Birding at Kruger camps, South Africa (1 Viewer)

[Julian H]

For a trip in August, I plan to bird early mornings at the rest camps before the family stirs.

Anyone recommend any specific areas of the camps at Skukuza at Satara, or is it a matter of just wandering around since they may not be as spread out as I expect?

Any spots for owls at those camps especially Pel's fishing owl?

Our itinerary changed and now we will drive to Kruger from Johannesburg. Drive time looks to be 4.5 hours. Any tips on that drive or stops. I know JoBurg can be, let's say, a bit unsafe.

Thanks in advance.

Ju

 

[Dortmundbirder]

Birding in the camps is quite good and rather straightforward, as most of the camps are not that spread out, except maybe Skukuza.
In Skukuza I found the riverside most productive, as well as the wooded areas next to the camping area.
I doubt you will find a Pel's in any of the camps. We had African Scops Owl in several areas and African Barred Owlet directly in Berg en Dal. And in Lower Sabie we had a Spotted Eagle Owl on a lamp post in the camp.

Issue with early morning birding is, it is also the best time for going on the game drive, so you need to find a middle in between.

Between Joburg and Kruger check out this place: 25°41'16.7"S 30°12'46.0"E
A nice rest station with adjacent pond, we saw a couple of waterbirds and swallows here, we didnt see in Kruger and the lunch was quite good.

 

[Steve Babbs]

Agree about time to Kruger. Drive fairly easy but if you need to break it up there are plenty of places to stop along the road. When we were last there we pulled into one late afternoon - Kwayani Lodge - which looked quite expensive. It wasn't anyway but they gave us a discount without us even asking as 'they were unlikely to get anyone else that day anyway'.

Birding around the camps is just a case of wandering round. I tended to drag the family out for game viewing at first light and then bird mid morning when the sun was hitting the camps, this seemed an especially productive time. There's not much to stay up late for a Kruger - apart from a bit of spotlighting for bushbabies and it can be bloody cold so you'll probably be to bed early.

It was 2016 when I was last there but then Mkuze was the only real hope of Pel's.

 

[njlarsen]

This map should show you where Pel's have been seen this year:

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ebird.org

Niels

 

[occasional]

I have always found it appropriate to stay for a few nights between Johannesburg and Kruger principally because you need to shop somewhere and that absorbs a fair amount of time. This year we stayed in an Airbnb in Presidentsrus and in Somabula nature reserve. The disadvantage of the first was the dirt road to the village, but both places were otherwise very satisfactory.
I also like Loskop Dam as an intermediate stop.

 

[Steve Babbs]

I have always found it appropriate to stay for a few nights between Johannesburg and Kruger principally because you need to shop somewhere and that absorbs a fair amount of time. This year we stayed in an Airbnb in Presidentsrus and in Somabula nature reserve. The disadvantage of the first was the dirt road to the village, but both places were otherwise very satisfactory.
I also like Loskop Dam as an intermediate stop.

You need to shop? There are good reasonably priced shops in Kruger unless things have changed dramatically since my visits.

 

[occasional]

I would be inclined to describe Kruger park shops as adequate rather than good.

 

[Steve Babbs]

I never wanted anything that wasn't there but if you are vegetarian it may be an issue. We mostly got meat, veg, bread and wine and cooked on a brai on the days when we didn't go to a restaurant.

 

[Andy Adcock]

I would be inclined to describe Kruger park shops as adequate rather than good.

Food in the 'Cattle Baron' eatery was great when we were there.

 

[mike.cambridge]

I was there on a solo trip last year and I quite enjoyed the drive from joburg to the camp, it took me 4.5 hours to Pretoriskop and the last couple of hours are through quite pretty countryside. The roads were all very good and very quiet (coming from the UK!) The shops at the camps are OK, pricing is pretty good considering but it's definitely worth looking for a pick&pay en route to the park for non perishables, there will be much more choice.

I really liked Skukuza, the camp is good and the hide really close to camp at Lake Panic was brilliant and is well worth sneaking out to as early as you can, although I'd say it's far better to suffer the pain and get the family up too; most of my cat sightings were in the first hour or so, I'd be in the queue to leave camp 10 minutes before it opened every morning!

Satara is a lot smaller but I had some brilliant sightings nearby, including wild dog, all the big cats and rhino plus ground hornbill and ostrich. The bird hide at Nwanetsi also lovely, although quieter for me than @ Panic Lake (and an hour or so away from camp). I paid for a brilliant night drive from Satara.

I was there in April / May so everything was very green, you might see more in August because it'll be dryer. I'm not an expert in any way but will help if I can - ping me if you have any other questions!

