In the five years that we have been retired and living in Struisbaai this is the longest time that we have stayed at home! But today we dusted off our Gecko off-road caravan and hit the road again. Part of the fun is the preparation but there is nothing like that thrill of anticipation on the first morning of a long trip. Today began a journey that is to last about two months.

We left Struisbaai at 10 am in slightly drizzly weather. Our route will take to Warmwaterberg for two nights and then through the Karoo to Camdeboo National Park for one night. From there we have an eight-hour journey to Kokstad where we will stay with relatives for two nights. Another one night stay in Ermelo and then into Kruger National Park on 1 November. We will spend 34 days at various camps in Kruger before leaving via Punda Maria Gate and making our way back to Kokstad where we will spend a week to 10 days. From there we go to the kids in Plettenberg Bay to spend the Christmas holidays. We should be back in Struisbaai around 6 January.

Warmwaterberg is a very pleasant two and half hour drive and includes a stunning mountain pass which is currently sporting an array of colourful wild flora. The hot springs are set on large farm between Barrydale and Ladismith on Route 62. 

We visit this spa several times each year usually with the caravan but we have tried all the modes of accommodation on offer. Bath House 3 and 4 are the best non camping accommodation at this resort.  If you don’t camp, then I’d recommend you ask for those.  The other accommodation is less than satisfactory.

I blogged about this spa here and here. This one is about the luxury accommodation and about the picturesque town of Barrydale. If you want more information on this lovely place, they are worth a read.

We have a caravan site just across from the pools.   In the past we have stayed in the caravan park further away and it is shady and the sites of quite a good size.  

If you want crystal clear water then this is not the place for you.  The water is completely natural and is brown. The baths are cleaned on alternate days so while one is full the other is emptied and fills during the morning and is full by the afternoon.

The spring is 44 degrees C at the sauce.  The water is rich in iron and has health benefits when consumed.  The taste is very pleasant.    The water in the ablutions is from the spring and naturally hot.  

There is a small shop with limited supplies on the premises. The restaurant is lovely. You can sit on the patio outside and enjoy panoramic views across the valley. The food too is inexpensive and of excellent quality. This evening we dined there. The Earl had Lasagna and I had Bobotie both served with the most delicious vegetables. We also had a bottle of sauvignon blanc The total cost of the meal was R270. That would be €14 or £ 12.70 or $16,60. That’s hard to beat even in other places in South Africa.

The weather here is decidedly warmer than Struisbaai as it is in the Karoo which is semi-desert -hot and dry.

10 December 2019

It was still raining this morning.  Yesterday we’d asked for two extra nights at Lower Sabie to avoid having to pack up in rainy conditions but they were fully booked.   So the plan was to stick to our original plan of spending two nights at Crocodile Bridge Camp.
The weather certainly was not going to clear up any time soon and we were in no mood to set up in the rain for what would more than likely be two more rainy days!   So reluctantly we decided to leave today.

We left Lower Sabie at 5:30 and did not expect to see anything more than a few wet impala, giraffe, wildebeest and zebra.

Goodbye, Girls

It was raining hard, we were down in the dumps and not even keeping a sharp eye out for anything.  Suddenly I became aware of something on the Earl’s side. He was concentrating on driving in the wet and had not seen a thing.

A cat-shaped creature was sitting on the edge of the road.

“A cheetah,” I yelled! “No, a lion -no, a leopard!”

The Earl slammed on breaks.

Taken through the windscreen with the battery about to die!

We simply couldn’t believe our eyes.   There he sat looking as fed up with the weather as we were.

Then he got up and crossed the road.

Now on my side of the road and my camera did not cooperate! Poor light, rain and a moving target as well as a battery telling me it was not going to last long!

And then he was gone!

Nobody else saw him!

On our first day in the park, a leopard greeted us and now, on our last, one appeared to bid us farewell.  It was a fitting end to our visit to Kruger National Park.

