This morning we went out slightly later again as the first 15-30 minutes of the drives had generally not been productive and so we thought between that and letting I sleep in a bit, we may as well head out later. Our plan was to take the main road east to the Shitlhave and Transport Dams in the hope of seeing some water birds at least to add to our trip list (and maybe a lifer if we were fortunate enough). As it turned out, it was one of the most disappointing drives we have ever had in the Kruger – basically no birds at all and nothing special on the game front either. Maybe that is what caused my headache which I couldn’t shake the balance of the day (despite a nap when we got back).

H summed up this mornings drives as follows “You know it is a bad drive when you saw less birds than game”. It wasn’t that we didn’t just see anything new, we just didn’t see anything. It was as if someone had stolen the game and bird life and only left a few to tease us into believe there was more. Maybe they knew it was Sunday and were all having a day of rest? We didn’t add a single new bird to the trip list and for H and I that remained true for the balance of the day. For M & O, they actually managed to add a few to their trip list and a lifer late in the day as well. H & my trip list is stuck at 189 birds and M & O have theirs at 160. This after saying yesterday that we should easily surpass our previous trip best of 200 (spoke way too quickly it seems).

Flapjacks for a late breakfast, a nap, a swim, an ice cream and then out we went for our late afternoon drive. On the road for only 1km and we spot a leopard and its cub on the side of the road. Number of other cars besides us = 0. We got to watch and photograph them without anyone else around and then when other cars arrived it was just 2 others and then the leopard decided to walk down the road (and proceeded to do that for over a kilometer). The cub kept dodging in and out of the bush as they walked. Probably one of the best sightings a leopard I have ever had. Even I was fascinated. And there is the paradox of the Kruger. A terrible morning drive contrasted with 2 minutes outside the camp and you see the best sighting of leopard that you could imagine.

Eventually the leopard and her cub headed into the bushes and seemed to almost immediately vanish from view. Timing is everything in the Kruger. We headed off back onto the route we had planned to take and while we saw some of the usual other things (elephant, kudu, waterbuck), nothing could top that sighting of leopard.

M did the braai tonight – chicken wings, steak, gem squash & mushrooms accompanied by H’s famous penne pasta. Tonight is our last night with M, O & I. Granny & Grandpa will be sad to see I depart tomorrow. We might miss M & O too! It has been a pure delight seeing the next generation enjoy the wildlife. I will even miss her asking grandpa for more tortoise or pala (egged on by M usually) and has a look of disappointment when grandpa doesn’t deliver immediately. We have one last drive tomorrow am before we drop them off at the airport – let’s hope it is a good one.

Until tomorrow … I, P, H, M (for braaiing tonight) and O

As the sun is only rising close to 6am, we decided to only head out at 5:45am this morning. A few more minutes for I to sleep in the morning. H went in to wake her up and first thing she said was ‘Oh Man’ (in an American accent). She is quite the little character. When she tires of all entertainment from the vehicle occupants, O & M resort to some screen time on the iPad (don’t judge … it doesn’t happen often but it does help). She has been remarkably resilient and good though even on the longer drives. She definitely is fascinated to see the animals especially when they are close to the road. Tortoise, pala, elephant and duku seem to be the favourites.

We went out to the Shitlhave Dam and on route, H, M & O added a lifer and then at the dam we managed to all add a lifer (Green Sandpiper). H & I are now on 189 for the trip. Our best ever previously was 200 for 14-day trip to Kruger so we would be disappointed to not go well past that on this trip. I think it is a combination of the right time of year and our ever improving birding skills. H today went past 400 lifers (she has over 80 for the trip!). Given she started properly listing last year January, that is quite a remarkable count for less than 15 months. She bought herself a bottle of Rose wine to celebrate passing 400 tonight.

We did a few of the local around the camp loops including the one that we had seen the male lion on last night but he had moved off and no sign of the buffalo he was eating either. Besides a few kudu, some elephant, a sole buffalo sitting in the mud and some more klipspringers on the rocks, the game life has been pretty poor. Still no rhino and actually very few predators. If it wasn’t for the bird life we would have been very disappointed.

I (18 month old in case of doubt) had a nice long (over 3 hour) nap today and some of the others (M in particular) did similarly. Rest of us just spent some time relaxing, reading and really enjoying nature. It was much cooler today as it was overcast for most of the day and so we decided to head out a little earlier for our evening drive. Again we didn’t see a lot but just as we were about to drive back into the camp we saw a lone Red Duiker so at least something new for the trip in terms of game.

