The Sand River flows and dries up with the change in seasons in South Africa’s Kruger Lowveld. As the summer heat creeps in, the epic thunderstorms roll in on through great, purple clouds, and the rains nourish the land after a long, dry winter, and rivers such as the Sand fill up and bring life to its banks once again. Umkumbe Safari Lodge is ideally located on a rise overlooking this river in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve – a private section of the Kruger Park with a reputation for predator interaction, particularly leopards. When the Sand River comes to life, it’s not leopards that draw the eye, but elephants. In this superb piece of aerial footage taken over Umkumbe, watch elephants from above as they can be seen crossing the water from one bank to the other.
The current drought punishing South Africa has withheld rain during the months it is needed the most. A tragedy for people, wildlife, vegetation, and agriculture, as the lack of water begins to take effect; however, the Sand River has received enough of a push from what rain has fallen, and is coursing beautifully through the Sabi Sand, decorating its surroundings in colour and offering much-needed water to the wilderness surrounding it.
Elephants are entirely reliant on water, and as a result, they have famous migration routes carved through the plains of Africa to lead them to water wherever it is located during different times of the year. It is a miracle of nature that there are elephants that survive in the desert of Namibia, where water is virtually unheard of. This footage of a herd of elephants enjoying the water in the Sand River is a refreshing visual during a time of concerning drought in the rest of the country. What a view from the perfectly positioned Umkumbe Safari Lodge!
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