Kruger National Park – Day 7

2017-11-17 | puppy1952

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.

Lovely Kruger Trees

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.)

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!

Almost as pretty as her mate

It was great to see a black-crowned tchagra

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.

Blue Waxbill

Violet-backed Starling (Plum coloured Starling)

White-fronted Bee-eater

Red-billed quellea

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

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

The Go Away Bird (Grey Lourie)

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

The Kruger National Park – Day 6

2017-11-16 | puppy1952

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Red-billed oxpecker doing the grooming.

There were plenty of elephants about

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

Yellow-billed Hornbill

The rain prevented good photography

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

Fortunately the rain held off

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

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!

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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.

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

Kruger National Park Day 1

2017-11-13 | puppy1952

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.

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

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.

Very common, but very pretty

Mommy and Baby

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

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.

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.

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

A tortoise crossed our path

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.

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.

One Word Photo Challenge – Hippopotamus

2017-07-23 | puppy1952

This week’s One Word Photo Challenge from Jennifer is Hippopotamus

A Wallow of Hippo – Kruger National Park – Sunset Dam

Loving the beach! Kruger National Park

We need to talk! Kruger National Park – Sunset Dam

Mother Love – Kruger National Park – Lake Panic

Share Your World 13 March 2017

2017-03-14 | puppy1952

Here are my answers t0 this weeks Cee’s Share Your World Challenge

Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?

Where I live there are no elevators but when I’m in a place where there is one I only press once. If it takes too long I use the stairs. It’s usually quicker to use the stairs and as I use a step counting watch it helps my totals. But there are times when going up and down stairs with packages or luggage is not very practical so the lift I will use. I have a friend who avoids lifts at all costs as she is terrified of them. This is phobia that started when we were kids after watching a movie with a scary lift scene in it.

Do you plan out things usually or do you do them more spontaneous (for example if you are visiting a big city you don’t know?)

I do the initial planning for our major holidays – where we will stay, for how long and more or less what we would like to do while there. But we are both spontaneous and would change plans at the drop of a hat. Some of our local trips are decided today, leaving tomorrow. Trips abroad can never be last minute as it takes time to get Visas and most countries require South Africans to have visitors’ visas before entering their borders. This takes time and is fairly expensive – so yes – planning is required well in advance.

Describe yourself in at least four uplifting words.

Loyal, Entertaining, Adventurous, Fun.

If you had a choice which would be your preference salt water beaches, fresh water lakes, ocean cruise, hot tub, ski resort or desert?

All of the above. I have lived near the sea most of my life and can’t imagine my permanent residence being anywhere else. I go to the beach almost daily, my hubby has a fishing boat, we like fresh fish – no – we could not live inland.

Kiora is his pride and joy

Our holiday destinations often include a stay next to fresh water lakes or dams – you’ve guessed it – for freshwater fishing. There is something about being next to a calm body of water that is calming – and I love it.

Sani Valley Lodge at the foot of the Drakensberg Mountains

Pictured above is our favourite Freshwater venue – and there you might also find a hot tub!

This one was meant for Granny and Grandpa but the kids decided it was theirs!

I went on a skiing holiday more than 20 years ago and loved it but it’s not top of my list anymore.

The Earl and me about to embark on our first ski lesson – ski instructor on left

I’ve been on two short ocean cruises and thoroughly enjoyed them – but haven’t been tempted to make a habit of it – but now that I’m older I think it might be the best way to see Europe and so a big one is on our bucket list.

On board the Achille Lauro – a four day cruise from Durban to Bazaruto Island and back.

The desert certainly has its own appeal – done it got the photos but not rushing to do it again. However, I would encourage everyone to visit a desert at least once in their lives. Our desert of choice is The Namib and it is awesome.

Climbing a red dune is compulsory

The one thing not on this list is actually at the top of mine – The Bush! I will never grow tired of visiting the wildest parts of Africa. We had to cancel our Kruger National Park trip because the Earl was still recovering from surgery but it won’t be long before we’re back!

Nothing beats coming across a scene like this

or spending a few hours watching birds at Lake Panic

Optional Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am always grateful that I live where I do. The weather is changing – it’s cooler in the mornings but I know we will never get the freezing temperatures I have read other bloggers write about. Most are welcoming the Spring and looking forward to being able to go into their gardens! How lucky am I that this is possible for me throughofut the year. I love Winter because the wind seldom blows and that when it’s not raining the days are sunny. I can still walk on the beach and only need to put on a fleece or a jacket.

I am looking forward to having friends to stay this weekend. Next week there is another fishing competition in Struisbaai – The Bottom Fish Nationals – and The Earl and I will be taking photographs for that.

Have a good week everyone.

