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Kruger National Park – Day 10

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19 November 2017 – Shingwedzi to Letaba

By 6:30 we were packed and ready to leave.  Letaba is 108km from Shingwedzi so we planned to take a break at Mopani and have breakfast at the restaurant.

Once again with caravan in tow we stuck to the tar road and only stopped a few times to take photos of interesting creatures.

The much maligned hyena is considered to be a cowardly and nasty character and features as the ‘baddy’ in many folklore and children’s stories.  In fact these creatures are  not just scavengers but efficient and powerful predators.   Spotted hyenas live in structured groups.  A group of hyenas is called a clan of hyenas.   Did you know that the females rank higher than the males and an alpha female leads the clan. They whole clan helps to raise the young.   When you get to know them you just can’t help loving them and that’s why we were thrilled to find three lying on the side of the road this morning.

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It was a tough night, please let me sleep

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Oooh I’m so comfortable here

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What’s going on – why did you wake me!

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Alright I’ll smile for the photo

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Now I’m going to find a quieter, shadier spot to sleep!

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What do you mean, I must come with you?

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Oh, alright then, I’m coming!

We left the sleepy things in peace and moved on toward Mopani but not before stopping for to get a photograph of the most magnificent eagle in The Park.

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The proud Martial Eagle

We’ve become accustomed to road blocks too and patiently waited for these wild cows cross over.

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This is our road and we’ll take our time if we want to.

The view of the river below the restaurant was as stunning as always but today we saw an osprey in a tree – too distant for a photo but nevertheless great to see.  These are some of the other birds we managed to photograph

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White-faced ducks

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African Jacana

These gorgeous girls stared at us before we arrived at Letaba.

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Female Waterbuck

It was really hot when we arrived in Letaba.  We drove around the shady camp looking for a good spot to set up, met another Gecko owner from Somerset West, chatted to them and then while we were filling our water tanks,  someone whom I recognised walked by and made a jokey comment about caravanning.  He and his wife were tenting nearby.  After chatting a while we discovered that we’d stayed a their B&B a few years ago.  Hugh had organised a bird guide for us. It was an awesome trip.   Today he showed us where to find the Scops Owls.

We found a suitable campsite and unhitched but we did not set up until a little later when it was cooler.  And do you know what?   The Earl put up the canopy almost single handedly.  All I had to do was help with one pole and the ground sheet.  He now has a system that really works for him.  And I managed to push up the roof all by myself!

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Entrance to Letaba Rest Camp

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Scops Owl

As we are staying here for four nights we decided not to go on a game drive this afternoon.   Instead we took some down time to just chill in camp.

Later in the afternoon I saw a fellow camper pointing his camera into a tree so I asked what he was photographing.  This is what he pointed out to me.

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A Bushbaby!

 

The temperature got up to over 35 today and the evening was still hot.  We kept the lights off as much as possible so that the insects didn’t bother us and The Earl cooked us a delicious chicken curry and thus ended another perfect day in Africa.

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Kruger National Park – Day 9

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18 November 2017 – Shingwedzi

This morning while we waited for Pat and Tony to finish packing up their tent, and before we said farewell to Punda Maria, Earl and I  paid one last visit to the hide.  This is the only camp in The Park that has a hide and a lit waterhole and it is frequently visited by many animals.  Elephants were already there and we watched them finish their ablutions and take on some refreshing liquid before they lumbered off into the bush.  It was quiet for a few minutes and then we heard loud and excited trumpeting and another herd came racing down to the water.  It was as if the little ones were calling – Mommy, I can’t wait to get into the water, please can we run ahead.

 

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It was awesome and we would have lingered longer but it was time to head to Shingwedzi.  Earl quickly helped with the tent packing up and then we set off separately.   The only disadvantage of towing a caravan is that you can’t stop suddenly, nor do all the reversing and manoeuvring at a sighting as you would like to. Also there is always the fear that you’ll be confronted by an oncoming elephant!   So we took the direct tar road and only stopped when we could.   We did manage to have some lovely sightings but once we got to Shingwedzi, we set up quickly, had a bit of a rest and then went to the restaurant for lunch.  Pat and Tony met us there. They had taken the river road and had lingered over bird and animal sightings.

