Kruger National Park Day 18

2014-07-26 | puppy1952

16 July Lower Sabie
We decided on a later start today and started off at Sunset dam at quarter to 8. It is definitely best to be there in the morning. We had an amazing time watching white crowned lapwings, a ruff, three banded plover and different storks and kingfishers.

The hippos were also in amorous mood and we watched a love scene playing out.

White-crowned Lapwing

Ruff

Yellow-billed Stork

Wooly-necked Stork

Three Banded Plover

Pied kingfishers

Show me your tonsils and I’ll show you mine

Just a little kiss please

What toothpaste do you use

Cosying up

Afterglow?

Travel by Hippo – beats the bus

On the S28 we got another pearl spotted owlet. Great to see so many in the park. A Senegal lapwing was another bird that gave us pleasure to find.

Pearl Spotted Owlet

Senegal Lapwing

A tawny Eagle is disturbed by a warthog

The hog ignores the bird

Find a patch to scratch his nose and have a snack

Tawny joins his mate in the dry grass and shares his meal with her.

Our morning produced all the usual suspects before we stopped at Crocodile Bridge for breakfast. This is a small Gate Camp and does not have a restaurant. However they have a coffee hut and tables and chairs outdoors. From the shop we got ready made sandwiches which were really good and we also indulged in chocolate chip muffins. We spotted some good birds there too.

White-bellied sunbird

House Sparrow

Blue Waxbill

Black Headed Oriole

Black Collared Barbet

A special experience today was on the S25 as it crossed to the S26 on a low level bridge. There was just a bit of water but lots going on. We watched monkeys drinking,a heron catch a fish and a monitor lizard catch a frog.

The Heron ready to fish (Note monitor lizard in background.)

What can he see?

Going for the prey

Got it!

Down the gullet it goes

Water Monitor starts exploring

What can he find in the pond

Getting closer

Admires his reflection

Tests the waters with a hind leg

: Speaks with a forked tongue?

A frog meets his fete

Monkey slake their thirst

Kruger National Park Day 16 and 17

2014-07-26 | puppy1952

Satara 14 July
I Had a very bad night last night because of my very sore back. I did some stretching exercises and then we hit the S100. Every bump in the road was an agony and my body language must have shown it all because Peter told Earl to stop and said he thought we should turn back so I could have a rest from sitting. Everyone agreed and I was grateful but said they should go out without me. I have seen everything in Kruger before and wanted them to go out and get me a photo of a leopard. They said they would but the didn’t! Instead we took a walk around the camp and saw some interesting birds. Then we went to the Mug ‘n Bean for breakfast. We spent the rest of the day in camp. Earl gave me a massage and I had a long sleep. I took some painkillers and this helped too.

Bateleur spotted before we returned

Grey-headed Sparrow in camp

Heath did chef duty

Satara to Lower Sabie 15 July
I was much better this morning. I did my exercises and took some more dicloflam. We left at 6:30 and made our way to Lower Sabie where we would be staying in the Safari Tents right next to the Sabie River.
The first part of our trip produced lovely birds and game.

Spider webs in the early morning mist

Lesser Striped Swallow

Good Morning

Lovely Day

Here’s looking at you kid

A Tree with a View

Peek a Boo I see you

Breakfast French Style

Bateleurs posing obligingly

We stopped at Tshokwane for breakfast then did the Orpen Dam loop which was very fruitful.

Breakfast at Tshokwane

Yellow-billed hornbill right next to me at Toshokwane

A mousebird hiding in the foliage at Toshokwane

There were lots of buffalo on the Orpen loop.

Salon Treatments are so relaxing

Just chewing on a blade of straw

Is that a grin or a grimace?

Crossing a ford we found these two kingfishers.

Pied

Malachite

We found this gang at a waterhole

Yet another coucal

Fish Eagle on nest

Male sandgrouse with chick

There was not much on the tar road to Sabie but we stopped at Sunset Dam and had a wonderful hour watching the activity there. A fish eagle caught a fish. A tawny tried to take it away from him. He survived that attack only to have it taken by an adult fish eagle. Giraffe came down as well as impala and wildebeest. There were scores of crocodiles and hippo on the bank and the water birds gave us some lovely entertainment.

Our safari tents are not the same. Earl and I took the bigger one with a fantastic kitchen as we are the caterers. The front deck is also bigger and has a table for four but only 2 chairs. Luckily we brought camp chairs with us. Inside is very roomy and the bathroom is quite modern.
Heather and Peter have a smaller tent but the view is great. We think they might be gradually upgrading all the tents. Theirs is looking a bit the worse for wear. Hopefully in the next couple of years all the tents will be upgraded. I can highly recommend staying in the safari tents although during the day they are quite hot and at night they are cold. But extra blankets are provided. At suppertime it was pleasant on the deck. During the night the sound of the bush was deafening with hippo grunting, hyena laughing and jackals howling. Baboons barking added to the cacophony.