 

[Dave Williams]

The drive from J'berg to Malelane is a decent road and there is a good Spar to stock up at if you intend self catering. Stop at Milly's which is a good service station and was the only place I have seen Pied Starling on my trips to KNP. Malelane to Berg-en-Dal camp is a fairly short drive and the camp is one of the best for birding, both in camp and the surrounds which are at a higher elevation than the rest of KNP. I would plan a first night stop either in Malelane where there is no time pressure to arrive (Belvedere-on-River is a lovely B&B) or Berg-en-Dal. The restaurant and shop in Skukuza are the best in the park, I didn't try eating at the new cattle Baron in Satara but both camps have wifi at the restaurants. Talking of wifi , connections in KNP are poor but if you have a modern phone with a dual sim check out Airalo for a decent SA deal, cheaper than the airport shops and no need to change sims.
Pal's Fishing Owl can , allegedly be seen in KNP, few have been successful it seems! The Olifants river is supposed to be the place to go but I wouldn't make a special trip personally.
Overall, birding from the car isn't the best in Kruger as it's restrictive, especially for photography.My advice is to check out any camps and picnic spots where you can get out and walk .
The winter months (June-September) are not as good as summer from what I can gather but I haven't been in the hot, wet,humid months when birding is at it's best.It doesn't matter though, KNP is a superb holiday and at the moment the Rand is weak which makes it better value for foreign tourists. Incidentally, I have a Revolut card which you can preload with various currencies so you can buy when the exchange rate is good and hang on to them for as long as you like. Plastic is widely accepted in SA, KNP included, but just be aware that sometimes they have power cuts and then you need cash to pay.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Overall, birding from the car isn't the best in Kruger as it's restrictive, especially for photography.My advice is to check out any camps and picnic spots where you can get out and walk .
The winter months (June-September) are not as good as summer from what I can gather but I haven't been in the hot, wet,humid months when birding is at it's best.It doesn't matter though, KNP is a superb holiday and at the moment the Rand is weak which makes it better value for foreign tourists. Incidentally, I have a Revolut card which you can preload with various currencies so you can buy when the exchange rate is good and hang on to them for as long as you like. Plastic is widely accepted in SA, KNP included, but just be aware that sometimes they have power cuts and then you need cash to pay.

We got out of the vehicle at one supposedly safe place, (named after someone if I remember) and with minutes of exiting the vehicle, we found a steaming pile of Elephant dung and could hear the animal over the other side of the boulders. Then, as we were leaving, withing two hundred metres, we encountered a Buffalo so when they it's 'safe' to get out of your car, that in this case is a most relative term.

 

[Farnboro John]

We got out of the vehicle at one supposedly safe place, (named after someone if I remember) and with minutes of exiting the vehicle, we found a steaming pile of Elephant dung and could hear the animal over the other side of the boulders. Then, as we were leaving, withing two hundred metres, we encountered a Buffalo so when they it's 'safe' to get out of your car, that in this case is a most relative term.

Yes it is: even the supposedly safe camps occasionally have animals in that have walked through the gate, so it's worth using your own eyes to check all the time (including looking where you are putting your feet, these people aren't checking for e.g. Puff Adders). It only takes a gate guard to be taking a leak while a Leopard strolls in.....

Many of the "safe places" in the park are unfenced. The safety basically relies on your own powers of observation. Plus how far you get from your car.

John

 

[Dave Williams]

If you want to go to extremes you are not safe in your car, or even your chalet in a camp for that matter. We had a snake in our chalet on one occasion which scared my wife to a near heart attack when she lifted a bag and it was underneath it! It turned out to be harmless but might not have been. Elephants have been know to attack cars, baboons and monkeys raid your food given a chance. An Elephant was wandering around Afsaal picnic site the other day and not long ago a Spotted Hyena was actually in the ladies toilets in Tshokwane picnic site.
However, incidents of fatal attacks or even serious incidents such as snake bites within the park are very few indeed, the drive from J'berg to KNP has many fatalities every year as has no doubt the road to your departure airport in the UK.
Let's not put things out of perspective!

 

[Andy Adcock]

If you want to go to extremes you are not safe in your car, or even your chalet in a camp for that matter. We had a snake in our chalet on one occasion which scared my wife to a near heart attack when she lifted a bag and it was underneath it! It turned out to be harmless but might not have been. Elephants have been know to attack cars, baboons and monkeys raid your food given a chance. An Elephant was wandering around Afsaal picnic site the other day and not long ago a Spotted Hyena was actually in the ladies toilets in Tshokwane picnic site.
However, incidents of fatal attacks or even serious incidents such as snake bites within the park are very few indeed, the drive from J'berg to KNP has many fatalities every year as has no doubt the road to your departure airport in the UK.
Let's not put things out of perspective!

I witnessed an amost fatal Buffalo attack within a fenced off, private reserve, adjacent to Kruger so nothing, is out of perspective.

Zoutnet | News | Tourist remains in critical condition after buffalo attack

 

[Dave Williams]

That was 9 years ago Andy.No doubt it would have left a lasting impression but I still maintain that you are very safe in KNP as long as you use common sense.
Google the possibilities and you will find very few incidences of fatal attacks, particularly on tourists. I can think of one who was crushed in his car a couple of years ago when he hit a Giraffe and other than that there was a small child taken by a Leopard in camp four years ago. One tourist was shot dead outside the camp by hijackers last year but it doesn't count to the animal fatalities. At least one ranger and one poacher were killed by animals when walking in the bush where the general public are not likely to be unless with and armed guard.
I maintain the risk on the roads is much, much higher, but even they can be reduced when you drive at an appropriate speed and show patience before attempting to overtake one of the many huge trucks on the road.

