Kruger National Park – Day 4

2017-11-15 | puppy1952

13 November 2017 – Shingwedzi

I anticipated the mood of The Earl this morning. The caravan is still new! We have had one setting up session and now the first packing up session was about to occur! There was bound to be trouble! We decided last night not to rush things and not to leave at sparrow’s fart! Instead we had a leisurely breakfast and then started to pack. Yes I did have to keep him calm and constantly remind him that it would all work out in the end but it went comparatively well. Perhaps those calming drops I gave him did the trick because the set up at Shingwedzi went fairly well too! Hopefully by the end of this month long trip we will have the anxiety attacks under control.

The Earl cooking a delicious breakfast

The trip here went smoothly too. There were plenty of elephants about but none confronted the caravan so there was no need for His Lordship to panic.

We saw lots of buffalo too and as we neared Shingwedzi there was a lot to see in the river bed.

Elephants for Africa

And Buffalo too

Bufflalo love to wallow in puddles and they don’t mind sharing with a warthog

One of our cousins hiding among the Mopane leaves

We chose a campsite next to the fence and near the swimming pool but far from the ablution block. It I shady and there is a constant sound of birdsong. Squirrels are going to be a problem! They’ve already been here looking for handouts. Not happening my furry friends! We have also been warned to watch out for monkeys and baboons.

Bennet’s Woodpecker seen in the camp

Set up went really well and we were done with hardly a hiccup within half an hour. I went in search of the laundry and was delighted to find two coin operated washing machines and dryers! It was wort the R10 for each to get the washing done in a jiffy.

After we were done with setting up and laundry chores we took a drive to Red Rocks. Sightings were slow but we did get some good birds, the highlights being the white-fronted bee-eater catching bees!

P1110027

Back in camp The Earl cooked us a delicious curry in our Smart Space Frying Pan. A honey-badger came to visit but we didn’t manage to get a photograph.

Kruger National Park – Day 3

2017-11-14 | puppy1952

12 November 2017 – Visit to Letaba and Tropic of Capricorn Loop

Today we decided to do a trip to Letaba Rest Camp and back taking the river loops along the way. By 6:30 we were ready to leave.

First to greet us this morning was a wildebeest. (Erich, if you’re reading this – we gave him your regards 🙂 )

Our most exciting sighting of the morning was when we stopped at view point to get a closer view of the river. Looking down we were delighted to find a grey heron, a hamerkop, two pied kingfishers, two fish eagles and two saddle bill storks fishing in a shallow pond. We spent a while there enjoying the scene and taking photographs.

Female Saddle-billed Stork

Fish Eagle

The Bug and Mean – oh sorry The Mug and Bean have been a resounding failure in some of the camps and Letaba is one where the restaurant is closed till further notice. However, there is temporary arrangement in the form of The Rustic Kitchen operating an open air or under canvas restaurant. What a stunning idea – so much better than the Bug! You sit at a simple wooden table and your food is cooked in the rustic kitchen and served on tin plates. Coffee is also served in a tin mug. It was fun and we enjoyed our fried eggs, venison sausage and grilled tomato!

The highlight on our return trip was just as we approached the Tsendse bridge we noted a stationary car with his lights flashing. He’s seen something we thought as he indicated to the car in front of us to stop. Said car ignored and overtook him. Then I spotted them lying flat on the river bed. There were five of them. They were so well camouflaged but then one got up and moved his position – wild dog. We watched them sleeping for a few minutes and when we saw they were not going to do anything for the rest of the afternoon we left them in peace.

Back in camp we had a cup of tea and I started downloading photos and The Earl pottered about sorting out technical stuff to do with the car fridge. A few hours later we went for another game drive.

