Quite one of the best game drives I have ever been on! We headed for Red Rocks, a place where the sandy Shongweni riverbed is cut by a different geological layer resulting in an impressive cataract / waterfall.
To get back to camp we had two options: Back the way we’d come with a wall of green Mopani woodland on either side, or cross the river and head north and downstream along the left bank on a route I remembered as more open savannah dotted with big trees and glimpses of the sandy riverbed en route.
So glad we chose the latter.
It was beautiful. Miles of mixed herds of zebra, impala and wildebeest, lots of giraffe – up to sixteen in a bunch; one herd of eles with tiny babies; many waterbuck with young; one solitary warthog that got a fright, then chased our car like a dog!
The light was perfect, the trees – jackalberry, sycamore fig, fever tree, nyala, natal mahogany, mopani, apple-leaf – magnificent. The open grasslands between were a relief from miles of Mopani and that’s where the rutting impala ram noisily chased his target doe for the day; zebras kicked each other, raising dust, and wildebeests stared dopily while lying in the shade. The eles were peaceful except for one young bull who swore at us and raised his middle trunk as we passed.
Hornbills, including the big ‘Thunderbirds’ shown, fish eagles, puffbacks, go-away birds, weavers, 3-banded plover, crowned lapwing, hamerkop, drongo. All ‘ordinary’ birds and animals but in a wonderful quintessential African setting on a lovely cloud-and-blue-sky day.
Progress on the panelbeating of the Ford Ranger, but no end-date yet, as sourcing parts aint easy, her being a 2008 model n all. Also slowing progress is that scourge of old vehicles, *rust*!
So Jess and I did our usual dash to Kruger park. Waiting is hell in a town, bliss in a game reserve.
We got one night in Mopani camp, three nights in Shingwedzi. On arrival here, we snagged another two, making this a lovely 5-night stay in one of our favourite camps.
Lush green growth and lots of surface water after recent rains, so animals quite scarce. Some roads closed due to flood damage and much repair and reconstruction going on. Nature looking good, its our man-made infrastructure that gets damaged.
The couple camped permanently are still here. We met them when we had an mfezi in our bonnet some time ago. That’ll be well over two years they’ve been camped on the same spot in Shingwedzi!
One day we must ask to stay in one of the older bungalows here:
Hey, we got one of the 1935 huts! See how they’re much as they were back then – on the outside. The interiors are new and smart. Tiled, big shower, fully-equipped kitchen on the lovely shady porch.
Those mopani tree trunks in the foreground look only a little thicker after 85yrs!
– last drive on a drizzly day – – Bennets Woodpecker female –– Bronze-winged Courser –– tiny tortoise – about 90mm nose to tail –
Jess and I needed to get away – waiting for the insurance company to make a decision on our damaged vehicle was taking forever – so we chose one of our favourite places, Kruger National Park. For the first time we stayed in Orpen camp, the only camp we had never stayed in. And what a lovely little camp it is too.
We chose the Renosterkoppies road to Lower Sabie. Too beautiful. I’d love to drive it again with more time; take drinks and lunch along.
In camp, a rasping ruckus drew my attention to a furious Black-collared Barbet chasing a Lesser Honeyguide wanting to lay an egg in his nest. I’ve seen that dogfight before.
In the river and at sunset dam, Egyptian Geese, Black-wing Stilt, Black-wing Lapwing, Spoonbill, Three-Banded Plover, Hamerkop, Buffalo Weavers, White-faced Whistling Duck, Hadeda Ibis, Indian Myna, Yellow-billed Stork, fifteen Grey Heron on one tiny island in the river, Reed Cormorant, Black Crake, Village Weaver,
Crocodile bridge camp
A lovely Robin trifecta! Bearded Scrub Robin, White-browed (Heuglins/Hooligans) Robin-Chat, White-throated Robin-Chat. Three cuckoos, Red-chested, Diederik and a Klaas’ male courting his love interest, tirelessly bringing her grubs and finding her no matter where she moved to in a big sycamore fig. Three barbets, Black-collared, Yellow-rumped Tinker bird and an Acacia Pied; Terrestrial Brownbul, White-bellied Sunbird, Spectacled Weaver pair, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Trumpeter Hornbill, Bulbul, Brubru, Lesser Honeyguide calling from a calling post above us, Sombre Greenbul, Gymnogene Harrier-Hawk,
Twenty giraffe in a group just outside camp; A croc eating a zebra; A snooze of eleven lionesses and cubs in shade on a riverbed; inside the camp, a number of bushbuck does, one with a tiny fawn, and one ram.
Park, watch and listen. The creatures will come, almost anywhere. That’s my theory (I have many). Take coffee.
See this pic of one of my stakeouts? There are lots and lots of creatures watching me and listening intently, methinks. So I counter-lurk, waiting for them to make a move or a chirp. I do this regularly. The theory hypothesises thus: As you drive or walk in nature, all the creatures think, Hark! A dangerous predator approacheth. The most dangerous one, in fact. So they keep tjoepstil, duck behind a leaf or a branch, a bush or below the grass, depending on where they find themselves and how big or small they are. And freeze. You then hove into view making a helluva racket – and that’s when you’re tip-toeing and not talking. Once you’re safely past they give a giggle (interpreted by ethologists as an ‘all-clear’ signal which correctly interpreted says “intruder’s gone”) and carry on with their daily business. This explains why you can go on a long ‘birding walk’ and see buggerall; then in camp over a cold beer you can be mobbed by flocks.
Phabeni Gate and upper Sabie River area
As Jess was studying for her nature guide course online exam, holed up in our room at Sleepover, where we found good wifi signal, I went for morning drives, entering the Kruger through Phabeni Gate nearby. In the park, Jess prefers to keep moving – ‘it’s called a Game *Drive* for a reason, Dad’ – so this is my chance to practice my gentle lurking skills. By doing one of my patented lurks: Sort of Game ‘Parking.’ Saving diesel.
Forgot my coffee the first morning, so bought a cuppa from this mobile caffeine pusher at the gate. Thutty five South African Ront, followed by his salesman patter, ‘It’s usually forty Ront, but you are my first customer this fine morning.’ It was indeed a fine morning, so he got R35 plus a R5 tip.
Soon a Dark Chanting Goshawk started chanting on the uppermost twigs;
a Slender Mongoose stared at me briefly after crossing the road to the left; a Grey Duiker and tiny fawn dashed across the road to the right – I wondered if something was chasing them; nothing appeared; Redheaded Weavers were nesting in the untidy grassy nests, a Sabota Lark started singing.
Goshawk, Weaver & Lark
Brubru, Black Flycatcher, Rattling Cisticola, Southern Black Tit, Fork-tailed Drongo, Cape Turtle Dove, Blue Waxbill, Golden-breasted Bunting, Crested Barbet, Grey Hornbill, Bulbul, Gorgeous Bush-shrike, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove; Here’s a Black-crowned Tchagra, thanks to xeno-canto.org
At my next stakeout, within earshot of the Sabie river, a big Boer Bean Schotia, an Apple-leaf in flower, and a Marula were the trees I could identify. Green Pigeon, Red-eyed Dove, White-bellied Sunbird, Violet-backed Starling feasting on berries, Burchell’s Starling, Greater Blue-eared glossy Starling, Fish Eagle, Black-bellied Starling, Marico Sunbird. And a juvenile Martial Eagle being escorted off the premises by a Drongo.
~~oo0oo~~
Once Jess tagged along and we drove the right bank of the Sabie. We* saw more animals, tis true, including these, plus impala and nyala.
*We – Jess slept for more than half the drive!
~~oOo~~
audio from xeno-canto.org – thank you – a wonderful site
Jess is an amazing spotter. She has spotted two snakes in trees, one snake I had missed on the ground and once in Shingwedzi campsite she said, Dad, a snake just fell out of that tree! If it had been anyone else I’d have laughed and said, ‘Pull The Other One,’ but being Jess, I knew a snake had just dropped out of a tree.
Now she said, Dad, there’s a warthog in that tree! and of course there was, and now she was trying to get me to spot the leopard that had put it up there.
