Follow the link to Day 8 and from there, links to the previous days.
Our last full day in the Park turned out to be a scorching hot day, the temperature reaching 41 degrees Celsius. The animals seemed to have gone into hiding in these conditions.
Fortunately the birds were still out and about. We encountered a Gray Go-away bird, Red-billed Hornbill, Brown-headed Parrot, Hoopoe Cardinal Woodpecker and a Southern Ground Hornbill, bearing gifts for his girlfriend, amongst others.







Stopping on a bridge, we saw multiple birds enjoying the small pools of water in the river bed and sitting around in the trees next to the water. A Fish Eagle came sweeping in a few times.




Eventually the Saddle-billed Stork decided to take flight

Further along, we saw a Tree agama and a Water monitor. Clearly the reptiles didn’t mind the heat.



A fight between two impala rams, to add to the elephant and kudu fight scenes of Day 7

After our morning drive, it was time to pack up and head out from Berg-en-Dal, back to Skukuza, completing our round trip of the southern part of the Park. Along the way we stopped at Afsaal for their famous roosterkoek, which we thoroughly enjoyed.



After checking in at Skukuza and resting a bit to recover from the heat of the day, it was time for an afternoon drive. We encountered a lone hyena, lazing about next to the road, a pair of Purple Rollers who properly frustrated my attempts at taking photos of them in flight, but at least gave me opportunity to photograph them sharing an insect and European Bee-eaters, who were once again too fast and unpredictable for me to photograph in flight.



An elephant came strolling along, first spraying itself with water at a water hole close to the road and then casually strolling up to a tree and pushing it over.


Video by Liana
Once more we had a magnificent sunset.




2 Replies to “Kruger National Park Day 9”