All the usual patron of the Kruger Restaurant were about – elephant, giraffe, buffalo, wildebeest and zebra so when we saw something a little out of the ordinary it peaked our interest.  This shy creature was kind enough to stop to have his portrait taken.

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Sharpes Grysbok

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Another large herd of buffalo

We checked in at Shingwedzi at around 10:30 and quickly found a lovely site next to the fence and close to the ablution block.  We had some feathered hosts welcome us.  The red-billed woodhoopoes were quite vocal but seemed in a hurry to be somewhere else and didn’t stop to chat.  Mrs Burchell, hower, asked if had any crumbs for her.  No – sorry we don’t eat bread.

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Burchell’s starling 

The arrow-marked babblers are always busy but blurted out their greetings as they flew from tree to tree.

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Arrow-marked babbler 

After lunch P&T went to set up camp at Shingwedzi  while The Earl and I did the river route which was very productive.   The Mopani Diner was open and the patrons were helping themselves to their offerings.

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Baboon feeding on Mopani leaves

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I am safe here with my mommy

It was very hot and most of the birds were napping in the cool of the foliage. It was later in the afternoon when we started to spot a few as they emerged from hiding.   This lovely raptor was hoping there would be a slithering reptile on the menu.

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Brown Snake-eagle

Sometimes you have to take the kids out to eat too.  Mom is trying to teach this youngster that he must eat by himself now.IMG_5414

The next feathered diner we met is a new one for us.

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White-throated Robin-chat

At the same cafe, skulking in the foliage we found an old friend.

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Long-billed Crombec

Some of the residents prefer to eat ‘seafood’  In this case, actually, it’s river-food. There were Egyptian Geese, Grey Herons, three-banded plovers and other waterbirds checking out the menu but our favourite was this lovely chap.

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Yellow-billed Stork

I have hundreds of giraffe photographs as I just love these stunning creatures.  I couldn’t resist taking more today.

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We are only at Shingwedzi for one night.  We weren’t very hungry after our lunch at the restaurant so it was well after sunset when we braaied.    A honey-badger entered the campsite and tried to steal from the humans and a hyena passed by on the other side of the fence.  Hopefully he never finds his way inside.

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Sunset at Shingwedzi

Tomorrow we head to Letaba for four nights.

 

 

 

 

 

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Kruger National Park – Day 8

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17 November 2017

Giraffe are the most ramp models of the bushveld.  They are so graceful with their super-long necks and leggy lope.   We had an almost spiritual encounter with a beautiful journey of them early this morning.  There they were just standing quietly in the middle of the road and the did not move for ages.  They just stared at us and we at them.   It was awesome.

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The Lilac Breasted Roller is another beauty of the bushveld.  Who can resist taking a million photographs of this stunning bird.

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And below is his close cousin – the purple roller

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The yellow-billed oxpecker enjoys grooming his buffalo clients but sometimes he is in need of some pampering himself.

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Eeww – Must we clean this wound?

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I just need some Me Time – Please!

The male and female red-backed shrike are quite different in appearance – but both are rather pretty

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Male Red-backed shrike

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Female red-backed shrike

Our route this morning did not come near to a picnic site so we decided to pack a finger breakfast, stop at a water-hole and have our morning meal in the car.   It’s difficult to concentrate on eating with creatures keep grabbing your attention while you’re trying to pour the coffee!

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We heard the piping call of the water thick-knees but finding them was another story – they camouflage so well

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This marsh sandpiper is just as good at disguises

As we left we observed a large herd of buffalo heading to the waterhole and mud holes behind it.  They seemed to want the mud more than the water.

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We spent some time watching them until they moved off.  They needed to get over the road and certainly took their time about it.  Talk about a road block!

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Please be patient – Waiting time can be anything from 10 minutes to one hour!

Once you are through the Stop/Go don’t become complacent – something else might stop you in your tracks before your journey’s done.

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Best you give this guy a wide berth

As usual we had a midday break and planned to go out at 3:30.  But The Earl woke early from his nap and insisted we get going earlier.  He got no argument from the rest of us.

Just 3km from the camp is a loop that takes you to a waterhole that you can see from the main track.  Something attracted The Earl’s attention and we turned down to investigate.  We found some interesting waterbirds including a hamerkop.

