I managed to keep up until that point, but then Day 6 (linked here) was a day late and, as I still struggle to get good internet connection, Day 7 is also late.
On Day 7 we decided to take an easy day, making an 8:30 start to our transfer from Lower Sabie to Berg-en-Dal. This allowed me to catch up on culling and backing up photos from the previous day.
The drive between camps was full of surprises, which included a tree, bearing cattle egrets
two elephant bulls tussling, two Kudu bulls tussling,
a tortoise sprinting at full speed, a crocodile sunbathing
warthogs kneeling for their food, a surprise shot containing three animal species
and even more unexpected leopard and lion sightings, both of which I was too slow to photograph, perhaps due to my delayed reactions caused by the previous evening’s stresses.
Arriving at Berg-en-Dal, we found our accommodation very comfortable, but once again the internet connection too slow to upload photos for the blog.
Day 6 started out at a frenetic pace, had a bit of a lull in the middle and then finished frenetically again. I did not have internet connection on the evening of Day 5 to upload my blog post, woke up early on Day 6 and quickly uploaded the Day 5 post, before our 5:30 start.
Within minutes of being on the road, we came across our first sighting of the day, a lion couple mating.
The rest of the morning, it was mainly birds, which included a Pearl-spotted owlet, Greater Striped Swallows and an Openbill stork, and also a skink. On our way back to camp we saw a very peculiar “rock” which turned out to be a hippopotamus in a jacuzzi.
I managed to download, cull and backup my photos from the morning, thinking that this would give me a head start on the afternoon, little knowing that I would end up taking almost 1700 photos in two and a half hours in the afternoon.
The afternoon ride started with promise of leopard and wild dog sightings which had been reported during the morning. On our way to the first reported leopard sighting, to our great surprise, coming around a corner, we saw a leopard strolling along the road towards us. She crossed in front of us and casually disappeared in the bush.
Carrying on to the reported leopard sighting, we spotted the leopard’s prey in a tree and a large leopard resting on a branch.
After spending a while and deciding that he was unlikely to move soon, we carried on to the wild dog sighting. Arriving there, we were the only vehicle nearby and thus got a prime viewing spot. They were lying in a dry riverbed, most of them fast asleep. We sat watching them for a long time, but we decided to wait until the last possible minute before returning to camp. Our patience was well rewarded as they eventually woke up, started moving and crossed the road right in front of us.
On our way back to camp, we encountered an elephant roadblock, causing us to worry that we would be late getting back. Fortunately, they moved out of the way quite quickly and we made it back in time.
The evening was spent watching the rugby world cup semi-final between the Springboks and England. This was an unexpectedly stressful affair. With the frenetic pace of the day, this turned out to be the first day on which I didn’t even start working on my blog be the end of the day, but what a great day!
Day 5 started at 6:00, going a few kilometres north from Lower Sabie. We spent time at two dams next to the road, being entertained by numerous birds: various kinds of egrets, herons and storks, Hamerkop, Weavers, Kingfisher and an African Fish Eagle.
The Saddle Billed Stork did not like the others encroaching on his fishing spot and kept chasing them away.
A brief return to camp for coffee was followed by a drive to the south. We encountered a male lion in hot pursuit of a lioness, who appeared to be doing her best to ignore him.
Further south we also saw a cheetah in the distance, not interested in coming closer, so the best I could do was a landscape shot with a cheetah as part of the landscape.
We saw another Fish Eagle and a Tawny Eagle along the way, as well as many elephants.
We returned to camp for lunch and to download photos, of which I had about 1500 from the morning, in order to clean our cameras’ memory cards for the afternoon session.
In the afternoon we went north again, seeing birds, giraffe, buffalo
and eventually ending the afternoon with a big yawn or two.
This was a transit day between Satara and Lower Sabie, taking the scenic route, which meant that we were on the road for 8 hours.
Birds, elephants, landscapes and a few antelope made up the photography of the day.
A Scops owl, very well hidden in a tree and pointed out to us by the SanParks staff member at the picnic site:
A few more attempts at photographing birds in flight, again with limited success, included a Bateleur and Wahlberg’s eagle.
Other bird sightings included a Namaqua Dove, Red Billed Oxpecker and Crested Barbet
An amazing sight, was that of a Lilac Breasted Roller busy anting, a behaviour I have never seen before or even heard of.