Here are some of the birds who came to visit.

Spectacled Weaver

Yellow Canary

LBJ – Could be a rattling cisticola

Glossy Starling

LBJ

Kruger National Park Day 15

2014-07-26 | puppy1952

13 July Satara 175388
We left camp at 6:35 and the temperature was 10 degrees C. It rose to 28 later in the day.
As we turned onto the S100 we saw a car facing toward us driving very slowly. The driver waved us down and she was very excited. “Die luiperd is hier. Hy was nou op die pad.” (The leopard was here. It was just on the road.) She was the only other car and she pointed into the bush. Peter, Earl and I caught sight of him and then he disappeared. Not a fantastic sighting and no photograph but a leopard nevertheless. Peter told us we were now off the hook! He’d seen his leopard!
Coucals seem to be having a convention in the park this holiday as we keep seeing them.

Two wooly necked storks were next to capture our attention and straight after we were amused to find a saddle-bill at the top of a tree.

We enjoyed some good birding but did not find lions or any more leopards along the infamous S100.
We turned onto the S41 and continued our birding finding many interesting species.

Immature Batteleur

Then onto the H6 where there were zebra and other game to observe.

At 9:10 Peter alerted us to a traffic jam. We found a gap and after much talking at once managed to show Pete where the female was hiding behind a bush. Moving a little ahead we managed to get a good sighting of 2 cubs and then the mom got up and took them off into the bush.

We returned to Satara and Earl cooked us breakfast, we had a bit of a break and then went out again at midday with the intention of going to Sweni Water Hole. Right outside the camp on the H3 we found 3 adult and 2 juvenile Ground Hornbills.

Once again we spotted the usual game and then we were alerted to lion by another tourist coming in the opposite direction.
It was quite far off but we all got good sightings of her before she dropped down and disappeared into the long straw for an afternoon nap. No one would know she was there!
The Sweni Waterhole has changed since our last visit. There is now a road going right down to the river and you can sit there and watch the river before entering the hide. We found it most productive and found jacanas, kingfishers, crakes, moorhen and green backed herons. We spent a long time watching before going into the hide.

After enjoying the crocodiles and terrapin, more activity from the green backed heron and jacanas we were entertained with a love scene from the Jacanas.

We saw four different species of kingfisher in the hour or so that we spent at this spot. We watched the giant and the pied catch fish. The little malachite didn’t have much luck and the brown hooded simply posed beautifully for us when we exited the hide.

On the last leg of our drive back to camp we had a few more interesting sightings. A lovely pearl spotted owls which Earl spotted and reversed to check if he was right.

Burchell’s Sandgrouse, male and female.

Another stunning brown-hooded kingfisher.

An finally elephant and drinking and a hippo and baby on the bank of the river.

All day I’d been battling with my back which decided to rebel against the constant sitting and little exercise. Because of our early starts to the day I even neglected to do my Big Five exercises which my Witch Doctor insists upon. I did some stretches on our return home. I hope a good night’s rest will sort my out by morning.

Kruger National Park Day 14

2014-07-26 | puppy1952

12 July 2014 Mopani To Satara
Our start this morning was early as we were moving to another camp. This time we were to spend three nights in Satara. After three days of clear skies but chilly weather we found that we needed to discard our jerseys quite early in the day as we headed further south. The game viewing also improved and today was one of the best birding days we’ve had this trip.
After packing up, we had coffee and rusks and set of just after 6:15. The temperature was 5 degrees C but rose to 32 later in the day.
We started on the H1-6 and Our first sighting was buffalo then a Swainson’s francolin. We then did the S50 loop and found Kori Bustards at the waterhole as well as Kitlitz plover and Monotonous lark. Later we found red-headed weavers in their non breeding plumage.

Kittlitz Plover

Monotonous Lark

Together with zebra we found some more Tsessebe which are known to be in the Northern part of the park. There were 8 and they were looking good.

Tsebe

When we turned onto the H1-6 again we increased our speed to almost 50 the limit on the tar roads.
Suddenly I spotted a small bird of prey hiding among the leaves of a tree on Earl and Peter’s side of the road. (We are all supposed to keep our eyes open on our own side of the road!) I yelled stop and E had to reverse until I found the spot. They could not believe I’d seen it at that speed and on the other side of the road! It was a little Shikra – a ‘lifer’ for all of us.

Shrika by Earl

When we crossed the bridge over the river we got out of the car between the yellow lines and looked down on the river bed. We found a Saddle-billed stork and two spoonbills sharing a drink as well as white-fronted plovers, some little swifts flying about and a friendly African Pied Wagtail who came right up to our feet on the bridge.