On our afternoon drive we found the usual zebra, giraffe, buffalo, elephants, waterbuck etc. We took the Tropic of Capricorn Loop which produced some lovely sightings. Sometimes there are stretches of nothing and one can lose concentration as I obviously did at one point. Omiword – The Earl slammed on breaks. Did you see that. I looked back and saw a bird of prey on a tree but he flew off. Darn we missed him and he was on your side – why didn’t you see him. Maybe because he was so small? Not that wasn’t it – I’m usually on the lookout for small raptors. Just a lapse in concentration I’m afraid.

The Earl wanted to carry on but I persuaded him to go back to see if we could find him again – and we did. He led us a bit of a dance flitting from one tree to another but in the end we got a nice shot of him and were thrilled to identify him as a Gabar Goshawk.

Other sightings that we enjoyed were the following:

Tsessebe having a rest

The Iconic Lilac-breasted Roller

Heaviest flying bird – the kori bustard

Sadly it was our last night in Tsendze but we really loved this camp and will certainly be back.

Kruger National Park – Day 2

2017-11-14 | puppy1952

11 November 2017 – Tsendze

How fantastic to wake to the sounds of the dawn chorus in the bush. It was already getting light at 4:30 am and that’s when the gate opens. But we had no intention of making such an early start. I went to shower at the ablution block just after 5 and we were packed and ready to leave at 6:30

Our first exciting event was an encounter with Ayres Hawk-eagle. There were actually two. The light was bad so the photo is not great but we found this one on a kill.

We also got a good sighting of the common black-shouldered kite – but what a pretty bird.

Elephants, buffalo, hippo, wildebeest and zebra were also on the menu and we got to see a lot of birdlife. Here are a few photos that we managed to get.

Lesser-striped swallow

Hippo

The uncommon yellow-billed oxpecker – grooming a zebra

Cute little blue waxbill

Shy steenbok

Beautiful giraffe

A rarity in the park is an antelope similar to a red hartebeest – the Tsessebe – We found a few of them which was lovely.

Time wore on and we were getting hungry. We decided to head back toward Mopani and have something to eat there. After a few hours of game driving you rather hope that you won’t see anything exciting as all you want is to have a break and get some strong coffee into you. I yelled at the earl to stop with a couple of interesting birds but either I was too late or he’d lost interest because he just drove on. Thank Goodness for that because just a few kms from camp we spotted some stationery cars – always a good sign – It has to be a leopard, I said and as we got closer I spotted a tail hanging down from the branch of a tree. Oh joy – all thoughts of coffee and food disappeared in an instant. There was a young leopard on a kill up in the tree. And was she having a delightful breakfast – lucky creature. If we’d delayed over the birds I’d called we would have missed her as after a minute she slid down the tree, washed her paws and slipped off into the bush! Gone! The only evidence were the remains of impala hanging in the tree!

We lingered long over breakfast at Mopani as its restaurant has such a lovely view over the river. We saw marabou storks and watched greater striped swallows take off and land back in the branches of the trees again. There was a lot of activity. I had a second cup of coffee while the Earl went to another section of the facility to pay accounts and send emails from his laptop.

We like to rest in camp in the middle of the day and it was now just after 11. We just did one more loop to Mooiplaas Picnic site, spotted some birds and hippos and then did a little river loop where we saw buffalo and elephant.

We got back to camp around 1 o’clock and rested until 3:30 and then went out again. We saw all the usual suspects and were not expecting anything too exciting. It was nearing 6 o’clock when we were in sight of this morning’s leopard tree and gate closing is at 6:30. And what should we see – three cars stopped at the tree.

“They’re probably looking at the carcass,” I said the Earl.

But no as we got closer I saw that the leopard was back.

But wait there’s more – “Look there,” said The Earl, “There’s another one in the tree.”

And then all hell broke loose as the two leopards started growling and slapping each other.

This is my dinner – Be off with you!

After a brief skirmish one decided she’d better get out of there and slipped down the tree and disappeared into the bush. The victor sat in the split in the tree for a few minutes looking for all the world like any domestic kitty cat.

