24 November 2019
It did not storm last night. We woke to partly cloudy weather and a temperature of about 24 degrees C. Because of the road closures, we decided to drive to Olifants Camp this morning. We left at 6:40 and planned to take the S46 that would follow the river to Olifants but guess what – it was closed. Honestly! We are sure that this is not necessary. All the interesting routes in this area are closed! Surely the roads have dried out by now. We believe they have just not bothered to check or not bothered to take down the ‘closed’ signs.
So we took the H-5 and were not too disappointed.
Small herd of buffalo
Curious buffalo
Zebras are always special
Crested francolin
When we got to Olifants at around 8:30 Earl went to reception and asked about the road closures. They told him we could go down the one we wanted to, but to be careful. So we did the loop and it was awesome. There was very little road damage and no reason why it should have been closed. We only saw two other cars while we were on this route.
These are the highlights.
Brown-hooded Kingfisher
Female and young nyala
What are you looking at?
Male Nyala
On a causeway, we saw these guys swimming furiously towards us.
Howdy Earthlings
Take me to your leader
He looked hungry but we don’t feed aliens.
So he found his own tasty snack
Next, we found a treeful of birds
Violet-backed Starlings male and females
Male top, female bottom
He is a handsome chap
A Lappet-faced Vulture posed for his portrait
And finally a giraffe before breakfast
We returned to Olifants for breakfast and on our return to Letaba we found the S92 open. The first excitement were the ellies.
Approaching us on the road
Here seh comes
It’s quite nerve-wracking when a giant approaches you on a narrow road.
A fish eagle is less threatening
And watching spoonbills calms the soul
Watching a buffalo having a spa treatment is really amusing.
Welcome to my parlour
Oh Mr Buff, your ears!
This won’t hurt
Now doesn’t that feel better
Now for those wounds!
And finally a giraffe
And a Red-crested Korhaan
It was really hot by the time we returned at midday, so we had a rest and then went for a swim.
We had an early supper and then took down the canopy and folded away the groundsheet in preparation for tomorrow’s departure.
Adventuring into Retirement 
Weereens pragtige foto’s veral van die Renostervoeltjies! Is julle nou oppad huis toe? Dit sal jammer wees, want my siel kuier so lekker saam met julle.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nee, ons is nog in die park – Tsendze tot 28 November. Ons is in Kruger tot 12 Desember😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fantasties…dan kan ek darem lekker verder saam met jou reis.😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful to see the nyalas are still hanging around Olifants – I am hoping to see them when we drive that way from Satara soon.
The problem with keeping the gravel roads open when they’re wet is that they can quickly become a quagmire with every passing vehicle, especially on the approach and exit at the stream crossings, causing unnecessary damage to the surface that’s both costly and time consuming to fix – just a day or so drying out in the sun is all they need to be usable again to all the visitors.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They have opened some of the roads now and they are in good condition 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great to hear – nothing as bad as having to keep your eyes on the road to avoid potholes when you’d rather be scanning the bush!
LikeLiked by 1 person
U never cease to amaze we when u see so many animals.. Where are u off to now? Drive safe.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Still in Kruger – Tsendze camp.
LikeLike