Saddle-billed Stork

At 9:30 we arrived at Letaba and had just over an hour’s break there. Breakfast this time was perfect although we had to wait a while before it was served.
After breakfast it was onto the H1-5 where we found an elephant enjoying a branch full of leaves.

Then a hugely exciting spot for us – two birds of prey which at first we thought were Martial Eagles but on closer inspection we found that they were African Hawk Eagles – a really special sighing One was high in a dead tree and the other in another dead tree in front of it.

African Hawk-eagle

Our next road was the S89. As we went into a dip in the road Heather spotted a nest and asked Earl to stop so we could see if anything was in it – we all saw it at once – a Martial Eagle in a very awkward viewing position. Earl managed to get some good shots. Note its full crop.

Not long after that we found another nest with a bird of prey in it. This time a tawny eagle.

We wondered why we were not seeing Vereaux’s Eagle-owl as it is resident in the park. Heather read up on it and discovered that this is their breeding season so we started paying more attention to nests – they use other birds’ nests instead of making their own. This paid off and Heather was the first to find a Vereaux’s at the top of a tree, hunkering down in its nest. This was on a long dirt road to Satara and while on it we hardly saw another car but the birding and game viewing was good.
We found a few pipits and larks.

Monotonous Lark

Ground hornbills kept company with a few zebra.

Kori Bustards were quite common as were korhaan

The lilac breasted roller is a common but beautiful bird and poses willingly to have its portrait taken. But its cousin is not as pretty but less common so we were thrilled to find him a couple of times. I even managed to get him in flight.

Lilac-breasted Roller by Earl

Purple Roller

At Satara there were plenty of elephants and other game at the waterhole. It seems that we will be having a good time here. We enjoy everything about The Park but would really like to see a leopard. Hopefully our luck will change now that we are back in the South.

Kruger National Park Day 13

2014-07-26 | puppy1952

Friday 11 July 2014 Mopani Morning Drive
We were up around 7 a.m. and the temperature was 0 degrees C. It warmed up to 24 later in the day. Dressing in jeans, long sleeved t-shirt jersey, fleece and jacket kept the cold out before the layers needed to be removed.
After a wonderful Early breakfast we set off at 8 and drove around the roads near the camp as there was really not much to see. Lion have been spotted in the area but we didn’t find them.
First up was a beautiful martial eagle atop a nearby tree. Unfortunately we had to look right into the sun and when we moved there were branches preventing good photography so we just enjoyed him for a few minutes before moving on.
We found a small herd of wildebeest next and then turned onto the Mooiplaas loop. This is what we found.
A dainty female steenbok who posed beautifully her portrait.

A large herd of buffalo at Waterhole number 2

On the Confluence Lookout we saw a Gabar Goshawk flying past.
On the H1-6 we saw lots of waterpuck and then stopped at Mooiplaas Picnic site for a walk and a loo break.
On the return road we found a beautiful groundscraper thrush – first one this trip.

We spent some time in Shipandane Hide and observed Great White Egret, Woolly necked storks, hippos, and waterbuck.

Back at camp, we had lunch on the stoop and then rested for a while before venturing out on a short afternoon drive.
This proved to be more productive than our morning excursion. There was a long period of nothing and then a few views of zebra on the S114. Being birders we stopped to see a tchagra and coucal and got some good shots.

Coucal

We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn then we took Capricorn loop. We saw elephant, zebra and wildebeest. It became interesting after the waterhole called Nwambu. Elephants, and buffalo. After the second waterhole we found kori bustards, Namaqua doves, a bateleur and a black shouldered kite.

Kori Bustards

Bateleur

More elephant appeared to give us an adrenalin rush. The big tuskers are always interesting.

We had set out at 3:30 and gate closing is at 5:30 so we could not stop for anything but the most exciting sightings. I yelled you have to stop – It’s tsessebe. Tsessebe were reintroduced to The Park 20 years ago and now if you see them you must report it to the rangers. We saw three.

On our last stretch we were racing for the gate when Heather called – stop Jackal. It was difficult to stop as a car was on our tail but we did and watched a side-striped jackal running into the deep bush. That was a really special sighting as they are not as common as black backed jackal. Unfortunately he was gone before we could get a photograph.

Sunset was stunning this evening

Nobody felt like cooking this evening so we decided to go to the restaurant. We were relieved that it was not The Mugg & Bean. We had a very pleasant evening and the food was delicious.