There, Dad! His ear flicked! I stared and stared through my Zeiss binocs. I double- and triple-checked I was looking in the right place. We carefully tracked the rock, the branch and the twig where she was looking, but each ear twitch and each I can see his spots through a gap in the branches had me thinking, the wind has stirred a leaf, or she’s seeing dappled sunlight.
After thirty minutes of focused peering and Jessie’s exasperation at Dof Dad: ‘Omigoodness Jess, a leopard just sat up! Right there where you said!’
Hot days, windy days, rainy days, cooler and even some cold weather. At first we could only snare four nights in the Kruger Park. Letaba, Skukuza, Satara and Pretoriuskop camps. One night each as we were asking for ‘any available space for tonight? ‘ Later we left the park to spend six nights just outside Phabeni gate for strong wifi and aircon for Jess as she wrote online exams; Then back into the park for two nights in Lower Sabie camp and our last night at Crocodile Bridge camp. That was the first time we’d stayed in those lovely camps. Now the only camps we haven’t yet stayed in are Malelane, Orpen and Pafuri Border Camp. We’ll get to them one day.
Lots of eles, huge herds of buffalo, plenty antelope and the most predators I’ve seen over such a short time. Three lion sightings, a dozen hyena sightings including three dens with pups, two leopard sightings, four Slender Mongoose, two Dwarf Mongoose. One hyena was going Hnngnng! then looked at us and said, Do You MInd?!
So we searched for a leopard. ‘I see him, he’s flicking his ear,’ said Jess. Thirty minutes later I finally saw him when he sat up!
At last I also see it!
At Skukuza a last-minute cancellation got us a chalet instead of camping, to Jessie’s delight. AND it was a brand-new bungalow, which Terry Brauer had told us about just a day or so before!
Two days later, 100km south of the first leopard: ‘There! Walking to the right!’ Jess again:
In the shop at PretoriusKop a lovely friendly lady takes my payment and says, “I recognise you guys, you were here two years ago.” Wow! Or did the till show we’d last purchased there two years ago? Anyway, friendly!
‘Pee two-by-two,’ said their teacher, standing at the door, not wanting to enter the gents. They heard, but were too busy staring at the ancient pale fella who had pushed ahead of them with apologies to them and their teacher. I was BUSTING, two coffees over budget.
Hordes of preschoolers in green t-shirts on a Kruger Park outing, each one cuter than the next. The girls were queueing next door. Three could finish pee-ing, staring at me from knee-height while I stood sighing with relief. One engaged me in earnest conversation while we both aimed at the porcelain. I caught ‘granpa’ mkhulu and ‘elephant’ ndlovu, so I just nodded and agreed. I’m sure it was complimentary.
You’re a star, well done! I said to teacher as I left. She grinned and told the next four to go in, trying in vain to get them to pee duets, but they carried on going one at a time. Obviously soloists.
As I left another teacher was taking their pics one by one in front of the huge bronze bust of Oom President Paul Kruger!
Teachers are under-rated.
~~oo0oo~~
The image is kids from Skukuza primary school on a litter cleanup day – thanks, Citizen newspaper
We took the eastern vlei route northwards, from before Mopane camp – the road less travelled. Lemme check the map: It’s the Nshawu waterholes route and leads past the Grootvlei dam and Shibavantsengele viewpoint on the Mocambique border. I loved it. Some open plains and vleis for a change from dense Mopane trees and Mopane scrub. Many herds of zebra and wildebees, some waterbuck, a few impala, and a few huge ele bulls…
Also Chestnut-backed Sparrow-lark on the gravel roads and flocks of Wattled Starling (some in full wattle).
At Shingwedzi, a Hamerkop, a juvenile Little Sparrowhawk hunting, Green Woodhoopoe, Golden-tailed & Bearded Woodpecker, Red-billed & Yellow-billed Hornbill, Arrow-marked Babbler, and a noisy early morning Hooligan’s Robin (actually White-browed Robin-chat),
A Rock Monitor Lizard came to visit Jess at the chalet. She told it to footsack in ruder language than that.
