Every year, Birdlife South Africa encourages birders to take part in Big Birding Day no matter where they are in the country. The idea is to chalk up as many different species in 24 hours within a radius of 50km. Species seen or heard may be recorded between midnight on Friday 27 November to Midnight on Saturday 28 November. Teams can be up to four people working together. In order to take part in the competition, you need to register beforehand and most of the competitors use BirdLaser to record their sightings. The Earl and I have never treated birding as a sport but we thought today it would be fun to see how many species we could get in a day. We came nowhere near the bird nerds who competed officially! We cannot believe that some managed over 300 species in a single day! Our neighbours got over 60 but they birded in a bigger area than we did. We just did the Mahonie Loop and the tar road which was a distance of about 30km. Our starting time was 7:30 am until 11:30 am and then again from 13:30 to 16:30. It was raining most of the morning and only started clearing up at around 15:00. We chalked up 47 species and enjoyed every moment. I have posted some of the photos of the birds we saw as well as some of the other creatures.

The rains have come and the impala moms are dropping their lambs. This morning we were delighted to see lots of little ones gamboling about and enjoying being alive.

Tomorrow we pack up and make our way to Letaba.

It dawned bright and beautiful after the cool weather of yesterday. We packed a picnic breakfast, had a quick cup of coffee and were on the road to Pafuri by 5:30 am. We are now in the Northern sandveld area of the park. The sandveld has sandy, well-drained soils supporting a range of vegetation with no particular dominant species. Characteristic trees of the sandveld include pod mahogany, nyala, southern lala-palm , fever tree. mopane and, of course, the baobab. It is a wonderful area for birding.

The weather today started out sunny with clear skies and the temperature reached 33 degrees C. However, later in the afternoon storm clods built up and wind started to blow. We thought we might have a storm but it blew over. It was cool this evening. I cooked chicken curry in my electric Ramosca pot. No creatures came to the waterhole. We shall see what the morrow brings.

Apologies for neglecting this travel tale for the past few days. I received the final PDF manuscript of “A Judge Decided” and had to read through and make sure that all was fine for printing and publishing. This is now done and dusted.

On 24 November we left Letaba and drove the tar road to Shingwedzi. We wanted to spend four nights there but when we changed our bookings last week we were told the campsite was full. To our surprise we found this not to be so. The website certainly shows that there are no campsites available but in reality the camp was not even at 10 per cent capacity. Who knows what is going on!

It was very hot on Tuesday and after setting up we went to have breakfast at the restaurant. We were the only guests at Tindlovu. I asked for scrambled eggs and no toast but got fried eggs and toast. The Earl ordered a wrap and all was well. How they managed to get my order wrong when there was nobody else to confuse me with is a complete mystery. I decided not to send it back and enjoyed it anyway.

We went on a brief drive but there was not much going on in the extreme heat. The next day was cooler and we had some lovely sightings. Today we saw very little as we travelled from Shingwedzi to Punda Maria. It was a lot cooler and there was even some rain. There are lots of puddles in the veld so the animals were not at the waterholes. It was lovely to pack up and set up in the cooler weather. Some of the sites at Punda were still flooded from the storm they had three days ago. We found a suitable spot and have a view of the waterhole.

I am just posting some highlight photographs of the past three days.

Tuesday’s Drive – Shingwedzi

Wednesday’s Drive Shingwedzi

Today’s Drive – Punda Maria

As I write, I can hear lions roaring. Hopefully we will find them on tomorrow’s drive.

We got to bed late after celebrating at the restaurant last night. Late, in Kruger is after eight o’clock! So we only start our day at half past seven this morning and it is already 26 degrees C. We travel the S94, S46, S93 and S44, before stopping at Olifants Rest Camp for breakfast.

It is a slow start to our game drive. We see nothing on S94. On the S46 we spot the odd small group of elephants and some zebra.

The S93 produces absolutely nothing but we start seeing a few creatures on the S44.

The most exciting thing to capture our attention is an African Pied Wagtail. We laugh at our own excitement at seeing this bird.

And then my favourite animal puts in an appearance.

At the ‘alien crossing’ we find our friendly terrapins and an emerald spotted wood-dove.

We arrive at Olifants at half past nine and sit on the deck overlooking the river.

The Olifants River is appropriately named as here, and all through the rest of our drive, we find elephants enjoying what little water is in the river bed.

We enjoy our breakfast then go to the shop to get a few provisions for dinner tonight. I buy some gifts for the younger Kokstad kids. Shh Don’t tell them!

We continue to explore the H8, S92, S90 and S89 before turning onto the H1-4 back to Letaba.

