Sight · Kruger National Park
Historic roadside baobab north of Olifants with sculptural trunk
Overview
If you’re the type who brakes for remarkable trees, Von Wielligh’s Baobab is worth the detour. This venerable giant is all about scale, texture and story—an instant, roadside wow that takes five minutes to admire or an hour to photograph if the light plays nice.
Map
Local know-how
Plan bathroom and snack stops at Olifants or Letaba—there’s nothing at the tree.
Stay in your vehicle unless you’re on an official guided activity that permits alighting.
Drive the S-roads slowly; the S93 is gravel and can be corrugated or muddy after rain.
Aim for early or late light for texture on the trunk and calmer traffic.
Have both a wide lens and short telephoto to switch between context and detail.
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Kruger Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Kruger National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Kruger audio tourRecorded for this place
Von Wielligh Baobab: A Historic Roadside Tree“The big, sculptural tree you may be seeing by the road is the Von Wielligh Baobab. It gets its name from a surveyor who camped nearby and carved his name into the trunk way back in 1891.”
Plays as you drive up to Von Wielligh Baobab in the Parkwolf Kruger Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
The tree takes its name from G.R. von Wielligh, a surveyor who camped near the confluence of the Olifants and Letaba Rivers and carved his name into the trunk in 1891. It’s a rare, tangible marker of early mapping work in this part of the park.
Baobabs are the quintessential “upside‑down” trees—smooth, pinkish‑grey trunks with branchwork that looks like roots. They’re deciduous, so in winter the bare silhouette is especially dramatic; in leaf, the crown feels massive. Baobabs are famously resilient and can live for ages, which adds to the sense of meeting an old character on the landscape.
There are no facilities at the tree—no toilets, no water, no picnic site. Plan comfort stops at Olifants (to the south) or Letaba (to the north). Keep your visit tight and respectful: no touching, no carving, no climbing. A quick pause for photos is the norm here.
Wildlife
1,312 sightingsLionMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
727 sightingsLeopardMost seen around 5 AMSighting map
2,403 sightingsElephantMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
425 sightingsWhite RhinocerosMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
547 sightingsBuffaloMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
502 sightingsWild DogMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Kruger. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
Scenic pullout · 7.4 km awayOlifants River LookoutHigh, sweeping view over the Olifants River with reliable hippos
Gas station · 7.4 km awayOlifants Rest Camp Petrol Station24/7 fuel stop inside Olifants with helpful attendants
Lodging · 7.6 km awayOlifants Rest CampHilltop camp with big Olifants River views and easy wildlife watching
Restaurant · 7.6 km awayTindlovu Olifants RestaurantRiver-view dining deck for sunrise breakfasts and sunset wildlife watching
Food · 7.6 km awayCafeteria at OlifantsSimple, quick bites when you don’t want a full sit‑downParkwolf’s Kruger ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