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It was great to find a hamerkop in this small waterhole

A buffalo emerged from the bush but seemed reluctant to come down to drink.  He just stood and stared at the pond.

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And then Patricia Mary called out excitedly – A leopard – I see a leopard slinking through the bush. He was gone and then we all spotted him briefly before he disappeared again. Is that why the buffalo was nervous?  Maybe – but a leopard is unlikely to tackle such a big animal.

We were the only car there and we held our breath hoping the leopard would appear again and he did!

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He flopped down and stared at us

We were enthralled watching the leopard lick his paws and wash his face. He had not a care in the world and was content to give us a lovely show.

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Then he got up and climbed to the top of an anthill where he continued to stare at us for quite some time.

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We were alone with him for 20 minutes before another car appeared.  They were birders and stopped their car a short way from us in a position from which they could not see the leopard.  The Earl and I waved our arms and tried to attract their attention to no avail – then The Earl flashed his lights and indicated that they should come closer.   They did and were thrilled that we shared our find.

We were euphoric for the rest of the afternoon.  Nothing could beat our leopard sighting but we did enjoy our other creatures too.

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The cutest pair of tree squirrels tail to tail on an anthill

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Beautiful male kudu

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Pushme Pullyou!

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A pair of common duiker

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Very pretty

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Mom and baby zebra

It was another perfect evening.  We had a braai and then went to the waterhole where we had fun watching elephants swimming and drinking – too dark for piccies but it was awesome.

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Kruger National Park – Day 7

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16 November 2017

We were all up by 5 am this morning and after packing a picnic brunch we set off to Pafuri Picnic Site and Crook’s Corner which are the places for keen bird watchers to visit.  The route is so pretty as it winds through Mopane woodland with some loops to waterholes and then there are areas where taller trees like the Fever Tree appear as well as quite a few Baobab trees.  The different shades of green are also frequently broken but a splash of colour from the indigenous flowers that pop up every now and then.

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Lovely Kruger Trees

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Baobab Tree

Having an extra pair of eyes is such a help in the park and sharing the experiences with people who are as passionate and appreciative of Nature as you are also makes a visit to a game reserve so much more rewarding.   Also when you’re going through those times where you wonder whether the creatures have packed up and gone on vacation you can chat and reminisce on past trips done together or relate stories about trips done separately.   There was a lot of  debating on what bird that was, reminiscing, fun and laughter in our car today!

It was cooler today and we enjoyed not having to deal with the fatiguing heat. The creatures seemed to be happier in the cooler conditions too and we were privileged to have some lovely sightings.

Birds of Prey are always exciting but these birds are difficult to photograph when they sit up too high on a tree, are too far away or the light is wrong.  We all had to get our eye in to help identify these tricky raptors.  The first one of the day stimulated a great deal of debate but we finally agreed that it was a Lesser Spotted Eagle.  (Heather and other experts out there who might read this – please correct any errors in our diagnoses.)

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Would you believe that one of the most common birds in the park had us guessing for a few minutes until it dawned on me after not seeing one for three years that it was the female Red-Backed Shrike!

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Almost as pretty as her mate

It was great to see a black-crowned tchagra

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A beautiful male kudu with his magnificent antlers

At one point on our trip we found an abandoned antbear hole and observed some interesting bird activity.  There were a lot of flying insects around and they were having the time of their lives feeding in that spot.   Here are but a few of the species we saw.

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Blue Waxbill

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Violet-backed Starling (Plum coloured Starling)

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White-fronted Bee-eater

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Red-billed quellea

Other birds that we were thrilled to find and get photographs of on our drive were the following.

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The Woodland Kingfisher – His call is iconic in The Kruger National Park

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The Go Away Bird (Grey Lourie)

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Crested Barbet

It’s the unexpected little things that make a drive in The Park interesting and we get just as much joy out of them as seeing any of The Big Five.

“What’s that bunny doing in the tree?”   Well he might look like a rabbit but actually he is a tree hyrax and more closely related to an elephant – and No elephants don’t climb trees either.   A cousin of the tree hyrax is the more common rock hyrax.  The tree dassie has four toes on each of his front feet and three on each of his back feet.  They have rounded nails and rubbery soles to help them climb trees.

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Isn’t this the cutest little tree dassie you ever could see!

