Africa Wild

Biyamiti Bushveld Camp

The Biyamiti is a large seasonal river and a tributary to the Crocodile River. The Tsonga word means “where barricades had to be erected around dwellings”. The word is derived from ku biya = to make a barricade + miti = huts/dwellings. The river was very attractive to the first Tsonga settlers who moved in from the east. They however had to barricade their huts against aggressive attacks from the local tribes.

Buig of Bars Windmill.

A favourite saying in Afrikaans, basically meaning “come hell or high water”. Here it could refer to the determination shown to find water at this specific spot.

And in the end it was reputed to be Kruger's strongest borehole! Defunct now for many years.

Babalala Picnic Spot

The Tsonga word means “the name of a person who Lived here in earlier times”. Another direct translation of the word in Setswana would give us the meaning “sleeping on your stomach”. Interestingly, you will also find babala grass in the KNP, which is a drought-resistant grass with high yield that reaches a height of up to 3m (Pennisetum typhoides). The grass is highly insect and disease resistant and the seeds have traditionally been milled and used by the native tribes for the preparation of porridge (pap) and the brewing of beer.

© Richprins

Berg-en-Dal Rest Camp

This is the newest rest camp of the Park, built in the early 1980s on the Matjulu River.

The name was given by Dr U de V. Pienaar in 1983. It is descriptive of the area in which it is situated. The Afrikaans name literally means “mountain and valley”.

Bowkerskop Waterhole

The waterhole is on the H1-6 across the road from Bowker's Kop, which has quite a few baobab trees growing on its slopes. It is named after a hunting party consisting of Miles Robert Bowker (who carved his name on one of the baobab trees here) Alec Bowker and four other people, who camped nearby in 1888.

Bububu Stream

This stream flows into the Shingwedzi just downstream of the Northern S-52 entrance. It is one of the largest tributaries of the Shingwedzi River. The Tsonga word means “to wake up very early and abrubtly”.

Was reported to be one of the last strongholds of black rhino in the Lowveld over a century ago. (Pre-reintroduction)

Bobbejaankrans Lookout - H7 on the Timbavati River

The Afrikaans word for “the high rock of the baboons”. A “krans” could also mean “a rockface or high boulder”.

Balule satellite camp

Small camp, situated on the southern bank of the Olifants River, 10 km from Olifants Rest Camp. It has limited accomodation and caravan stands, with only the most basic of facilities and no electricity. One of the favourite camps among backpackers and the caravanning community.

Balule is the Tsonga word for the Olifants River. It was originally named Olifants but changed to Balule when the new Olifants Rest Camp opened in 1959.

Bangu Waterhole

The Bangu river is a tributary of the Olifants River, and the (now defunct) waterhole is on the S90 south of Balule camp. It was named after a Zulu man who lived in the area in the late 1800s.

The Tsonga word “mbangu” means “the place”. It could also be a corruption of the Zulu word “bangabukhani”, which means “sharp as a knife”.

Bateleur Bushveld Camp

Bateleur Camp is situated on the banks of the Mashokwe Spruit (Shingwedzi River Loop), approximately 40km south-west of Shingwedzi in the northern Mopane/Woodland savannah.

© Richprins