Today was our last full day in the Kruger as we fly home tomorrow. O had decided she was just going to be in the camp for the day and wouldn’t do any game drives. M decided to sleep in as well so it was just H & myself that went out for the morning and evening drives. In the morning we left at 5:30am and we were the 3rd car out of the gate. It seems most people were sleeping in.
We did our usual route of heading north, across the Letaba River and then head east along the river bank until you get to the Engelhardt Dam. Coffee and rusks at the Engelhardt Dam with some bird watching while we drink and then we head back to the bird hide. It was 26 degrees at just after 7am when we got out at the bird hide. It felt like 20 degrees in the bird hide. It is always like that. The wind blows off the water and straight into the hide. We came prepared this time though I left my jersey in the car and while chilly it was bearable and I didn’t bother to fetch it.
On this route we saw black backed jackal and also a hippo out of the water and easting. Those were both two good sightings. We also added a couple more birds to the bird list. My list now stands at 206 which is still 5 behind our best for the Kruger (which is 211). What is annoying is that we haven’t seen so many standard birds that we would have expected to see. We have only seen one type of vulture, no goshawks or sparrow hawks, only one type of falcon etc. But then again we have seen almost all the eagles and a significant variety of cuckoos. It all comes down to timing, terrain and weather.
On the evening drive which we only really saw the standard game (and an elephant in the middle of the road about 1km from camp), H and I were chatting about the amount of game and bird life on an evening drive seems directly correlated to whether the temperature is over or under 35 degrees. When we did an evening drive and it was 30-32 degrees, we saw things. When the temperature was over 35 degrees, we saw very little. It was 37 degrees at 4pm today and so that explains both the conversation and the lack of game and birds. M went out between 1-3pm while Miss I was sleeping. His 2 hours out yielded nothing of interest though.
As it is tradition for our last night, we ate at the restaurant tonight and then came back to pack up everything and head to bed for our start tomorrow to head for the airport. One last opportunity to get those extra few birds and hopefully to see an elusive leopard.
P, H (for coming with me on both drives this AM), M, O & I