1 July 2014 Pretoriuskop to Skukuza

Today we rose a little later, cooked breakfast, packed up and then left at 8:30 for Skukuza. It was a glorious, sunny day with temperatures warm enough to be dressed in shorts and t-shirts. Check in at Skukuza would only be from 2 p.m. onwards so we took the Sabie River road which promised to provide us with some good birding. It proved to be a slow day for both birds and game viewing but a bad day in Kruger is better than a good day in Cape Town so there were no complaints in our car. Being in a confined space with no chance of escape for a few hours at a time can have its moments. Hyperactive children can be trying but try an older man with the attention span of a 7 year old who needs constant stimulation, and some fun situations can develop. To give him credit my darling husband will do anything to make me happy and what makes me happy is to be able to spend a bit of time at a sighting before moving on. But impatience sometimes gets the better of him and he will start the car and move on before I and the ‘kids’in the back have had time to enjoy the moment. So the rule is – don’t move until I say so! Yes I know this sounds bossy and school teacherish and he looks so sad when I make him stop a few extra seconds but it’s worth it because nine times out of ten we get to see more than we bargained for. Today we had some stunning stops to watch birds and congratulations Earlie – you were very patient with us all and helped us get some gorgeous photies.
Some of the creatures we saw today were:

Vevet Monkey surveying the scene

Female Bearded Woodpecker

Blue Waxbill

Little Bee-eater

Iconic bird of the park – Lilac Breasted Roller

Female Kudu going down to the water to drink

Some of her friends

These are my girls

Aren’t they adorable

There always has to be one great highlight of each day. Today we were going through a monotonous spell of no sightings when E suddenly slammed on breaks and drew our attention to a small bird of prey hiding low down among some trees and very close to the road. It would have been so easy to miss. It was a Little Sparrow-hawk. We had superb views and he sat quietly for a photo shoot but flew off just before Heather got her camera to behave. E and I got some good ones though.

Highlight of the Day. Little Sparrowhawk

At Skukuza a problem with my Wild Card was picked up and so a call to the Wild card center had to be made but once it was sorted out we were through by 3:20 and into our huts 114 and 115. Once settled we went to the restaurant for coffee and muffins and did a short walk along the river trail. Heather cooked us a stunning meal of chicken and couscous this evening and we sat outdoors without jackets till 8 o’clock. What a fabulous day!