 

[Andy Adcock]

That was 9 years ago Andy.No doubt it would have left a lasting impression but I still maintain that you are very safe in KNP as long as you use common sense.
Google the possibilities and you will find very few incidences of fatal attacks, particularly on tourists. I can think of one who was crushed in his car a couple of years ago when he hit a Giraffe and other than that there was a small child taken by a Leopard in camp four years ago. One tourist was shot dead outside the camp by hijackers last year but it doesn't count to the animal fatalities. At least one ranger and one poacher were killed by animals when walking in the bush where the general public are not likely to be unless with and armed guard.
I maintain the risk on the roads is much, much higher, but even they can be reduced when you drive at an appropriate speed and show patience before attempting to overtake one of the many huge trucks on the road.

You'll be amazed at th lack of common sense shown by many, most of whom are not really nature lovers or regular wildlife observers. We encountered a foursome, ouside of their car, the ladies in long dresses and heels who were walking off to photograph a Giraffe some 200m from their car and then there was the idiot who positioned himself between an Elephant calf and it's mother causing mock charges, trumpeting and ending up with their car, surrounded by about 50 tons of Elephant. I'm surprised there are not more fatalities and I'll bet there are lots of non fatal incidents which don't get reported, people really are idiots

One thing we would always do if taking our car to a viewpoint, is to make sure we were facing the exit, you don't want a panicked reverse if something starts to go wrong. Elephants are really common in the park now, they say that they are now actually degrading habitat for other animals, we would always give them a minimum of 50m between them and us when we encountered them on the road which seemed to happen every half mile in some places.

 

[Andy Adcock]

That was 9 years ago Andy.No doubt it would have left a lasting impression but I still maintain that you are very safe in KNP as long as you use common sense.
Google the possibilities and you will find very few incidences of fatal attacks, particularly on tourists. I can think of one who was crushed in his car a couple of years ago when he hit a Giraffe and other than that there was a small child taken by a Leopard in camp four years ago. One tourist was shot dead outside the camp by hijackers last year but it doesn't count to the animal fatalities. At least one ranger and one poacher were killed by animals when walking in the bush where the general public are not likely to be unless with and armed guard.
I maintain the risk on the roads is much, much higher, but even they can be reduced when you drive at an appropriate speed and show patience before attempting to overtake one of the many huge trucks on the road.

We actually saw this animal before it made the attack. I told my wife to stand still and be quiet, had it attacked us, we'd have been killed as we had nowhere to run, we were right out in the open with about 30m between us and the animal. The screams during the attack, will live with me forever.

 

[Dave Williams]

Common sense is the by word Andy, you can't account for stupidity although on the roads many are killed by their own stupidity whilst others are indeed innocent victims as a result.
I must admit I am not happy in the presence of Elephants and I have seen enough to last me a lifetime. You can attempt to keep your distance but sometimes you become trapped or even find yourself in the middle of a herd that are on either side of the road but hidden by bushes. Scary stuff when one comes trumpeting out of the bushes without warning. On our trip last July it was evident that the herds had moved right in to the bottom of the park and the damage they were doing in terms of destroying trees and bushes was quite considerable. There needs to be an answer before it's beyond repair. They tried moving some bulls 700kms away but they just walked straight back!
Sound advice about always having an exit plan when in the car, we always do if possible.Put it this way, the shot of the Ellies below was taken with a telephoto lens and reverse gear was engaged ready to move before the herd moved off the road and disappeared before getting any closer.

 

[Julian H]

Agree about time to Kruger. Drive fairly easy but if you need to break it up there are plenty of places to stop along the road. When we were last there we pulled into one late afternoon - Kwayani Lodge - which looked quite expensive. It wasn't anyway but they gave us a discount without us even asking as 'they were unlikely to get anyone else that day anyway'.

Birding around the camps is just a case of wandering round. I tended to drag the family out for game viewing at first light and then bird mid morning when the sun was hitting the camps, this seemed an especially productive time. There's not much to stay up late for a Kruger - apart from a bit of spotlighting for bushbabies and it can be bloody cold so you'll probably be to bed early.

It was 2016 when I was last there but then Mkuze was the only real hope of Pel's.

Hey Steve, so as I have moved along with booking, I was going to get out at first light and bird the camps making the kids grab breakfast early and then head out after the gate rush.

1. You found that going out when the gates open and then birding the camps around 10 ish was better for you?

Trying to find that balance might be tough, but as it is winter hoping activity will be morenthan in the summer heat.

2. assuming that I can still visit the other camps and bird them if not staying there?

3. Did you find sweatshirt and fleece was good enough for the cool mornings/evenings. I am trying to pack light, but since I am gonna do a CapeTown pelagic and the Cape so was gonna take a puffy coat/rain jacket as it can get chilly.

Thanks y'all,

J