Oliphants Camp : Gorgeous views of Kruger:

2009-07-14, Kruger National Park, South Africa

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One day we took a day trip to enjoy some Gorgeous views of Kruger at Oliphants Camp. Pity they do not have campsites there.


Olifants and Baulele with an early morning leopard thrown in

Got up early enough to fix French toast for breakfast and still be the third car out the gate. It is good to be one of the first because you are more likely to see game before another vehicle scares it off.

As we were driving along saw something out of side vision that wasa clear enough to know it was a cat. Turned the car around as quickly as could and came back to the place. Robert saw it more clearly, enough the see the spots indicating a leopard and watched it move out of sight near a large tree. A man came up in a vehicle with a spotlight, checked out the area but leopard was not seen again. The bluff drops off right where we were looking so it probably went on down to the river and out of sight.

We decided to drive on to Olifants and check out the scenery. It is a shame they do not allow camping at this rest camp because the setting is beautiful. The restaurant and gift shop open out onto a view of the Olifants River and the bushveld and mountains in the background. It is a 180 degree view and is quite breathtaking. We watched a group of elephants come down the hillside to the water's edge. There were hippos and crocodiles sunning themselves.

There were sunbirds darting in and out of the flowers along the edge of the viewing area putting on a nice show of color. There were other birds singing in the trees making the setting quite an enjoyable one. It would be quite easy to spend a morning just enjoying the scene.

We decided to check out Baulele primitive camp on the way back. It does have a fence, but has less facilities so you feel more out there.

We drove up to the gate and found out that you have to register at Olifants to even get in the gate at Baulele. From what we could see outside the gate, it looked very nice--shade trees and lown. There were not all the creature comforts found at the other rest camps like the kitchen area and the hot water on demand but it looked like a possible place to return to.