Africa Wild

Please post any information or pictures of Babalala Picnic Site

I loved having breakfast at Babala

Babalala is mostly always nice, and I've been there yearly for over a decade!

It's sort of in a time warp...one is in the tropics, often in intense heat...it is small...you pitch up...if it's full (not often), no wories, you hang around, no worries...look at the waterhole...no worries...

My second favourite after Pafuri.

Had some interesting stuff there: first sighting of Babalala the big tusker (On aat's website), foreigners showering under the overflow of the water tank...often rare antelope nearby...

One year long ago we were approaching the spot from the North, only to notice increasing amounts of white feathers in the wind!
My family and other animals looked to me to explain, but I was at a loss...unless there had been a mass killing of egrets or something.

Upon arrival there was a full-scale slaughter of live chickens going on by a busload of tourists from the Venda area...one way of keeping your chickens fresh in the heat, I suppose!

No problem, once again!

Babalala is just off the H1-7, only 13 km/20-30 minutes from Sirheni Bushveld Camp. It lies 32km/1hr 30min north of Shingwedzi on the corner of the H1-7 and the S56. It is 41 km/2hr south of Punda Maria.

Link to Virtual Tour

This was where Jane & I stopped for Breakfast one morning while at Sirheni ...We were just finishing when a Taxi arrived with lots of people in ..the women all wore very colourful dresses. The Taxi and ourselves were the only visitors there at that point ... They sat at 3 tables next to us ...We were interested to see if they were going to make a skottel like us ..Along came a cardboard box (Must be all their cutlery surely ??) Out comes a big Rooster chicken ...ALIVE !! One quick stroke of the knife and it was off with its head ...It ran around like mad and died at my feet ..Soon the whole area looked like 10 burst Down Duvets as he was unceremoniously plucked ...time to go ... Breakfast a bit different to the Satara Mugg & Bean offering

How did they manage to get a live chicken into the park?

Flutterby wrote:How did they manage to get a live chicken into the park?

In Dec in Pretoriuskop, a family arrived and hauled out 2 x live chickens and left them tied next to their rondavel for I assumed to cook later. I called the duty manager and within a few minutes a ranger was there to confiscate the chickens.

They were going to investigate how they came in the gate with the chickens. Never heard anything further.

The gate guards obviously doing their jobs well then!!

Hah ha hi hee I 'm bowled over here with typical!!!!
Had my fair share when some rangers stumbled from
the bush almost demanding like but for cigarettes when
thirteen odd Roan roamed past in the distant background!!
Anthrax was in the pipeline then, this managed to twist some
necks,.. and I was then bluntly informed about the participation
of some colleagues involved in poaching!!!!

Babalala remains my favorite turn away point from tarred road,
that after some decent breakfast!!!