A MONTH in the KRUGER - PUNDA MARIA (Episode 7) 

Many thanks for your comment. It's nice to get close to a leopard ... but preferably when in your car!

Many thanks for your appreciation.

Many thanks! There's another series following this one called Kruger in Summer and we hope to go back to film a (final?) series but it looks like it will not be until late 2025. Hang on in there!

@@oldcodgerwithacamera yes looking forward to that and then the Kalahari

Thanks for watching and thanks for your comment.

Sometimes you just get lucky!

Always special, it's a shame you don't see them very often but then if they were common you might not think them so special!

Thanks for your comments Jean, much appreciated.

Many thanks, I try to get across thed feeling of being there. Glad I succeeded.

Yes, Tamboti is excellent but I still prefer the big verandas on the Punda Maria tents.

I saw on your video the big balcony in punda, I like Tamboti no shops or restaurant just you in the African bush

Many thanks, much appreciated.

Many thanks for those kind words. Many people don’t realise that you have to work quite hard at times to spot the wildlife. I’m working on the next series at the moment and have just watched a segment where I comment on people missing sightings. We had decided to have a rest day and left camp at 8am and were really surprised at how many people were still there. You really do need to get out as soon as the gates open no matter how painful it is to get up at that time! And you need to be super patient at what might seem to be an ordinary sighting. I’m amazed when some people roll up to a partial sighting hiding in the bush and move on after a couple of minutes. We stay for hours sometimes and are often rewarded by some great action.

Your patience for each sighting was well rewarded. Watching the animals in your videos is like being there myself, seeing the awesome wonder of their behaviour up close. The night safari where you could not take videos of the lions walking on the road was recorded with great shots such as the lioness nuzzling her 3 cubs. I immediately thought of Elsa of Born Free fame when she became a mum of 3 cubs. I can't thank you enough for all your hours of hard work in capturing such incredible images of the animals in Kruger for your viewers. Identifying the types of lesser known animals and birds featured is also much appreciated. And the long list of sightings at the end of each episode amazes me. How do you go about identifying every animal and bird?

I'd recommend September or October when it's drier and the bush has died away giving a better chance of seeing the animals. We've never felt unsafe outside the park but then have have not hung around driving straight to the park from Johannesburg. Avoid Numbi gate and you should be fine.

@@oldcodgerwithacamera thanks for the info.👍

Many thanks. Several cameras used. GoPro Hero 5 mounted on the windscreen which is voice controlled so I don't have to touch it, DJI Pocket 2 for speaking to camera and side shots, Canon M50 for most of the wildlife videos and a Canon 7D MkII with Sigma 150-600mm lens for still photography.

I did know that many of the birds migrate north but I was surprised at what a difference it makes. We are going back in February/March in the hope of finding many more birds and hopefully some new ones we have not seen before.

It is quite remarkable just how many bird species migrate in and out of the park. Let's hope your next trip is a good one! Will you be visiting any of the other national parks or popping over into Botswana in the future?

@@Africa_Explored We are going to the Kgalagadi but only on the South African side. Would love to go to Botswana (never been) but would also like to go back to Namibia. Trouble is everything has got so expensive since the pandemic (particularly car hire) that we'll have to pick and choose very carefully in the future.

Many thanks for subscribing. I hope you enjoy the episodes published so far, more to come!