Cosmic Creatures of the Lowveld
19 October 2026
We are a community newspaper based in Hoedspruit, South Africa, that has its bias towards wildlife and conservation. We aim to have local, original, and relevant content that is both thought provoking and educational. We also strive to maintain a high standard of journalism.
We are in the centre of the UNESCO officially ratified, Kruger to Canyons Biosphere. Hoedspruit is generally considered to be the ‘safari capital’ of South Africa, within close proximity to the renowned and famous Kruger National Park, the Blyde River Canyon, the Timbavati, Klaserie and many other private game farms and reserves. Some of Africa’s most luxurious game lodges are also close by.
We invite you to read our publication, access previous editions, provide feedback should you wish, and hopefully we will get you to subscribe. We publish monthly, and generally release our editions on the last Friday of every month.
We hope you enjoy the read and we look forward to welcoming you to Hoedspruit, our community, and our world of wildlife and conservation.
At a place called Lone Tree in the central Kalahari, a band of San hunters picked a young kudu bull out of the herd and started running it down. Louis Liebenberg, then a young South African researcher with no distance-running background, wasn’t meant to be part of that – the hunters told him the heat made the chase too dangerous for someone untrained. He talked his way into staying anyway.
Win a R1 000.00 book voucher! It is with great excitement that we get to the second half of the year and open the gates to young creative juices. Kruger2Canyon News is happy to launch their first story competition.
Conservation management has always been difficult. Managing wildlife, ecosystems, people, budgets, politics, and competing land-use expectations, has never been an exercise for the faint-hearted. Recently, what has changed dramatically is not necessarily the complexity of the ecological problems, but the environment in which conservation decisions are now made.
In the intricate biology of the human body, organs such as the breast, the colon and the lungs are lined with a defensive barrier known as the epithelium. At the heart of this barrier sits a remarkable protein called Mucin-1 (MUC1). In a healthy body, MUC1 is like a sentinel.
Hidden beneath the water’s surface is a botanical world that is among nature’s most innovative and ecologically important.
On 9 August 1956, more than 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest the apartheid pass laws, demanding dignity, equality and freedom. Women’s Month gives South Africans an important moment to remember those women, the courage of their stand and the rights for which they fought.
September doesn’t ask things nicely. Whatever you’ve been avoiding since winter – the awkward call, the overdue decision, the promise you made yourself in a weak moment – it wants an answer now. The good news: most of you already know what to do. You’ve just been hoping someone else would do it first.
Spring in the Lowveld means the bush is stirring, and so is everyone’s patience. This is a month for finishing things, not starting new ones. Half-built plans get exposed fast. If you’ve been coasting, September notices.
I know that I have harped on this subject before but if you have felt the news drumbeat about a “super El Niño” and wondered what it actually means for Hoedspruit, here is the honest answer. As of now, our dams are full, our soils are wet, and the drought everyone is talking about has not arrived. The El Niño is real, it is strengthening, and it is likely to make the coming summer hotter and probably drier than usual – but the Lowveld enters this event from a position of unusual strength, and preparation now matters far more than alarm.
This month has Valentines Day – but it has always fascinated me as to where did it originate and why?
Valentine’s Day is now synonymous with roses, chocolates and candlelit dinners. But it has roots far less polished – and far more intriguing.
Win a R1 000.00 book voucher! It is with great excitement that we get to the second half of the year and open the gates to young creative juices. Kruger2Canyon News is happy to launch their first story competition.
Many of us fortunate enough to reside in Hoedspruit were drawn here to share our lives with the rich and diverse animal life that thrives in and around the area. From the cool forests of the escarpment, to the glistening waters of the Blyde River Canyon, and the expansive paradise of the Kruger National Park, this region is a mecca for wildlife lovers.
