Letaba
We are actually only going to Kruger National Park because we want to meet up with a friend we haven’t seen for 6 years. Letaba Restcamp is located in the center of the park and is one of the nicer camps in Kruger NP. Even now – in the dry season – the Letaba River still carries water and the whole area is a thicket of mostly small to medium-sized mopane trees. The landscape is very beautiful, but spotting animals here is not very easy. In any case, we are not among the lucky ones.
Camps in the south
We set off early in the morning, slowly stalking along the dry rivers on gravel roads, kilometer after kilometer, but the yield is disappointing for us. Apparently, we are always in the wrong place at the wrong time. We visit some of the more southerly camps such as Balule, Satara, Skukuza and Lower Sabie.
Initially, the vehicles are kept within good limits. But from Skukuza and around Lower Sabie at the latest, traffic increases dramatically and there are traffic jams.
Extinguisher
Highlights
Nevertheless, there were three highlights at the end of our visit to the Kruger Park. On the last morning we were able to observe a whole pride of lions that had successfully hunted overnight. Unfortunately, an avalanche of vehicles prevented us from taking any decent photos.
Then we saw our first leopard sitting in a tree in daylight (we had already seen two during the night) and last but not least a pack of African wild dogs.
Meeting nice and cheerful people are also highlights.
From left to right:
Viviane, the groundskeeper at Balule Camp, keeps the camp spotlessly clean and looks after her guests. She comes by during the day and in the evening to see if we are doing well or if we need anything.
Tank attendant in Phalaborwa. She does her job with such dedication and enthusiasm, her face speaks for her. No bored standing around, but action and joy that she is allowed to fill so much diesel with us.
Fast food employee in the pizzeria. She went the extra mile. We asked if we could wash our hands before eating pizza. But there was nothing there. Suddenly she appears with a bucket of water, which had been mixed with a hand-washing liquid so that we could wash our hands and some kitchen paper so that we could dry them.