Then he climbed onto the branch where the impala carcass was and proceeded to finish his meal.

Soon other cars appeared and in the end there were five of us watching this amazing sight. It gets dark quickly in the Kruger and by 6:10 I had enough photographs in good light. It was time to head quickly back to camp before the gate was locked! We made it with 10 minutes to spare

Gecko, Haenertsburg and Tzaneen

2017-11-09 | puppy1952

When one is in the misty mountains of The Magoebaskloof, it’s easy to forget that you’re in Africa and that it is Summer. The temperatures can be very low any time of the year here!

Haenertsburg is a tiny place and there are often problems with electricity. For most of yesterday afternoon we were without power, it came on again for a short while in the evening then was gone again for the rest of the night. This morning it was still not on but it didn’t bother us as we were out for most of the day.

How exciting it is to take possession of one’s new caravan! Our Gecko is simply the best! We loved our Imagine but we had so many setting up problems, so we decided that something a little simpler and easier on the old bones was required. Keith and Alison greeted us just before nine this morning and took us through the handing over process. They also provided us with a superb manual for easy reference. It was so interesting to find out that the reason they started building their Gecko caravans was because they too had owned an Imagine and after two trips in it decided to make something better! So they really understood what we were looking for!

We had so much fun learning all the ins and outs about our new van and Keith also took us on a tour of their impressive factory. The Earl was hugely impressed and you know what a perfectionist he is!

After our orientation we went to Minki’s for an amazing breakfast. Their coffee was to die for.

This ‘jug’ of hot coffee was a welcome warmer to the day

The breakfast was excellent

After breakfast we drove 30 km to Tzaneen to shop for Kruger. On our return we went back to Gecko and packed the caravan.

We had all our gear in the boxes on top of the Ford Everest and we spent about an hour sorting out and packing. It’s all done and dusted now and we’re ready for departure tomorrow morning.

I made the super new kingsize bed!

Alison suggested pantry bags – what a good idea – everything fits in so snugly

There is packing space in the cupboards, drawers and under the benches — note the aircon!

It has a loo

And a shower!

After all this activity we needed more coffee so back we went to Minki’s to pick up the ground coffee and relish we’d ordered. We also indulged in another of their amazing coffees and cappuccinos and shared a slice of delicious carrot cake!

The weather cleared in this afternoon and I did a bit of birdwatching around our cottage. It’s really in a superb spot with a great view of Stanford Lake. I was thrilled to find a long-crested eagle perched at the top of a tree.

The view

Long-crested Eagle

Taking flight

We have just had a lovely braai of lamb chops, boerewors, sweet potatoes and salad. It’s not as cold as last night and we have power! We’ll be off to bed soon as tomorrow is an early start for The Kruger National Park!

From KZN to Limpopo Province

2017-11-08 | puppy1952

All too soon our five days with the Kokstad Clan came to an end. We caught up with Barbara and Andrew, saw our friends Neil and Rose who live on the farm next to Lauren and Alan and just relaxed and got ready for the next phase of our journey.

Masked Weaver in Barbara’s garden

We visited some huge gardens on Friday but Barbara’s smaller one is just a beautiful

Small by Kokstad standards – big by mine!

Barbara with her grandson, Caleb

Shannon went back to St John’s on Monday afternoon and on Tuesday we were all set to say farewell to Lauren, Allan and Simon. It will be another month before we see them all again.

The weather was not too hot and not too cold but when we reached Underberg we saw snow on the mountains! From there to Howick we went through several patches of mist and had fun (not!) playing dodge the pothole for many miles. But after that things improved, the weather warmed up and the scenery was stunning.