Kruger National Park Day 12 Scary Encounter with an Elephant

2014-07-26 | puppy1952

10 July 2014 Olifants to Mapane Camp. Temperature at departure 4 Degrees C
It was a chilly start to the day. We woke at five, packed up and departed for Mopani just after 6 It was still dark but the light arrived suddenly and we had a few good sightings.
First up was a grey duiker disappearing into the bush. Next a pair of Sandgrouse but we missed the photo opportunity.
Then we almost knocked into a hippo who was making his way back to the river after a long night of grazing on land. He had a way to go still.
We met up with elephants at regular intervals – all lone bulls. On the S 94 We found a lone buffalo, warthogs, giraffe and tree squirrels within minutes of each other.

Lone Bull Elephant

Warthogs

Lone buffalo

Giraffe

Tree Squirrels

We arrived at Letaba at 8:30 and it was now 10 degrees C. We went to Mug and Bean for breakfast. This time was not as good as the last. Typical of M and B we have found, they did not have all the ingredients advertised on the menu. We complained and the waiter was great. He told us that the management had not got the ordering right yet. We told him we would be complaining to both Sanparks and M&B head office. If they are going to put these big franchises into the park they have to be at least as good as the last one,Tree, with whom we were always superbly impressed. M&B service is slow (it was not busy), they get the orders wrong and they don’t have what’s advertised on the menu. We overheard another patron saying to the waitress “Do I need to order the night before to get breakfast in the morning?” We sympathized!
The food is actually fine when it arrives so there is nothing wrong with the ability of the chefs – it’s the organisation that is faulty. When Mugg & Bean first hit Cape Town, I found their coffee absolutely aweful but that at least has improved. My coffee was hot, strong and black the way I like it and they gave it to me in the requested cup. When I was done I was immediately offered a refill. Mugg & Bean if you can just get your service and organisation right you might just make the grade in Kruger.
Bushbuck frequently come into Letaba Camp and we found another one just outside the restaurant.
Back on the H1-6 we had sightings of giraffe and baboon and other animals. The baboons amused us with their antics.

We stopped at the Montambeni Hide at about 11 and found fish eagle, hippos and crocs. Buck were also on the banks but little else.

As we left we found a small herd of zebra. As we pulled away they started running. “Something’s spooked them,” said Peter. Maybe a lion. Go back Earl.” Earl obliged, reversing slowly and checking the bush carefully. Then – omigosh a huge bull elephant emerged from the bush and came straight for the car. “Go Earl, Go!” I yelled to Earl. He pulled away slowly and the elephant was almost touching the car. Even though I was in a state of terror I took a photograph for those who found our crushed bodies to observe what had happened!

Being chased by an elephant is not funny! This was taken from the front passenger seat through the back window of the Caravelle

Earl took out his cell phone and took photos through the side mirror. We all went into panic mode and begged him to go faster. “No, he said, “he’s far away!” The thing was that through the side mirror things look further away than they are so we yelled louder. Earl just laughed and continued snapping photos.

The elephant increased his pace, flapped his ears and waved his trunk. We were in fits of nervous giggles and screaming hysterically. Earl is normally very wary of ellies but being in front gave him a feeling of power. I kept yelling – He’s flapping his ears. He’s going to charge. Finally Earl decided that caution was the better part of valour and went a little faster and thankfully the elephant let us go.

After that adrenalin rush we all reprimanded the errant driver for his casual attitude to a dangerous, wild creature. Only after examining his own photos days later, did he admit that he had taken a bit of a chance! Never ever fool around when elephants are about – they can be unpredictable and are quite capable of overturning and crushing a vehicle even if it is as big as a Caravelle.

We cruised slowly along until the S62 where I saw the birds we missed this morning – double banded sandgrouse – this time there were 2 adults with a single tiny chick. We managed to get photos but the chick was hidden by the parents.

By 11 the temperature has risen to 22 degrees C. On the H1-6 we found zebra then a lilac breasted roller with a large insect. We watched it devour its prey before carrying on.

We stopped at Mooiplaas picnic site for a loo break and to enjoy the shady trees and river outlook. In this section of the park the picnic sites are unspoiled and lovely. Long may this last!

We found a brown hooded kingfisher in a tree and took some photographs.

We did the river loop and stopped to observe for a while. A pied kingfisher entertained us by catching and devouring a fish.
We arrived at Mopani at 2 o’clock, checked in a spent the rest of the day in camp.

Supper at the dinner table in our family cottage

Supper at the dinner table in our lovely Mopani family cottage

Kruger National Park Day 11 Olifants

2014-07-26 | puppy1952

9 July Olifants
Left 7:30 Temperature 10 degrees C

Being in The Kruger National Park whether you are seeing abundant game and birds or not is just such a special privilege. We made a later than normal start today and found ourselves on a road where for over an hour we did not come across another car and saw very few after that too. The birding in the first part of our day was good.
Our first bird party gave us Southern masked weavers, Southern Black Tit, Chin spot batis and Golden breasted buntings.
We stopped to eat our packed breakfast next to the river and while there we found Egyptian geese, pied kingfisher a fish eagle, glossy starlings and yellow fronted canaries.