The traditional braai for dinner (chicken, sausage & vegetables) and then off to bed. It is amazing how basically doing nothing for most of the day really exhausts you!

Until tomorrow …

I, P, H, O (again for multiple klipspringers today) and M

At about 2am there was a MASSIVE thunderclap and that marked the start of huge thunderstorm. The windows of our chalet rattled. The thunder and lightening were close together and it was clear the thunderstorm was right over us. It bucketed down with rain but by the time we woke for our morning game drive it was clearing and soon the only sign of the thunderstorm was that the dirt roads had puddles on them. It seems some people sleep better through thunderstorms than others. I (18 month old one) seemed not to be disrupted at all (though I also managed to go back to sleep – I grew up in Pretoria where thunderstorms were a part of everyday life). O on the other hand said she basically didn’t sleep from when it started. H was having other problems in that she discovered that her bed was listing to the bottom right and then figured out that a leg was missing. She then took leaning / trusting on the Scriptures to a whole new level (see pic below).

We did get up to leave at 5:30am but as it was overcast it was still pretty dark so we ended up leaving about 15 minutes later. We headed west toward the Numbi gate and then just before the gate we turned up north toward Mestel Dam. It has generally been a fruitful route for us but this morning it wasn’t as fruitful as we would have hoped. The dam was very quiet with hardly any bird life or animals (except the usual hippos). On the drive back to camp O spotted a klipspringer high on a rock in the pose you see them in wildlife books. That plus the large herd of buffalo was the best sighting of the morning drive.

We had the balance of the day in the camp and did some camp birding. After we got back we went to the pool area to do some birding and I waded around in the shallow pool area. We then let I have a long nap in the middle of the day. When I woke up, I went to fetch her and she was standing up in her cot saying ‘Amen, Amen, Amen’. Clearly praying someone would come and get her out of her captivity.

We stayed in the camp until 4pm and went on late afternoon drive. There are numerous loops around the camp and we did most of them and just as we were basically finishing our evening drive we found a large male lion tucked in under a bush munching on a buffalo. Single lane road with 2 private game trucks there already resulted in us only have an oblique view. It was pretty close to the road and we could hear him eating but the view wasn’t great because of the bush and the game trucks. The private game trucks can be an annoyance in the Kruger but they were actually pretty decent and let us eventually move into a better spot. He clearly wasn’t going anywhere and so we left and let others have a better view. Fortunately now everyone has seen a lion at least. Game viewing was pretty sparse today though as we didn’t even see an elephant (which is highly unusual from Kruger).

Our bird lists are steadily increasing and I’m now on 181 for the trip, H has added 74 lifers (!), O has added 5, I have added 4 and M has added 2 lifers. We finished the day with a steak and veg braai. It was pretty warm again today (37 degrees C) and never really cooled off so it was very hot work doing a braai this evening.

Fortunately the camp generator is working and so while it is actually loadshedding now, I am able to finish the blog off in the light before heading off to sleep for the night.

Until tomorrow …

I, P, H, O (for klipspringer) & M

We changed camps today so we decided to leave a little later (around 7am) as you can’t check in usually before 2pm. H went for a run before we left. Our body clocks now are attuned to waking us up before 5am it seems! It is also the coolest part of the day so if you’re going to run it needs to be early morning. Unfortunately it was load shedding from 5-7:30am and so no kettle for coffee which then necessitated boiling water on the gas stove instead. But the starter for the gas is electric too so no way of actually lighting the stove and of course we didn’t have matches either. I resorted to use a firelighter match (yes there are such things) and just hoped I didn’t blow myself up or burn myself in doing that. Fortunately I managed to avoid both of those issues. We ate breakfast at the house before heading out.

We decided to go via Skukuza (north west) and then back down to Pretoriouskop (which is south west of Skukuza and almost due west of Lower Sabie but no direct route between these camps). The Lower Sabie to Skukuza road is known to be one of the best roads in the Kruger to see Big 5 and is especially good for seeing lion and leopard. We saw none despite stopping at a group of cars and them telling us a leopard was there a few minutes (or seconds earlier). Outside of Skukuza there is a bridge over the river and despite it not being on our direct route M asked that we just drive over and back again before heading on our way again. On the way over, a game truck told us that if we turn right over the bridge and drive 600 meters there is a leopard in a tree. He said ‘you won’t miss it because you’ll see the cars’. So we raced off and on arrival asked one the cars and they said it had just climbed down from the tree and walked off. We honestly couldn’t not believe it.