We stopped in Ermelo to refuel and as we try to collect U-count points we searched Google Maps for a Caltex garage. It took us a roundabout way and when we found one we were a bit disconcerted to see some huge trucks at every pump. However, the boss came running over and told us not to worry – we would be next in line. I asked if he would direct me to some clean loos and he immediately called a staff member to show me where they were. She took me to the extremely clean and well-maintained Fresh Stop rest room. When I emerged the boss checked that I was completely satisfied. Once again – what excellent service. The refuelling was ready within minutes and the attendant explained exactly how we could back to the N11 and warned us about upcoming road works. What a pleasant refuelling stop!

What a shock to find these monsters at every filling pump – they were on their way to Botswana

Our overnight stay was at Pumpkin Tree Lodge in Middelburg a very different Middelburg the one we spent the night at in The Eastern Cape! Mpumalanga’s Middelburg is quite a big town. We were greeted by a friendly owner with whom we had a long conversation on the merits of different caravans. She too was shopping for a new one and was very interested in hearing about our pending new Gecko.

This just outside the rooms

Bath converted to bench

Very lush garden at Pumpkin Tree Lodge

We decided not to go to the Italian restaurant she recommended as although we felt like having pizza it did not seem to offer Banting options. However, there was a take away menu from Pizza del Forno in our room and we decided to go there instead. Because I put in the wrong address in the GPS we found ourselves at the wrong place and had to start again and it took us a while before we finally got to our destination. On our return home we laughed because it only took two minutes!

At first it looked like it was in the dodgy part of town and we were afraid that our car might be broken into. But there was secure parking right outside and we could see our vehicle from where we sat. The food was excellent our waitress was attentive. I had a Banting Base Pizza topped with feta, avo and bacon and Earl had the same with normal base. Both were excellent. The owner was wonderful too. We asked him about the condition of the roads to Haenertsburg and he gave us excellent advice on which way to go.

In this part of South Africa at this time of the year it is HOT! The climate is subtropical and we are also in a Malaria area. (We are taking prophylactic medication) I heard a mosquito in our room in the night but luckily I was able to kill him!

In the morning we dressed in cool clothes but because we knew the temperature would be lower in the Magoebaskloof, we had our jackets ready. The trip once again was very scenic. How lovely it would be if our Western Cape dams had as much water as we saw in Loskop Dam just before entering Limpopo Province.

It took just on four hours to get to Haenertsburg and our first port of call was to the Gecko factory. And there she was – our brand new caravan! What a thrill to see her. Alison greeted us enthusiastically and brought out the stuff we’d couriered up. We spent the next half hour packing things in and admiring our new home on wheels. Tomorrow we will have our orientation and on Friday we take her into The Kruger National Park

Originally we planned to enter Kruger on Saturday but the weather is cold, misty and wet and seems to be set in for a while. Earl no longer does extreme fishing so we decided to book an extra day in Kruger instead!

Once we’d settled into our accommodation – a two bedroomed front cottage at Stanford Lake we set off to town to shop for supper. The little supermarket has a limited range of produce but we managed to get some boerewors, steak, garlic, sweet potatoes, baby marrows, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and olives for tonights supper. We also bought eggs and bacon for tomorrow’s breakfast. Then we found a lovely little coffee shop called the Book coffee shop. It was the most fascinating place that sold all sorts of goodies as well as old and interesting books. We ordered a hot chocolate and cheesecake to share! It was divine.

Cold, Misty and Wet in Haenertsburg

An interesting shop to browse in

The one next door was also quaint

Hot chocolate and cheesecake to die for

The electricity was cut for a few hours due to some cable problems but this did not bother us too much. We lit a fire in the stove and made our braai and by supper time the lights were on again. It was altogether a very pleasant evening.

The Earl at the braai

Share Your World 6 November 2017

2017-11-06 | puppy1952

Here are my answers to this week’s Share Your World questions from Cee

Would you rather take a 2 week vacation with an organized tour or take a cruise of your choice?

In a few days I will enter the Kruger National Park and stay in a caravan for four weeks. It’s neither a cruise nor an organized tour but it is my idea of a perfect vacation. However, I definitely would like to go on a cruise. An organised tour could be fun but I prefer exploring new places without the restrictions of a guide.