The scenery along the way was truly beautiful.
The number of elephants was amazing, especially the number of little ones. We even saw one that must have been no more than a few hours old, still very unsteady on its feet and with blood still visible on the mother’s hind legs (my photos unfortunately not really worth posting, but Liana’s video to follow and will be linked here). And where there are elephants, there must be dung beetles.
Day 3 was an early start, queuing at the camp gate at 5:30 to be on the road at sunrise, exploring the area north of Satara, towards Olifants camp.
This turned out to be the day on which we found Wild dogs, after a long search, despite having been informed of their exact location. We eventually found them late morning, resting in deep shade among the trees, very hard to spot. As a result this was not an ideal photographic opportunity, but managed to take a few pics, just to document that we had seen them.
Much of the morning and later also the late afternoon was spent trying to photograph birds in flight, with limited success.
First, a pair of Fish Eagles at the viewing site at Olifants rest camp
Several attempts at Lilac Breasted Rollers (Troupant)
White-browed Coucal (Vleiloerie)
Southern Ground Hornbill
During the course of the day, we also saw quit a few elephants, a hyena, Kori Bustard, Red crested korhaan, Waterbuck, kudu
and a bit frustratingly, given my dislike of baboons, probably my best photo of the day, a troupe of baboons in a tree at Olifants bridge.
We also managed to get a family portrait of some lions in the grass,
saw some elephants crossing the Olifants river
and played around with some landscape and sunset/sunburst photos.
We ended the day with some venison sausage and chicken kebabs on the braai.
Hennie and Bernhard of B1 Photo Safaris picked us up at 06h30, to go looking for Wild Dogs, but we only found vultures in the location where the Wild Dogs had been seen earlier.
Along the way we also saw some Hornbills
and Nyala
The bird sightings continued with a Brown Hooded Kingfisher and a rare sighting of a Verreaux Eagle-Owl sitting out in the open.
Then it was time to move on from Skukuza to Satara, with some great sightings along the way. First was a Giant Plated Lizard and a few metres away a Rock Monitor.
We also found a lion sleeping in the middle of the road, some giraffes, elephants, steenbok and many impala
But the most exciting of the day, was a leopard which we nearly missed because it was lying partially hidden under a bush. When we stopped, it got up and crossed the road right in front of us.
Just before arriving at Satara, Bernhard got news that the unique white lion, which lives in the area, had been seen just north of the camp. Arriving at the sighting, there was the expected traffic jam, everybody wanting to see the lion, with the lion fast asleep next to its brother, ignoring the cars and people.
We decided to check in to our accommodation first and then went back for a second look. He was still quite lazy, but at least lifted his head, yawned and then got up to move a few metres before lying down again, giving us some opportunities for photos.
We were very excited for our first visit to Kruger National Park since our honeymoon 34 years ago. Little did we know, when planning the trip, that we would start out quite as exhausted after staying up late to watch the Springboks beat France in a very tense Rugby World Cup semifinal and then having to rise very early to be at the airport on time.
Our flight from Gqeberha to OR Tambo International airport was uneventful. At OR Tambo we had a few hours layover and decided to grab a Wimpy burger for brunch.
From OR Tambo, we got an Airlink flight to Skukuza.
We arrived in overcast conditions
After being welcomed by Hennie and Bernhard from B1 Photo Safaris and checking in to our accommodation at Sanparks Skukuza Rest Camp, we went for our first drive in the Park. It soon started raining and as a result, there wasn’t much opportunity for photography. We saw a fresh leopard kill in a tree near the camp, but no leopard in sight.
Our next sighting was of a very lazy honeymoon couple resting next to the road,
followed by a very wet Black-winged kite.
On our way back to the camp we stopped off at the leopard kill again, but still no leopard in sight. However, a few hyenas were seen walking down the road nearby.
Back to camp for an early supper and catching up some lost sleep.
On a weekend of storms along the South African coast, coinciding with spring tide, much damage was suffered along the coast, but there was also spectacular beauty to be found.
Along the P1661 between Calitzdorp and Van Wyksdorp, a magnificently scenic route, possible to drive with a normal car in perfect weather, but best done with a higher clearance vehicle. The Rooiberg Pass and Assegaaibosch Pass lie along this route.
Etienne's Camera 