Kruger National Park Day 19

2014-08-05 | puppy1952

17 July Lower Sabie
The day started with a stop at Sunset Dam. Aunt was trying to Skype me and I managed to get through to her. how amazing that I was able to chat to her in Australia and show her the dam on Skype!
After spending 20 minutes there we followed the tar road and soon spotted vultures flying and landing in the trees at the side of the road where a small group of cars were stopped and looking towards the river. We realised that they were looking at a hippo kill and a male lion was guarding it. As the cars moved off we were able to get into a better position and get a reasonable photograph. It was great though to see a variety of different vultures. the smell was pretty awful so we didn’t stay long. we gave up our position to a young family who came toward us.

Earl got some lovely shots.

Hooded Vulture

Lion guarding hippo kill – very dirty face

Close-up

At an omrit to the river I spotted a beautiful bird which turned out to be a little bee-eater although I was hoping for a bush shrike.

Little Bee-eater

We stopped at Nkulhu for breakfast and had boerwors rolls and coffee.

The monkeys and baboons were misbehaving and we saw monkey take a packet of marshmallows from a family wanting them for their hot chocolate

Baboons also cheekily raided the table of an older family group and scared one of the women half to death.
As it was our last full day in the park we decided to take the long route via Skukuza in the hope of finding a leopard.
We found many interesting birds and creatures but there were also long stretches of nothing. On the H4-1 it was great to find a male bush buck.

Male bushbuck

A single rhino lay asleep under a tree next to Renoster Pan.
On the N’watimhin Road just before it joins the S79 there is an afrit to a small puddle of a dam. But what a lot there was happening there. we found wooly necked storks, a hamerkop or two, a jacana, grey heron and a brown hooded kingfisher actively hunting for food. A big male baboon sat at the edge of the pond with his back to us.

Just a puddle – but a lot going on

Baboon

In the company of impala

Hamerkop

Male Impala

After enjoying watching frogs and fish being caught by the storks and heron we were about to start the car and head off. But I called, “Elephant” and a single bull lumbered upon the scene. We thought he would take a drink from the end where he’d appeared but he circled round the edge chasing off the smaller creatures in his way. He came straight for us and proceeded to frittle about in a muddy patch. It was fascinating watching this giant give himself a muddy beauty treatment. First he picked up a piece of litter with his trunk but finding it useless blew it away. Then he sprayed himself with gooey mud; eyes included. This ritual took about 20 minutes before he stared straight at us, waved his trunk and lumbered off into the bush. This interlude was one of the best experiences I have ever had in Kruger.

We were quite breathless after this little escapade and reluctantly left the scene and made our way slowly back to camp. On the way we saw a few more interesting things.

Black Shouldered Kite

Fish Eagle with prey

Kudu

Collared Sunbird

Just before reaching home we were alerted to lions across the river – quite far away but nice to see.

It was our last night in the park so we went to the restaurant for dinner. It was The Mugg but it turned out to be great.

Farewell Meal at Mugg & Bean, Lower Sabie

And that Folks is the end of our tale. We left the following morning and made our way back to Cape Town stopping over in Bloemfontein and getting to Cape Town at 5 on Saturday evening. It was an amazing trip!

Kruger National Park Day 16 and 17

2014-07-26 | puppy1952

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

Bateleur spotted before we returned

Grey-headed Sparrow in camp

Heath did chef duty

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

Spider webs in the early morning mist

Lesser Striped Swallow

Good Morning

Lovely Day

Here’s looking at you kid

A Tree with a View

Peek a Boo I see you

Breakfast French Style

Bateleurs posing obligingly

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

Breakfast at Tshokwane

Yellow-billed hornbill right next to me at Toshokwane

A mousebird hiding in the foliage at Toshokwane

There were lots of buffalo on the Orpen loop.

Salon Treatments are so relaxing

Just chewing on a blade of straw

Is that a grin or a grimace?

Crossing a ford we found these two kingfishers.

Pied

Malachite

We found this gang at a waterhole

Yet another coucal

Fish Eagle on nest

Male sandgrouse with chick

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

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

Here are some of the birds who came to visit.

Spectacled Weaver

Yellow Canary

LBJ – Could be a rattling cisticola

Glossy Starling

LBJ

Kruger National Park Day 15

2014-07-26 | puppy1952

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

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

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

Immature Batteleur

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Burchell’s Sandgrouse, male and female.

Another stunning brown-hooded kingfisher.

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

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

Kruger National Park Day 14

2014-07-26 | puppy1952

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

Kittlitz Plover

Monotonous Lark

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

Tsebe

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

Shrika by Earl

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

Saddle-billed Stork

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

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

African Hawk-eagle

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

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

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

Monotonous Lark

Ground hornbills kept company with a few zebra.

Kori Bustards were quite common as were korhaan

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

Lilac-breasted Roller by Earl

Purple Roller

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