Photos from Kruger South Africa

Reprocessed a few images using Photoshop. These were taken with the istD in the Kruger National Park in South Africa. Luckily the lions were just finishing lunch as we were in an open sided jeep and they were only a few yards away relaxing in some bushes.

1. Leopard with Kill



2. Lions



3. Lion

You were very lucky to see such a good leopard sighting. Many, visitors never got to see leopard. Most of those that do, see little more than maybe a tail hanging from a tree as the leopard sleeps most of the day! They are notoriously hard to see. For you to see one carrying its meal is very special. Many visitors don't see lion either! Seeing them at a kill is special. The last photo looks like she is pregnant.

Yes, I am also in the Big 4.5 Club,

Spent 4-5 hours wartching where a leopard was sleeping but all we could see was its derriere.


Fab images, would love to go to SA again.

Yes we were really lucky to see the leopard. Another guide coming the other way stopped our driver and told us where to find it. We managed to see all of the big 5, however took most of the day to track down the herd of elephants. It takes a bit of luck and a good guide.

We were lucky to find a SA family who had spotted a leopard near a dirt road in Kruger near Phalaborwa. It started walking through the bush so we did a u-turn assuming it must be heading to the nearby lake. We drove there and waited and a few minutes later out it popped into the open and we watched it drinking.
The big 5 member we really struggled with was rhino. On our last day we got a cracking sighting and it walked right in front of the car. Soon after I spotted another rhino at extreme range with its youngster playing. It was a special site and we watched the younster for ages with not a care in the world. I had nightmares just thinking about the rate of poaching in Kruger - the rhino I had just viewed had a 5% chance of not being around the same time next year. Factor that risk in year after a year and you wonder how many get the luxury of dying of natural causes.
What lens were you using?

My guess is that you were there in October? Is that correct?

The lens was a Sigma 70-300 APO on the istD.

We were there at the beginning of November in 2010 so warm but not too hot. We stayed at Marloth Park overlooking Crocodile River with just a chain link fence between us and the hippo who lived on the river bank and the crocodiles lazing on the islands.

Wow! Would love to go and do something like this one day. That Leopard image

Would recommend this to anyone. It is far easier than you would think as car hire is cheap and you don't need a 4x4. Like Paul, I have stayed in Marloth Park where accommodation is super cheap and it's a gated community so is safe. You can drive out first thing and be in the national park 20 minutes or so later. You then drive around either on dirt roads or tar and come lunchtime eat at one of the excellent restaurants. You can stay in the park but it is much more expensive. Staying in Marloth you can hire a villa with pool etc and have a bit of luxury.

Getting to Marloth Park is really easy as there is an excellent road all the way from Joburg airport.