TUESDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2011 SKUKUZA TO PRETORIUSKOP
We wake to a bleak a rainy day but are packed and ready to leave by 6:15. Because of the weather we decide at first to give Lake Panic a miss and instead do a circular drive ending up back as Skukuza for the loo.
Just before we go through the gate we see thick billed weavers but they fly away before we can get photographs.
We are surprised several white crowned lapwings at various intervals along the wet road – why aren’t they next to the water? 

we find a Wahlberg’s Eagle in a tree where starlings are viciously harassing him. The road is wet and full of songololos of all sizes. Earlybird tries hard not to ride over any of them. On the H1-2 a troop of baboons are walking along the road – young and old, male and female. They are clearly on a mission. 

One smart youngster decides to hitch a ride on top of the Caravelle.

Earlybird now has to drive very slowly. Two others think – hey if he can why can’t I and soon we have three clinging on and enjoying the easy passage. Now and then we see a hand or tail dangling down and sometimes a face looking in at the back window but the people in the jeep jockey approaching us are in fits of laughter and snapping away happily. I quickly scribble my email address on a scrap of paper and the jeep jockey kindly pulls up next to us and takes it from Earlybird to pass on to his passengers who I hope will send me some pictures. (But I didn’t get one – perhaps in my rush I wrote down the address incorrectly)
Other cars approach and all point and laugh at our stowaways. Eventually Earlybird must make it uncomfortable and he gently breaks and speeds up until the apes decide its best to jump down and walk along with the rest of their species.
The next interesting sighting are a family of ground hornbills – we have seen many of these this trip but still take another photograph

We get close and personal with a gang of elephants

Our next camp is Pretoriuskop – not to far to go and check in is only at 2 so we decide in spite of the weather to go to lake Panic. Eec wants to go to the nursery so Earlybird drops H2 and me off for an hour while they go and see what they can find. Jim and Maureen are there and are surprised to see us as we’d messaged them that we were on our way to Pretoriuskop. They leave after a while and H2 and I have the hide to ourselves. There is little difference from yesterday and the light makes photography difficult but nevertheless we enjoy watching the activity. White-faced ducks fly in with shrill whistles but settle on the section out of sight from the hide.
The resident Goliath is busy fishing and we manage to get a shot of him that is not too bad.

When Earlybird and Eec return we set off once again taking the H11 then S3. On the S4 we find white-backed vultures,

two tawny eagles in a tree, 

buffalo which are lovely to see in the green area, hippo and a fish eagle. Then I notice a big bird flying toward us – it’s not a raptor but I am puzzled. Earlybird identifies it straight away as a black-bellied bustard. “Please land where we can see you,” implores Eec and he does and obligingly poses for us.

He fluffs up his feathers raises his neck points his bill upwards and half opens it and starts to call with a soft pop. He repeats this several times and then starts strutting through the bush. I don’t know who he is doing this for because there are no other korhaans about – perhaps he is trying to attract the attention of a hidden female.

A white-fronted bee-eater is not using the wet weather as an excuse to hide.

And the warthogs I think are enjoying the cooler conditions

We visit Phabeni Gate and go to the loo then make our way to Pretoriouskop. We arrive at 12 and go to the restaurant for lunch before checking in. H2 and I order the chicken kebabs. One helping could feed a family of four! They come with a salad and chips and neither of us can finish so we take a ‘wild doggie’ bag. Earlybird and Eec had the croissant tower.
Check in goes well and we settle into cottage 110. It is wet and we decide not to go out again in the afternoon.
For supper Eec took all the left overs – vegetables, chicken kebab, wildebeest wors – a packet of mushroom soup and cooked us up a thick soup-stew for supper – it was delicious.

WEDNESDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2011 PRETORIUSKOP TO MALELANE GATE
Sadly today is our last couple of hours in the camp. We are packed and ready to leave by quarter to five. I would still love to see the doggies but anything that pops up in the next two hours will be a bonus – we have seen so much and had such lovely experiences. Thank you Kruger for revealing your treasures to us.
It is still dark when we leave the camp gate and all we can see are guinefowl on the road. But as it becomes lighter we begin to notice more creatures.At 5:14 we see buffalo – aha – a big 5 member – this is promising. Natal Francolin bid us farewell and then the second big 5 member – elephant. You’ve kept us well entertained fellows – and I wonder why you don’t have tusks mommy ellie – you’re certainly big enough for them. At 5:20 – Earlybird screams out – lion, leopard no cheetah and slows down to a near stop and there on my side of the car is a beautiful specimen looking back into the bush and another one appears. We are almost falling out of the car with excitement – three cheetah sightings in one trip. It looks like they’re in hunting mode and I want to follow them but they disappear into the bush and we are the only car to see them. Wow – a few minutes later or earlier and we would have missed them. This is the best of the very poor photographs.

