Safari at the Kruger: Pafuri and Punda Maria

This morning we left the Venda region, in the Limpopo area in South Africa, and we arrived at the Kruger National Park; we entered it at about 10.00 am from the gate of Punda Maria, that is located in the North part of the park.

Tonight we sleep at the Punda Maria campsite, that is not far from the gate, but we will go to check-in tonight, now we cannot wait to start the first of a long series of safaris of this trip.

We follow the S60, a road that heads East; it is a good way for sightings, we see many impalas, many giraffes, busy eating bushes and plants, and several kudus, we do not spot any predators, but we are not in a hurry, we have 12 days of safari at the Kruger National Park.

We take the S61, along this road there are some pools, but they are all dry, so there are not many animals, only many impalas, but those are really everywhere.

We arrive on the H 1-8, this is one of the main roads of the Kruger National Park, it is a portion of the H1 that runs through the park from South to North; we turn right and go North.

Along the way we find many impalas, many of which cross the road; it is very important to respect speed limits and give priority to animals, impalas in particular are unpredictable, often they suddenly cross without caring if cars are coming.

At one point we see a beautiful male elephant, it is located not far from the road and it is busy eating in the middle of the mopane trees, we observe it a bit, it does not even consider us, too busy tearing branches and munching them.

We are heading to the picnic area of ​​Pafuri, and to reach it we have to travel a stretch of the S63, as soon as we take it we see lots of nyalas, both male and female; we like very much the nyala with its striped hair, the males then have a dark and thick coat and on their back they have a strip of white fur that, in certain situations, can stand up.

Sighting numerous herds of nyalas was one of our goals for this part of the Kruger National Park, so we can already be satisfied; we take several photos and then continue.

We arrive at the picnic area, park and choose a table with a nice view of the river; we have lunch here while we enjoy the wonder of this place; here are several nyala tree or mashatu tree, they are very beautiful and big and make a lot of shade.

While we have lunch we spot some nyalas that go to the river to drink, we also see some bee-eaters that are placed on the branches near the water, they are hunting, sometimes they fly, they go around and then return to their branch, in this way they try to catch some bugs.

We would stay here the entire afternoon to enjoy this place and its landscape, but the safari awaits us.

We travel in the opposite direction the portion of S63 that brought us here, and then continue along its entire path.

This road runs along the Pafuri River to the border with Mozambique and then comes back following the profile of the other side; on both sides of the river there are several loops that directly overlook the river, giving scenic spots and good opportunities for sightings, we decide to cover them all.

The S63 is referred to as one of the best roads for sightings in this area of ​​the Kruger National Park; we see some birds that live near the  such as bee-eaters, kingfishers, but also warthogs, numerous impalas, several vervet monkeys and many Nile crocodiles inside the water or on the banks of the river.

We also see some white bellied go-away bird, in the Kruger National Park they are very common and we like them because their noise, "goo awaaaaay" seems an invitation to get away or leave.

Returning, along the S 63 to then take the H 1-8, we still see the solitary elephant of before, it is still eating the mopane bushes; on the other hand elephants spend almost the whole day eating, ingesting up to 250 kg of vegetables.

 When we take the H 1-8 we see other elephants, they are 3 and all are males, two go down the street and cross in front of our car, but do not deign to look, better like this, it means that they are quiet and our presence does not bother them.

This part of the park is particularly beautiful at this time of the year when the leaves of the mopane change color, some become yellow, others red; an autumn show.

We go to our camp along the S 61, where we spot some buffaloes and many zebras, and the S 60, where we still find zebras and the inevitable impalas.

When we have almost arrived at the Punda Maria campsite we also see a vulture.

Beautiful as a first safari, in this part of the park usually one does not make big sightings, but we like to see all the animals and enjoy the scenery.