3 Nights in the Kruger Park..

A Blog Post by Ivan Muller

2 comments

I have just come back from a most rewarding weekend in the Kruger National Park...

My wife, Cheryl and I stayed in a hut at Pretoriuskop restkamp. The huts are one of the most economical ways to stay in the Kruger park. The downside is that one has to use the communal bathrooms and kitchens and some of the huts don't have have any electrical plugs. Some huts have plugs and small fridges. Our total bill for the accommodation came to about R1200 (about Euro120) rand for three nights including entrance and conservation fees. Food and petrol was extra and we used about three tanks from Centurion and back including driving around the park. Definitely a great bargain in my book...

We saw an incredible variety of wildlife including lions on three occasions! I don't consider myself an expert wildlife photographer and the photographs posted here are by no means 'great' wildlife images. I am just showing these photographs so that you the viewer can have an idea of the great variety of animals and landscapes that we saw...over just 3 nights and 4 days...

The Kruger park is quite wooded with few open areas. This makes photography both easy and difficult. Difficult in that the animals are sometimes difficult to see and easy because one doesn't need very long lenses.

I use two cameras and one lens almost 99% of the time. My newish Canon EF 70-300 f4-5.6 L IS was more than adequate on my Canon EOS 5D2 and when I needed to get even closer I swapped my 5D2 for my old 20D which then increased the equivalent focal length to 480mm...

ISO was somewhere between 400 and 1600 most of the time although later in the afternoon I increased it up to 3200...

There is something about this park that is truly magical...slowly driving in a pristine natural landscape and never knowing what you are going to see next...I cant wait to go back.....!

regards, Ivan

Granite 'koppie' near Pretoriuskop

Korhaan

Elephant

Elephants tail

Sabie river

Lioness

Owl as seen on a night drive

Giraffe drinking water

Hippo in the Sabie river from Skukuza camp

Zebra

Sabie river from skukuza camp

Kudu

Created: Mon, 09/07/2012 - 15:51

Comments

Your pictures are very

Tue, 10/07/2012 - 09:28 — Anonymous

Your pictures are very evocative. I can feel the crisp dry grass and smell the dusty roads. I can hear the sound of dry branches crackling when you pass them. Sounds and sensations I have not experienced all these years in the lushness/frozen forests of Sweden nor on my visits to the damp of The Cape in Winter. Whew. Makes one realise that there is another, deeper sensation of what feels like home and belonging. /Catherine Carlsson

Thanks very much Catherine!

Wed, 11/07/2012 - 18:37 — ivanmuller

Thanks very much Catherine! You say it so much better in words than I ever could! It was fantastic seeing Harold again and we really enjoyed the short visit!(and he hasn't changed one bit...)