South Africa in safari mode: February/March 2026 (page 5 of 9)

Hi Virginie,

Now it’s solar-powered lamps!

We didn’t get a chance to enjoy our terrace. We stayed in a self-catering bungalow—I think we had Liphiva. I can confirm they’re really close to the watering hole. You don’t have a direct view from your bungalow because of the vegetation and trees, but it’s just a 1-minute walk away!

There are chairs along the watering hole so you can admire it. No lighting, though, so once night falls, you can’t see a thing.

As for the restaurant, it’s just that the value for money isn’t great. It does the job for one evening.

It’s solar-powered lamps now!

Ah, progress never stops, even in the bush

For the restaurant, it’s just that it’s not a good value for money. It’ll do for one night

We’ll make do for one night.

Thanks for the info on the bungalow.

Our explorers are right— The two chalets are a bit off the beaten path. You can make a fire; they provide some wood. Braai or just for the ambiance. Originally, it was only candles, and you needed a headlamp to eat dinner. Usually, the staff puts on a little show.

Thanks Michel for the additional info :)

Lion's head

We really loved hiking up there, especially the last bit where you have to scramble a little.

These two reserves (and the accommodations that go with them) look really nice 😉

This Lion's Head seems to be a unanimous hit! 😎 ... now we just have to hope the weather's on our side.

especially the last bit where you have to scramble a little.

That’s kinda what worries me since I don’t scramble with the same ease as you do 😏 ... but I’ll probably come back to it in a few weeks when I fine-tune my itinerary. On to Pascale’s Kruger (if I followed correctly)

Hi Muriel,

Yeah, it was really nice, actually. Hlane isn’t expensive: the bungalow cost around 75 € per night.

Lion's Head seems to be a unanimous hit! 😎 .... just hoping the weather will be on our side.

especially the last bit where you have to scramble a little.

That’s what’s worrying me a bit because I don’t scramble with the same ease as you 😏 ... but I’ll probably come back to it in a few weeks when I fine-tune my itinerary. On to Pascale’s Kruger (if I understood correctly)

Kruger is up next with an entrance via Malelane Gate 🙂

And there we go, leaving Hlane after one last look at our lovely bungalow.



The border crossing goes smoothly, and we’re back in South Africa.



We’re happily driving toward Malelane Gate, our entry point to Kruger National Park. We can’t wait! We planned the trip this way to end on a high note with the legendary Kruger. The weather’s still sunny and warm, with no rain.



At the counter, the welcome is friendly. We’re told some trails are still closed, including in the south, due to the terrible floods in January. We suspected as much, and it’s confirmed.

Sure enough, as soon as we leave, almost all the trails are blocked and impassable. We’re limited to the main roads. It’s off-season, so there aren’t crowds—it’s not too bad. For wildlife spotting, it’s not really an issue in the southern part of the park.

Near Malelane Gate, it’s a real show.

We come across a lioness right after the entrance. She’s wearing a tracking collar. We wait, but no luck—she doesn’t budge (almost tempted to honk 😏).



And here are some impalas: we’d seen them before, but not this many until Kruger.



Impalas are truly magnificent animals.



It’s the season for little ones, like this baby elephant.



We’re staying in the south since we’ll spend the night at Berg-en-Dal. The wildlife spotting continues...

We’re passing by the spot where we saw the lioness again. She’s still there and hasn’t moved. According to social media, she’s not in great shape at the moment.



In the background, a second lioness. It seems like it might be her daughter. She’s well camouflaged and quite far away—too bad she’s not asleep.



Not far from Berg en Dal, we see two cars stopped. The occupants are on the lookout. They’ve spotted an impala carcass in a tree and are waiting for its owner.



We’ll wait a bit, but nothing in sight. We’ll mark the spot to come back early in the morning.

For now, it’s time for Berg en Dal and a grand arrival at our bungalow—because when we closed the car, an alarm went off.



We really loved this camp—it’s perfectly located for wildlife sightings. The bungalow was great: spacious and clean.





We also recommend the camp’s restaurant. Full from a mojito and a good burger, we head to bed, already pumped for the next day.

Just to note: we took anti-malaria treatment during our stay because of the areas we visited (all moderate-risk zones) and since it was the rainy season. Worked perfectly for both of us—no side effects! 🙂

Day 7: From Berg-en-Dal to Satara

This morning, we planned to explore the Matjulu waterhole, right next to the camp, but all the access points were closed again.

We left Berg-en-Dal without spotting the leopard: the prey was still in the tree, but nothing around.

One of our first encounters would really affect the mood of the day.

A female elephant was by the side of the road with her little one lying down, eyes open. He wasn’t moving, and the mother was behaving unusually—very calm, not nervous even though we were quite close. She looked distraught. I know we shouldn’t attribute human feelings to animals, but it really got to us. (We mentioned this to a ranger the next day. He wasn’t aware of a calf’s death in the park and seemed to think the little one just needed rest.)

Near Malelane, we just had time to catch a glimpse of a lioness’s tail as she darted straight into the bushes—no luck!



To reach Skukuza, we took the H3.

The drive was pretty monotonous since all the trails were closed, so no stops at Transport or De Laporte, even though our route had some great sightings.



During the rainy season, the waterholes are empty of animals. Here are our only observations (plus a few hippos, but rare):







I was pretty surprised by the Kruger’s vegetation during the rainy season—I expected it to be much greener.