Rescued! After eight days of blissful peace I started worrying. I remembered the long spanner I need to free my spare wheel from under the bakkie is in the camper in Pretoria. A flat would leave me stranded. I approached a sensible fellow Ford Ranger driver who is headed out on a wilderness walk tomorrow and he rescued me in a jiffy. Now I have a dusty spare wheel inside the cab where I can get to it, the nuisance of its bulk almost guaranteeing I won’t have a flat.
Jessie followed the route of all (OK, this) weevil, calling me across to photograph it. She then bravely also took pics with my camera’s super-macro. In my pic you may notice the bugs eyes are wider cos there was a lot of wheezing in getting down on my knees.
A pair of Bennett’s Woodpeckers foraged right outside our chalet.
That’s it. After ten lovely nights in Kruger we’re on our way home.
We’re back in the Kruger Park as we wait for our camper to be de-rusted. Staying in chalets, to Jessie’s delight.
Late afternoon view across the Letaba from the restaurant stoep.
Restaurant Scops owlet – right above one of the outdoor tables.
Four kingfishers. Here’s the Woodland:
The Letaba eles and squirrels and monkeys were all well-behaved. The daughter not so much when I said Hey, Smile! in the elephant museum.
Lots of tree squirrels in camp. One darting across my path looked different. Turned out to be a Dwarf Mongoose living under the spreading root mass of a palm tree.
Then the peace was disturbed by a flurry of phone calls where we could barely hear each other and a stream of messages I couldn’t reply to. Very poor comms. All were accusing me of getting older on April Fools Day, some using rude language like ‘septuagenerian’ is there even such a thing? Time to move camp…
I was camping in Berg n Dal camp in the SE of the park around 8th Feb 2023. It rained quite hard in the night. My AHA camper stayed warm n dry, passing the test, so I was pleased about that!
Steady rain continued while I packed up, aiming north and west for a lon-anticipated visit to a new place.
East at first towards the main N-S road in the park, then North, Headed for Skukuza. On the easterly leg, three sopping wet little lion cubs emerged from the wet grass and crossed the tar road all alone. Hopefully their mother/s were nearby.
Seventeen kilometres South of Skukuza I tried an alternative route a dirt road. The sign said Skukuza 19km, so slightly longer, but the dirst roads always seem more enticing. A few k’s on, a stream crossed the road about 40m wide, shallow except for a section on the far side where the main current ran and I had no way of determining the depth in that 10m strip. I stared a while but then turned back. Discretion. It was still raining steadily.
North of Skukuza toward Tshokwane, all side roads had signs up Road Closed, or branches blocking them off.
The next day 9th Feb, I got to Kai and Mandy’s lodge in Jejane, on land bordering Kruger Park – and open to the park, fences down – on the east side. What a beautiful place, that I had heard of years and was visiting for the first time.
We heard the next morning that Tshokwane got 340mm in 10hrs the next day! Whoa! That’s buckets!
More and more roads were closed, then camps were closed . .
Then the whole KNP closed – A rare occasion!
Within a day or two they started re-opening section by section, bridge by bridge and camp by camp.. .. I enjoyed a great stay at Jejane, leaving on the morning of the 13th.
Pre-sunrise at Punda Maria camp waterhole. I decide to make coffee to ‘take with,’ so it’s fully light when I get into the hide, and the sun is about to show. It’s Feb 2024
The resident Egyptian Geese, Blacksmith Lapwings, Three-banded Plovers; and foam nest frog nests are there. A Bearded Woodpecker drums a tattoo in a dead tree while a Cape Turtle Dove exhorts me to Work Harder. Good luck with that, I’ve been ignoring them for almost four years now. Two damp Striped Kingfishers sit in the falling mist, not quite a drizzle, giving their trilling call. A Brown-hooded Kingfisher silent nearby. A Tawny-flanked Prinia going crazy, scolding something I can’t see. Also Fork-tailed Drongo, Red-backed Shrike, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Chinspot Batis, Pintail Whydah, Blue & Lipstick waxbills (I don’t like the word ‘common’), Paradise Whydah, Red-billed Oxpecker, European & Carmine Bee-eaters; Greater blue-eared Glossy Starling, GHS girls (Grey-headed Sparrows), Laughing, Emerald & Cape Turtle Doves; Mosque, Barn & Lesser-striped Swallows; Puffback & Red-back Shrikes; Red-billed Quelea flock; Red-Billed firefinch, Indigo bird, Lilac-breasted Roller, Crested Barbet, Grey Goway Bird, Black-crowned Tchagra, Arrow-marked Babbler, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Dusky & Paradise flycatchers; Long-billed Crombec, White-browed (Hooligans) Robin-chat. A great morning.
