Africa Wild

14th Skukuza

I woke at around 2am and the rain had stopped, so we still got up fairly early to check things out and it seemed ok, but it was very dark in the distance over the Pretoriuskop area , therefore we knew we had limited time.

The plan this morning was to try the S3/S4, then to check up on the S65 mother leopard and cubs in case they decided to show themselves again and then to cruise to the golf club and wait for leachy to arrive.

A few of the usual gang popped up on the H11, but nothing to get the adrenalin going, so we were semi distracted by the time we were a few km down the S3, but around the corner I suddenly woke up as the Cow casually said “Dogs”.

An OSV driver was already there and parked off, so we stopped behind him, however this OSV driver had an IQ and was willing to share, so he whispered “The road is wide enough for us to fit next to each other, so I will move over, pull in next us and we can move forward together.

I was stoked at this offering and we moved cars around as quietly as possible and switched off.



A few minutes later the dog closest to us suddenly got all tense and went stalking off into the bush which got the others excited, however seconds later they all ran back out the bush and headed on patrol up the road, so we followed.



When dogs are running all over the place it’s always difficult to know where to be, but I always follow the lead dogs, however the OSV driver decided to hang back with the other dogs.

The semi splinted group we were following found a water puddle in the road from the previous evening’s storm and they all took turns having a drink before 1 decided to do a number 2 in front of us which got the rats’ commentary going.







We followed them for around another km before they ducked off into the bush at pace, however I knew the S4 was just up the road, so we roared off that direction and seconds later the lead dog popped out the bush about 200m up the S4 and others also started to show up.





The patrol continued and minutes later the lead dog went into stalk mode again, but all we could see was wildebeest up the road and they were too big, so we weren’t sure what was potting.

Suddenly the chase started, but the wildebeest didn’t move which seemed to confuse the dogs, however the lead dog was plotting something else we hadn’t seen.







To be continued

14th Skukuza continued

The dogs parked off next to the wildebeest for a few seconds and then all hell broke loose as there was a herd of impala off the road behind a bush and other dogs chased them into the wildebeest and the dogs waiting on the road. The impala all looked like springbok and I’m sure some could have made it over my car if we were parked there.

I slammed the car into drive and took off after the chase, but then realised the clan were all sitting there with their mouths open, so I started squealing

“What are you lot doing! Take #$^%$& pics”

However the bulk of the action was missed while I was trying to get the car closer, but the Cow managed 1 pic of the last dog in the chase as it charged off after the others.



We switched off and listened for sounds of a kill as we were sure that they must have got an impala, however minutes later they started to return to the road.

We had spent more than half an hour with the dogs and other cars had now arrived, so it was getting overcrowded, therefore we took a few last pics and moved on towards the S1.



We decided to do a few km of the S1 as it had been producing the odd leopard while PJL was in the area.

First up was a tawny sunning itself, then some form of blind snake and the odd hyena, but no leopard and it was getting darker again as the storm clouds were approaching from inland, so we turned and started back towards Skukuza, stopping for a chameleon in the road and then a LBR which was having an unpleasant breakfast.











Just before the S65 turnoff and as we came around the corner we spotted a car parked sideways in the road with the front of the car into a bush next to the road, so we curiously pulled up next to them.

All their windows were closed and the occupants had eyes like saucers, so I indicated to the male driver and he suddenly started jabbering full steam at us, but as his window was closed we couldn’t hear him, so I indicated for him to put his window down, but he shook his head and kept jabbering, however he was now also frantically pointing, so I indicated again for him to put his window down and put my hand to my ear so he understood.

He looked around, quickly put his window down a little bit and shrieked “PANTHER, PANTHER!!” which got the rats in the back howling with laughter, but I said “LEOPARD!” and he looked blank and then nodded which got us paying more attention

He then indicated that we must go around him, which I did, and then cameras went flying as a leopard was parking off in the grass next to the road and we hadn’t seen it because of the way this chap had parked.