We headed to Skukuza for a quick stop and stretch of the legs. M had called Pretoriouskop camp and they said they would let us check in early and so we headed off to the camp. I (the 18 month old I …not the me version!), was getting a little fidgety so we basically drove that road near to the speed limit (which is 50 km/h). We saw a collection of cars and slowed down and finally saw a leopard. Fast asleep on a rock in the shade. As it was clear it wasn’t going anywhere soon, we watched it for a few minutes and then continued on our way down to Pretoriouskop. We arrived at 11:30am and on check in they said our chalet would be ready only at 12pm so we had a quick (and early lunch) and then got the key, unpacked and put I (18 month old again!) down for her afternoon nap. We did some birding from the patio and added to our respective lists. I (the person writing) am on 167 birds now for the trip and H is over 170 with some ridiculous number of lifers.

We decided on no game drive this evening. H did some painting with I (18 month old) and then later we ventured to the pool area to allow I to swim with M and the rest of us did some birding. H decided to have a swim fully clothed as the water was very warm and much to the delight of I (I am now hoping you’re understanding when I refer to I which I, I am referring to 🙂 ).

We discovered as the sun was setting that the kitchen light was not working so we reported it and the maintenance guys pitched up with a wobbly ladder to fix it. It took them some time including swapping who was on the ladder. I just kept thinking about those jokes of how many people does it take to change a light bulb. They finally managed to get one bulb working and we accepted that was sufficient and they could sort it out properly tomorrow.

By 8pm we were all tired and read for bed and so I am finishing off this blog post and then going to hit the send button and turn the lights out and go to sleep. Fortunately the generator is working at the camp and so we have power despite it being loadshedding currently.

Until tomorrow …

I, P, H, M & O

We were up to leave again at 5:30am which with an 18 month old is pretty impressive. We wanted to go down south to Crocodile Bridge camp as a rarity (and what would have been a lifer for all of us) has recently been reported there. We didn’t have high expectations as no one had seen it in the last few days. It was about a 90 minute drive down and while we saw a reasonable amount of game (including two of the big five – elephant and buffalo), we did not see any predators and more unfortunately we did not find the rarity either. We did see another rarity for Kruger Park though – Capped Wheatear – though it is a bird we have seen elsewhere many times before, it is a rarity for the Kruger Park.

We had some coffee and hot chocolate at a dam nearby to Crocodile Bridge and stopped at the camp for a loo visit, nappy change and some purchases at the shop before we headed back up to Lower Sabie again. We took an alternative route back on a dirt road and some of us (excluding one person) had a fleeting glimpse of lion before it walked down a ravine not to be seen again. That was unfortunately the one sighting of predators today (it has been a bit of a dry spell on the predator finding). We got back to the camp just before 10am and one 18-month old was very grateful for a long midday nap (3.5 hours). While she was sleeping, we did some birding from in front of our house and added a number of birds to the trip list and H found a lifer for all of us – Green-capped Eremomela. H continues her raking in of lifers and is now on 65 for the trip (wow!) and 386 lifers in total. She has 158 for the trip and I am now on 151 because I stayed with I while she was sleeping and they walked to the shop and saw a whole lot of extras I had not yet seen. Some of us make sacrifices for love it seems!

We did go out on a short drive again this evening but given it was 37 degrees, the animals and birds were sparse. We did add a bird or two to our trip list but it wasn’t really a very successful drive. On the way back to the camp the road was blocked by an elephant. The car in front of us was pretty close (though they were at least in reverse) but the elephant didn’t really have anywhere to go and when they eventually moved it made it’s way into the bush and we could finally pass it. It is one of my irritations of the Kruger that people don’t seem to know how to drive when elephants are around. Earlier this trip we had a guy stop his car in spitting distance of an elephant and then turned off his car to take some photos. They should give a test to everyone about how to drive near elephants before they allow you into the park.

We had a braai for dinner again – chicken wings and ribs. One of our blog readers commented today that they like we say what we ate but why don’t I share what we drank. So for them – Castle Lite beer while braaiing (it’s hot) and chilled red wine (Cinsaut) and white wine (Chenin Blanc) with dinner.