We got out on the bridge overlooking the beautiful Luvuvhu River.  IMG_4879

As we enjoyed the breathtaking view and observed some distant waterbirds Tony alerted us to a prehistoric looking creature below.

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A Water Monitor

We stopped for brunch at Pafuri Picnic Site.  Some Nyala Females decided to join us.

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There were some cheeky monkeys about too.  But I just love them

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Monkey with baby

We returned to camp and had a rest and then went out again for a short time.  We saw more elephants, zebra and birds.   The sunset this evening was stunning.

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For supper we roasted a chicken in the electric Romosca Pot. I cooked a mix of veggies in the smart space pan on the  Snappy Chef.   It all worked beautifully and we enjoyed chicken with a crispy skin and delicious veggies.  Another Fabulous Day in Africa.

 

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The Kruger National Park – Day 6

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15 November 2017 – Punda Maria

Today we took our leave of Shingwedzi and set off to Punda Maria.   It’s a distance of 70 km.  The packing up process went off with hardly a hitch – it gets easier every time – and we were off by 7:30.

 

It was a clear, hot morning and soon the temperature hit 32 degrees C.  Our first creature today was a buffalo.  He had a yellow-billed oxpecker grooming him.

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We also found some ground hornbills – this time walking on the grounds.  There were two adults and a juvenile.

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It’s always fun to see zebra and today they were in a frolicking mood.

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What a delight to come across a huge herd of buffalo under the trees.

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Don’t you just love the waterbuck?  We have seen so many on this trip in Kruger.   Their bottoms sport a white circle that resembles a target!   This serves as a following signal so that when they run through the bush those behind can see the white ahead and  prevent them from becoming separated.

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We arrived at Punda Maria before 10 am and went straight to the campsite.

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We found a suitable site and unhitched the caravan.  We have a perfect view of the waterhole on the  other side of the fence.  There is also a hide where one can sit and watch whatever comes to drink.

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The Earl enjoying a cup of coffee while he watches elephants from the comfort of his camp chair

I went to reception to check in and when I returned The Earl had started setting up.  With just a tiny bit of help from me the rest of the canopy was up within 20 minutes.   We’d forgotten to fill the tanks with water but I located a staff member and asked is we could borrow the camp hose.  Not a problem.  The Earl joined it to his and the tanks were soon filled.

Now all we had to do was relax and wait for our friends Tony and Pat to join us later in the morning.  Earl had a nap and I sorted photos in cool of the caravan aircon!

Pat and Tony arrived at lunch time just as thunder and lightning warned that it would soon rain.  Some young neighbouring campers did not hesitate to step in and help to get the job done quickly before the heavens opened.  Then we sat under our canopy to have a drink and a snack.  The rain didn’t last too long but the thunder and lightning continued. At 3:30 we set off on an afternoon drive and although there was some rain we had a very productive afternoon.  The rain caused the temperature to drop to 22 degrees C which was a welcome relief.

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Young Male Kudu pulling faces – was he enjoying his grooming?

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Red-billed oxpecker doing the grooming.

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There were plenty of elephants about

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Elephants can hide – this one scared us with his sudden appearance

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Yellow-billed Hornbill

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The rain prevented good photography

In the evening we had a braai and were in bed by 9.

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Fortunately the rain held off

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What a scrumptious meal of steak, chops, boerewors, spinach, sweet potato and salad.

 

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Kruger National Park – Day 5

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14 November 2017 – A Wild Day In More Ways Than One

Today we were up at  3:00 am!   Yes – at the last minute yesterday we booked to go on a birding safari and the starting time was 4 in the morning!  Crazy – as it only starts getting light at 4:30 and travelling in an open vehicle can be chilly in the early morning.  But we’d heard that these bird safaris are good so we bit the bullet, went to bed early last night and were up and raring to go before the first peep from any self-respecting sparrow!

We met a French couple at reception and thought we might be on the same trip.  But our guide appeared, took our indemnity forms and explained that The Earl and I would be coming with him while the others would join another couple on a game safari.  The difference, he said, was the birding trip would concentrate on looking, obviously, for birds.  So we would go slowly and stop and look into trees etc whereas the game drivers would go faster and search for game!   However, if we happened to see animals he would certainly stop to look at them.

