Winter 2019

Kruger Magazine

A celebration of Africa’s GREATER KRUGER!

Kruger Magazine2 min read
SETTING the SCENE
Welcome to the Winter issue of While some visitors might prefer the lush vegetation of the summer months in the Greater Kruger, the best time for observing African wildlife, however, is the dry winter season that allows for better visibility and a
Kruger Magazine1 min read
From The Publisher’s Pen
Winter is our favourite season of the year. Sightings in the Greater Kruger are magnificent, the baobab and sausage trees start to bloom during late winter – an exceptional sight – and the Lowveld is known for its mild weather during the South Africa
Kruger Magazine2 min read
Queens of Crochet
The art of spinning a yarn has revived around the globe like never before. This is no truer than for Mpumalanga community-based project, Ukuthunga Handmade. Their knots of love are weaving into the fabric of people’s lives in South Africa and abroad.
Kruger Magazine2 min read
More on EGYPTIAN Vultures (Neophron percnopterus)
The adult’s plumage is white with black flight feathers in the wings. Wild birds usually appear soiled with a rusty or brown shade to the white plumage, derived from mud or iron-rich soil. Captive specimens without access to soil have clean white plu
Kruger Magazine3 min read
Stroop
Two filmmakers stopped their lives to make a film about the rhino poaching crisis in South Africa. Carving out six months for the project, the women quickly found themselves immersed in a world far larger and more dangerous than they had imagined, on
Kruger Magazine2 min read
My First Visit To Greater Kruger
The year was 1949. A friend from our local church had just purchased a green Hudson Commodore six sedan, a beautiful streamlined American icon motor car. Our bachelor friend invited our entire family, including myself and my 15-year-old sister, to
Kruger Magazine2 min read
Memorable Sightings
As avid Kruger lovers, once a year we enjoy taking the long drive up to the Park for our annual ‘re-charge’. The rest of the year we spend time on weekends in the parks closer to home. We also get our daily dose of the different social media Kruger g
Kruger Magazine2 min read
OLIFANTS ý›››››#››››#$› ››››
Olifants Rest Camp is probably one of the more popular camps in the Kruger ¿›››››››#³››››# Ë›››››››#›››››››#›››››››#››››# up on a hill on the banks of the mighty Olifants River, you get a view so vast, it is truly a window ››››#$› ›››››# The nearest
Kruger Magazine1 min read
Game Drives
It is always good to plan your game drives the previous evening while waiting for your fire to get ready for your dinner braai. A good morning game drive at Olifants is to take the river road along the Olifants River – the S92. It is a gravel road b
Kruger Magazine1 min read
TIND LOVU at Afsaal
Relax, rejuvenate and unwind at the new Afsaal Trader’s Post. “We are in the heart of the bush, with no fencing. People visit our spot to braai their own food or to eat at our café. Our staff members build relationships with the customers, ensuring t
Kruger Magazine5 min read
Dazzling Zebras
‹‹ Dr Ian John Whyte is an independent environmental consultant who retired from SANParks in 2007. He was previously engaged in full-time wildlife research in the Kruger National Park from 1970-2007. At the time of retirement, he was responsible for
Kruger Magazine3 min read
ICONIC Thunderbirds
Over the past 100 years southern ground-hornbills have experienced a two-thirds reduction in their national occurrence and, ›››#››#››››#››››#››››››››#›››››#››››››››››# size. They are the largest co-operatively breeding bird in the world with groups ›
Kruger Magazine2 min read
Research Results
His results suggested that the areas used by different groups across the year ranged from 55 to 103km2 . In the summer breeding season, however, home ranges contracted dramatically. Three of the four groups bred successfully and, during the breeding
Kruger Magazine1 min read
Research Results
Blair found that although the home ranges were confined during summer, daily travel distances were greater, averaging 7.4km per day, when birds were constrained to travel from their nest to find food, and were lower in winter, when birds ranged more
Kruger Magazine3 min read
Rollers
They occur quite widely in the world, mainly in Africa, but also in Europe, ››››››››#$›››#›››#$›››››››››#x›#›››››# there are 12 species of which eight ›››››#››#$› ››››#›››#›››#››#Ë››››#$› ›››››# all of which can be seen in the Kruger National ³›››#››
Kruger Magazine1 min read
General Information – Breeding & Feeding
Rollers all breed in holes or cavities in trees, or sometimes holes excavated by the larger woodpeckers or barbets. In the absence of these, they will sometimes nest in rock crevices or other sites like holes in termite mounds, pipes or cracks in bui
Kruger Magazine4 min read
Mahlometela Poaching An Age-old Tradition
Poaching is however nothing new. It has been around for centuries and will continue to keep game rangers on their toes for years to come. During his annual report to the National Parks Board in 1902, first Warden of the Kruger National Park, James St
Kruger Magazine2 min read
Interesting Fact
Jock of the Bushveld connection! The lilac-breasted roller is also historically connected to Jock of the Bushveld. The book by this name is a South African classic. It tells the story of the now famous dog, Jock, who belonged to Percy Fitzpatrick, a
Kruger Magazine5 min read
Bloodwood Tree
A tall, deciduous, slightly flat-crowned tree with a high canopy, kiaat can grow to over 30m in height in optimal habitat, but generally up to about 15m. It has a rough, dark grey-brown bark, cracking into rectangular blocks on older trees. The shiny
Kruger Magazine2 min read
TOP 11 AMATEUR photographs
The theme for our 8th amateur photo competition was predators and raptors, and even though the ‘playing field’ in terms of qualifying species was limited, we had a bumper amount of entries. No less than 2 600 entries were received, and the amount o
Kruger Magazine5 min read
Photographing WATER
As we all know water is vital for life and as a result animals and birds are found in close proximity to it. For wildlife photographers this is good news, particularly in the dry season when they tend to favour areas close to waterways. You could do
Kruger Magazine1 min read
Lion Love
Every wildlife lover has some sort of wish list and as a photographer, mine may seem a little bit stranger than the usual. For many years one of my goals has been to capture that perfect moment when lions mate. Their mating session lasts only a few s
Kruger Magazine8 min read
KNP HISTORY: History of Camps
‹‹ Joep Stevens is a keen historian who was introduced to the Kruger National Park by his parents in 1966. This ignited his interest in and passion for the Park. In Issue 7 of KRUGER MAGAZINE, we featured Satara camp, jewel of the central plains.
Kruger Magazine3 min read
Charming Chacma
Chacma Bush Camp offers the perfect Big Five safari experience on 8 000 hectares of undulating landscape dotted with rocky outcrops. Situated in the Greater Kruger in a private reserve home to a wealth of wildlife, Chacma most certainly sets the stan
Kruger Magazine5 min read
Nyala – Pure Grace And Delicacy
<< Salomon Joubert (Dr SCJ Joubert) started his conservation career in 1964 as a postgraduate student in the Sabi Sand Wildtuin and was appointed to the Kruger National Park as Junior Ranger at the end of 1964, stationed at the remote Klipkoppies Sec
Kruger Magazine5 min read
Goldilocks Of Spiders
‹‹Donald Strydom runs the Kinyonga Reptile Centre, formerly known as Swadini Reptile Park, which was founded in 1984. He has been involved in the filming of approximately 50 documentaries and has worked with Sir David Attenborough. Through the Kinyon
Kruger Magazine5 min read
A Journey North
I have been travelling to the Kruger National Park for 20 years. As a creature of habit, I had become quite repetitive in the routes I took and the places I stayed at. The southern areas held the promise of big cats and the Doispane road was always t

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