Kruger National Park
South Africa
South Africa
Trip Report: Leaf Leopards & Stone Lions: Kamping in Kruger
Shimuwini Bushveld Camp
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Shimuwini was a very civilized camp for us to start our marathon of Bushveld camps. Our bungalow GD4 #9 was certainly overkill for 2 people. Roughly around the center of the small camp with a great view of the river. And that meant its many inhabitants. A pod of hippos was always moving around in the water – as were the crocs. On the far shore we saw either impalas or waterbuck almost continuously. Even a couple of the hippos came out to munch riverside grass one day. The only downside to our bungalow was it lacked a seating area with an overhang so you would be stuck inside if it rained.
The few oddities of Shimuwini are well-documented but I will repeat here for those who have not been – and yes, you should go. The one and only electrical plug in the whole bungalow is behind the refrigerator so you have to have a multi-plug adaptor to have 2 things plugged in simultaneously. As well, they ask you to unplug from 6pm to 6am to reduce load and shut down the camp’s generator at night to stifle the noise. And the seal on the refrigerator door – that also lacked a handle – required superhuman strength to open. And I am not exaggerating. Judging from the scars on the seal many others used the ‘knife in the door to break the interior air seal’ trick to open it. We had to. And the fridge did not have a freezer so the camp has a communal freezer at the gate and each bungalow gets its own basket. The system works well, you just have to remember to take something out by midday to eat that night.
But those are all just idiosyncrasies rather than problems though. This camp is great. Very quiet except for the river noise at night – crocs, hippos etc – not to forget the hyenas every morning across the river. Wonderful. This camp gives you a real feel for the wilderness. We loved it. Our favorite camp so far hands down.
The few oddities of Shimuwini are well-documented but I will repeat here for those who have not been – and yes, you should go. The one and only electrical plug in the whole bungalow is behind the refrigerator so you have to have a multi-plug adaptor to have 2 things plugged in simultaneously. As well, they ask you to unplug from 6pm to 6am to reduce load and shut down the camp’s generator at night to stifle the noise. And the seal on the refrigerator door – that also lacked a handle – required superhuman strength to open. And I am not exaggerating. Judging from the scars on the seal many others used the ‘knife in the door to break the interior air seal’ trick to open it. We had to. And the fridge did not have a freezer so the camp has a communal freezer at the gate and each bungalow gets its own basket. The system works well, you just have to remember to take something out by midday to eat that night.
But those are all just idiosyncrasies rather than problems though. This camp is great. Very quiet except for the river noise at night – crocs, hippos etc – not to forget the hyenas every morning across the river. Wonderful. This camp gives you a real feel for the wilderness. We loved it. Our favorite camp so far hands down.
Since the reputed cell service didn’t work in camp - at the bench by the jacaranda tree in front of #2 – we decided to head up towards Mopani. It did finally start at Mooiplaas picnic area allowing my wife to let her aged mother know that we haven’t been eaten yet (she is 89 & my wife typically calls her several times a day). We continued up to Mopani for lunch.
At Mopani, we had lunch at the lookout deck. There were no free tables but a couple from Namibia kindly asked us to join them. We had a great chat and poor service from the restaurant – the labour dispute has managers working the tables . . . The couple took a snap for us. We encountered a large herd of buffalo just south of the Mopani cutoff. They still had wet mud from a splash in the river.
And this brings us to the title of this tale.
There was a large field of tan-coloured grass swaying in the breeze beside the highway south of Mooiplaas. As we drove by it, my wife called a Stop. It was a false alarm. She thought she spied a cat but it was just leaves. On our return coming back from Mopani, I made the same mistake in exactly the same area. It was a bush in full autumn colours that was shaped like a big cat. And that’s where the phrase ‘leaf leopard’ came from. It was our code for a false alarm. Like: “Oh, it’s just a leaf leopard.” And stone lions were buff-coloured rocks under trees that looked like sleeping lions.
There was a large field of tan-coloured grass swaying in the breeze beside the highway south of Mooiplaas. As we drove by it, my wife called a Stop. It was a false alarm. She thought she spied a cat but it was just leaves. On our return coming back from Mopani, I made the same mistake in exactly the same area. It was a bush in full autumn colours that was shaped like a big cat. And that’s where the phrase ‘leaf leopard’ came from. It was our code for a false alarm. Like: “Oh, it’s just a leaf leopard.” And stone lions were buff-coloured rocks under trees that looked like sleeping lions.
This was a lazy day for us. We needed to slow down and chill a bit and this camp was certainly worthy for that. Today was one week from the time we arrived at Berg-enDal. Whew!
We did go out for a morning drive - or should I say a morning opportunity to check texts & emails @ Mooiplaas. I can live without it but my wife can’t.
We did go out for a morning drive - or should I say a morning opportunity to check texts & emails @ Mooiplaas. I can live without it but my wife can’t.
When my spouse had a nap, I wandered down to the hide. Since almost no one was in camp during the day, I had it to myself. The hide is positioned at the extreme east end of the camp above a narrowing of the river with a small pool below and the larger river to the right in front of the camp. I saw 2 or 3 hippos swimming and munching in the pool. Then there was a slash as one of them decided to migrate into the larger river. Right time and right place for some great hippo pictures.
After the usual braai we were happy to get together with some ‘mites (SanPark Forum posters). Peregrine Falcon & Dassie Delight (Neil & Carol) they joined us for some adult beverages. We had stolen their favorite bungalow unwittingly. We solved all of the world’s problems and made new friends. It was a nice night.