Somewhere in the middle distance eles rumble and baboons bark. A flock of White Helmet-shrikes – The Seven Sisters – fly into the hide tree just a few metres from me. I get a blurry pic.
A skreee from a Blacksmith Lapwing announces a raptor and there he is: A Little Sparrowhawk strafes low over the water, then banks up and lands in a tall mopani tree too far away for a definite ID, but his size tells me he’s a Little.
Now those eles arrive to drink, and one drops a huge dump while doing so. I zoom in on their dry skin.
Uh oh! Three primates enter the hide. Loud talk and cigarette smoke sets off my internal alarm. Oh well, I enjoyed a lovely couple of early morning hours alone at the hide. Time to wake Jess up for breakfast in the hut she hired after tiring of camping!
~~oo0oo~~
Places nearby
Luvhuvhu river banks White-fronted Bee-eater Collared & White-bellied Sunbirds Brubru Kurrichane Thrush Black flycatcher White-crowned Lapwing Bob the Sandpiper (common) Marsh Sandpiper Orange-breasted Bush-shrike Tambourine Dove
I felt like a Peeping Tom! Just a few metres below me, in clear water, naked bodies frolic’d underwater. One gave a tiny fart and it bubbled up to the surface. They kept their heads down as long as they could, but every now and then they’d have to stick their noses out to breathe. Sometimes just their nostrils, sometimes eyes and nostrils. A mouth-breathing hippo would have a major problem.
Fish nibbled at their thick hides and a terrapin shuffled past them underwater, making sure not to get underfoot.
A hippo pod lurking in a pool. Up close! Often seen from afar in brown muddy water; only once before seen this close. This time was below a bridge across the Letaba river in the Kruger National Park. The other time was in even clearer water in Tsavo National Park, at Mzima Springs in Kenya.
Plaf Plaf Plaf Plaf Plaf (growing louder) *Huff Puff Huff* PlafPlafPlaf Plaf ( fading away) Ermigawd I’m back in the Kruger Park.
The Kruger’s most abundant dangerous mammal is jogging round n round, earphones on, carrying a bottle of ‘pure’ water trucked in from hundreds of miles away, belching diesel fumes.
And again. And again. Eight laps at least, three joggers, running separately. All seem to be wearing Adidas three sizes too big, judging by the hollowness of the Plaf. Then peace descends. They’re finished. Or, Deo Volente, been eaten by a lion.
We’re camping in Letaba camp. Now the evening sounds can begin. I’m waiting for a Pearl-spotted Owlet, but nope, first to call is the Barred, then later the Scops owls. Hyenas whoop; Hippos guffaw and snigger at their own dirty jokes; fart jokes, I bet. A Bushbaby cries, followed by a loud bellow. An Ele? No, more bovine. A Buffalo?
Must remember the rule though: For any mystery noise in a game reserve, always suspect Homo sapiens, so I can’t rule out a happy camper’s bowels being the source.
Then a Spotted Eagle Owl; Then – quieter and much nearer – another hyena? I roll onto my back to free both ears so I can listen in stereo.
Nope, just Jess having a mild little argument in her sleep, half sleep-talking. Sleep-mumbling.
~~oo0oo~~
The next night the same sounds, plus a lion’s roar. When it gets light I go for a walk along the Letaba river boundary of the camp. Lazybones Jess grunts ‘No’ and rolls up tighter under her duvet, so she misses out on seeing a distant pride of lionesses and cubs on the flood plain.