We stopped briefly at Letaba at 11, had a loo break and then bought drinks from the shop to have in the car. The trip back to Olifants was less productive as far as birds were concerned but we enjoyed the usual array of animals along the way. A special treat was spotting a Sharpes Grysbok but it ran off very quickly and we were not fast enough with our cameras.

We had a restful afternoon in camp and braaied early, and went to be in preparation for our departure to Mopani the next day.

Here are some photographs we managed to capture today.

Crested Barbet

Scarlet breasted Sunbird at Letaba

Giraffe

Water Buck

Crocodile

Lilac Breasted Roller

Sunbathing hippo

Impala

Sabota Lark

Brown Snake Eagle

Kruger National Park Day 10 Day trip to Letaba

2014-07-26 | puppy1952

8 July 2014 Day Trip to Letaba
We started the day at 7 a.m. warmly dressed and expecting rain. It did drizzle for an hour or two so we decided to take the tar road to Letaba, have breakfast there then take the dirt roads home. This turned out to be a wise decision as the rain stopped for our return journey.
First up today – Impala. If they’re around you know the park is healthy! Stopping on a bridge we found a huge herd of buffalo crossing the river.

Crossing the river

Crested Francolin were up early, zebra crossed in front of us and then we found our first tortoise of the trip. Strange that he was not hibernating on this very cold morning. Heather suggested that his burrow might have been flooded and he was forced out.

Tortoise crossing the wet road

Is his tongue stuck to the tar or does the tar make the water taste like coke?

A lilac breasted roller was fluffed up and wet looking rather sorry for itself.

Wet Lilac Breasted Roller

We saw bull elephants quite a few times. I feel quite sorry for the male of the species as elephants have a matriarchal society and the alpha female leads the family and when the males get to a certain age they have to leave the herd and are only allowed to visit.

Birds of prey have made themselves scarce this trip but the brown snake eagle is often around.
Baboons amused us several times today too.

So waaa to you too

We have not stopped too many times for birds as they seem to be scattered abroad. But we did find a few bird parties and this little lark had us guessing. We finally decided it was a monotonous lark.

We stopped to look at giraffe, zebra and elephant and then arrived at Letaba at 9:15.

Refurbing of the restaurant and rest rooms are in process. Bug and Mean have taken over and we were apprehensive as to the service having had two bad experiences at Satara and Olifants. Our waitress was lovely but we had to speak simply as she did not understand everything we said. Our drinks arrived in less than 15 minutes and our meal in less than half an hour which we find quite acceptable. The food was good. My coffee was the house blend which is bottomless. The first cup was not very hot but as I take it black it was drinkable. I was offered a second cup and I asked for it to be hot and it was! Usually their coffees are served in a mug but I asked for a cup and a cup I received. So we were impressed with Mug and Bean, Letaba! After breakfast we walked around the camp trying to find owls but they were clearly away on holiday. Instead we found a grey-headed bushshrike. It was not easy getting photographs as it moved constantly and his behind the foliage.

My shot with his bill behind the branch

Earl managed a clearer shot

Bushbuck love Letaba and find their way into the camp. We found one trying to look inconspicuous under a tree.

We took a slow drive back to Olifants along the river road but there was not much to see. The cold weather had clearly sent the critters into hiding.
There were of course stops to see the usual suspects of giraffe and zebra etc. The vegetation is very pretty in this area with Mopane trees in varying colours from autumn to new spring leaves. So the colours are green, yellow, orange, red, bronze. At one of our stops we found pied wagtail, 3 banded plover and a coucal in a tree.

African Pied Wagtail

Three banded plover

A flock of canaries startled us out of a reverie and we stopped for ages taking photographs. There were other species among them like grey headed sparrow and twin spot batis. Red winged starling flew into a tree and as I watched them I caught sight of a brown headed parrot hiding in the foliage. This caused a great flurry of camera activity and finally we all managed to get some decent shots.

This might be a female or non-breeding red-headed weaver

Chinspot Batis with yellow fronted canary in background

Yellow-fronted canaries

Brown headed parrot

After this excitement there was a dry spell of driving until among the beautiful burnished colours of the Mopani trees I saw a ball of grey. I called stop and Earl reversed and even when I saw it again I was tempted to say – no its nothing but I raised my binoculars to it and found a pearl spotted owlet. It took a while to describe to the others where I was looking and there was great excitement when everyone spotted it. We had a brief minute or two when suddenly it was gone and we could not see where it had flown too. A really special treat!

