Flutter No. 6 *

[Flutterby]

27 September - Johannesburg to Letaba

Our 6th trip to Kruger with the Brat and my dad started nice and early. My dad arrived at midnight on Wednesday and we were on the road straight away. We were talking so much that I missed the turn off to Witbank which then necessitated some nifty reversing, but we were soon back on track. We had a great drive, not seeing another car the whole way from Dullstroom to Sabie!! I'm not sure why we left so early as we got to Phabeni an hour before the gate opened, but it gave us plenty of time to unpack the cameras and binos, tie on the green ribbon and enjoy the sunrise. We were first in the queue but soon enough there was a long line of cars and jeep jockeys.

Watching the sun rise at the gate.



At last it was 6am and time for the gates to open....we were in Kruger again after a whole year!!



First animal....impala...what a surprise. -O Up next were some warthogs, giraffes and ellies. Our first stop was at Nyamundwa Dam where there were loads of impala dashing around on the far side, some hippos and a fish eagle.





We couldn't believe how green the park was. On all our other trips at this time of the year, the park has been bone dry, but there was lush green grass everywhere.

The first bird to be photographed was an LBR, closely followed by an Oriole and 2 Bateleurs.







After seeing lots of game - kudu, vervets, zebra and baboon - we arrived at Skukuza. We decided not to stop and carried on down the H11....

[Flutterby]

So, we carried on down towards the H4-1 and found a few cars parked on the right hand side of the road. We stopped next to the last car and they told us there was an impala carcass in a tree, but the leopard had disappeared. We found a gap in the cars and soon spotted the carcass. It was relatively close to the road but in very thick bush. The car behind us had the best view and they decided to leave so we got into their spot. Next thing, there was some excited squealing from the back seat....”There’s the leopard! There’s the leopard!”. The leopard had appeared at the bottom of the tree and with one leap was at the carcass!!







As luck would have it, this was all on the wrong side of the car for me, so I was trying to shoot over the head rest and the Brat who couldn’t sit still for a second. There was more excitement as a couple of these appeared under the tree!



The leopard was having trouble keeping the impala in the tree and bits kept falling off, which got the hyenas very excited! The leopard kept a wary eye on them, but he was also trying to eat as quickly as possible.



Look at the size of those claws on his front paws!!



Soon, the whole body came away and he was just left with the head.





We watched a while longer, then decided to give someone else a chance. We left the leopard and hyenas behind feeling extremely chuffed with our morning so far – it wasn’t even 9.30 yet!!

[Flutterby]

27 September – Johannesburg to Letaba cont.

We left the leopard and got onto the H4-1 where we found our first steenbok and our third Big 5 member.



This fellow thought nothing of giving us a bum view! -O



We crossed the Sabie at the high level bridge and spotted a klipspringer, and this Tawny having breakfast.





At Tshokwane the Brat found my first lifer of the trip – a Bennett’s Woodpecker. I couldn’t believe he was actually looking in the trees for birds!!

This is a juvenile.





Right outside Tshokwane a herd of ellies was having a whale of a time in the mud. The young ones were too cute!! -O









Now I’ve got mud in my ear!!

[Flutterby]

Another blurry and shaky video of the ellies at Tshokwane. Definitely need to invest in a new video camera!

View My Video

[Flutterby]

27 September – Johannesburg to Letaba cont.

I told you the south was very green...this is how green!!

This was taken just south of Mazithi.



We found this Openbill at Mazithi, not a very common sighting.



While we were stopped there someone told us of lions near the Baobab so we went in search of them...and we really did have to search!! They were lying up on the river bank where you drive through the riverbed, in very thick bush!! It took the Brat ages to finally see them. He’s not very good with directions...giving or receiving them!! There were apparently 5 but we only saw three of them!!

I told you not to hold your breath!!





But, we had seen the Big 5 and it wasn’t even 11.30!! We’d seen rhino earlier but I’m not going to say where. We have never seen so many rhino as we did on this trip. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing!



We have also never seen so many flowers before. I suppose the little rain the park did get before we arrived brought everything to life!!



At Ngotso South we saw this bachelor herd....a very nice sighting.



These two looked like twins, and even seemed to mirror each others’ movements.



There was a nice tusker in the group (the big one on the left), but he refused to turn around.



We eventually made it to Letaba and checked in easily enough. We were in one of the closed off units which I don’t like but at least we were close to the fence!!





The Brat...gosh, but you've grown since our first trip!!



Just a few small gripes about Letaba:

What really irritated me was the fact that the fridge was off when we arrived and to get to the switch one had to be a contortionist! It was about 37° and we’d been in the car since midnight, so we desperately needed to get all the meat into the freezer (preferably a cold one!). The fridge never really got cold in the two days we were there and we ended up trying to squeeze as much as we could into the freezer. The same thing happened the last time we were in Letaba, so it’s obviously a problem there. Perhaps they should move the fridges into the bungalows as they really seem to battle in that heat!

We had no soap in our bungalow and when we asked for some we were told that they had none...no deliveries!

[serval]

We were at Ngotso south at midday on 27th Sept ...

[Flutterby]

27 September – Johannesburg to Letaba cont.

We took a short afternoon drive to Mingerhout Dam and back and didn’t see too much besides some ellies, baboons and a waterbuck.





We got back to camp just before the gates closed, and settled down for our first braai in Kruger. It was a hot, moonlit night and the bushbabies were making a huge racket in the trees above us. Taking a walk along the fence produced a hippo out of the water but nothing else. Our beds were calling and we were soon dreaming of the next day’s sightings.

[Flutterby]

28 September – Letaba

We awoke to our second day in Kruger bright and early and got to the gate just as it opened. We had decided to head down the H9 to Sable Dam, then up to Mooiplaas.

The first animal of the day was buffalo.



And then our first steenbokkie!



Another Tawny.



We popped in at Masorini and found a Mocking Cliff-Chat and a pair of Red-Headed Weavers. Hubby was very busy building their home.









Just after turning onto the S51 to Sable Dam, we saw something we’ve never seen before….dassies climbing trees! We’ve only ever seen them on rocks!





This klippie was keeping an eye on them and seemed as surprised as we were! -O

[Flutterby]

28 September – Letaba

This lily-like flower was all on its lonesome.



This little one tried very hard to hide behind some twigs!



Sable Dam was very quiet, except for a few birdies.

Why is this called a Three-Banded Plover when it only has two black bands?



We made our way up the H14 (so that’s where it is Sprocky -O ), but saw nothing along the whole road. Just before Mooiplaas we found a buff herd munching away on either side of the road. They are such inquisitive creatures!

Mom


Dad


LO


Found this LBJ at Mooiplaas Waterhole...any ideas?



There were lots of zebbies and tsessebe too!!



We’d been sitting there a while, when I suddenly noticed this little thing. It looked like it was only a couple of days old and was still a bit unsteady on his long legs!!





This sighting made our day. We never get to see the new borns as we always visit the park before they arrive. This one seemed to have been born a bit early.





What a cutie!!

[Flutterby]

28 September – Letaba cont.

For our afternoon drive, we took the S94 and back on the S46 via Engelhard Dam.

The local vulture AGM.



No matter how many pics I get of these birds, I always have to take one more!



Another lifer – African Hawk Eagle.



At Engelhard there was a large herd of ellies. This one was just making sure we knew who was in charge.



“Where’s your brother?” “He’s coming mom...just finishing off a branch.”



"There you are, why do we always have to wait for you?”



“I’m not covering for you anymore!!”



Hey good looking!



Time for sundowners!