Some of our favorite South African experiences center around watching two and four-legged critters at game parks. In the late spring and early summer we returned to three SANParks: Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Kruger National Park, and Mountain Zebra National Park.

Our eight days in Kgalagadi (KTP) were filled with many surprises. Early one morning we saw a red hartebeest with her newborn calf – maybe just hours old because part of the baby’s umbilical cord was still attached. They headed back into the thick bushes after visiting a waterhole. 

KTP visitors can get out of their vehicles in restcamps, tented camps, and unfenced picnic sites. We would often leave our accommodations just after sunrise and have breakfast hours later at one of the picnic spots. While at the Dikbaardskolk Picnic Site one morning we saw a cape cobra slinking out from underneath a tree right next to a picnic table! (Not the table we had been using.) The bright yellow snake climbed the tree trunk and branches in search of a bird nest with eggs or hatchlings. The mama bird, who was quite perturbed, loudly and repeatedly squawked. Fortunately the snake gave up before reaching the nest, descended, and found a visible napping spot in the tree’s lower branches. We now look under, around, and in trees for snakes before setting out our food at picnic sites in SANParks!

One morning we found a lioness guarding a gemsbok that she had killed a few hours earlier. We went back to the same waterhole several times during that day plus the next day, and she was still watching over her partially-eaten carcass. 

Owls in roadside and restcamp trees were a common sight this visit. 

During our stay at the Kalahari Tented Camp we discovered another lioness guarding her gemsbok kill in the dry river valley. 

An overnight thunderstorm dumped quite a bit of much-needed rain. The birds especially enjoyed the puddles throughout the next day. 

Because of so many lion kills in the park the jackals seemed to have plenty of fresh morsels to eat.

Watching teenage lions play with and wrestle over a piece of plastic water pipe was one of our favorite experiences of this Kgalagadi visit. Apparently they or another critter had dug up the pipe from a nearby waterhole and broken off a section, resulting in an entertaining toy.  The dominant male of the pride observed the antics from a short distance. For a brief moment the big guy and another lion in the pride had a spat, seemingly unrelated to the plastic pipe.

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We celebrated Christmas with our two adult children in Kruger National Park! During our eight-day stay we made a lot of great memories and took many photos. 🙂

Kruger is home to so many species of colorful birds.

Even when lounging, lions can be expressive and enjoyable to watch.

We saw wild dogs in two different locations while at Kruger, a rare treat.

A few of our animal photos . . .

Our daughter claims that joining us for game park visits increases our likelihood of seeing a leopard. The stats from our visits with and without her mostly support this claim. This time we were extra fortunate with two leopard sightings! Yes, the big cats were both sleeping, but still special sightings, nonetheless.

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Our visit to Mountain Zebra National Park revolved around two surprising themes: baby animals and ever-changing weather. We loved seeing so many moms and little ones.

On the high plateau we had an unobstructed view of the fast-approaching, surprising storm. The large raindrops turned to significant hail pellets during our drive to lower elevations. At one point we even parked briefly under an acacia tree for a bit of protection for our car.

We regularly see vervet monkeys when in Mountain Zebra National Park. At least this time they didn’t steal our oranges!

Unexpected sightings at MZNP . . .