We started today to make our way back south today as we headed for our last 2 nights at Letaba before flying home. It was a 160 km drive which takes around 6-7 hours with stops. We left at 6am with the aim to have breakfast at Shingwedzi. The power went off at about 5:45am and that set us back a few minutes and so we left just after 6am. You may wonder why he is so precise with his time and how could that ever be important. The reason is, timing matters in a game park and a few seconds earlier and you wouldn’t see the animal or a few seconds later and you will miss the animal. This morning was another reminder of that.
On the road we could see something in the dawn light that didn’t resemble buck but was sort of buck sized and then H and I recognised it as Wild Dog. There are only about 120 wild dog in the KNP and so to see them is always special and sure enough there were 5 or 6 on the road and running around in the bush. They are always on the go so you never get to see them for long but every time is special. They sniff here and there, wee somewhere and then suddenly head off into the bush. We probably only saw them for 2 minutes in total and they were gone. No other cars with us – just us. One of those special Kruger moments. Two minutes later arriving and we would have never seen them.
Whatever happened for the rest of the drive didn’t really matter as that would always top most other sightings (besides maybe a kill). We stopped at Shingwedzi for breakfast at just after 8am and then we stopped at Mopani for an ice cream mid-morning and then on to Letaba where we have the last 2 nights. We got to Letaba at about 12:30pm and check in time is only 2pm but we fortunately managed to get the key at around 1pm and so Miss I could have a nap. It was pretty warm by this point (around 37 degrees C) and being in an air conditioned room seemed like the place to be. The nap didn’t happen until after M removed another bat from the cupboard in Miss I’s room. We have become expert bat removers it seems.
M, O and Miss I went swimming late afternoon and H & I went for a drink at the restaurant. We got there and almost immediately spotted a lifer for O in the river and so messaged them to join us (which they did). Miss I then saw H’s lime milkshake and look a liking to that and there went half of H’s milkshake.
Dinner was a braai and M did it tonight. The fire was ridiculously hot and large. I lost 500g in perspiration last night and tonight it was M’s turn. We braai’d ostrich steak and pork steaks with some corn on cob (yes I know we had it last night too but we all enjoyed it) and potatoes. Some salad pieces (tomato, cucumber and pepper) was the other side.
It was a lovely evening with a light breeze blowing and H and I sat outside for about an hour enjoying the environment. We could hear the hippos calling from the river below and we heard an owl (African Scops Owl for those of you wondering!) hooting. Accompany that with a glass of red wine and amarula and it really did feel like a great end to the day. H & I love Letaba camp. The camp is lovely and the views are great.
Until tomorrow …
P, M (for doing the braai in 37 degrees heat), H, O & I