The Wildlife Of The Areas Around Punda Maria, Shingwedzi And Letaba In The Kruger National Park

My 2nd Post Of My Research In All The Areas Of The Kruger Park; Punda Maria, Shingwedzi, Letaba!

It was unbelievable... I was finally in the area in the Kruger Park I always dreamed of going to; Punda Maria. So many birds and so many trees it was a superb adventure into the wilds of the Kruger National Park! It was the 5th of August and we were scheduled to stay in the park until the 10th. All around us there were Mopane shrubs and trees in their winter colours, it was so great to see.

The areas of Punda Maria are not renowned for great game watching like the Skukuza and Satara areas. I like to disagree with that, if you keep your eyes open you will see a lot of game and other species of wildlife the Kruger National Park has to offer. In Punda Maria I went on an early morning walk from 06:00 - 09:30. The rangers that took me on this walk were keen birders and they focused mainly on the birds species Punda Maria had to offer. After seeing an amazing Nyala ram, a large herd of Buffalo, coming dangerously close to a bull African Elephant and flushing a Sharpe's Grysbok from thick cover, I thought it could not get better than that. Well it did and we were able to get very close to the Purple-Crested Turaco (Lourie) and the Yellow-Bellied Greenbul, as well as many other fabulous birds not often encountered. Our 2 night stay at Punda Maria was over and we were off to Letaba for 1 night. The waters of the Letaba river were crystal clear and we were able to see a freshwater crab scuttle under the bridge as we arrived. I went on a night drive in Letaba and saw some amazing wildlife which will be listed below in all the unusual things I saw in the Kruger National Park. Our last 2 days were situated at the beautiful camp of Shingwedzi. Once again I went on an early morning walk around the Biesiesvlei Dam. We were close to an African Lion as we could here it calling quite close, but the thick Mopane shrubs and trees prevented us from seeing this beautiful creature. On this walk through thick bush we surprised an African Elephant and unsuccessfully tracked a White Rhino. All in all it was another great journey to the areas of Punda Maria, Letaba and Shingwedzi areas of the magnificent Kruger National Park. Listed below is all the unusual wildlife we encountered in the Kruger Game Reserve in and around Punda Maria, Pafuri, Mopani, Letaba and Shingwedzi...

The mammals we observed on this trip to the Kruger are as follows...

Nyala, Sharpe's Grysbok, Common (Grey) Duiker, African Elephant, African Buffalo, Common Waterbuck, White Rhino, Steenbok, Impala, Southern Giraffe, Large-Spotted Genet, Scrub Hare, Springhare, Spotted (Laughing) Hyaena, Greater Kudu, African Hippo, Common Bushbuck and the king; the African Lion.

The special Kruger Park bird species we spotted include the likes of the...

Black-Crowned Tchagra, Purple Roller, Collared Sunbird, White-Bellied Sunbird, Scarlet-Chested Sunbird, Bateleur Eagle, Cardinal Woodpecker, Bearded Woodpecker, Golden-Tailed Woodpecker, Gorgeous Bush-Shrike, Orange-Breasted Bush-Shrike, Common Quail, African Green Pigeon, Brown-Headed Parrot, Purple-Crested Turaco, Fiery-Necked Nightjar, Yellow-Bellied Greenbul, Long-Billed Crombec, Blackshouldered Kite, Blue-Billed Firefinch, Black-Winged Stilt, Black-Headed Oriole, White-Faced Duck, African Pied Wagtail, Red-Billed Buffalo Weaver, Red-Crested Korhaan, Black-Bellied Korhaan, Giant Kingfisher, Malachite Kingfisher, Saddle-Billed Stork, White Stork, Abdim's Stork, Yellow-Billed Stork!

The plant life, Flora and Reptiles we sighted in the Kruger...

Helmeted Terrapin, Flap-Necked Chameleon, Blue-Tailed Skink, Nile Crocodile, Euphorbia Tree, Umbrella Thorn Acacia, Common Coral Tree, Red Bushwillow, Knob Thorn Acacia, Baobab Tree, Mopane Tree, Fever Tree, Sycamore Fig, Wild Fig, Nyala Tree, Jackelberry Tree, Impala Lilly, Apple-Leaf, Euphorbia Candelabra.

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