We’re on a high as we move on. Its 5:32 and Earlybird says – around this next corner you’re going to see hyena – and sure enough there they are – he guessed right because we’re at the culvert where we saw the hyena family yesterday but today we find 6 adults and one baby takes a last feed from him mom. The rest of the clan start walking off and baby returns to the den presumably to wait until they return from the hunt.

As we continue toward Malelane we see our old friends, impala, giraffe, zebra, warthogs, waterbuck and wildebeest. We zip past a red-crested korhaan but stop briefly to id a brown snake eagle.

We going at a steady pace as we want to get through Swaziland where the border posts will delay us and its a long way to Kokstad. But I spot a double banded courser and screech for Earlybird to stop. He poses beautifully and we all get good photographs.

Soon thereafter we see a jeep jockey looking into the bush – its a rhino – so we have now we have three of the big 5. Its 7 o’clock and our last exciting spot is a juvenile African Hawk Eagle.
Finally the warthogs bid us farewell and we leave through Malelane gate at 7:15. Look out Kostad here we come!

MONDAY 31 OCTOBER 2011 SKUKUZA
We leave at 6 o’clock to go to the hide. The weather is disappointing – it is dull and overcast and even a tad chilly. But our spirits are high as we enter the newly thatched and varnished hide. To our relief the birdlife seems not to have been disturbed and the usual Lake Panic activity is happening. Jim and Maureen are already there and the hide is not crowded at all. We settle down and stay for two hours. We watch a malachite kingfisher angling for tiny tilapia,

a green backed heron is in his favourite place at the end of a log jutting into the water, a grey heron is perched on a nest,

the village weavers are noisily building new nests or taking morsels to babies already hatched

and jacanas miraculously walk upon water, their long, widely spaced toes spreading their weight on the water lilies

And a water dikkop is always lovely to see.

A crocodile lies silently nearby – what a scary creature

We hear the hippos grunting but they are a fair distance off from the hide. A goliath flies in and settles at the far end of the lake and we watch as he gathers nesting material before flying off again.
We return to Skukuza for breakfast. H2 decides to stay back and do laundry and rest while the rest of us go for drive promising to return by 3:00 p.m.
It is 9:15 when we start off on the H1 and the roads we follow are the S112, S114, H2-2 and H3 stopping at Afsaal for lunch.
At the Stevenson Hamilton Historical Site we find a dwarf mongoose sitting perfectly still on a rock. 

Another species – the slender also makes and appearance and then disappears.

Eec finds a woodpecker and a red-headed weaver in a tree.
On the Biyamati Loop we find elephant and finally a rhino crossing our path. Later we see another rhino across the river.

Afsaal is not my favourite picnic site but today it is quiet and we opt to partake of the wildlife again – this time in the form of kuduwors rolls which are quite delicious. The coffee, too, is drinkable and definitely contains the required amount of caffeine
The H3 offers up a heap of lions sleeping peacefully so we don’t even bother to take pictures – after all – we’ve seen enough lions this trip haven’t we? More interesting is the brown snake-eagle perched in a tree.
Of course we see and enjoy all the usual kudu, giraffe, waterbuck, monkeys

Impala

warthog

and the cutest family of Egyptian Goslings ever

We also find a juvenile bateleur perched in a tree

We get back as promised just before 3. In front of our bungalow we enjoy a bit of bird watching and are delighted to get shots of violet backed starlings

and a black collared barbet.

In the evening our friends come for drinks but decline to join us at Skukuza restaurant. We do not book and when we arrive find that there is a tour group of 20 who have booked still waiting to be seated. The organisation seems to be poor and we have our doubts about staying – but I find a waiter and say, “Do you have a table for four – yes or no?” He says he’ll check and comes straight back and shows us to a table in a fairly busy restaurant. “What do you notice?” Earlybird asks. “Nobody’s eating,” I reply – a sure sign that we will be in for a long wait if we’re not served quickly. A waitress instantly appears and we give her our food order – all the same – kudu steaks. She returns 10 minutes later and says, “I am sorry what you’ve ordered is not available.
Thank you, I say, we will make other arrangements for dinner. Clearly this is not going to work out well so lets not spoil our evening. “I can defrost and cook up some curried mince and rice,” I offer but we opt instead to go back to Silati. This proves to be a good move although nobody is there to receive us and show us to a table. The kitchen is visible from the platform and we ask a chef if there are table available – she immediately calls a waitress and in no time we’re seated with menus in front of us. Earlybird and I have burgers, H2 a salad and Eec a steak with medley of vegetables. We wait about 20 minutes and are all perfectly satisfied with the quality of the food and friendliness of the service. When in Skukuza if you’re not self catering this is the place to have your evening meal.

We leave camp at quarter to six and take the H4-1.  First up we find impala – what a surprise – then warthogs followed by baboons who are always amusing. The birds are asleep except for the starlings and hornbills.  Finally an emerald spotted dove makes an appearance.

A jackal crosses the road but quickly disappears into the think bush. More baboons  appear on the road and a great deal of grooming takes place.

We are not going on the S120 but go onto the bridge just to have a look before turning around.

