6 December 2019

The day started with cloudy skies but we only got a spit and a spot of rain in the early morning.  It was 17 degrees C when we left for our pre-breakfast drive at 05:45.

We returned to camp at 7:30 and the Earl cooked breakfast.

While he napped I walked around the camp and took some photos of the birds.   I have been hearing the Orange-breasted Bushshrike but been able to capture its portrait.   This morning I got one or two reasonable shots.

The Puffback is another bird who calls loudly but is difficult to locate.  Today I got him with his back all puffed up.

 

After doing some shopping we went out again at 13:30.   It was a lovely drive with lots of interesting sightings.  These are the highlights.

Tomorrow we are heading to Lower Sabie.

5 December 2019

It is amazing how the temperatures can drop is such a short time.  From highs of 44 degrees C we are now down to 17!   It rained continuously today and we found it necessary to wear jeans and jackets!

We left Skukuza just after 05:00 this morning and made our way to Malalane Gate.   The Gecko needed new wheel bearings and we had an appointment to have them done at Best Drive in Malalane just 8 km from the gate.

We had one or two interesting sightings on the way but once again with the caravan in tow we could not position ourselves for good photographs.  We didn’t even try to get a good look at a lion sighting even though there were only three cars there.

It rained all the way there and was still raining when we arrived at 07:00.  The mechanic had to do another vehicle first, so we unhitched the caravan and then went to have breakfast at Wimpy.   Luckily everything was conveniently close to the workshop and we were able to do some shopping at Pick ‘n Pay too.  We then drove back into the park and drove around until midday before popping in at Berg en Dal for a hot chocolate and to read and chill until it was time to fetch the caravan again.   The rain did not let up much for most of the day but when we collected the caravan at 14:00 and returned to Berg en Dal to set up camp it had abated.

So there is not much to report today.  Here are a few photos of what this rainy day showed us.

We have set up camp on the same site we had when we arrived in Kruger three weeks ago.  As we were preparing supper a neighbour alerted us to an elephant grazing right at the fence. A hyaena had also walked past but we missed that.

How blessed are we!

 

4 December 2019

We did not have a thunderstorm last night, but it did rain and the rain continued on and off all day today.  This has cooled things down completely but is one ever satisfied?   When the sun shines, photography is easier – as long as the sun is behind you of course, unlike yesterday when my lion/hyaena/vulture sighting was taken into the sunlight.

This morning we set off a little later as it was cooler.  It was an exciting drive with a few very exciting experiences.  Unfortunately, they were fast and brief and impossible to capture on camera and so, dear reader, you will have to picture the scene in your head.

First up we noticed a young man in a small vehicle pointing his camera determinedly into the bush.  We pulled up next to him.  “What have you spotted?”  I asked.

“A leopard slipped past me on the road and he’s behind the tree!”

Oooh – a leopard – exciting.   We stared and stared.  He kept moving his camera but eventually, he told me – “He’s gone.   I can’t see him anymore.” And he drove on.

We started to move too and then I yelled, “Stop!”   I could see the leopard, running swiftly away from us, through the trees and then he was gone!   No photograph and the Earl being on the other side of the car missed him.  Oh dear!  “If there’s no photograph, it didn’t happen!” they say.  But I don’t go with that.  I saw him even if it was only his back view!

Our next sighting was my worst kind.   As we approached the bridge that crosses the Sabi River we saw a jam of jeep jockeys and other vehicles.  Nobody was moving an inch. We managed to see that they were all looking at a lioness with a cub or two under a tree doing very little else than flicking a tail or twitching an ear.  Why not take your photo and simply move on so others can enjoy the sighting too!   But no, they stay put for hours, looking at the most boring scene ever.   I took a bum shot and we wiggled our way out of there.

On the bridge, I yelled, “Stop”  And way more exciting than a sleeping lioness was a beautiful saddle-billed stork trying to catch his breakfast.  Now he is a beautiful bird and nobody was stopping traffic to look at him!

We continued our drive and spotted this and that and took some poor photographs.  In fact today I hit an all-time low on photographs.   Granted I usually take way too many and end up having to edit and delete up to 300 at a time.  This morning, I got 36!

We worked our way through the traffic jam and quickly took a shot or two of the lioness and her cubs.  This time we could see they were on a kill.

One jeep jockey started making way for us to leave and another came to block us off but decided better of it and reversed to let us through!  Phew – we dashed off as soon as possible.

Just as we rounded the corner we saw impala on the left, running at full speed.  “Something’s chasing them,” said the Earl.

