Year in the Wild Blog

Leisure Wheels Magazine – October 2012 – Kruger National Park

A four page feature article that I wrote and photographed for Leisure Wheels Magazine, on the northern section of Kruger National Park. For me, the north of Kruger is more interesting than the south, and certainly it feels wilder.

Cape Times Newspaper – August 2012 – Kruger National Park (Pafuri)

The floodplains of the Luvuvhu and Limpopo Rivers in northern Kruger make this region one of the best for birders. The fever tree forests are also perfect backdrops to herds of elephant and buffalo. My column in the Cape Times newspaper on Pafuri was published in August 2012. There are only a few places to stay in Pafuri, but the best is Wilderness Safaris' Pafuri Camp.

Goodbye to Kruger – and the meaning of wild places

Saying goodbye to loved ones is never easy. I feel the same way about leaving Kruger. Pafuri and its beautiful camp was the perfect climax to an unforgettable month. I will always remember exploring South Africa’s largest and most famous nature reserve. This past month has only deepened my appreciation and gratitude for Africa’s natural heritage.

(This was highlighted for me when I drove out of the park at Pafuri Gate and into the poor
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Exploring more of Pafuri

Over the next two days at Pafuri Camp, Brian took us back to where the leopard had killed the bushbuck, and one evening we were rewarded with a fantastic sighting of her. She was in the same acacia albida tree where we had first spotted her, but this time she was fat and replete from eating the bushbuck. Nothing was going to disturb her, as she lay lazily on the branch.

Brian drove us
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The fierce and delicate of Pafuri

My guide at Pafuri Camp was Brian Kelly, an American who came to South Africa originally to work as an archaeologist at the Cradle of Humankind near Sterkfontein, but ended up falling in love with the bush (who can blame him!). He now works as the lead trails guide at Pafuri. “I prefer studying live things to dead things!” Brian said. America’s loss is certainly Africa’s gain..

You really
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Pafuri Camp – my last stop in Kruger

My time in Kruger National Park is coming to an end. I have now spent a month here, exploring the 2 million hectare reserve, and I’ve really only seen a small part of what it offers. It’s such a huge, diverse wilderness that it deserves to be explored slowly, again and again. It’s impossible to absorb and appreciate its plethora of wonders in one short trip. A month is way too short…perhaps a year is enough time?

I decided to end my trip with three days in Pafuri in the far north of Kruger.
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