How lucky were Earl and I to have this guide to ourselves.   My only regret was that I didn’t wear a beany or wrap a scarf around my head – My body was warm but my head was freezing for the first hour of the trip!   We did not see much before the sun rose but the spot light did pick up fiery-necked and square tailed nightjars.   Willie, our guide, also pointed out some other birds but I couldn’t make them out at all!.  But then Dawn spread her golden light across the sky, the spotlights were switched off and we started to see some things.    Just after dawn  we spotted a hyena and Willie alerted the game tour guide. Funny how birders tend to see more than just birds!  Suddenly things started to hot up. Willy was determined to show us the most exciting birds and as he is a Sanparks  jeep jockey he is allowed off the beaten paths  which are  closed to the common man! He raced at speed over uneven terrain and came to screeching halts at the very edge of sheer cliffs!  This is not how it’s supposed to be – didn’t he say we’d be going slowly? But see things we did!  While stopped (quietly) looking at a variety of water birds in the river  we suddenly saw a lion dart into sight.  Next thing there were 11 of them!   Once again Willie alerted his friend but I don’t think they managed to see the lions as they disappeared into the bush very quickly.  We got excellent views but the light was bad and this photo taken by The Earl is the best we managed.

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Soon after the lions we saw the wild dog researchers with an aerial and Willy stopped to ask if they’d found the dogs.  They were expecting them to appear in the river bed a little later.  We continued our birding and when we returned that way we were alerted by another car that the dogs had arrived and were on a kill.  The monitors were on the scene when it happened.   What a thrill to see a pack of 19 enjoying their feast.

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This one was on guard

We were thrilled with the birds and animals we saw this morning even though we feared for the lives of the birds on the roadside as Willy sped along the road to find the Verreaux’s Eagle Owl – we dipped on it but found other exciting stuff like the Dickinson’s  Kestrel which was really special.  It was high in the top of a tree some distance away but I still managed to get an identifiable shot of it.

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Another highlight was seeing Ground Hornbills.  Usually we spot them walking purposefully through the bush but today they were in a tree. We saw first one and then his mate came along, he flew away and she settled in his spot.  Then Willy said – they’re building a nest.  A third hornbill was in a tree opposite with a mouth full of leaves.  They are hold nesters and the first bird had flown to the hole and we watched him enter it.  The bird with a bill full of leaves just sat above perfectly still hardly moving.  We have no idea what that was all about but couldn’t  linger to find out.

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Willy, our wonderful wild guide 🙂

We got back to camp at around 8 and The Earl once again whipped up a stunning breakfast of bacon and eggs.

Just after nine we set off on another game drive taking the River Drive S 135.  What a pretty route and what lovely sightings we had.

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Female Nyala and fawn

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Male Nyala

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Goliath Heron

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Hippos parked off

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The highlight though was seeing elephants swimming in the river.   They were having so much fun.   They also blocked the road as they came out and we  were warned by one not to come too close!    Funny how my anxious husband thinks that amusing!

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We got back to camp feeling rather peckish so popped into the restaurant for a chicken wrap each.   It was NOT The Bug and Mean – you know what I mean – The Mug and Bean.  It was the same company that are running The Rustic Kitchen at Letaba and wow did we enjoy our lunch.   So much so we did not even hungry at supper time so didn’t bother to braai.

 

 

 

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Kruger National Park – Day 4

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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.

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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.

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

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Elephants for Africa

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And Buffalo too

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

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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.

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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!

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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.

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Kruger National Park – Day 3

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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 🙂 )

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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.

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Female Saddle-billed Stork

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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!

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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.

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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.

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Other sightings that we enjoyed were the following:

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Tsessebe having a rest

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The Iconic Lilac-breasted Roller

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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.

 

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Kruger National Park – Day 2

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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.

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

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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.

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Lesser-striped swallow

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Hippo

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The uncommon yellow-billed oxpecker – grooming a zebra

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Cute little blue waxbill

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Shy steenbok

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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.

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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!

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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.”

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

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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.

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

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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

5

Kruger National Park Day 1

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10 November  2017 – Tsendze

We left Haenertzburg, with new caravan in tow at 8:30 this morning. We stopped at Tzaneen Lifestyle Centre for breakfast and to do some last minute shopping and then we were finally off to my most favourite place in the world – The Kruger National Park.

