Africa Wild

Thanx all for the replies .Apparently this is a not too uncommon occurrence and should not affect the ellie as per Richprins link ...

Day 10 Jan 12th Part 1

The plan for the day was to leave early, shoot down to Lower Sabie on the S28 .Go to Komati Port and buy a new wheel bearing hub cover, replenish supplies at the SPAR then come back in to KNP and take it from there ....

Leaving LS in the early morning it was raining and wet ,oh well we were going out so probably not going to see much today.

Before reaching the S28 we had seen a hippo in the bushes but it was too fast and too dark to get any shots so as usual we started the days photos with an early morning browser ...


Not long after we came across two ellie bulls have a bit of a tussle in the middle of the road .They seemed to be fighting over who was getting to use the mud puddle first and after about 15 minutes just as we were considering turning back to go down the H4-2 they decided to wonder off to the side . Again we did not get any usable shots due to the lighting there.

Further down the S28 we came across a large Ellie bull on the hillside opposite us. He was a considerable distance off but still appeared as an Impressive specimen .By now it had lightened up but was still raining .We managed to spend some time watch him eat his breakfast and later aat confirmed it is one of his boys NHLOWA




we carried on the S28 and went further towards crocodile bridge side .We came across two cars pulled over to the side and approached slowly .Cheetahs under the tree they said .Sure enough some distance away ,under the smallest tree in the area in the rain were two Cheetah .




We sat and watched them for about 10 minutes and it was obvious they were not going to be moving in the rain any time soon .Some more cars arrived and after we pointed the Cheetahs out the told us of a large pride of lions by Crocodile bridge on the S25 next to the road .So we though its on the way why don’t we take a drive to see them as it was too early for the shops ...

On our way we came across this LBJ sitting on the back of a young Gnu just before the S25 turnoff


We reached the S25 and started along it ....

NHLOWA is always meandering around there and is a very handsome bull, but has his moments claiming the S28 and surroundings his territory, so no going past him. We have had to turn around twice on the little round that goes down to the water hole

Cheetahs in the rain, but still cheetahs

You are also lucky with the big tuskers, Roger!

I would not even leave my bed if it were raining!

I think the LBJ is just a juvenile oxpecker?

Day 10 Jan 12th Part 2

Traveling along the S25 we kept a close lookout for lions but by the time we reached the S108 we realised they must have moved off into the bushes .We decided to carry on to see the state of the bridge that was washed away earlier in the year. We found a small traffic jam coming up a blind rise and wondered if these were the lions after all but turning the corner at the top we found some mixed feathered friends on a tree.
Wahlbergs eagle and Batleurs (3 in total)




We carried on our way and found this Burchells coucal


About 2 km from the bridge as we were going along something sat up in the bushes .Could it be yes a big male Lion on his own sat up to see what noisy beast was coming past .




We stopped an waited to see if we could pass the sighting on but no one came .So we left to see the bridge .The lion had settled back to doing what LL do in the day .

Further along the road we found ground hornbills searching for bugs



We then found the bridge had miraculously been repaired since our last visit in April 2014 although it seems some of the new supports have moved away probably in the recent heavy rains ...



Driving up to the other side where we intended to turn around we came across a OSV and attempted to flag the lady driver down to let her know about the lion but she was not intent on stopping and just drove past ....oh well maybe she or her guests would see him ...

We did a u turn and on the way back to the bridge came across some very cute monkey business



We crossed the bridge and came back to the point of the lion but there was no OSV .We stopped and were given the same disdainful look from the bushes .We left the LL to catch some ZZZZ's and turned onto the S108 .
At the H5 intersection we found two San parks vehicles that we assumed was the morning walk and plenty of cat tracks on the road but no sightings .Traveling back on the H5 was quite interesting in some places where the mud was very slippery and thick,I was very grateful for driving a 4x4 and can see why the H5 is closed so often when it rains .

With no sightings it seemed as it was time to turn down the H4-2 and head out to crocodile bridge gate .....

for turning the page .There is allot to get onto this day ....

Day 10 Jan 12th Part 3 the trip to the gate

With no sightings it seemed as it was time to turn down the H4-2 and head out to crocodile bridge gate .....close to the turning onto the H4-2 we found a vigilant feathered look out.



Then further down the road we noticed a beastie lopping along the road and as we approached a second one appeared .The first one carried on unpreturbed but the second one was a juvenile and was not too sure about this big noisy blue beast following it down the road ...



