Mozambique and Kruger 2008 - Kruger National Park, South Africa

We got through the Mozambique and South African border formalities without problem and headed for the rest camp at Punda Maria. After a couple of long hard days, and as it was beginning to drizzle we decided to stay in a hut at the camp but were disappointed to find that they were all booked so we had to camp instead - it then took us an hour to find a site where we could get the pegs into the ground!!

The next day we moved on to Singwedzi where we did managed to get a hut for a couple of days and then moved a bit further South to Letaba where we wanted to camp but were told that every hut, tent and campsite was booked - and that was also the case at the 3 other rest camps within driving distance. Having had a look around the campsite and chatting to some guys who said there were several unused pitches the previous night we tried again at reception and eventually were told we could camp. The reliance on a computer based booking system was an indication of how careful tourist organisations will have to be if they are to take full advantage of the 2010 World Cup. The human interface was just not there! We felt sympathy for the the people at front of house, of one of ZAs premier tourist attractions, who were not enabled to use their intelligence or initiative.

We ended up staying for 2 nights but decided to give up trying to get any more accommodation in the Kruger and headed back to Richmond, taking a couple of days for the trip. We'll go back to the Kruger but will have to confirm bookings before we turn up next time.

As it's the dry season the rivers were very low, and in many cases non-existent. In the Northern half of the park the only animals that we saw were near watercourses.

We did see quite a lot of animals and birds - particularly elephant and giraffe. The elephants were often to be seen digging holes in the dry river beds looking for water. This old bull was by himself.

A huge group of buffalo

Giraffe

One of many tree squirrels that we saw.

Black-winged stilt.

Most of the water birds seemed unconcerned about the presence of crocodiles.

One of several family groups of elephants that we saw.

Brown-hooded kingfisher

Bateleur Eagles

Mkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa)
Mozambique 1: Sand driving course
Mozambique 2: South coast beaches
Mozambique 3: Inland to the Kruger
Kruger National Park, South Africa
Diary.

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