The Kruger National Park is easy, convenient, good roads; most camps have camping as well as chalets; also shops, so Jess is happy; she can bail out of camping and book a chalet when the weather gets rough – in this case, HOT! And she did, she certainly did. We camped less than a week, we chalet’d more.
Following a well-worn trail we trekked up to Harrismith and enjoyed a lovely night at Pierre and Erika’s home. Again. Then on to the splendid hospitality of the Brauers in Tshwane, home of the ancestral Tshwanepoels. Again. One doesn’t need to eat vegetables for months after a Terry dinner, as I have to eat Brauer’s veggies as well. He’s pure carnivore.
Then a four-year reunion of six colleagues who met as first year optometry students exactly – gulp! – fifty years ago.
– 1974’s eighteen year-olds –
On to Phalaborwa and into the park. But not before I’d gunned the old bus up Magoebaskloof pass, passing a much younger Toyota and Ranger and causing a high-pitched squeal from under the bonnet. It sounded like a fanbelt and it stopped when I switched off the aircon. This made me happier and Jess sadder, so we spent the next morning watching handsome young rooikop Pieter fixing the belt tensioning bolt, WTMB. Jess confessed later she’d been watching his pert blue-overalled bum as he leaned into the engine bay.
With our coolness restored and the 2008 Ford Ranger looking like a million dollars R600 later, we headed for Letaba camp, on the way spotting a ratel (honey badger) carrying its prey – a likkewaan (monitor lizard) about a third of its bulk. A special sighting! After staring at it in wonder through my Zeiss binocs, I remembered the camera just as it trotted off.
On the banks of the Letaba river, lots of hippos in and out of the water. About twenty floating while a dozen, including a small calf, grazed in full sun on a hot day!
Herds of eles. We drove into one herd as we rounded a corner. Got flapped at by go-away ears on our close left and right. I obliged. Jess needs lots of space between her and eles, and I’m happy to oblige. I don’t need to interfere with their lives, I just want to watch them.
In Letaba I had a problem with the stupidest primate in the whole Kruger National Park. Homo sapiens. Me. I left my car door open for “just a minute” as I went to our nearby safari tent and a vervet got my nuts. My luxury tree nuts from Checkers. That primate is a big problem. Hopefully he can evolve and improve his focus and short-term memory.
More Homo sapiens grumbles. I am not a hunter. But if I was I would maybe consider missing (shoo-ing, not shooting) three kinds of animals in the Kruger: – People on their phones talking to Venda or Cape Town at a volume appropriate to the distance. One was telling someone to drink eight glasses of water a day, and take rehidrate morning n evening. *sigh* Kak advice and I must listen to it. – Rugged camper okes using their fancy electric n mechanical camping aids, such as aircon running all night in they karavaan; Ryobi hammer nut-tighteners on their levelling jacks; and remote-controlled motorised jockey wheels! – Joggers plaf plaf plaffing round camp panting and thinking of Comrades or Waai-tality points, checking their odometers and their heartache, you know the type. Otherwise I’m chilled. I wave at them and force a grin. I very seldom shoot them.
Beautiful dawn chorus in the mornings, the new members being Mourning Doves; the oboists in the background were our biggest hornbills. If they formed a band they should call it The Leadbeaters.
Bucorvus leadbeaterii
– ve oom’s crocs –
Later I heard a sound I thought might be the Red-billed Hornbill tutting slower than usual, but it was a croc! Well, an oom’s Croc. He was walking past on his way to ablute, and his left Croc was squeaking.
Martial, Bateleur, Fish, Wahlberg & Brown Snake Eagles; Brown-headed Parrot, Puffback, European Bee-eater, Lilac-breasted Roller, Marabou Stork. Night sounds included nagapie (bush baby / galago) crying, Levaillants Cuckoo, Scops & Pearlspotted Owls; Crowned Lapwing. Hippos grunted and hyenas wailed.
