A cat or a lifer a day keep the doctor away

[Lisbeth]

I the little grebe with chicks

Also the kudu sequence is not bad

[Richprins]

Pics of the trip so far, the chicks, Pumbaa!

The first kudu shot also really did it for me!

As you say, those look like foreign weeds, maybe Klippies can identify?

[Mel]

I fell off the waggon a long time ago... -school hit me hard and in the evenings I just didn't find the energy to read anything anymore.
But now I've spend about an hour or so, catching up on your travel tale and of course, your sightings and photos are wonderful as we know it.
Your bird photos are grand throughout. Even the odd feeding raptor

I loved the vervets on page 10. Especially the one where mum is cradling her child. Beautiful

On page 11 the bunting gave me giggle. It looks a bit sodden indeed. (The same again with the roller on page 19 and the drenched owl on page 22 ) And beautiful landscape right after the birdie, too.

Great photo of the bats on page 12 And an interesting encounter between the impies and the hyena and kinda the croc too.

Page 14 - a very rare heron chick sighting. Awesome! And the dragonfly following is pretty.

The zebbies on page 15 look rather dark throughout. Not like having wallowed in a puddle of mud but as if the white stripes were red-brown by default. Lovely mirroring pic of the dabchick on that page as well. And that lion sighting - flabbertastic

Totally adorable zebra foal on page 16

Flasher bateleurs on page 17 Handsome

Does that first - and extremely impressive - tusker on page 18 have a name? He does look to be in better condition than the one before. Possibly a bit younger and therefore better fed. The other looked a bit thin around the spine.

Awww, the guineafowl chicks are super sweet too.

The dikkop with the tiny terrapin on page 26 - And the dabchick with the chick(s) hiding in her plumage in your last instalment - extraordinary

Overall you did seem to have quite some rainy days. But Kruger still delivered a leopard on one of those days.

[Pumbaa]

The little grebe on the nest with chicks is just excellent supercool

We were over the moon when we discovered the chicks and then stayed there quite long

Amazing sighting of the Dabchick!

Needless to say that Timon made a couple of shots from the dabchicks

I the little grebe with chicks

Also the kudu sequence is not bad

The chicks were so cute and the kudus so relaxed

[Pumbaa]

Pics of the trip so far, the chicks, Pumbaa!

The first kudu shot also really did it for me!

As you say, those look like foreign weeds, maybe Klippies can identify?

We do have a similar weed over here as well Also for us those dabchick chicks were very special

I fell off the waggon a long time ago... -school hit me hard and in the evenings I just didn't find the energy to read anything anymore.
But now I've spend about an hour or so, catching up on your travel tale and of course, your sightings and photos are wonderful as we know it.
Your bird photos are grand throughout. Even the odd feeding raptor

I loved the vervets on page 10. Especially the one where mum is cradling her child. Beautiful

On page 11 the bunting gave me giggle. It looks a bit sodden indeed. (The same again with the roller on page 19 and the drenched owl on page 22 ) And beautiful landscape right after the birdie, too.

Great photo of the bats on page 12 And an interesting encounter between the impies and the hyena and kinda the croc too.

Page 14 - a very rare heron chick sighting. Awesome! And the dragonfly following is pretty.

The zebbies on page 15 look rather dark throughout. Not like having wallowed in a puddle of mud but as if the white stripes were red-brown by default. Lovely mirroring pic of the dabchick on that page as well. And that lion sighting - flabbertastic

Totally adorable zebra foal on page 16

Flasher bateleurs on page 17 Handsome

Does that first - and extremely impressive - tusker on page 18 have a name? He does look to be in better condition than the one before. Possibly a bit younger and therefore better fed. The other looked a bit thin around the spine.

Awww, the guineafowl chicks are super sweet too.

The dikkop with the tiny terrapin on page 26 - And the dabchick with the chick(s) hiding in her plumage in your last instalment - extraordinary

Overall you did seem to have quite some rainy days. But Kruger still delivered a leopard on one of those days.

WoW Mel Thanks I do know what you mean no Problem Again rainy days but better rainy days plus leopard than sunny days and no leopard but it got sunnier and hotter with each day now

[Pumbaa]

A short break at Afsaal was then a must also to stretch the legs a bit again but we in fact did not stay long there and continued our way and at one of the many bridges we had to cross a rhino could be seen but we never managed to get a shot as there had a traffic jam been built up with lots of OSV’s so we carried on and somewhere along the tar road we were caught in another traffic jam but this time we had luck and managed to get space as the group of cute younger hyenas could be seen indeed only from one spot.





Although it was not cold they cuddled up and it was impossible to identify how many exactly were around





and we even let other cars also have a view and tried our luck again as they were simply too cute



and in fact as they were lying in a smaller hollow and you only could spot them from one place as the rest was simply too overgrown and the bushes too thick.





In the end we were even the only car there so we could stay a bit longer but with the arrival of the next car we gave them the best spot and carried on



and turned into our beloved S65 but same was really quiet animal- and trafficwise today, however, at least the road was not closed so we were happy that we could drive same and we stopped for a couple of impala males having a rest.





Another nice sighting was then a larger group of kudu males out of which most of them were resting on the ground



luckily they stayed close to the road and were one of the not so shy kudus

[Pumbaa]

so we could happily take a lot of pictures





although all the posing must have made them a bit sleepy.



Once again the rest was again a bit disappointingly quiet but luckily Lake Panic is always worth a stop and for sure a must for us so after we parked the car and we made ourselves comfortable in the hide for a longer stay as there was enough time left before we could check in. After we only spotted last year our very first darter at Lake Panic we soon noticed that this year quite a lot of them were hanging around



and so were the white breasted cormorants out of which one was a bit sleepy.



We indeed could not decide where to look first as there were so many darters to be seen one had spread its wings



whilst others stayed a bit hidden.



After a while we also noticed a couple of pied kingfishers



and some of them were busy in trying to catch some fish.



The white breasted cormorant sat long on the fallen tree and we now also noted the many terrapins on the branch taking a sunbath.





to be continued……..

[Lisbeth]

Looong kudu horns

Lake panic looks like a copy of the day that I was there. If I am not mistaken it must have been or the same day or one of the other two Darters in all sizes

A great heap of hyenas

[Richprins]

What a huge kudu, Pumbaa!

And lucky to see a rhino!

Lovely shots at Lake Panic...ahhhh...

And great hyena cuddle.

[Mel]

A pile of hyenas... and sort of a pile of kudus, kingfishers and terrapins