Until tomorrow …

I, P, H (deserves 3rd spot for lifer find), M & O

We were up at the same time this morning but that was because H wanted to do a run before we left the camp. It was 24 degrees at 5:30am but H got her run in and then we packed up and headed out. We left the camp at around 7am and it was already 27 degrees and by 8am it had already passed 30 degrees C. We knew we were in for a stinking hot day.

We were heading south as our next camp was Lower Sabie though we needed to stop in at Skukuza airport to fetch some special family members (well one special family member and 2 other family members!). It is about 90 kms from Satara to Skukuza but that takes at least 3 hours as you drive pretty slowly and taking into account the stopping you do for sightings (or in our case to ID birds). There was a reasonable amount of game on the way down but no predators. IBoth H and I added another lifer – Rufous-winged Cisticola (what is described as an LBJ in birding circles – “little brown job”) and H has now added 53 lifers since we arrived (taking her to 374).

We stopped at Tshokwane picnic spot for a late breakfast and then headed down to Skukuza where I had an ice cream and H had a milkshake. By this point it was 39 degrees C and it was just unbearable in the direct sun. We did a little bit of shopping for some essentials and then headed to the airport to collect M (our son), O (our daughter-in-law) and (mostly importantly) I (our oldest grandchild). They arrived slightly early and after getting their luggage we headed out to Lower Sabie (our camp for next 2 nights).

It is about 45 kms to Lower Sabie which takes just around 2 hours. Given the heat and an 18 month old who hasn’t slept, we got there a little quicker and once we had sorted the check in, we headed to the house to let her have a short nap. We did a short late afternoon drive to Sunset dam and then across the river and all of that plus some birding from house we are staying at, has taken our trip tally to 134 (and MO are already in the 40s).

It was delightful to watch some game through the eyes of an 18-month old. Kudu has now been renamed ‘Duku’ 🙂 and Impala is called ‘pala’. She is interested to watch them eat and then say goodbye as we pull off.

The temperature hit 41 degrees late afternoon and it felt like you couldn’t get enough fluids into your body faster than you were losing them through sweat. I was grateful that M started the braai this evening though I did some of the braaiing while he was putting I to bed.

Unfortunately the generator at Lower Sabie is broken and so we will experience no power tonight between 9-11pm. It is 9:15pm while I type this (in the dark) and then just as I write this, the power (fortunately) comes back on. The importance of that is that means the aircon and ceiling fan are back on – wasn’t sure I was going to get through the 2 hours!

Cellphone signal is terrible and so I am not even going to try and post any pictures. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and I will be able to do it tomorrow evening.

Until then ..

I (because let’s be honest she is the most important person here), P, H, M & O

Up at 5:10am again to head out by 5:30am. When we opened the door and went outside the heat and humidity hit us. Thank goodness for air-conditioning in the rondavel! It was 24 degrees at 5:30am and it just got steadily hotter and hotter and eventually rose to 37 degrees C. It was HOT today!

This morning we headed north and then turned west toward Timbivati picnic spot. We saw a reasonable amount of game and steadily added to our bird list. The bird list stands at 110 currently. No predators at all today but it still felt like a good day for us as we don’t define our game viewing only by predators. The highlight of this morning’s drive was seeing a Black Coucal. They are uncommon and Kruger is really the only place to see them in SA and even here it is pretty hard to see them usually.

Just as we got to Timbavati picnic spot we saw some kudu and impala all frozen and staring in the same direction and we could hear birds alarm calling as well. There must have been a predator (probably leopard) but we did not see it despite looking quite carefully and traversing the area a bit. Morning coffee followed at the picnic spot and then we headed north to Ratel Pan bird hide. It was pretty disappointing as there wasn’t a great view and very little bird life to be seen as well. We headed back south and ended up back at the camp just after 9am.

We spent the balance of the day until 4pm in the camp just relaxing. When we headed out at 4pm it was 37 degrees. We did a bit of the same route we had done on the first morning drive and then stopped at the river for about 15 minutes and enjoyed the silence of the bushveld.

After a short walk around the camp, we started the braai for dinner. We had ostrich steak salad for dinner tonight. It was so hot I had to braai with my shirt off. There is hardly any wind at all and so every time there is a slight breeze even it is greatly appreciated.

Tomorrow some others join us and we are greatly looking forward to that!

Until tomorrow … P & H

We were up at 5:10am so that we could leave at 5:30 this morning. There was a traffic jam at the gate (not kidding) with about 25 cars all lined up to leave as they opened the gates. We were basically number 25 in the queue. If you ever come to the Kruger, its a sought after experience to be the first in the queue of cars to exit the camp in the morning. We weren’t successful this morning though we also didn’t care and weren’t trying.