The darn leopard wouldn’t turn around much to my frustration and then started off into bush, so I did some frantic reversing much to the confusion of the foreigners who still had their windows closed.



My reversing confused the foreigners, so they also took off, but then I charged off forward again for a different angle, which confused them even more. They weren’t looking at the leopard by this stage and were looking at us, so I indicated it was gone and they moved off. As soon as they were out of ear shot we all packed up laughing.

We then decided to cruise down the S65 to check if the mother leopard was around, but a few km later we spotted our brown Discovery mates heading towards us and they informed us that they had been there all morning without luck and that it was now raining there.

Seconds later a few spots of rain started to fall on our windscreen and then it got harder, so I turned to head back towards the golf club, stopping a few times for the Cow to photograph general game hiding from the rain.



Once in signal I got a message from Leachy informing us that he was running late and wasn’t going to make it to the golf club and then up to Satara, which was a pity, however we still went through to the club for takeaway hot chips.

Halfway back to Skukuza with our chips it really started to pour and in minutes the roads had turned into mini rivers, so we gave up looking for animals and just enjoyed experiencing this sort of rain while in Kruger.



It rained on and off the rest of the day, so we decided to abandon any more drives and to rather get things organised for a quick exit in the morning.

Later in the day the rats started nagging to go to Cattle Baron for a hamburger supper, so we all pooled our money to see if we had enough and we guessed we would make it, so we ducked off to the restaurant for supper, which was fairly good in my opinion, however we felt a little out of place in our “last day scally clothes” as others seemed to think it was a larney affair.

They put us in a corner; I think to hide us from the more suitable customer base, but this didn’t worry me though as it had been a long boring afternoon for me personally, so I had overindulged from lunchtime, therefore my “embarrassment meter” was registering zero much to the amusement of the rats, but I soon got greased by the Cow and told to “behave”

To be continued

Awesome wild dog sighting, Bushcraft,

Skukuza is always a great camp for game viewing despite the crowd which can be there over the day

OSV Driver with IQ Must say that most of such drivers are in fact willing to share sightings - We gladly so far only experienced quite a few who wanted to have the sightings all by themselves

Alos love the panther panther story

Great sightings before the rain set in! Following the dogs must have been great and you got some fantastic photos of them
"Panther" At least you got to see some spots though

There's nothing quite like watching wild dogs on the hunt!

Aren't you lucky to even see a panther in Kruger!

I have actually never been in Kruger during a big downpour - must be quite an experience.

Pumbaa wrote:Awesome wild dog sighting, Bushcraft,

Skukuza is always a great camp for game viewing despite the crowd which can be there over the day

OSV Driver with IQ Must say that most of such drivers are in fact willing to share sightings - We gladly so far only experienced quite a few who wanted to have the sightings all by themselves

Alos love the panther panther story

I like the fact that Skukuza is central to some main leopard spots but the crowds and getting in and out of camp can be a pain Certain OSV drivers are cool, but many, especially those on the H4-1, are a problem.

PJL wrote:Great sightings before the rain set in! Following the dogs must have been great and you got some fantastic photos of them
"Panther" At least you got to see some spots though

Dogs are always cool, but difficult to follow when they are charging around

The "Panther" thing cracked us up

Flutterby wrote:There's nothing quite like watching wild dogs on the hunt!

Aren't you lucky to even see a panther in Kruger!

I have actually never been in Kruger during a big downpour - must be quite an experience.

When they on the hunt Flutts it's a mission to know where to be because they are all over place in seconds

We had only experienced heavy rain once before this trip. It's fun for 10 minutes and then it gets frustrating

Great dog sighting

The latin name of the leopard is Panthera pardus

Lisbeth wrote:Great dog sighting

The latin name of the leopard is Panthera pardus

So may be he was educated in Latin It was still funny though

The dogs were a lucky find as we were actually looking for leopard