only one that we drove on was in a bad condition was the link road to Orpen Dam. (can't remember S number).
As I said, the north was fantastic. Quiet and peaceful. Distances can be a bit big. And the Mopane also gets monotonous at times.
Haven't been to Pafuri in 40 odd years. What a magical place. Well worth the drive to and from Shingwedzi.
Overall sightings were great.
It was very dry. And sightings on roads near water was far better than other roads but that was to be expected. Took some pre planning before a drive to try and maximize that.
Did a fair amount of birding.
No migrants and non-breeding plumage meant that over species count was lower than I had hoped, but still ticked over 100 species.