We arrived at Crocodile Bridge Gate at 06:30 and after cancelling our reservation we started the long drive to our next stop.  We had not booked an overnight campsite but would see how far we could make it and then decide where to stay.  We had breakfast at Malelane Wimpy and stopped for fuel but other than that we kept going until we got to Howick at 17:15.   There was no trouble checking in at Midmar Dam Resort.  The campsite was almost empty.  But what a stunning place.  It must be awesome when the sun shines.

We unhitched the caravan and went straight out to Delish Family Restaurant for dinner.  It did not disappoint!   The Earl had Eisbein and I had Ribs, both served with vegetables.

While we were enjoying our pre-dinner drinks a group of people arrived and started greeting each other and it looked like they were really pleased to see each other.  The Earl felt moved to go and chat and they were very friendly.   He said, “It so great to see good friends enjoying each other.  Have a wonderful evening.”

We then enjoyed our own dinner and when we were done the waitress came with the bill.  “It’s all taken care of,” she said. “The gentleman at that table paid for your meal!”   And he came over and gave us each a sweet!

We were astounded and asked, “Why did you do that?”

“Because I can and I wanted to!” he replied.   I gave him a hug and thanked him warmly.   It was a random act of kindness and we will certainly pay it forward!

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.

Mom and Baby Giraffe

A fluffed up European Bee-eater posed nicely for me

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.

First he wouldn’t look at me

Later he peeped out from amongst the foliage but would not reveal his entire body

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

Two Black-backed Puffbacks – Male trying to impress the female with his white powder puff display

All puffed up to impress a potential mate

A Speckled Mousebird tried to hide

Dark-capped Bulbul likes to show off

The Grey Go-away-bird was ready for duty

A female Bennett’s Woodpecker having a break from pecking the tree

A Black-collared barbet dropped in to say hello.

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.

A terrapin out of water

Playful elephants

Bathing Buffalo

Wallowing in the mud

Salon attendants doing a good job of grooming away the parasites

They say mud has rejuvenating properties!

Mommy Squirrel grooming her baby in her high rise home

Hold still baby – if you wriggle it’s a long way to fall

I told you to keep still!

Juvenile Bateleur drinking at a puddle in the middle of the road.   I’m still waiting to get good shots of his parents!

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.

The Cattle Egrets came out in full force to enjoy the puddles on the tar road – They were in full breeding plumage

Looking good, guys!

We saw more elephants than usual today

In spite of the rain we saw lots of birds – this one is a Cinnamon-breasted Bunting

We saw two of these African Eagles – his partner was a little higher up on the tree

Gerry and his friends were happy to be browsing too

Yellow-fronted canaries were also enjoying the fresh puddles of water

Funny Photo of the day – Reflection of me photographing an elephant

The Elephant

Eurasian Hobby

He/she was all fluffed up and wet

Looking down from the bridge at Malalane Gate

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.

Imagine staring at this for half an hour!

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!

Such beauty is hard to find

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!

This wet brown snake-eagle looks better in sepia

Male impalas competing for dominance

We actually saw two hyaena – I missed the first one – does this one count?

Immature Bateleur – I am longing to get his parents to pose!

Lappet-faced Vulture

Gerry

Not a leopard but a leopard tortoise

This is my most hated scene – on our return to Skukuza – still a traffic jam on the bridge

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.

I just got a glimpse of the babies

The Earl got a lovely close up of Mom

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.

Barn Swallows settled close to the ground to catch insects that were too wet to fly

The baby lambs are so cute

Our cousins were trying to be human

Family Portrait

Hyaena looking for a snack

Lion still asleep

A treeful of Little Bee-eaters

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.

These three Gound Hornbills  lined up for their photoshoot

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

Earl’s photograph of a Black-backed Jackal smiling at us

A Red-crested Korhaan sitting on top of a bush – he usually stays on the ground, under a shady bush or tree!

A cute little steenbok with a broken horn

A treeful of Wattled Starlings

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.

Buffalo heading to the river for a cooling drink

Thanks, Mom

I love my mommy

Oxpecker having a break from salon duties.     She seems to be saying, “How do I look?”

If you don’t stop staring I’ll stick my tongue out at you! 

I’m on the top of the world looking down on creation  (White-backed Vulture)

One of the many elephants seen today

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!