The adult would not turn towards us and eventually left the road to follow a game trail .This is the closest we could get .


While we watched to see if they would come back out another vehicle came past us and started accelerating .Strange we thought and then looked in front of the vehicle .No could it be there were 3 Wild Dogs about 800 meters ahead of us crossing the road towards the S130 turnoff . Quickly starting the car we rushed after them finally catching up as they were going along the S130.



They ran into the bushes and we caught glimpses of them moving off the road .Oh well guess we should get back to the H4-2 and our trip to Komati for spares .We turned around when suddenly two more dogs came flying up the road

followed closely by an Enraged bull elephant in must and a Sanparks game drive vehicle . We sat back trying to decided what to do .The other vehicle that overtook us was closer to the road and the action .Somehow the sanparks vehicle got past the Ellie and steered it over to the side of the road then drew alongside the other vehicle exchanged some words and then came to us
.Apologising profusely the Ranger explained the Ellie in must had already caused problems on the main road and he was trying to push it away from tourists and the main road .He advised us to wait until he moved him away from the roadside then not wait around but get away from the area . Watching him approach the ellie and immediately get charged by the ellie with no provication we realised this was no time to be taking photos (we did get a video I will try upload) and we took our chance once it was far enough off the road and left the S130 back onto the H4-2 at speed .

Not too fast a speed mind you as we approached the S28 there was a very cute sight .This little tortoise was chasing the bigger one and they were going round and round in circles .


We found some grazers close to CB


And about 1km from the gate a huge traffic jam all over the road .What could it cause such interest.
Eventually getting a break we managed to see a cheetah far off .We were fortunate as it actually moved while we were watching and snapped a few quick images .



It had taken us 4 hours to reach the gate but what a great 4 hours it was ...we got a dust cap at Midas and replenished our stocks of braai meats and refreshments at SPAR in Komati port .The trip back along the H4-2 to Lower Sabie was very quiet with it being just after mid-day there was nothing to report .So we headed back to camp to unpack the groceries and go back out .What would the afternoon hold for us as we had already seen Lion ,Cheetah ,Wild Dog ,Hyenas ,Hippo ,Ellies & a tusker

A lucky morning The raptor is a brown snake-eagle

Richprins we stayed at Marloth park in April last year in and went down the S25 from CB side .We saw the diggers parked off and managed to drive over what was left of the bridge after the floods .It was very steep and we only just managed to get over .We thought it strange that it was still open and when we got to the other side we found a no entry sign on the other side .Something had obviously taken a liking to the sign on the side we entered from and wondered off with it . Luckily there was no one about ... Needless to say we took a different route back

Bushvelt Jock welcome thanx for taking the time to go though the TR ..still some ways to go on the trip report

Bushcraft was a great morning just when you think it’s going to be quiet because of the rain ...

Flutterby I must admit in hindsight it was a brilliant morning and the afternoon wasn't too shabby in the end ....

Day 10 Jan 12th Part 4 the Afternoon starts off ...

As we had only seen Cheetahs at a distance we decided to drive our Cheetah road.We had on previous trips always seen
Cheetahs on these roads and even twice seen or been there just after a Kill . The road we normally see these on is of
course the S128 behind lower Sabie .We decided to do the S29 then cross over the H10 to the S128 .The rain had in between
the morning and afternoon formed a small storm that bucketed down at one stage and had now stopped and clouds broken up.



Turning down the S29 we found there was a small river running down the road and quite thick mud .But this was not a problem
for the Landy .We found another 4X4 grazing on the side and passed without incident


Further down the road we came across a large herd of Ellies


These were grazing and wondering in and out of the road .In the distance another herd was approaching holding their trunks
in the air .It appeared we would be sandwiched in-between the herds if we stayed where we were .Deciding that it might not
be the best idea especially on a muddy narrow road we decided to reverse back to the top of the hill where there was enough
space to turn around and go down to the S128 directly .

On the S128 we did not find any Cats .We did see a muddy bird

or two


We reached the S29 and turned down to the H10 without a single sighting oh well guess we had used up or quota on the morning .

On the H10 we found a pair of silhouetted secretary birds


And then could it be again ....
A large Python slithered across the road .This one was much more active than the one in the rain .


And soon vanished into the bushes even as another car aproached and we tried to quickly show them where to look it was gone ..


We carried on towards the H10 bridge .

Saddled-billed juveniles and probably not even dirty