Sighting:  Unusual Creatures excel at Pafuri
Location:  Pafuri Camp, Makuleke Concession, Kruger National Park
Date:  30 November 2009
Observer: Russel Friedman
Photos: Russel Friedman

One of the joys of Pafuri Camp in the Makuleke Concession in far northern Kruger is its unparalleled biodiversity. It simply has no equal in the greater Kruger National Park. Of course everyone wants to see the 'big and hairy' and this is why the 'Big Five' concept (out-dated as it is) is so firmly entrenched in South African ecotourism. When you have guests who have been there, done that and got the safari t-shirt however, as we did on a recent trip to Pafuri, it can really open up a whole world of interest.

We saw lion, buffalo and elephant of course and a wealth of other large mammals, but it was the recent arrival of the summer rains that really brought some of the more interesting denizens out into the open. Some sunned themselves, others simply tried to dry off, a few were investigating feeding opportunities and others were perhaps stimulated out of torpor by the arrival of the summer precipitation.

Shortly after leaving camp en route to Lanner Gorge we saw a yellow-spotted rock dassie sunning himself on a rocky outcrop adjacent to the Luvuvhu River. This species is the less common of the two rock dassies in South Africa and does occur too much further south of Pafuri.

Our next surprise was an unusually confiding Giant Plated Lizard that peered out at us from some rocks as we climbed towards Lanner Gorge. At the gorge viewpoint itself we had great fun photographing a diminutive rock elephant shrew whose snout bristled and quivered at the scents on the clean air.

Our experience was not over yet though and before reaching camp that evening, we stopped at a favourite fishing spot on the Luvuvhu River for Pel's Fishing Owl. We were fortunate enough to find a single bird and to spend some time photographing it before heading back for dinner!