Bush Shrike & Bush Snake
In Shingwedzi camp Jess said, Dad! A snake just fell out of that tree! She pointed at about six mopani trees. I couldn’t spot it, but I know Jess spots things, so I walked towards the trees. A helpful Grey-headed Bush Shrike flew down next to the snake. The Spotted Bush Snake fled up the tree trunk, and the bird buzzed off before I could get a pic of its beautiful colours. That would have made a stunning pic. Oh, well, here’s the skinny lil colourful snake on his own:
We met up with the caravanners who’d helped with our mfezi invasion last year. They have now been camped in the same spot in Shingwedzi campsite for over fifteen months. They reported that the snake had visited them some time later, and been removed from their caravan tent by the same Ranger Shadrack, resident snake catcher.
On to Punda Maria where we camped right next to the lovely pool; Twice a day we cooled down in the heat. Then Jess said, Whoa Dad! It’s too hot! booked a chalet and switched on the aircon. All the units had these noisy old window-rattler aircons! Aargh! Ah Haydim, as Bob Friderichs used to say.
Technocamping! Fanie arrived and porked his cor. Martie hopped out and watched, tjoepstil, as Fanie hak’d af and started manoefring ve treiler wif a remote control ding. After a while I thought I’ll just record this, and filmed a bit of ou Faan’s faan. Or fun. It was all worth it op die ou einde, the West Wing and the Norf Wing were ontplooi’d, and the double verdieping rose up. Once ve satelliet dish was up he could settle down and watch rugby. Just as if he’d stayed home by the house. Pic to come
That was ten days in the park and we left Pafuri gate after visiting the very special Pafuri picnic spot on the Luvhuvhu river and Crooks Corner where Moz, Zim and SA meet.
Handyman Running Repairs
I’d been flagged down twice driving around by kind drivers stopping me to inform me ‘your number plate is ‘falling off.’ It’s not, it’s just creatively attached, vertically instead of horizontally. But now two camouflaged soldiers with R1 automatic rifles stepped out of the shade of a baobab and told me the same alarming tale. I told them my same response, ‘Thanks, but I can’t fix it now as ibhubesi might eat me.’ Usually that got a sage nod of agreement, but these gents said, ‘Nah, no problem! You can get out here and fix it!’ brandishing their weapons. That put me on the spot. I hopped out thinking, I spose at this stage a rugged oke would haul out his full toolkit, start his generator, power up his drill and choose the right bolt n nut from his annotated collection. I opened the back of our camper and aha! found what I needed to effect a permanent repair: Jessie’s pink sneakers. Sorted.
Next stop Nthakeni Bush Camp where owners Kobus and Annelise have set up lovely duo Gloria and Thelma to run their own Thusani Shack Restaurant independently.
We enjoyed two full English breakfasts – with a large helping of potato slap chips – and two huge suppers of their homegrown chicken, pap, veg & salad; then beef stew, rice, veg & salad. The third night we just sat outside our chalet and burped.
– Muriel and Jessie –
Now, after about six nights camping and seven in chalets, we headed west – on to Kaoxa Bush Camp and Mapungubwe National Park, where Bots, Zim and SA meet, and David Hill’s mate has a wonderful bush camp.
. . is beautiful. The sandy rivers have huge fig, jackalberry, apple-leaf, marula, nyala and thorn trees along their banks. Lots of shade.
The surrounding area is dominated by mopani woodland and mopani scrub. Little shade.
When Jess chooses to loaf in camp, I go on slow short drives consisting mainly of parking and letting the birds come to me. When she comes along there’s more searching for furry creatures.
On one of those I left early to the sound of a booming duet: There aren't, There aren't, There arent any earthworms! There are There are, Dig Deeper, Dig Deeper! of a pair of Ground Hornbills.
Later, when watching a pair of Jacobin Cuckoos chasing each other round and round my parked car, the distant sound of a lion giving his best constipated rendition: Ooom, ooom, ooh, uh uh uh
– Jess finds the third leopard of our trip in a faraway tree –– me n Jess’ travels in the park in pink –
After three nights in Shingwedzi I said Punda Maria next, Jess? But she said, Whoa! Dad. Three weeks is enough. I need some DSTV and aircon. So we left the park thru the Phalaborwa gate and Jess found a chalet with her essential necessities. There was good birding there, and a great outdoor shower. Phalaborwa Safari Park.
Chuffed to have spent my longest spell in Kruger yet. More to come, I hope!