We stop on the H1-4 bridge where you may get out of the car in the demarkated area.

We continue to see more of the usual gang but just two more photos before I sign off.

Tomorrow is moving day. Shingwedzi is our next camp.

Today we sleep in late – well late by Kruger standards. It’s my birthday and I can sleep late if I want to! We leave camp at 6:00 am and take a slow drive to Mopani. The Earl says he’s sent messages to the animals and has told them to come out and wish me. I am just happy to be in my most favourite place in the world on my birthday. This might be the last time I spend a birthday in Kruger as we are seriously thinking of changing our annual visit to a cooler month. Last year is was not this hot! We have air con in the car and the caravan and this helps us cope but when you have to do anything strenuous like chop wood or pack up and set up the heat can be exhausting. We might just try May next time.

At six o’clock it is already 23 degrees C. I am wearing a summer dress and don’t even need to throw a shawl over my shoulders as I usually do for the first part of the drive. Most of the creatures have received the Earl’s message and the first to greet me are the impala. There are still very few lambs.

At Nhlangini Dam view point the hippos are excited to see me. They snort and grunt a Happy Birthday greeting.

The fish eagle is a bit shy and won’t come too close

As we continue our drive we see the usual gang and are pleased that the Tsessebe are not too shy.

After receiving this great gift we continue to Shipandani Hide and watch the buffalo come down to drink. They give me some lovely birthday entertainmnet.

Breakfast at The Fish Eagle Terrace is lovely as usual. My phone does not stop pinging with messages from friends and family. I appreciate every one of them, thank you. My birthday surprises are all the creatures I see.

On our return trip the temperature rises even more and by the time we get back at one o’clock it is 39 degrees C.

We do some chores, take a nap and then go for a swim but do not go out again in the afternoon. At six o’clock we go to the restaurant for a celebratory dinner.

We are surprised to hear German spoken at the table next to us. “The borders must be open,” I say to the Earl. He goes over to chat to the four young men. Yes, they are from Switzerland and are loving visiting South Africa and KNP. We have a lovely chat to them and encourage them to come back soon. They want to go fishing and the Earl tells them exactly which charter company to contact. Next time they need to visit us in Struisbaai so the Earl can take them himself.

It is a lovely end to our day. As I write I can hear rain on the caravan roof. How welcome it is! Let’s see what surprises tomorrow brings.

We are both awake before four o’clock this morning.  I step out of the caravan and is a surprise to find that it is overcast and cool.  Last night the wind disturbed our sleep but this morning it is calm.  There is a spit and a spot of rain.  I head to the ablutions and have a leisurely shower and then return to make our morning brew before we head out on a game drive.

After yesterday’s temperature high of 41 degrees C it is lovely to have a cool start to the day.  For Kruger temperatures in the mid-twenties are considered ‘cool’ and we enjoy the relief from the extreme heat.

The King of the Beasts’ message about all lockdown restrictions being lifted has not reached Letaba.   We drive all over the place and see niks, nada, nothing!   The creatures are hiding in their nests, dens and lairs. Even the bad days are good when you are travelling in Kruger.  Here are the photos of the ‘nothing’ that we see.

At a quarter past nine, we arrive at Olifants where we meet Jim and Maureen for breakfast.  Yesterday they had to go to Hoedspruit for car repairs and while they were there they got us a new step for the caravan.   It is cool so we sit indoors and enjoy a lovely meal together. 

We leave after eleven o’clock.   The sightings on the way home are somewhat better.

At camp our neighbour shows me the Scops Owl and the Barred Owlet has returned to our tree.  Yesterday I miss identified him as a Pearl Spotted – Apologies for that.   The Pearl Spotted is similar and more commonly seen and I did not properly check to see which one it was.

The cicadas were very noisy yesterday but today we hardly hear them.  They start up this evening as if someone has flipped an on-switch 

They are quite harmless but scary when they fly into you.  And when they find themselves trapped in the caravan and you sweep them out with a broom they scream like babies.   This evening very few of them bother us as we braai before it gets dark and don’t switch on any lights to attract them.

Before I start today’s blog let me tell you about yesterday’s afternoon drive.

Tuesday 17 November 2020 – Afternoon Drive

We leave Satara at 2 o’clock with the intention of returning at 4. Our destination is Sweni Hide which has twice provided us with entertaining sightings in the past week. We spot very few creatures on the H1-3 and H6. It’s as if the animals have packed up and left the country.

It is ten past three when we arrive at Sweni and having seen next to nothing on the drive we hope it’s because they’re all frolicking at the pool! No such luck. There is nothing besides two Egyptian Geese and a blacksmith lapwing. There is no sign of a crocodile, no stirring of a hippo.

