Kruger National Park
South Africa
South Africa
Trip Report: Camping in Kruger (again)
+ a bit of Eswatini
2019
+ a bit of Eswatini
2019
As it turned out, we got to our first camp in Kruger - Biyamiti - with lots of time to spare. The border crossing into SA at Mananga was a much more modern affair than Jeppes Reef, obviously reflecting the truck traffic that crosses there. Since there is a large border crossing into Mozambique near Komatipoort, it all makes sense. As planned, we shopped at the Spar in a plaza at the south end of Komatipoort. I had pre-ordered some frozen meat - all nicely wrapped and portioned - and this was ready as expected. We are getting pretty good at this routine now. Then it was just a few miles north and we entered the park at Crocodile Bridge Gate. It was good to be home. And as a data point: in the hour we spent driving to Biyamiti, we saw more animals and a bigger variety of animals than we had in two days at Mkhaya.
Author's Note
At this point in this narrative I will break away from the daily blow-by-blow and concentrate on daily highlights. That's because each day was similar to the next. Breakfast. Drive. Lunch. Rest. Drink. Braai. Sleep. Wake up at some crazy hour of the night and listen to the night bush sounds until dawn with bats fluttering for insects. Hyenas howling nightly with their swooping call. Oooooo-wa. Sometimes close and sometimes far in the distance. The far off grunt of a lion. The splashing and leaf ripping of an elephant in the dark. Africa. Kruger.
Biyamiti Bushveld Camp
Biyamiti ranks as one of our favorite camps. It is small and sits on the southern bank of the Biyamiti River - which always still has some water in April. Most cabins (#1-8 at least) have some river view although the vegetation past the fence can limit this. Elephants, buffalo and various antelope can be regular visitors during the day. The cabins are large and in decent shape. Our usual rental is an NCO2.2V, which gives us two twins in the BR and two in the LR. The kitchen is outside with a hotplate and a monkey cage on the fridge. Vervet monkeys roam daily. Due to availability when we booked, we had 3 different cabins with a large five bedroom NGC5V (#2) in the middle of two different NCO2.2Vs (#3 & #8). The five BR was great with an indoor kitchen, a covered seating area outside and two bathrooms but it wasn't cheap. The staff really helped us by speed cleaning our new unit right at 10 am checkout so we could easily move in. Moving every day was a pain but Biyamiti was still worth the effort.
And the roads of the south produced! Lots of swaying green grass and no tree leaf change yet, the south was healthy and awash with elephants. We saw herd after herd of the beasts on every drive with daily visits to the camp's waterhole as icing.
And the roads of the south produced! Lots of swaying green grass and no tree leaf change yet, the south was healthy and awash with elephants. We saw herd after herd of the beasts on every drive with daily visits to the camp's waterhole as icing.
We found the herds aggressive, with small ones in tow and young males tousling in the larger groups. The matriarchs were on edge and we were told to back off several times. And we all know that you should never disagree with an elephant who is displeased with you. The elephant above signaled his annoyance with us while we were standing by the fence watching the herds in the Biyamiti River from camp. The same thing happened again on the Biyamiti private road forcing me to back up for a ways to give him space.
It was good to see some rhinos - all whites. We saw numerous small groups sprinkled around.
After three nights, it was time to pack up and move on. We had a longish drive ahead of us to the upper middle part of the park to Olifants Rest Camp. At park speed - 50 km/h on tar and 40 km/h on dirt - it would take a while. We set out but just after we turned north on Croc Bridge Rd, there was a 3 car backup on the narrow Biyamiti River bridge. We saw why.
Then 20 minutes later on H5, we came across another one of the desirable sightings: wild dogs. Not a great photo opp but it makes us 3 for 3 for dogs sightings.