Its a good move because we see a fish eagle in a tree and he shrieks out his African call too.  Two Burchell’s coucal are calling too – a sure sign that there will be rain.

Our close relative the baboon are having the time of their lives and behaving just like human beings. A small troop of vervets decide that the bridge is the place to be seen this morning too.

But its the birds that bring us the most pleasure.   Black Duck are not often seen and when they are they’re usually in pairs.  Today we see a large group – perhaps mom and dad and their teenage family.  I just have one of the parents here.

There is a Little Egret, some African Pied Wagtails, many Little and Horus Swifts flying under and over the bridge, a Water Dikkop camouflages well but we recognise his distinctive call .  All are active and its interesting watching them.

Earlybird suddenly notices a hyena walking across the road right at the end of the bridge and heads quickly in that direction.

A jeep jockey comes from the same road it has come from and there are in fact three hyenas. They go into the undergrowth on the other side of the road.  The jeep jockey lets his passengers have as best a look as they can and then drives off.  We are alone with the critters and watch them being indecisive among the scattered trees and bush – then they start to move and I am convinced they will come out onto the road just up ahead.  They do and we get excellent views of them all to ourselves for several minutes before another car comes along.   When we’ve had our fill we return to the bridge and alert others what’s up ahead.

We continue on our planned route and at half past seven stop at Nkulu for a loo break and a look around.   This is a lovely picnic spot but today I am shocked at the state of the loos – one toilet is not working and the place needs a good mop and clean.  I go to the shop and ask to see the boss.   I tell him what I find and he immediately gets some staff onto it and I see a cleaner go in.  She is cheerful and tells me that somebody forgot to switch off the light and that is why there are many dead insects lying on the floor and in the basins.  It does not explain why there is litter around the picnic site nor why the loo has not been fixed.

Moving on we find a Jacobin Cuckoo

Then we find some brown-headed parrots

We hear the orange-breasted bushrike and spend a tense few minutes trying to find him .  But he is uncooperative and won’t give us good photographs.

Just before we enter Lower Sabie we stop at Sunset Dam – which like Lake Panic – never disappoints.  We see the usual hippos,cro cs and storks,

reacquaint ourselves with sandpipers,

ruffs

and jacanas and look about for anything else interesting.  Today Goliath does not make an appearance.   A pied kingfisher enjoys his angling and weavers are as busy as ever.

We hear a Diederick’s, find him and manage to get a photograph or two.

Then as we are about to leave, Earlybird finds a green-backed heron hiding in a bush.

He is beautiful in intense breeding colours.  We take many photies and then he flies away.

Lower Sabie is as busy as ever.   H2 and I have a toasted bacon and egg and the others the bush breakfast. It is well prepared but the coffee is dreadful – I need mine to be hot black and strong but I wonder what was in my cup because it was certainly devoid of caffeine.

On the Sabi bridge we found red-breasted swallows, lesser-striped swallows, pied wagtails and a pied kingfisher.

Moving onto the H4-2 we find a  tawny in a tree.

Later the S79 offers up two of the big five – buffalo and elephant.  It is good for birdlife too.   Two brown snake eagles cuddle together in a tree,

a hamerkop fishes in a puddle

and a red-crested korhaan calls for a mate.

At a waterhole on the S114 we find busy warthogs and relaxed Egyptain Geese.   Dwarf mongooses scurried about and a few impala had a drink.

We see an elephant on the S112 and as we come to the turnoff to the S22 which we do not intend taking a man in an army truck waves us down – if we’d gone past a second later he would not have seen us – Listen, he says, drive down here and you will see a small branch on the road then you will come to a dip and on the left there is a cheetah standing on a hill.  We follow his directions exactly looking on both sides in case he has confused laterality – and then I see it – the ‘hill’ is a termite mound and there sits the cheetah in all his glory – and we are the only ones for quite a while to see him.

He is not easy to spot being the same colour as the surroundings and 200m from the road so the army man has excellent powers of observation.

Another car comes by and asks what we see – he is thrilled to find the elusive cat.

We turn round and retrace our steps, stopping cars to tell them what to look out for – it is rewarding to see the excitement on their faces with the anticipation of seeing the cheetah – unknown army man – you made a lot of people happy today!

We continue on and decide to check out Transport Dam.   It is not particularly productive but we enjoy the usual crocodiles, hippo, weavers and a diederick’s cuckoo.  A fish eagle makes a brief appearance and we find five well camouflaged water thick-knees on a piece of land jutting into the water.

On the H1-1 we see a car parked off and looking into a ditch.  A hyena family – and the little one is so cute.

The S65 shows us a legawaan and waterbuck.

The Nkwisnitshaka Waterhole hides a small troop of elephant who disappear before we all see them and a tree conveniently hosts some red-faced mousebirds who sit still for a change.

Our friends Jim and Maureen decide not to join us for a braai tonight so we do some wilebeest kebabs and wors and turn in early.  The good news is that Jim and Maureen went to check out Lake Panic and found it open so we plan to meet them there first thing in the morning..