Pearl Spotted Owlet

We had tried to fill up with diesel at Letaba but they had run out so we needed to be sure to get back to Olifants before we ran out. We arrived back at quarter past 2, filled up, went to the shop and then had left overs for lunch at our huts. At half past three we went out again this time to find our crocodile and terrapin pond. We always visit this pond as the first time we found it a baby croc and his terrapin friends came rushing to the edge to meet any vehicle that happened along. Clearly someone had started feeding them and they still try to cash in on the deal. And yes they were there! The croc is much bigger and more frightening now but still ruler of the pond! I wonder if he will ever migrate away from it.

My but he’s grown!

Beware

Have you got some crumbs for us?

Please?

To end the day we found kudu and then a korhaan.

It was our tamest day so far but a slow day in Kruger is still better than a good day in Cape Town.

Kruger National Park Day 9 Orpen to Olifants

2014-07-25 | puppy1952

7 July 2014 Orpen to Olifants Our day started very early with a loud clattering and crashing coming from the stoep. Earl and I both got up to investigate at the same time – I knew it had to be a honey badger and I grabbed the walkie talkie to alert Heather. By the time we got there the invader had gone. It was just after 2 a.m. We went wearily back to bed and eventually dropped off only to be awoken by fresh clattering and this time there were 2 naughty critters. They’d upset the bin, opened a latched cupboard and were greedily devouring the scraps left over from last night’s supper! Our presence with cameras did nothing to deter them and we managed to get some reasonable shots of the little burglars.

Intruding Honey badgers

After all this excitement it was difficult to get back to sleep but exhaustion took over and we were back in dreamland knowing that our wake up time would be 5 a.m. BUT I had somehow got it wrong and woke with a start at twenty to six. The alarm was only set for 6 which was supposed to be departure time! But with cooperation from everyone we packed up quickly and were on the road to Olifants by 6:30. Our intention was to stop at Timbavati Picnic Site and make breakfast there. But the weather had turned and it was freezing so we had a loo and coffee break there then continued to Olifants where we had brunch much later. The sightings today were good. From Orpen along the H7 we first found wildebeest and then Peter said – red brake lights up ahead – what has he seen? As we approached Heather called out Jackal and to our joy he cooperated well and gave us a good photo shoot. He sniffed and scratched for morsels to eat, performed his toilet then took off into the bush.

On an early morning mission

When nature calls you must respond

We saw zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and impala and then another holdup of cars ahead.

Just love these elegant creatures

When we caught up we found a huge herd of buffalo – nice to see after the few scattered pairs and individuals we’d seen previously.

Nice herd having breakfast

All this was before 7:30 in the morning. Then up ahead two cars cruising slowly and staring into the bush. Earl passed the one in front very slowly and I mouthed – what? Lion he mouthed back. We couldn’t see anything then the car in front of him pointed and we caught up and stopped. Heather yelled – there he is and a huge male stared me right in the eye! Earl said – close your window – my hands were shaking on the camera but I was not about to give up my shot to wind up any window!

He stared me in the eye before looking away

We watched him for a while turned around and saw him cross the road and march off into the bush. There was a second lion but we didn’t see it. It must have gone over while we were looking at his friend.

He was a big boy

Off to find his friend

A nice scratch on the prickly bush before moving on again

Near the waterhole Girabana we found a fish eagle in a tree and waterbuck looking too gorgeous for words.

Fish Eagle

Beautiful Female

Sat on a wet toilet seat? Or is it just a target on her bum!

After our coffee at Timbavati we took a detour to the Ratelpan hide but it was disappointing. Usually we spend at least half an hour there but today the cold prevented us from waiting for something to turn up. There seemed little to see on the S127 and were chatting about this and that when I interrupted a story Heather was relating – Kori Bustard! And then there were 2.

All Puffed up to look attractive for his mate

Approaching each other

Shall we dance?

Soon after we stopped for Temminck’s coursers and while we were trying to identify them a car drew up and asked if we’d seen the Secretary Bird. You mean Kori Bustard? we asked. No and he showed us his photograph – he’d seen it 5km back – too far for us to chase. We were most disappointed to have missed it because earlier in the holiday I’d commented that we’d never found Secretary Birds in the KNP! How annoying to have missed it by 5km! They raced ahead and we found them soon after starting at a bird of prey in a tree. It was difficult to identify but we thought we knew what it could be We asked the driver what he thought but he was stumped. “Juvenile Black breasted Snake-Eagle we said. ” when it’s a juvenile – I give up he laughed. But that’s what my son thinks it is too! The boy was about 12. Next up we found a small group of Mommy elephants with their adorable offspring.

Elephants again

Then surprise and delight I spotted the elusive bird we’d been seeking – A secretary bird! What were the chances after missing the previous one we would so soon find the culprit!