We headed south for a few kilometers and then turned east on one of our favourite Kruger roads which heads east toward Mozambique following the N’wanetzi river. It is one the best places in the park to see lions. We didn’t see any this morning but we did see two separate sightings of hyena (again on the road) and we added numerous birds to our trip list. By the end of today we were at 90 on the trip list which we reckon is pretty good for just over a day of birding.

Once you get as far east as you can drive, we briefly turned north to visit a dam and then headed south towards a picnic spot and bird hide. On route there I added number 549 of lifers – Blue-cheeked Bee-Eater – absolutely beautiful bird and not easily found (as can be witnessed that it has taken me 548 other birds to get there!). We stopped for coffee at N’wanetzi picnic spot and then headed to Sweni bird hide. This is an infamous bird hide because 6 years ago H fainted on her way out of the picnic site and boys and I had to basically carry her to the car. She said she still feels slightly apprehensive walking into the hide. This morning though was probably our best experience ever at the hide. We were there a reasonable period of time and just kept seeing more new things. It is amazing that after 30 minutes of looking you can suddenly see something new which had in fact been there since we arrived. Besides the bird life there were elephant and impala drinking (on opposite ends). It was a really lovely experience (and just H and I there the whole time).

We then headed west back to the camp and finally got back at around 11am. By this point it was already into the 30 degrees C. We had some lunch and then headed out for a walk around the camp and added a few more birds to our list. The best birding in the camp has been from our hut though. We rested this afternoon and then headed out at 4pm (it was then 37 degrees C) and didn’t expect to see much because of the heat but we actually saw a lot of game including buffalo, wildebees, zebra, impala, giraffe & kudu (and in reasonable quantities). On the way back into camp and only about a kilometer from the camp, I added lifer 550 (Brown-backed Honeybird). In the meantime H had also clocked up 350 lifers (she only started officially doing her own list last year even though she has birded for many years). She has 30 lifers for the trip (though many of those are birds she has seen before but never officially ticked them off).

We finished off the day with a braai – boerewors, potato and corn (on the braai) accompanied by ratatouille made by H. As we finished eating, H spotted an African Wild Cat right next to us. We have seen them before in Satara and so we know they are resident here. A lovely way to finish off a really nice, relaxing and fulfilling day. The highlight was definitely the Blue-cheeked Bee-Eater followed closely by a really nice sighting of Amur Falcon.

Until tomorrow … P & H

It feels like we are well into 2024 already and so H and I have been looking forward to the next 2 weeks immensely for some time. We are in the Kruger Park from now until next Friday – 13 nights. We left home this morning to catch a flight to Hoedspruit which was all on time and so we landed at just after 1pm. Always fun to be on a flight into the game areas as the plane is usually full of excited tourists and a significant number of those are foreigners. You can tell the foreigners apart from the locals because they are all in “safari gear” with some of them sporting ‘David Livingstone hats’.

After landing, we hired a car (minivan because some others joining us in a few days) and then headed into Hoedspruit to do some grocery shopping. By the time we finished that I was bathed in sweat – 33 degrees C and dry heat and the jeans I was wearing for the flight didn’t help! We got to the Orpen gate to the Kruger at about 3pm and once the formalities were done we headed into the park. As usual, the park did not disappoint.

On the 50 kms drive in to our first camp – Satara – we saw 4 lion (on side of the road – Helen somewhat reluctant to lean out the window to take the photo), elephant (crossing the road), 2 cheetah (on side of the road – excuse the poor quality pic), buffalo, giraffe, kudu, waterbuck, impala, steenbok and 32 species of birds. Not bad for our first 2.5 hours in the Kruger!

We check in for our accommodation around 5:30pm and after we unpacked, I started a fire for our evening braai. Tonight we had pork strips, lamb ribs, sweet potato and corn all done on the fire. After we finished eating we were both ready for a shower as it never really cooled down and the body temperature rose as we ate (or so it felt). Even as I type this now at 8:45pm it is still 27 degrees C.

H is already asleep as she was up at 5am this morning for a run before we flew out and it will be another early morning tomorrow as the gate opens at 5:30am. As the morning is the best game viewing time we will be up at around 5am so we can head out by 5:30am.

Until tomorrow …

P & H