Business is picking back up 😎 Finally, "pole pole" as they say in Swahili (Michel will translate it into Zulu for us😉) given the state of the roads 😕

I'm also going "pole pole" with my travel journal progress 😉 sorry!

With the end of the school year, the kids' exams, and everything else, it's hard to juggle it all!

We're making progress on the H3 toward Skukuza and starting to worry a bit: the farther we get from the southern part of the park, the fewer animals we see.

No big cats in sight, but we’re staying at Satara, an area known for its predators.

This warthog on its knees really made us laugh!

A red lechwe



A wildebeest



A family of ostriches we spotted from a distance



Before Skukuza, a mandatory stop at Granokop, known for being the most beautiful viewpoint in the park. It’s a huge overhanging rock with a dominant view. On a side note, getting out of the car and walking around a bit feels great. Just be careful, though—lions have been spotted here before...





At Skukuza, we take the H1-2, a highly reputed trail.

Nothing—no sign of a tiger’s tail ;)

That day, we came across a family of elephants with two little ones. It was really moving to watch. The babies mostly stay sheltered, surrounded by very protective adults. We saw elephants every day.



The highlight of the day: hyenas—a group of 3-4 individuals by the side of the road.



We’re so happy we got to see them.

Around Tsumeb, there’s a lot of noise and, above all, a foul stench. With the heat, it’s barely tolerable.

By the side of the road, behind some bushes, lies the carcass of an elephant, picked clean by scavengers.



A ranger told us that most elephants here die of natural causes since they have few predators.

In Tsumeb, we take a cool break. Some people come begging.



You can also see sausage trees in this area.



Just before Satara, another setback: the S100 track is closed. This track, which heads toward Mozambique, is famous for big cats, and there are also hides at the end.

We don’t linger because we’ve booked a sunset drive in Satara. When it comes to the eternal question—should you self-drive or go on guided safaris—with Christelle, we say both, captain.

It’s really nice to be guided, learn fun facts, and ride in a raised vehicle. Plus, in Kruger, the price is very reasonable (less than 25 € per person).

The sunset turns into night, and it’s a whole different atmosphere—something you can’t do on a self-drive.

As for animals, we didn’t see much except hyenas up close, plus the usual wildebeest, zebras, elephants, and giraffes—but also a python!







In the end, while writing up my travel journal, I realize we actually saw a lot of animals—but in the moment, it didn’t feel like it.

We wrapped up the evening at the Castle Baron restaurant with a platter of grilled meats that were to die for.

Hi there,

It’s still really green for me in March, May, August, September, and October... it was always less green then... Enjoy your trip...

The photos of Kruger are pretty misleading. St. Lucia was really green, though. The further north we went on the map, the less green it was

In the end, while writing the travel journal, I realize we actually saw a lot of animals, but on the spot, it didn’t feel the same at all.

Hi there,

This perception/feeling is very common on safari, especially when it’s not your first time. You always want to see more... 🤪 😏 It’s also the interesting side of keeping a travel journal: you rediscover encounters you’d "forgotten." Human memory can be misleading sometimes (often, even!!). (Sometimes, you even spot things in photos that you didn’t pay attention to in the moment...)

Puma2A

...

Day 8: Satara/Olifants and night at Tamboti

A bit of anxiety when waking up around 4:00 AM because the night before, we saw a big fire in the direction of Mozambique. That was probably the reason the S100 track heading that way was closed. The smell of smoke was really strong, and we were a little worried we might have to be evacuated in the middle of the night.

Our morning walk was still on. There are 8 spots per morning walk, and the rest of the group was made up of a bunch of really nice Parisian teenagers with their activity leader. They were all half-asleep, just like us! 😉

To get to the walk location, it’s a 30-minute drive in the safari vehicle. Dawn is the best time to see big cats finishing up their night of hunting…



Nothing, nada, not a single animal crossed our path.

Before letting us out of the vehicle, one of the rangers scanned the area with binoculars and checked the tracks by the river.



The colors were stunning between the sunrise and the glow of the fire.

Our ranger looks smiley in the photo, but she wasn’t exactly easygoing in real life.



Luckily for me, she took a liking to me after I answered "hippopotamus" instead of "jabiru" (a kind of stork with a red beak—I included a photo in the travel journal) when she asked, "Which animal does this call belong to?" She realized there was some work to do! 😏

A walk is both impressive—you feel so small facing Mother Nature—and really interesting to be so close to the animals.

A trumpet call reminded me that my elephant friends were nearby…

A little further on, we came across 3 hyenas, luckily not too close…



Yep, we’re here…😕

Sometimes, it’s no laughing matter—you have to walk through tall grass, and the guide asks us to keep a close eye out to avoid a surprise attack.



Walking among herds of wildebeest and zebras is amazing (at first, they were very skittish, but then they got used to us and didn’t run away anymore).





On the way back to the vehicle, we felt a little less reassured because the bilingual activity leader went to ask the ranger some questions during the snack break. She asked if animals ever "approached" during the walks, and he said there were often incidents. She asked if he was joking, and he said, "No." 😮

Some animals we weren’t really planning to meet:

Apparently, if these ants bite you, it’s really painful.



In conclusion, we loved this moment so much. A walk is magical, but as we’ll see later, we might’ve paid a high price for it.