When I saw the familiar road sign indicating the direction of the park I really started to get excited.  Two and half hours later we were there – Phalaborwa Gate welcomed us and check in was quick and smooth.

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Our Home on Wheels

Once on the road to Mopani 77 km further on I breathed in the sweet air of the bushveld and sat back to enjoy the three hour ride.  Yes – that’s how long you take to travel distances in the park as the speed limit is 40km on dirt and 50km on tar – but you hardly ever go that fast as you travel slowly while searching the bush for life.

And what do you think our first mammal was?  No not an impala which is the most common creature in the park

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It was an elephant!

The impala, of course,  did appear as did many zebra and as we  travelling near the river there were lots of buffalo too.

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Very common, but very pretty

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Mommy and Baby

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Who do you think you’re looking at!

At the bridge we spotted a pied kingfisher looking for lunch while further up the river a herd of elephants crossed over.   Water buck were about too.

Sometimes the ride becomes quiet and for a while you don’t see anything and then just when you’re about to fall asleep with boredom something crops up to excite you.  Today a shape appeared at the side of the road and I yelled out to the Earl to slow down.

“What?” he said

“A puppy,” I squealed

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and there al by itself lay the tiniest hyena cub you could ever wish to see.

“Where is your mommy?”  I asked him and he just stared sleepily at  me.

“Hey!  Here she is on my side!” noticed the earl after 3 whole minutes of  looking through my window.

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And sure enough there was mom with another little pup – just off the road.

Hyenas tend to make their dens in culverts under the road so they surely must have had one just there.

Korhaans often appear and sometimes very photogenic.

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But today the fronds of grass kept preventing me from getting good shots.

A tortoise crossed our path

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After checking in at Mopani Camp – there’s no check in office at Tsenze Rustic Camp 6km from there – we went to the restaurant for a bite to eat.  The restaurant overlooks the river and there were many interesting things to watch.

We then made our way Tsendze Rustic Camp where there is no electricity and just two camp attendants ensuring that the campers are happy.  The facilities are in pristine condition, it is quiet and the camp is full of birdlife – it’s really back to nature.   When you enter and leave you have to open and close the gate, looking around for dangerous wildlife as you do so!   As we drove around looking for campsite number 22 we spotted the barred owlet – this is really a special find.

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Then began the set up process.  Now remember this was the first time with the new caravan.  And The Earl suffers from anxiety and I am not the most patient psychiatric nurse.   I steeled myself for half an hour of stress and panic.  We unpacked to perfectly colour labelled tent poles and studied the perfectly clear diagram.  It was all very straightforward but The Earl wanted to beat the clock – and every time he encountered a problem like forgetting where he put the mallet his stress levels rose.  At least 10 times I had to remind him to breath and take it slowly. “It will all come together in the fullness of time.”  And of course it did and it was so much easier than our previous caravan’s set-up process!

We spent the rest of the afternoon sorting out where we would put things while in camp so that we didn’t have to do too much digging into bags and boxes.

Then we poured ourselves a drink and went over to chat to the neighbours who coincidently we’d met during check in at Mopani.  They are from Louis Trichardt and have a really smart fold out caravan.   Once it’s set up it is bigger and more luxurious than our one.  The bedroom has an island bed.  There are three times as many cupboards and they have a lovely seating area inside as well as out.   Their  bathroom is also twice the size as ours.  But I love our compact little set up and would not swap it now!

The weather has been stunning – overcast but no rain, no wind and it is warm.  We had a wonderful braai this evening and were in our brand new king size bed by 9 pm!   It was too warm for under the duvet so we slept with just a sheet.

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3

Gecko, Haenertsburg and Tzaneen

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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.

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

 

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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.

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I made the super new kingsize bed!

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

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

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It has a loo

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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!

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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.

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The view

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Long-crested Eagle

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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!

4

From KZN to Limpopo Province

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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.

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Masked Weaver in Barbara’s garden

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

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Small by Kokstad standards – big by mine!

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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!

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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.

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This just outside the rooms

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Bath converted to bench

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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.

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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

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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.

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Cold, Misty and Wet in Haenertsburg

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An interesting shop to browse in

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The one next door was also quaint

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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.

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The Earl at the braai