“A hyaena!” I shouted and we watched him lope at an incredible speed after his prey.   Impala dashing, hyaena chasing, losing sight as trees got in the way until I called, “He’s got a lamb!”   Without slowing he’d grabbed a baby and continued running with her in his jaws.   We watched him veer left and disappear into the bush.

The Earl turned the Everest around and took a side street but it wound the wrong way – we would not be able to see where he went with his prey.

Oh, poor Mommy Impala – she must be devastated!   Nature is so cruel.

With hearts beating in our mouths we continued home to Skukuza and our own breakfast at  Cattle Baron.  It was a buffet and very good.  The coffee was excellent.

One cannot believe that it was 44 degrees C yesterday and today’s high reached no more than 17!   The rain continued and it is oh so good for the park.   It’s that continuous, steady, soaking in kind of rain – not the what the hell type of deluge of the thunderstorm variety.

We went out again this afternoon but did not expect to see very much.  However, it seems that hyaenas like rain because we saw a few.  We also saw lots of impala with their babies, one or two waterbuck and of course returned to the lion sighting both on our way there and on our way back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photography was not easy because of the rain and the poor light but we enjoyed the coolness.

In the evening we went to Cattle Baron for dinner. The Earl had ribs and I had chateaubriand which is the best in the country.

We met a father and son who are ex-pats now living in Australia.  They come back every year to visit the park.   There is no place like home!

Tomorrow we are heading to Malane to take the caravan to have its wheel bearings checked.   We will be in Berg en Dal for two nights after that.

 

 

The dawn chorus woke us with cheerful twittering at 04:30 this morning.  We packed up and after our morning coffee, we were on our way an hour later. It was a cool 25 degrees C and slightly overcast.  But within half an hour the skies were clear and blue.

Once again while towing we would only stop for the most exciting creatures.   By 06:30 we’d waved hello to the impala, zebra and wildebeest and then we spotted a stationary car on to the opposite side of the road.   Two young women excitedly pointed to wild dog scampering through the bush.  They were too far and too fast for a photograph.  The driver turned her car around to follow them but sadly with Gecko in tow we could not do the same!

We did, however, manage to stop for the next few creatures that turned up to greet us.

Next up two ‘woofies’ as the Earl so quaintly calls them.  I am posting just the one photograph

We arrived at Satara at 09:00, checked in and then had breakfast at the restaurant.  Then we found a shady campsite and had a rest before going for our afternoon drive.

We took the Orpen Road and then the Sweni Road.

Before turning back to camp we decided to do a quick drive up S100 which is usually very productive.  We saw the usual suspects and got interesting shots of a waterbuck with a giraffe in the background.

And that folks, was our day!   It was really hot with the mercury rising to 41 degrees C.  Our neighbours at the camp were a young family from Howick.  Their little boys were 4 and 9 years old and it was the older boy’s choice to celebrate his birthday in The Park.  They were the lucky ones to have found two cheetahs today!

For supper, my chef braaied pork chops, sweet potato, whole garlic and gem squash.  I made a salad.   We ate inside the air-conditioned caravan!

Watch this space – more excitement to follow tomorrow!

30 November 2019

We left Shingwedzi at quarter to six this morning.   The Earl set the speed control to 50km per hour which is the limit on tar roads in Kruger.   We would not be stopping for anything less exciting than a lion! So it was speed spotting for the next 146 kilometres!  And we did see a fair amount of the usual suspects but no photographs of them today.  We almost stopped for a honey badger that crossed the road but he was in no mood to feature in my blog today.  For those of my readers who are not familiar with this creature, I have posted a screenshot from my “Mammal Guide of South Africa’ app.

I also saw a hyaena who had just been rolling in a mud puddle but by the time I’d shouted, stop, it was too late to reverse the caravan.

We stopped for breakfast at Mopani Camp.   It was here that I managed to get some photographs of a few birds.

 

After our little break at Mopani, we continued and arrived at Letaba at 9:15.  We found a lovely shady campsite and decided not to set up the canopy.  The heat was really getting to the Earl and he would not be sitting outdoors for any length of time.  Thank heaven for the air conditioner in the caravan!

After unhitching, we went straight out for a drive.  The sightings were not very exciting but it was really hot!  The high today was 40 degrees C.

 

 

I love watching wildebeest in the wild and feel just a tad guilty when I eat his brothers.  But that is the law of the jungle, isn’t it?   The Earl used our Smart Space Pot and the Snappy Chef to make a delicious Wildebeest curry for dinner tonight.  My feelings of guilt disappeared with each mouthful.