We'd booked in to Crocodile Bridge Rest Camp for three nights. It's right next to the gate and it's a small camp with only 46 camping sites and accommodation units. Lots of folk don't seem to like the place as they feel it's too close to the outside world. You can actually see uncivalization lit up from the camp but that didn't bother us one jot. It's a neat little camp and ideally situated for exploring the south eastern corner of KNP.
Our BD3 bungalow had three single beds.
Two to sleep in and one a useful depository for all my gear!!
We'll discuss that issue at a later stage!!
The room had a decent bathroom
and was spotlessly clean.
Unlike Berg-en-dal there was an outside kitchen.
Sorry the pictures are gloomy but taken on arrival and on an iPad before the placed is messed up!
The benefit of an outside kitchen compared to the inside one at Berg-en-dal is that if one of you gets up early to make a cup of coffee you can do without disturbing your partner. Nothing was secured but they don't seem to be bothered by Monkeys, Baboons or Honey Badgers and of course you have to trust your fellow campers too.
Once again, the main cooking source is the Braii.
If the weather turned you might be a bit stuck as the kitchen only offers two electric hobs and a microwave as alternatives. The eating area is well covered though.
Although the units are fairly close, they are set on an angle so you feel a bit more private unless you venture out to use the BBQ.
That can't be said about the camping site though.
The camping sites are basically unregulated from what I can gather. As a caravanner myself I have been in similar situations and I have to say, it's not my personal choice to have someone else so close I can hear everything next door are up to! However, if I lived in South Africa I'd put up with it as the camping site is just 20% of the cost of a bungalow and you can bring all the necessary you need with you too. I'd be making many visits over the course of a year and many do! Being near the gate makes it popular for weekends I imagine.
Crocodile Bridge doesn't have a restaurant and only a small shop which closes early at 6.15pm.
You could make a meal on what's on offer but it's better to go outside the park to stock up on supplies. I have seen criticisms that the park shops are expensive but I didn't think they were too bad at all, a large can of Castle Larger was exactly the same price in the shop as it was in the local Spar. The camp shop though is aimed at tourists, more space given to profitable souvenirs than food.
and this was the case through out the park.We had purchased sufficient provisions at Berg-en-dal in preparation for the first night, the shop there was bigger and has more choice. I had read that they allow you to leave the camp to dine in the local town of Komatipoort even after the official gate closing times. I can't verify if it's true because we were happy to Braii every night. On our second day in the camp we went shopping in town to stock up enough supplies to cover our next 7 nights at least. The next camp had a restaurant but the one after, Talamati doesn't have anything so you need to go prepared. Careful purchases are needed, consideration for sell by/use by dates and suitability for freezing need to be taken in to account. You don't just stick everything in the freezer immediately either, there is every chance it will defrost during the move from one camp to another, fine if you intend eating it soon but not otherwise! It needs planning carefully as does where the camps are located in relation to outside KNP access.
Anyway, we really enjoyed Crocodile Bridge. It was nice and quiet there were open views beyond the fence, in some places down to the river bed below where our neighbours spotted two Lions chasing but unsuccessfully catching an Impala at 2.30 pm . The camp was empty at the time. Everyone was out looking for Lions!!
Fortunately the Lions were outside the camp but what appeals to me is what's inside too. Crocodile Bridge is supposedly good for birds but it wasn't particularly so while I was there. Wrong season perhaps? It did have some interesting alternatives though.
It was interesting that after the first camp I would enquire when booking in at reception as to what animals were likely to be seen in camp and the answer was always "None!"
I'm not sure why but perhaps they think it will scare you!
Crocodile Bridge had some welcome visitors and one not so welcome one!
Warhogs wandering around the place...no problem!
An invasion of Banded Mongoose every morning..welcome!
and the speciality of the house an absolute dream come true!
I had read that Lesser Bush Babies have made their home in a fence post that surrround the camp. Don't ask me why but it's been a lifetime's ambition to see one ever since I read an article in the national Geographic when I was about 10. This was my big chance!
On our first evening I enquired with a near neighbour if she knew where I might see one and she pointed me in the direction of the post they usually live in. There's a bench nearby so sat with a beer, Claire and I waited patiently for dusk to fall. Unfortunately the wind came up, it had been dull all day and so was getting colder. We retreated to the warmer sheltered area of our bugalow.
The second evening they appeared and moved so fast I missed them again, and told the same lady it was not looking good.
Next day we returned from a day out and there on our dining table was a bottle of wine and a good luck note to tell me the Bush Babies had moved to a new post...the one in front of our bungalow!
That was it, I was going to nail the shot tonight. My last chance.
How was I going to do it I pondered.
Canon 1DX2 for best low light performance.
70-200mm f2.8 again, let's more light in!
Stick them on a tripod, prefocus on the top of the pole and retreat. Sit on my patio with a cup of something and wait. The minute the Bush Baby appeared fire my camera via an infra red remote control unit so the little critter wouldn't be put off by my presence!
Sounds simple doesn't it! It's not that easy though.
What shutter speed should I use, I needed it to be low due to the lighting.
What f stop? Initially I thought f2.8 again, for more light, then I thought insufficient depth of field so I changed it to f4. Do I focus on the post or the space just above hoping the Bush baby is in the right place? Manual focus or auto focus. Time was running out as the light started to fade and I still hadn't decided.
Too late now, I went auto focus, f4, 1/100th of a second. Shutter on silent high speed release.
Up popped the Bushbaby and I started firing off the shots! Fortunately the shutter speed seemed to catch it's attention and instead of leaping out of the top of the pole it started looking around for the source of the noise!
I took dozens of shots of the back of it's head, the side on view, some with nothing other than the pole as it had ducked back down. This meant I was now out of focus until it reappeared in the right spot so I got lots of blurred images next!
Anyway, fortunately for me a few of the very first ones came out well.
Yes I can crop in much further than the one I cropped above and retain some details.
But if I was going to shoot at f4 why didn't I use my 500mm lens to get much closer. Maybe next time eh?
The other thing I didn't realise was the Bushbabies didn't seem to concerned about my presence either.There were three of them living in the pole and in turn the leapt to the nearest bush then back on to the fence. I lifted the camera off the tripod and tried to get some more pictures hand held. By now it was too dark really but at least you get to appreciate their overall size.
I didn't use my flash attachment as I thought it would be too strong a light on these nocturnal creatures and instead asked Claire to shine our torch on them as it has a low light setting.
For me, probably the most satisfying experience of our whole trip.
The least enjoyable one was from Claire's point of view. Packing up to leave Crocodile Bridge she moved a case that was against the wall to see a snake wriggle out! She kept back in horror, a nightmare come true. She was trapped inside our room as the case was near the door! Fair play, she had the presence of mind to grab her iPad and take a picture of it before it wriggled under the case again! When I returned from taking things to the car I was amazed how calm she was, I'd have expected a scream but she did admit she didn't want the snake to react to noise and had called me in a low voice!
I went off to seek help and a ranger appeared complete with all the snake catching gear. The photo helped him identify the species which turned out to be a harmless Green Spotted Bush Snake.
Of course we didn't know if it was harmless or not and as the Ranger told us, they are often mistaken for the deadly Boomslang snake so caution is always the best policy.
Fortunately it was the only snake we saw but Claire was a little on edge in every other place we stayed!!
Me?
I was delighted to get the pictures of course!
T.B.C.
Our BD3 bungalow had three single beds.
Two to sleep in and one a useful depository for all my gear!!
We'll discuss that issue at a later stage!!
The room had a decent bathroom
and was spotlessly clean.
Unlike Berg-en-dal there was an outside kitchen.
Sorry the pictures are gloomy but taken on arrival and on an iPad before the placed is messed up!
The benefit of an outside kitchen compared to the inside one at Berg-en-dal is that if one of you gets up early to make a cup of coffee you can do without disturbing your partner. Nothing was secured but they don't seem to be bothered by Monkeys, Baboons or Honey Badgers and of course you have to trust your fellow campers too.
Once again, the main cooking source is the Braii.
If the weather turned you might be a bit stuck as the kitchen only offers two electric hobs and a microwave as alternatives. The eating area is well covered though.
Although the units are fairly close, they are set on an angle so you feel a bit more private unless you venture out to use the BBQ.
That can't be said about the camping site though.
The camping sites are basically unregulated from what I can gather. As a caravanner myself I have been in similar situations and I have to say, it's not my personal choice to have someone else so close I can hear everything next door are up to! However, if I lived in South Africa I'd put up with it as the camping site is just 20% of the cost of a bungalow and you can bring all the necessary you need with you too. I'd be making many visits over the course of a year and many do! Being near the gate makes it popular for weekends I imagine.
Crocodile Bridge doesn't have a restaurant and only a small shop which closes early at 6.15pm.
You could make a meal on what's on offer but it's better to go outside the park to stock up on supplies. I have seen criticisms that the park shops are expensive but I didn't think they were too bad at all, a large can of Castle Larger was exactly the same price in the shop as it was in the local Spar. The camp shop though is aimed at tourists, more space given to profitable souvenirs than food.
and this was the case through out the park.We had purchased sufficient provisions at Berg-en-dal in preparation for the first night, the shop there was bigger and has more choice. I had read that they allow you to leave the camp to dine in the local town of Komatipoort even after the official gate closing times. I can't verify if it's true because we were happy to Braii every night. On our second day in the camp we went shopping in town to stock up enough supplies to cover our next 7 nights at least. The next camp had a restaurant but the one after, Talamati doesn't have anything so you need to go prepared. Careful purchases are needed, consideration for sell by/use by dates and suitability for freezing need to be taken in to account. You don't just stick everything in the freezer immediately either, there is every chance it will defrost during the move from one camp to another, fine if you intend eating it soon but not otherwise! It needs planning carefully as does where the camps are located in relation to outside KNP access.
Anyway, we really enjoyed Crocodile Bridge. It was nice and quiet there were open views beyond the fence, in some places down to the river bed below where our neighbours spotted two Lions chasing but unsuccessfully catching an Impala at 2.30 pm . The camp was empty at the time. Everyone was out looking for Lions!!
Fortunately the Lions were outside the camp but what appeals to me is what's inside too. Crocodile Bridge is supposedly good for birds but it wasn't particularly so while I was there. Wrong season perhaps? It did have some interesting alternatives though.
It was interesting that after the first camp I would enquire when booking in at reception as to what animals were likely to be seen in camp and the answer was always "None!"
I'm not sure why but perhaps they think it will scare you!
Crocodile Bridge had some welcome visitors and one not so welcome one!
Warhogs wandering around the place...no problem!
An invasion of Banded Mongoose every morning..welcome!
and the speciality of the house an absolute dream come true!
I had read that Lesser Bush Babies have made their home in a fence post that surrround the camp. Don't ask me why but it's been a lifetime's ambition to see one ever since I read an article in the national Geographic when I was about 10. This was my big chance!
On our first evening I enquired with a near neighbour if she knew where I might see one and she pointed me in the direction of the post they usually live in. There's a bench nearby so sat with a beer, Claire and I waited patiently for dusk to fall. Unfortunately the wind came up, it had been dull all day and so was getting colder. We retreated to the warmer sheltered area of our bugalow.
The second evening they appeared and moved so fast I missed them again, and told the same lady it was not looking good.
Next day we returned from a day out and there on our dining table was a bottle of wine and a good luck note to tell me the Bush Babies had moved to a new post...the one in front of our bungalow!
That was it, I was going to nail the shot tonight. My last chance.
How was I going to do it I pondered.
Canon 1DX2 for best low light performance.
70-200mm f2.8 again, let's more light in!
Stick them on a tripod, prefocus on the top of the pole and retreat. Sit on my patio with a cup of something and wait. The minute the Bush Baby appeared fire my camera via an infra red remote control unit so the little critter wouldn't be put off by my presence!
Sounds simple doesn't it! It's not that easy though.
What shutter speed should I use, I needed it to be low due to the lighting.
What f stop? Initially I thought f2.8 again, for more light, then I thought insufficient depth of field so I changed it to f4. Do I focus on the post or the space just above hoping the Bush baby is in the right place? Manual focus or auto focus. Time was running out as the light started to fade and I still hadn't decided.
Too late now, I went auto focus, f4, 1/100th of a second. Shutter on silent high speed release.
Up popped the Bushbaby and I started firing off the shots! Fortunately the shutter speed seemed to catch it's attention and instead of leaping out of the top of the pole it started looking around for the source of the noise!
I took dozens of shots of the back of it's head, the side on view, some with nothing other than the pole as it had ducked back down. This meant I was now out of focus until it reappeared in the right spot so I got lots of blurred images next!
Anyway, fortunately for me a few of the very first ones came out well.
Yes I can crop in much further than the one I cropped above and retain some details.
But if I was going to shoot at f4 why didn't I use my 500mm lens to get much closer. Maybe next time eh?
The other thing I didn't realise was the Bushbabies didn't seem to concerned about my presence either.There were three of them living in the pole and in turn the leapt to the nearest bush then back on to the fence. I lifted the camera off the tripod and tried to get some more pictures hand held. By now it was too dark really but at least you get to appreciate their overall size.
I didn't use my flash attachment as I thought it would be too strong a light on these nocturnal creatures and instead asked Claire to shine our torch on them as it has a low light setting.
For me, probably the most satisfying experience of our whole trip.
The least enjoyable one was from Claire's point of view. Packing up to leave Crocodile Bridge she moved a case that was against the wall to see a snake wriggle out! She kept back in horror, a nightmare come true. She was trapped inside our room as the case was near the door! Fair play, she had the presence of mind to grab her iPad and take a picture of it before it wriggled under the case again! When I returned from taking things to the car I was amazed how calm she was, I'd have expected a scream but she did admit she didn't want the snake to react to noise and had called me in a low voice!
I went off to seek help and a ranger appeared complete with all the snake catching gear. The photo helped him identify the species which turned out to be a harmless Green Spotted Bush Snake.
Of course we didn't know if it was harmless or not and as the Ranger told us, they are often mistaken for the deadly Boomslang snake so caution is always the best policy.
Fortunately it was the only snake we saw but Claire was a little on edge in every other place we stayed!!
Me?
I was delighted to get the pictures of course!
T.B.C.
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