The elusive Secretary Bird

The next interesting sighting was a little yellow mongoose trying to hide away from us. The final highlight of the day was once again seeing 2 cars ahead going slowly, catching up and Earl declaring – its a hyena. In fact it was a baby. On a previous visit we witnessed an adult pack going off to hunt, a baby bidding its mom goodbye and going off to the den. Clearly this one had not obeyed the instruction to stay hidden while his elders we getting his lunch! It was a beautiful sighting!

My shot – he was right next to my window

Nice capture by Earl

And then he stalked off!

We arrived at Olifants at 12, checked in but could only pick up the keys at 1 so we had brunch at Mug and Bean – a tad better than Satara but not much!

Kruger National Park Day 8 Orpen

2014-07-06 | puppy1952

6 July 2014 – Orpen

We made a fairly early start today leaving at 6:45 at 15 degrees c so not too cold. The temperatures rose to the mid twenties by mid-morning.
The sightings of game were fairly frequent and we enjoyed coming across zebra, giraffe,wildebeest and kudu at regular intervals. During the spells of nothing we would stop to see the odd bird but we certainly have not seen as many birds as we normally find at other times of the year.

Yellow-bellied Eremomela

Pipits are difficult to identify but I think this one is a Bushveld Pipit

White-browed Scrub Robin

Emerald-spotted wood-dove

Travelling long distances, slowly through the park we sometimes start to lose concentration and drift into dream mode. During such a period Earl suddenly slammed on brakes and reversed slowly backwards. I’d seen an odd looking dove sized bird fly into a bush and we soon found it well hidden amongst the foliage. Heather managed to get a reasonable photo. A tiny pearl spotted owlet. Our first owl this trip. It is a diurnal bird unlike most owls that hunt at night.

We also came across a traffic jam and were irritated that cars were blocking the road to state at sleeping lions. They had huge cameras pointing out of their windows. Lions lie and sleep 20 houses a day. Take the photo and move on for Goodness sake. Come back later if you are so desperate to keep company with the king of the beasts. We were stuck behind two cars on the left and unable to see anything but a flicking tail or to pass as a car on the right blocked the way. We finally managed to persuade her to move on, slipped into her spot, took a quick photo and moved on. Half an hour later the front car caught up to us. During this time we’d stopped to commune with steenbok, giraffe, elephant etc. He raced past looking for the next lion or leopard I would imagine.

Lion deliberately ignoring his admirers

We stopped at Muzandzenzi Picnic spot where We hired a slotted for R20 and Earl cooked us a divine breakfast. We had fun watching the cheeky hornbills and starlings beg for tidbits.

Kruger Cook

Yellow-billed Hornbill by Earl

This picnic site has no amenities other than a long drop loo which is very clean And well maintained. There are tables and chairs and it is shady and pleasant.
Here are some of the critters we saw today

Tawny Eagle

Ellies found some fresh drinking water

Saddle-billed Stork

Rhinoceros

We bought pizzas from Debonair at Satara and took the home for supper.

Kruger National Park Day 7 Orpen

2014-07-05 | puppy1952

5 July 2014 Orpen

Today was a rest day. Well for us it was restful compared to our normal hectic pace. I set the alarm for 7 but both Earl and I were awake before 6. We needed to do laundry but the washing machine was a bit odd so the maids offered to sort it out for us. Very kind of them.

We left camp just after 9 and stopped at Satara for brunch. To our horror Mug and Bean have been given franchise rights in the park. We found them at Lower Sabie first. We do realise that the masses of visitors need to be fed but the last Franchise – Tree – worked fabulously. We seldom had complaints. Admittedly our lunch at Lower Sabie was efficiently dealt with too. But at Satara we waited ages before our order came and then it wrong! Peter’s order didn’t arrive at all and when he complained there were a million excuses about being misunderstood. He said he would give them 2 minutes to fix it otherwise they could just not bother. 5 minutes later he got his order. My order came with an ingredient missing. Earl’s tomato for his Eggs Benedict was uncooked. Heather got cucumber and cheddar cheese instead of Avo and cream cheese in her chicken wrap! Really there was no excuse. I called the manager and he took his time coming. He apologized but made the excuse that the kitchen was not yet used to the very varied menu! Really? Mug ‘n Bean? Then they shouldn’t be in the Park. I told the manager that they were highly privileged to have this franchise and that I hoped things were going to improve fast. We could see from other patrons that things weren’t going well. Kruger is our a flagship and I would hate our overseas visitors to get a bad impression! Mug ‘n Bean – you have a huge responsibility to this country!
Well complaints over. The food that we got was good and the manager gave us free coffees and didn’t charge for Peter’s meal. It was the least he could do.
Now for the sightings of the day. Each day always has a special highlight and for us today it came early. We stopped to see two birds – a tawny eagle and a white faced vulture on a kill. It took a while to work out that they were devouring a python! We have never seen a python in the park dead or alive so this was very interesting.

