Mark and Alice, my usual travelling companions, set off for the Kruger National Park in November 2025, starting off in the north and slowly making our way south.
Our plans were confounded by the weather – the first couple of days was very rainy and miserable. I can say with absolute certainty that I don’t like camping in the rain. Everything is damp, and the mud! Not for the faint-hearted.
Photography isn’t the greatest in the rain, but it was a good learning experience, what with low light and soggy animals. I think I got some good photos nonetheless.
One of the campsites that we stayed at was Tzendze Rustic Camp Site. As we drove in and found our site, I saw some people off in the bush. I walked over and the camp manager pointed out a Western Barn Owl nest with babies in it, a Pearl Spotted Owlet pair flying around their nest, and a sleeping African Scops Owl. A three-fer in the first couple of minutes of arriving! I will definitely stay at Tzendze again.
We didn’t have great animal viewing, thus the heavy bird content. On the second last day we came across a pack of African Wild Dogs, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Initially they were all sleeping under a huge bush, and we only caught glimpses of them as they shifted position. We waited for about 2 hours, but our patience paid off. Suddenly the whole pride was up and greeting each other with wild yips and barks.
I fell in love with a young male – the sole survivor of a litter of pups – who was playing with a stick. One of the Wild Dog researchers was staying in the campsite next to us and she gave us the history of the pack. I guess seeing as he didn’t have other litter mates to play with, he had to made do with a stick. He would throw it in the air, carry it in his mouth, change sticks when he got the chance. Here I have captured a few of the very many images that I got of him.
