Good wildlife photography used to be rare. Years ago when we found good images we were like kids discovering the secrets of sugar. We would salivate through magazines like National Geographic and metaphorically lick the sweet animal images off every page...
Two years ago, I began writing a similar article on travelling with toddlers during a monthlong project in the Kgalakgadi Transfrontier Park in summer. Our children were not yet human, the temperatures hovered just below 50⁰C and one of them tried to pick up a Parabuthus scorpion with his bare hands, causing my wife Dana to go into a state of neurotoxic shock...
The constantly evolving Savute ecosystem has produced an amazing array of unusual animal behaviour, but there are few sights that can rival that of a leopard actively fishing in flowing water. The hunt is silent and static: a motionless shadow hovering above a river of prey, the darting movement of a pair of gleaming eyes the only clue to the predator’s intentions.
The Kruger National Park is not only one of the best-known game reserves in Africa, it is also one of the most accessible. You don’t have to join a safari tour to explore the park, you can do it under your own steam.
The most spectacular season is undoubtedly early autumn (March to April) after good rains when the sun-baked dunes and riverbeds expose their ephemeral charm and produce flower gardens of exquisite splendour