Hazyview

Elly, Helen, Grace, and Eugene: the Ngalali crew. 

This morning we rose for our final game drive, out from about 7 AM until just after 10. It rewarded us with a few good sightings: more elephant, another rhinoceros, and a second boomslang — a young one, coiled in the trees, that obligingly held still for photographs. After a leisurely last breakfast, we packed up and were back on the road by noon.

The lodge we just left, Ngalali, sits within the Grietjie Private Nature Reserve, very near Kruger National Park — though not, strictly speaking, inside it. Grietjie lies in the northern section of the Balule Nature Reserve, part of the wider Greater Kruger ecosystem.

The distinction is a meaningful one. Years ago, the fences separating these private reserves from Kruger were removed, allowing wildlife to move freely across the entire landscape. The result is one vast, unbroken wilderness, where elephants, lions, and leopards wander between Grietjie and Kruger as though no border ever existed — and in an ecological sense, none does.

Yet Grietjie itself remains privately held land, made up of individual full-title properties rather than the state-owned parkland that constitutes Kruger proper. So while we are very much part of the Greater Kruger — sharing its animals, its rhythms, and its remarkable biodiversity — we are not technically within the national park’s boundaries.

In short: the lions don’t know the difference.

We arrived in a town called Hazyview, which is near the southern end of Kruger National Park. We are going to be here for three nights. And tomorrow I think we’re taking what is called the panoramic drive. It’s kind of a touristy area because of Kruger, but very nice.Our bed-and-breakfast though is charming with beautiful gardens.

After we got checked in, we went into town and did a little shopping for some snacks and drinks. We came back and had a cocktail and then we headed out to have dinner for the evening.