Delana & I drove from Pearly Beach to Sabie Park, arriving late afternoon on the 10th October. We then had two days to get the house organised before our guests arrived. They had had a few days exploring the Cape & winelands before flying into Skukuza. They all arrived on time, then it was a rush to get the two vehicles ready for our little trip into Kruger.
They have arrived!
As usual Elephants at the garden fence.
At the Sabie River.
Hamerkop
Giant Kingfisher
Nyalas are daily visitors to the garden
We now have three baby
Giraffes in Sabie Park.
We left home early on 13th to drive north to Mopane Camp. It is a long drive north up the main tar road, but there is always something of interest to see.
Spotted Hyena
White-backed Vulture
White-headed Vulture
Elephants crossing the Sand River.
There was a Lion kill just off the road & frustratingly out of our sight, but six or seven Spotted Hyenas were milling around together with some Vultures awaiting their turn.
White-faced Whistling Duck
White-backed Duck
An uncommon & erratic visitor to Kruger.
Saddle-billed Stork
Nesting nearby.
Black Stork
Wood Sandpiper, a returning migrant.
A quick stop at Leeupan produced 3 White-backed Ducks, always a surprise here.
A family party of Southern Ground Hornbills
were nearby.
Waterbuck are a regular at this pan.
A quick stop at the Letaba River Bridge.
A lot of sediment has been brought down with
the recent floods.
Enjoying the sunshine!
We arrived at Mopani Camp late afternoon & settled in for a nice evening.
The obligatory Tropic of Capricorn photo!
The day started overcast & misty.
For some of the way the road parallels the river.
Elephants crossing in the far distance.
Dead Giraffe: 2 Water Dikkops at the side.
As we drove north, the sun came out!
Just trying black & white out,
to see what it looks like!
The next day we continued driving north along the main road. Game were not abundant, but we did see a few things along the way.
We arrived at Pafuri Border Post mid-afternoon & settled into our accommodation, which was a spacious old house called Mockford Cottage. It is on the top of a small hill, with nice views over the bushveld.
Crooks Corner
Looking into Mozambique.
The gang!
Luvuvhu River
Crocodiles are both large & common here!
Male Nyala
Female
This species is very common in the far
north of the park.
Male Impala with
Yellow-billed Oxpecker.
Beautiful riverine forest.
Transitional forest from riverine to the drier bush.
Female Kudu
Plains Zebra
Baobabs dominate the landscape
away from the river.
We spent the next few days exploring the Pafuri area. Unless one stays here it is impossible to bird here in the early morning. All the accommodation options other than the Pafuri Border Post are too far away & one doesn't arrive until mid-morning.
Cape Buffalo
Yellow-billed Oxpeckers are common
in the north of the park.
Blue Wildebeast
Very common here.
Baboons are abundant.
Southern Ground Hornbill
Catching insects/day flying moths.
Kori Bustard
Swainson's Spurfowl
White-fronted Bee-eater
Common along the river.
Coughing up a pellet.
Little Bee-eater
African Cuckoo
Black Cuckoo
Broad-billed Roller
Lilac-breasted Roller
Meeve's Starling
African Hoopoe
Kurrichane Thrush
Eastern Bearded Scrub-Robin
Delana at the Luvuvhu River Bridge.
Little Swift
Bat-like Spinetail Swift
We visited the Luvuvhu Bridge late afternoon & managed to pick out two Bat-like Spinetail Swifts among all the Little Swifts. Very difficult to photograph, as they are both erratic & very fast fliers! Not to mention their small size!
Lemon-breasted Canary
This species tends to be hard to find,
never mind photograph!
We ere lucky when five Lemon-breasted Canaries flew in & started feeding on weeds in the river. Three flew off but a couple stayed behind, so I got distant photographs.
Tseebee
Always hard to find in Kruger.
Large-Spotted Genet came to visit!
On 18th October we drove a little way south to spend two nights in the Sirheni Bushcamp. This is a small bushcamp tucked away (& when we were there had only a few visitors). It is a lovely peaceful place to stay.
An old male Cape Buffalo
A large herd of Waterbuck
We did see three male Lions along the river.
Reaching for the tastiest of fruit!
Yellow-billed Stork
Little (Striated) Heron
The next day we drove south along the loop which parallels the river. We didn't see anything too exciting but it was a lovely drive with nice morning light.
Two young males, having a test of their strength.
A pair of Steenbook.
The male is attempting to mate.
White-headed Vulture.
White-backed Vulture
Secretarybird
On the hunt!
Brown-headed Parrot
On 20th October we left Sirheni Camp & headed south for the long drive home to Sabie Park. We saw a few things along the way but the main purpose was to get home in daylight in order to pack away some of our stuff from this trip.
The 21st October was spent in Nelspruit Hospital getting my fifth round of chemotherapy. They have now introduced a fourth chemo drug to my system which is a biological inhibitor, which directly attacks the cancer cells in my liver. Let us hope it works! Our guests spent the day in Kruger & had fantastic views of a Leopard! Niklas left for Sweden the next day.
African Fish Eagle
African Hawk Eagle, bathing.
Purple-crested Turaco
Bernt & Ruthie spent the next two days in Kruger, while Delana & myself stayed home. We had a lot to do! On the 24th we drove them to Skukuza Airport & they left for home. It had been great having them here. Nice like-minded people.
Delana, making the best of the heat!
The next few days were incredibly hot. Temperatures rose to an incredible 40 degrees C! We were busy getting ready for our next trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment