29 June 2012

It was freezing when we awoke and not easy to get up out of our warm beds.  I made the first move and after a cup of hot coffee felt better to face the day.   Although cold it was crisp and clear and promised to warm up later.   The first bit of wild life I encountered was in the kitchen – a tiny mouse was scavenging at the bin. I won’t post its poor portrait here but he resembled one of his mates that I took later in the day.

Once we were all up we stood out on the boardwalk chatting and eating our muesli – it was the warmest place with the sun on our backs!   Our tourist assistant (his name escapes me) called to us – there’s a hyena at the waterhole.  We just caught sight of it as it ambled off.

Later as we were driving we spotted it again, this time with a some fresh kill in its jaws.  It must have either stolen it from a lion kill or made a kill itself.  Her tummy was quite big either from gorging herself or was she pregnant?  She could have been taking the meat to her den – for puppies?

Because we only had to check in at Mata Mata by two and it was a short distance away we decided to drive the dune road and then turn back.  We did not see much but this little chap always deserves to have his portrait taken.

We hadn’t gone far when we realised that we’d forgotten to collect our park permit – so just as well we were turning back.  We picked it up and then continued on the road to Mata Mata.

Common in the park and always good to see was this chap.

Then to brighten up the scene a swallowed tailed bee eater posed beautifully

When you see cars stopped up ahead it is a sure sign than something interesting has been spotted.  We looked in the general direction that others seemed to be staring but could not see anything.  We asked a chap who said there were three cheetah but they’d ducked down and were now not visible.  Then one sat up and we eventually got to see four of them before they lay down in the long grass again.

Most of the fun on trips like these occurs at the waterholes.  We stopped at 13th where there was not too much action and moved on to 14th  and enjoyed the birds coming in waves down to drink. But most of the action seemed to be at Dalkeith.

Driving between the waterholes we saw a favourite bird of prey.

We were also happy to get two cousins within a short distance of each other.

While parked off at Dalkeith, I became aware of movement in the trees to the left of the waterhole.  I made noised about it but my travelling companions were too involved in watching the birds, checking the bird book or fidgeting about for a snack.  I trained my binoculars on the disturbance and then yelled – People there’s something furry in that tree!   Earl reversed and to my absolute delight we found an African Wild Cat grooming itself in the fork of a very comfortable tree!  How amazing to find this nocturnal creature preparing for a nap in the middle of the day!  He looks just like your house pet – but don’t try to stroke this creature of the wild.

African Wild Cat

We continued on to Mata Mata and took pics of the more common animals – like these Springbuck setting off somewhere in a neat line with the boss checking on them every now and then.

Our last bird of the day was a male pygmy falcon.   He has a grey back while his wife’s is red.

We checked into the riverside cabins and Mata Mata and were delighted with them.