Did you like swinging as a child? Do you still get excited when you see a swing?

I loved swinging as a child and I believe swinging is essential for all children. Yes, I do get excited every time I see a swing. And if it looks strong enough I do have a go.

At my grandparents house we had a swing in a tall pine tree and my uncle used to push us to dizzying heights. It was fun.

Sweet Abandon is a scene from the past written in drabble form

Sweet Abandon

The fox-terrier yaps excitedly

dodging kicks as she descends.

“It’s my turn,” yells Mike.

She laughs, “Give me the works Uncle Tony.”

He pushes her in a wide arc.

“Higher,” she calls gleefully.

“Not fair, my turn,” yells Mike.

She shrieks, throws back her head,

spins up in ever-increasing spirals,

breathes in the piney fragrance

of the denneboom

and swings in sweet abandon cartoon-girl-swing

“My turn!” yells Mike.

She leaps, lands at a run and calls,

“Come Atom!”

She gathers nuts,

sits on the front step,

and cracks the shells with a smooth stone.

She shares the denneputs with the dog. Pine_nut_pines02

What is the most important thing that you ever learned ? (I bet it’s not something you learned in school)

I think the most important thing that I have learned – and it’s taken a long time – is to let go and not take things too seriously. I have learned to give and not expect anything in return and to be okay with that. Move on from the past, don’t worry about the future, live in the moment. My sister-in-law and I spoke about this very thing today and she quoted the following to me.

Today is a gift

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.

We have just spent an awesome five days with our daughter, son-in-law and grandkids. We haven’t seen the kids for almost a year and it was wonderful too see how they have matured. We are so impressed with how well they’re doing at school, how involved they are in their extra-mural activities and how wonderfully helpful they are at home. Shannon showed us a powerpoint presentation of her three week survival hike in the Drankensberg which was fantastic. What a great attitude to life this young lady has! Simon also had a three week tour from Kokstad to Cape Town and back with his grade and it seems to us that these experiences have done our grandkids a power of good. How lucky they are to attend schools that develop the whole child. They are positive, adventurous, fun and full of mischief but have impeccable manners and actually enjoy the company of their old grandparents. We just adore them.

grandchildren

Fun Photo Challenge using letter K

2017-11-05 | puppy1952

Here is my contribution to this weeks Fun Photo Challenge from Cee

This week all my “K” creatures are from Australia

Black Faced Cormorant

Black Swan

Crake

Koala with baby

Kangaroo – Joey having a feed

Kookaburra

Rainbow Lorikeet

Whistling Kite

Black and White Pets

2017-11-05 | puppy1952

Here is my contribution to this weeks Black and White challenge from Cee The topic is PETS. I no longer have pets but I enjoy taking photographs of my pet belonging to friends and family.

Lisa’s cats Mia and Shadow

250 Sophie

2017-09-10 Warmwaterberg cat 2017-09-11 12-32-53 AM 4608x3456

Nameless Cat – A pet of a caravan park we stayed at

Lauren’s Dog Sheba in the river that runs through her property

Lauren’s Dogs Sheba and Lucy

Diane’s Dog loves to pose for portraits

Share Your World 30 October 2017

2017-11-01 | puppy1952

Here is my contribution to this week’s Share Your World from Cee

Where do you eat breakfast?

Funny you should ask, because this is my favourite meal of the day and it is usually quite an elaborate affair. I seldom eat breakfast in bed. I like to be up and dressed and seated at the table. Usually my darling husband cooks it for me, at least twice weekly we go to our favourite coffee shop where they don’t even ask what we want as the just know, and on rare occasions I am the chef. Properly brewed coffee is essential and no matter where I am the quality of the breakfast is greatly influenced by the quality of the coffee! If the weather is good I like it al fresco, if it’s in a cold place a roaring fire helps otherwise a lovely ambience indoors will do.