My rule is wait five minutes before you leave a waterhole. We wait.

At ten to four we do not want to leave as even though the visitors are few, the scene is peaceful and we enjoy spending time observing one creature at a time. So our nothing turns out to produce over 10 different species – baboon, Egyptian goose, marsh sandpiper, three-banded plover, hippo, crocodile, nyala, impala green-backed heron, brown-hooded kingfisher and hadeda.

We have to drag ourselves away in order to get back to camp to prepare for Jim and Maureen who we have invited for supper.

On the way back we find that the creatures have returned. We see zebra, giraffe, warthogs, waterbuck and wildebeest that had not been there earlier!

Wednesday 18 November 2020

The Lockdown restrictions laid down by the King of the Beasts have been lifted. It seems that he was misinformed by his advisors and Covid does not affect the creatures of The Kruger National Park. The social distancing and limitation on large gatherings of over ten, it seems, were totally unnecessary and to make up for it the animals gather today not only in large numbers of their own species but they also intermingle with others not of their clan.

At first we are unaware of the liberation and are surprised to see a large herd of zebra and wildebeest making their way to N’wanetsi Dam on the Orpen Road. We go to the dam to wait for their arrival and find three buffalo in the water – not exactly a large herd but wait – a little later this changes!

We see a fish eagle overseeing proceedings and snap his portrait

The zebra and wildebeest decide to drink at a distant part of the dam so we move on. Two kilometers later we find a cat.

We go on a little further, see a hyaena attempt to catch an impala and then disappear so we turn back to the dam. What a difference!

After marvelling at this scene we go back to Satara briefly as I have forgotten my spare camera battery.

As we make our way to Gudzandani Dam View Point we continue to see an abundance of wildlife.

The last time we followed the S100 there was little to see. Today everybody is out to play. Somebody tells us that there are 10 lions at the waterhole we are approaching but they are gone when we get there. We don’t mind but it’s amazing that they too are in abundance today.

Today is our last day at Camp Satara. Tomorrow we will be making our way to Letaba.

Tuesday 17 November 2020

It is 4:35 am and we are driving through Satara Camp Gate. Our mission is to find those Hyaena puppies that we tore ourselves away from yesterday morning. If we want to see them, we must get to the den before the rush of tourists chase them back into hiding.

I know they’re called cubs and not puppies and I know a hyaena is more closely related to a cat than a dog – but kitten doesn’t do it for me. Hyaenas are in fact neither cat nor dog. They are a species all of their own. Members of the Hyaenidae family include spotted hyaena, brown hyaena and aardworf

The early morning really is the best part of the day. The camp gates open and close at different times depending on the season. The longest they stay open are in November, December and January – from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.

At 5:20 we arrive at the den and there are no other cars in sight. The puppies, however, are there to greet us.

Mom is lying on the road just ahead of the car. She is quite unconcerned that her children are talking to strangers.

When other cars arrive we drag ourselves away from the cuteness and concentrate on some birding.

We try to find the lions from yesterday but the water hole that they favoured is drying up and they must have gone off to seek another drinking spot.

We find two jackals at the muddy pond/

We turn around and make our way back toward Satara. I am sitting in the back so I can move from the left to the right window with ease. I am looking intently to the left seeking something special when the Earl says calmly, “What are these things running towards us? I turn to look forward and squeal in delight.

A line of vehicles is following them but we see them head on and they run by on either side of the car.

“You’ve made my day!” I tell the Earl. All is forgiven for not giving in to my stop yells yesterday.

“I try to please,” he says sweetly.

The dogs run on and we continue birding. There is a bush that many of the species love.

We also enjoy the plains animals and the general beauty of the park. It is a clear sunny day. The temperature is still in the cool twenties but will rise to above thirty later today. We are making the most of the early sightings.

We arrive back at camp 8:00. They did not wash the car after the service yesterday their excuse being they did not want to risk it being infected with Covid. I don’t understand the logic but we are living in interesting times. So we unpack the car and Earl takes it to the service station where there is a car valet service. It costs R70 to have it cleaned inside and out. “Come back in an hour,” says the guy who is taking on the challenge of ridding our vehicle of three weeks of gruelling travel. We have been through weather, mud, puddles and dust. It is not a pretty sight.

While the car is having its bath, the Earl cooks us delicious scrambled eggs for breakfast. When he returns to fetch the car, it is not yet ready. It is so dirty it takes twice as long. The Earl gives the valet a generous tip and now we have a pristine vehicle! Let’s see how long it will last!

We spend the rest of the morning doing chores and resting and then go out later in the afternoon. I will blog about that tomorrow.