I suppose when wildlife and South Africa appear in the same heading, one automatically assumes Kruger National Park. That’s OK – I was the same until our recent trip. But for those – including ourselves – on a typical fly-drive trip taking in Cape Town, the wineries and the Garden Route, Kruger is that bit too far at almost 2000kms from CT. Luckily, there are dozens of smaller and more accessible reserves offering a safari experience and ample game viewing.
Typically for this household I’m afraid, our relatively late booking meant that we had limited availability for January and the most popular reserves were no longer an option. We spent 3 great nights on the Kariega Reserve in the Eastern Cape where we enjoyed the privilege of seeing so many beautiful animals in the wild. We came away satisfied with our 6 game drives and sightings of 4 out of the Big 5 (no leopard, alas) and with our new found ability for sorting the Water Buck from the Impala from the Nyala from the Blesbuck…..
But wildlife here is not just about the safari experience. There are the penguins at Boulder Bay, seals aplenty along the sheltered coast and whales to be spotted on the horizon ( even off season for us). Head inland and there are baboons eyeing you from the roadside, ostriches to be admired around Oudtshoorn and dassies grazing among the rocks who’d probably rather be compared to their closest living relative – the ELEPHANT – rather than other less cute rodents we could mention!
I was hoping to see more birds so that was my only disappointment. And my favourite? – warthogs, definitely! – families scurrying across the roads with the babies following in single file, trying to keep up ….. how cute is that!!!
Beautiful animal images. I understand that Kruger Park is a long way from Cape Town and that smaller reserves often have a greater density of animals, when I spent several days in Kruger Park I could drive around all day as if an entire country constituted it. Its advantage is its size, which gives it its more natural character.
We were in the Serengeti some years ago and had a similar experience to you – absolutely huge – we spent hours there day after day but also moving from lodge to lodge so up at 5.30 or whatever, off for a game drive but then continuing – often for most of the day – to the next camp, settling in and then out for the evening drive. The advantage of the smaller reserve is that the safari experience can be enjoyed with shorter drives – usually 3 to 4 hours – and back for breakfast or dinner.
Love the lion and penguin images.
We were delighted with our lions – saw 2 males together and a female later. The penguins are gorgeous – not far from Cape Town so they attract huge crowds…
I didn’t realize there were so many penguins in Cape Town. I’ve got to add to my list next time I visit.
Boulder Beach is about 45 minutes from the city – I don’t know if they are anywhere else… It’s a hugely popular attraction .. it’s also very much part of the itinerary on the Cape of Good Hope day trip so for those without their own transport it makes for a great day out…
I love the playfulness and relaxed mood of the wildife!
It was a very peaceful place (apart from a few lions wandering about of course) – wonderful to see so many species living side by side…
All wonderfully captured
Thanks Sheree – it was a great experience..
I’m sure
So many beautiful photos!
Thank you Aneesa – glad you enjoyed. XXXMarie
That was at Kruger ? went by it visit farming areas instead. Great memories Cheers
No – we didn’t make it to Kruger – this was a smaller reserve nearer the coast – but there was still plenty of wildlife to enjoy.
Ok wonderful countryside there!
That’s for sure…
What a wonderful array of wildlife and beautifully photographed! I love the close-up of the elephant, the lions (especially that first shot), the penguins and the rhinos best 🙂 But they’re all great!
We ere able to get quite close to some of them which certainly helped! The lion was asleep when we came across him – we left when he began his evening prowl!!
Marie,
Your adventure sounds truly enchanting! It’s refreshing to hear about the diverse wildlife encounters beyond the usual Kruger narrative, especially the unique sightings at Kariega Reserve. Your appreciation for South Africa’s natural beauty, from warthogs to oceanic wonders, is contagious.
Mike
Thank you Michael. We have been very privileged in the past to have encountered African wildlife (Tanzania and Namibia) but it was still such a joy to see these animals in the wild and we didn’t feel we’d missed out on anything by not going to Kruger.
My pleasure, Marie. Pleased to meet you.
And likewise – happy blogging!
Wow! I like the lions and penguins most.
I think this was the closest we’d ever been to a lion (apart from the zoo of course) so that was amazing. The penguins were great – some having the craic in the water and the poor females stuck on the sand protecting their eggs…
You must have had a wonderful experience! I love to see animals in their own environment, great captures!
We loved it – we’ve managed, especially in the past few years, to see many natural environments so count ourselves very lucky indeed. The one I want to see most now though is the Komodo Dragon on Komodo Island!! Think I’ll have to win the lottery for that one!!
In a way or another, I hope your wish come true!
Well – if life has taught me anything it’s ‘never say never’…
Wow, just look at all the wonderful wildlife photos, Marie. They are incredible. When I picture African wildlife in my head, I see the classic silhouette of a giraffe calmly munching on acacia leaves with a vivid orange sunset making the sky glow like fire behind it, primal lions hungrily prowling through swaying grass and elephants roaming the savanna with their young. It’s a bucket place, indeed. Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx
You’ve summed it up Aiva – it’s exactly like that! I hope the 4 of you make it there one day. XXXMarie
It sounds amazing Marie. Is that rodent similar to a rock hyrax? Funny that warthogs were your favourite, but from you picture I can actually see why 🙂 Maggie
Yes – I think it’s the same creature, Maggie. As for the warthogs – I don’t know why I took such a shine to them – they wouldn’t even pose for photos! But I’ve a lovely little beaded one for my Christmas tree so I’m happy!!
I can only echo what others have said above, Wow! Fantastic! Fabulous photos! What a brilliant time you seem to have had and, well yes, I have to say it again, what utterly fantastic photos you got. A friend has just returned from Kruger Park and she said she did not enjoy it half as much as she did the smaller parks she toured last year nearer Cape Town. She found the long drives and all day in a jeep very tiring and didn’t see as many animals as she saw in the smaller parks.
Wonderful and all as the experience is, the jeeps can be exhausting! Fine when there is plenty to look at but without wildlife there is very little to distract you from the endless bumping and lurching – the novelty wears off fairly quickly!!!
Amazing trip!
It was indeed Therese – we’d a great time…
That last photo of the two lions — so cool. Well honestly all the pictures are amazing!
They were asleep on a ridge – we’d to wait about 20 minutes for him to turn his head in our direction – we were happy enough to see his face and then he stretched and got up which was a real bonus!!!
Fabulous. We are overdue an African wildlife fix ourselves. This has obviously been a terrific fix on that score.
Ha – South America for you first though!! Have a wonderful trip!
Thank you! 😊
That zebra had me smiling from ear to ear 🙂
He was having a great time!!!
Amazing photos.Looks like you had a fantastic time.
We certainly did Mary – and a great time of year to be away….
The wildlife in Africa is incredible, you were lucky to see so many! I would love to see the penguins on the beach one day 🦖
We’d one particularly rewarding game drive and saw loads on the same evening. That’s how it goes of course… The penguins were so cute – who doesn’t love a penguin! Hope you make it there one day, Rex!
Amazing photos, Marie. It seems like an absolutely incredible experience. Such a trip would be a dream for us. Sometimes these smaller and perhaps less popular parks give just as good or an even better experience than the iconic ones.
Am I right in thinking that despite all your travels you haven’t visited the African continent yet? You’ll get there some day – and have SO much to look forward to…. XXXMarie
Well, not quite. I have been to Morocco but somehow I struggle to see it as “Africa”. Or at least the Africa I have always dreamed of seeing. Some day indeed.
I know what you mean – we consider it more the Med than Africa don’t we. Sure we’ve even direct flights from Dublin!
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