Maroela Camp - Kruger

(Maroela Camp - Check in at Orpen)

Our awning is staked—time to sit out and enjoy the view and the wildlife

After Tsendze, we headed south again and spent three nights at the Maroela rest camp, near Orpen. We got a really nice site on the camp’s periphery, overlooking a dry riverbed. We set up our chairs next to the fence and enjoyed the view, along with our gin and tonics. We saw a huge monitor lizard, about 5ft or so, and some small deer (I’m not sure what kind, but smaller than impala). We spent most nights at the fence in the company of a hyena named Bob—we named him for the bob he had as he walked and loped around the outside the camp. He made circuit after circuit around the fence each night and would sometimes pause to look at us. We tried to get a good picture of him, but it was dark and Bob was camera shy. 

Bob checking us out

Camera shy Bob hurries by

There had been a fire in the area a few nights before we arrived. During our first night, across the riverbed, up the hill, we could still see some small fires burning. When we drove to and from camp, we could see the trees around the area charred black and the soil scorched. It was  remarkable to me that the fire appeared to stop right at the roadside. One side was burnt and the other side left untouched. 

We had a couple of tremendous thunderstorms the first two evenings. Both days had been hot and humid and you could feel the storms building by late afternoon. We sat under our awning with our drinks and enjoyed the show (Bob came by later). The second evening’s storm went on throughout the night with a few almost vehicle-shaking claps of thunder and lightning. 

We got some great sightings on our morning and afternoon drives. One day we saw an impala just after she gave birth; she was cleaning off her baby and trying to get it to stand. After about 20 minutes it got up on stilt legs and fell over (and over), but it soon was up and walking awkwardly, then jumping and getting a feel for those springy legs. We also saw a warthog feeding her little guys.

Within a kilometer of our camp, we saw a white lion one morning, and later that afternoon we saw another lion (assuming it was another) even closer to the camp, resting under a tree, licking its paws and panting to cool off. We found out later that the lions had killed a buffalo not far away. Needless to say, we hardly saw Bob that night. He was no doubt feasting on the remains. We also heard the elephants that evening. Our neighbors said they were trumpeting a warning about the kill. 

And some more pictures from our drives near Maroela: