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Kruger national park

 

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// Nikon D7200 | -25.03485 : 31.22078 | alt. 468m

A few more hours hiking into Mlilwane reserve, and it was time to go north, quickly leaving Swaziland after only 2 days. Time is running out very quickly, and I have to see if I can get my visa extension……. well, nope 🙁
Cannot believe it, 3 borders, 3 chances, 0 day granted…… So now, I need to plot my route carefully with only 2 weeks left…..
No time to waste, I went straight to Kruger national park, the biggest and most prestigeous park in South Africa.
This park is massive, bigger than Swaziland or Lesotho ! And no fence around, this is nature, animals are free to go wherever they want, and that includes all of them ! The thing is, this park is so huge, it doesn’t make it easier to spot any thing ! In the end, I saw way less wildlife than any other park, but you can get a chance to see any of them. I was very lucky to see a massive female rhino with her baby. Just for that, it was worth visiting the park :O But sadly, no leopard or lion….. I will have to try my luck in Botswana.

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Swaziland

  // Nikon D7200 |-26.49745 : 31.18498 | alt. 693m Crossing the border is straight forward, nothing to do on the South African side, but this time, the customs officer put down the end date of my visa 6th july….. that’s coming soon, should be enough to cover everything before Botswana. I’m still hoping to…

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Champagne castle peak

  // Nikon D7200 |-28.99874 : 29.44653 | alt. 1187m The park ranger office only opens from 8am to 4pm, a pretty short window to get any information, which makes me start the trail at 9am. They gave me the map, but even on this one, there is no trail going to Champagne castle ! They…

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Rhino peak

  // Nikon D7200 |-29.7457 : 29.20678 | alt. 1855m Back into South Africa for some serious hiking ! Probably the most beautiful mountain range in the area, the Drakensberg are these steep mountains (nearly vertical cliffs !) between South Africa and the high plateau of Lesotho. The whole place is a national park, with hundreds…

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Sani pass

  // Nikon D7200 | -29.58216 : 29.28429 | alt. 2875 m Driving on the roof of Africa as they call it. Such a good name since this is the highest place in southern Africa. A few very high passes on the way (one above 3300m !) which I had to climb in second gear, while…

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Bokong pass

  // Nikon D7200 | -29.06433 : 28.40553 | alt. 3100m Back to the national park, I took a guide to hike in the area (yeah, no map, and barely no sign on the trail system). Fact is, you don’t need a guide to hike in Lesotho, it’s very easy to navigate and to find your…

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Katse dam

  // Nikon D7200 | -29,34412 : 28,51311 | alt. 2125m this morning, I was expecting to wake up with the sunrise over the Katse dam, but instead, I had the visit of a security guy…… He ended up being very friendly, and he was just worried about me since this place is not so safe,…

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Semonkong waterfall

  // Nikon D7200 | -29.84404 : 28.04383 | alt. 2191m Long and absolutely beautiful drive across the mountains of Lesotho to reach Semonkong. Only 150kms, but it took me a few hours with 50kms of gravel roads and some terrible sections, but even the tar part wasn’t a piece of cake. You can tell…

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First steps in Lesotho

  // Nikon D7200 | -29.82772 : 27.5997 | alt. 1822m After a freezing night (it went to -2 inside the van), I had a lot of work before leaving South Africa. Winter is hard in Lesotho, which is mostly above 2000m, and there is a good chance of snow on the way. And since most…

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Mountain Zebras park

  // Nikon D7200 | -32.13374 : 25.62377 |alt. 989m Away from the garden route and the main touristic destinations, the beautiful Mountain Zebra national park is a well hidden jewel. You can tell no one is going there when you get to the small village next door, pretty empty and desolated, with no backpacker, no…

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magbo system