Tawny Eagle scavenging on Python

White-headed vulture on the pyhthon kill

White-headed vulture sitting on the python – note the full crop

Tawny flew into a bush with very full crop

We saw lots of other animals and birds on our route which took us to Satara and back via a few detour loops.

Fiscal Flycatcher

Ground Hornbill

Male Waterbuck having a rest

Ellie reaching for a tasty snack

As I type Heather is cooking our evening meal. The weather is amazing. Not a breath of wind and temperatures to day shot to 32. The mornings are cold but the evenings are still pleasant enough to sit outdoors. Kruger is indeed The Best Place on Earth.

Orpen Camp

Kruger National Park Day Day 6 Skukuza to Orpen

2014-07-04 | puppy1952

4 July 2014 – Skukuza to Orpen

We made an early start today as we had a long way to go to get to Orpen and we did not take the direct route so by 6:15 we were packed and ready to go. We needed to fill up and Earl got onto conversation with the petrol jockey. He confided that he’d been to Cape Town and liked it for the fishing but not the weather. Earl readily took this opportunity to show him some of his fishing photos on his phone!

Once we were off I read him an email from his friend John and in the process we forgot to post the keys. This Peter alerted us to when we were half an hour into our journey and so we had to turn back and take a different route to the original plan to Orpen!
We then took the H1-2 and soon found a tawny eagle in a tree.

Tawny Eagle by Earl

Elephants and baboons were about and zebra buffalo and rhino made an appearance.

Jumbo’s tusks looking a little worse for wear

At Leeupan there was a gathering of zebra which we first found crossing the road before they headed to muddy up a small water puddle. Impala and kudu were there as was a single giraffe. There was a woolly necked stork hiding in the reeds and some other water birds were there too.

Quite a pose one has to pull just to get a drink

A martial eagle was the next exciting bird to be found sitting atop a tree. A bit far but lovely to see.

At 9:30 we arrived at Tshokwane Picnic site, ordered kuduwors rolls and coffee – the best in the park and spent an hour chilling before hitting the road again.

At Mafagalamba Dam we found a pod of hippo in and out of the water. A heron found the back of a hippo a good viewing point. There were wildebeest and waterbuck grazing and drinking and we renamed the dam Waterbuck bum waterhole as it’s actual name is too difficult to pronounce!

As we crossed a ford over the N’waswitosonto River I spotted a ‘stone’ at the edge of the water but when I looked with my binoculars it tuned into an Ayre’s Hawk Eagle – a wonderful find for the mad birders that we are!

It was a long day today and we continued to find the usual suspects – impala, zebra, giraffe,wildebeest which was great because sometimes you can see nothing and worry about what has happened to our wildlife. Happily they are alive and well and living in The Kruger National Park.
We usually visit Kruger in Spring or Summer when the birdlife is prolific. The migrants are missing in winter so the abundance is not present right now. However every now and then we stop and find parties of small resident birds which are difficult to photograph as they move so quickly.
Some special birds we saw today were Brown Snake Eagle, Red-crested Korean, rattling cisticola, saddle billed stork and woolly necked stork.

Cape Glossy Starling

Arrow-marked babbler

Yellow-bellied Eromomela

Rattling Cisticola

Saddle-billed Stork

Red-crested Korhaan

Cats – any cats and predators are always exciting to see. We have seen very few so far – 12 lion yesterday were a big surprise. I had a strong feeling that cheetah would appear today and I told everyone that we would see them.

We were tired and in a hurry to get to camp when we noticed a few cars stationery up ahead. In the distance Earl pointed out a shape moving toward us. Lion, he said but it turned into a cheetah! We pulled into a space and had brilliant views of two cheetahs walking gingerly toward us. One ran across the road between the cars and the other was skittish and frightened not wanting to take the chance. He was right next to our car, on the correct side of the road for the sun not to spoil the picture. But the animal is the same color as the grass and very well camouflaged! He eventually summoned up the courage to join his mate and it was so sweet to see them greet each other and frolic together before running off into the sunset.

Looking for his mate

Debating which way to go

He changed direction then crossed quickly

Earl’s Cheetah looking him right in the eye.

Wow that left us on a high and now Earl just wanted to get to camp and we stopped only briefly for elephant, rhino, buffalo, kudu and a korhaan!
Orpen Camp is our favourite. We were in huts 8 and 9. Each had an outdoor kitchen and covered stoep. The room was comfy with an en suite shower and loo. Orpen also has the best swimming pool and a floodlit waterhole on the other side of the fence. It is a small, unspoilt camp with no restaurant. However, there is a coffee hut next to the shop that serves excellent coffees, teas and hot chocolate.