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After twelve days of birding in South Africa we were finally approaching one of my bucket list destinations – Kruger National Park. Kruger is huge (about the size of New Jersey) and is renowned for containing the largest concentration of wildlife in South Africa, including the Big Five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, buffalo). Not to mention the over 500 birds species that have been observed there over time.
A few miles before entering Kruger we exchanged our van for a safari vehicle – and a new guide. We left David behind in Wakkerstrumm and picked up Edward, who was a Kruger expert (he’s the one in the baseball cap below). He knew just where to find the exotic birds we were looking for. Note the safari vehicle below – it had the driver and passenger up front and then three tiered rows, each with three seats (it was quite a climb up to the highest tier in the back!) There wasn’t enough room in the vehicle for our luggage so all of it went into the trailer.
We were driving toward the Malelane Gate to enter Kruger – and we stopped. We were in the middle of the Crocodile Bridge, that spanned the Crocodile River.
Edward told us that we could get out but it was the last time we would exit the safari vehicle on a road, for once we entered Kruger it was forbidden to leave your vehicle unless it was parked in a designated area (usually surrounded by a wall or fence). This was for our own safety – the wildlife in Kruger ignore the safari vehicles, but a person outside of the vehicle was fair game.
As we scanned the river below we saw lots of crocodiles, like these big fellas. Get a load of those teeth in the second pic.
Looking down to the river we saw many birds, some of which looked familiar. There was a Great Egret in breeding plumage (note the showy feathers and green beak).
Similar to our Great Blue Heron, this Gray Heron stood quietly on the banks of the river.
Similar to our Green Heron this Little Heron waited patiently for a fish to swim by.
There were some smaller birds there as well such as the Common Greenshank (note the green legs) and the Wood Sandpiper
This African Jacana, with its huge feet, waded through the shallows in search of small fish.
There was a ledge protruding from the side of the bridge and it was a favorite perch for a couple types of kingfishers. This Pied Kingfisher would land there and then take off in search of flying insects, would snatch one in mid-air, and then return to the perch. Note the crocodile just below the Pied Kingfisher in the third pic below.
I was thrilled to see not one, but two Giant Kingfishers there. These kingfishers are about the size of a crow and they are so much bigger than the Pied Kingfisher seen above. In the first picture below you see a single Giant Kingfisher on the ledge. Then a second one landed and the two proceeded to grab each other by the bill – I’ve included six shots of them tussling in the next photo.
Off in the distance, two Saddlebilled Storks walked through the river. In the second shot you can see how close the Saddlebilled Storks were to two giant crocodiles!
Off in the distance was saw a Waterbuck grazing. This was the first of many types of mammals we observed in Kruger.
We eventually walked off the bridge and found Edward waiting by our safari vehicle. Not far off, a Vervet Monkey kept a close eye on us.
As we were about to climb on board I noticed a pair of Dung Beetles push a clod of dung across the parking lot. Which reminded me of a joke: A Dung Beetle walks into a bar and asks the bartender, “Is this stool taken?”
Finally we pulled up to the Malelane Gate and drove into Kruger National Park! I was very excited as I dreamed of visiting here ever since I heard about it. More about the sights seen inside the park in future posts.
CLICK HERE to see all the posts about our South Africa Bird Tour. Karen and I have had the opportunity to travel to many interesting places in search of birds. If you would like read about some of our other Bird Tours CLICK HERE.
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