Typical Shipwreck Coffee Shop Breakfast – Fried eggs, bacon, cheese grillers tomato and coffee

Scrambled Eggs Al Fresco at my garden picnic table

Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want have a evening with?

My ideal evening is in the bush with friends who enjoy it as much as I do. There is nothing to beat, sitting outside your caravan, watching the flaming sun sink beneath the horizon, listening the sounds of the wild, glass of wine in hand exchanging stories about the day’s adventures. Priceless!

My fantasy companion would be Sir David Attenborough because I would love to chat to him about his lifetime of doing wildlife documentaries. What a fascinating life he has had. How lucky we are to be able to spend any number of evenings watching said documentaries!

If you could be a tree or plant, what would you be?

I would choose to be a Baobab Tree. She is the queen of trees. You cannot miss her standing proud on the African Savannah demanding to be admired. Not only would I be a wonderful sight to behold I would also be permanently among the wildlife that I love so much and I would be a great asset to their lives. Because the baobab has many useful properties, it is widely known as the Tree of Life. How wonderful to be a Life-giving Tree.

Baobab products are useful to mankind as among other stuff soap, rubber, glue, traditional medicine and cream of tartar are made from their products. But best of all it creates it’s own ecosystem and provides food and shelter for animals, birds and insects.

It is a deciduous tree so during the dry winters it has no leaves and its bare branches look like roots hence it’s nickname – the upside down tree.

In Winter it is The Upside Down Tree

In Summer It dons it’s leafy finery

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.

The Earl and I left Struisbaai at 6 am this morning and considering the state of his health one year ago I appreciate how fit and well his is now. He coped well with the driving and we made sure to stop frequently. We are overnighting in Middelburg in the Eastern Cape and will do another day’s drive to Kokstad tomorrow. This is the start of a three month trip away and I will be blogging about our adventures as often as I can during this time.

Black and White Challenge – 26 October 2017

2017-10-27 | puppy1952

Here is my contribution to Cee’s Brick and/or Stone Black and White Challenge

Little Stone Cottage near Mossel Bay

Entrance to Mopani Rest Camp, Kruger National Park

Klipspringer (Stone Jumper) on a Stone

Fun Photo Challenge – J

2017-10-25 | puppy1952

This week’s Fun Photo Challenge from Cee asks that we use the letter J anywhere in a word which must have at least six letters.

Two of my grandsons have J in their names – put the two names together and you get Jay-Joshua Is this cheating? I can’t resist posting of fun photo of them as pre-schoolers. (They’re now 19 and 20)

Joshua-and-Jay with Spiderman painted faces

There always has to be something wild in my posts!

2009-01-14 Black-baced jackal pup Kruger.JPG

Jackal Puppy

And of course a bird!

Swamp Nightjar

Share Your World 23 October 2017

2017-10-24 | puppy1952

Here are my answers to this week’s Share Your World from Cee

Was school easy or difficult for you? How so?

In the beginning school was a challenge. I was a year younger than my classmates and I believe that’s where the trouble began. However, after repeating Grade 2 things improved and I coped reasonably well for the rest of my school career – no prizes for brilliance though!

List some of your favorite types of animals

I love wild birds and animals. My favourites change from time to time. Right now I’m preparing for a visit Kruger National Park and these are the animals that always give me a big thrill when I see them.

Leopard
Lion
Cheetah
Wild Dog
Hyena
Giraffe
Honey Badger
Martial Eagle
Lilac breasted roller
Woodland’s Kingfisher
And all the others will bring me joy of course

What is your favorite large city you have been to? What is the one thing you remember most?

Next to city where I was born – Cape Town – Sydney, Australia is my favourite. There is nothing I don’t like about it. The Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Opera House are really stunning landmarks. Too many memories to single out just one. Maybe a ride in a beach buggy from our Air B&B to Bondi Beach was an unusual and memorable occasion