a Brownie in Kruger... Nevah! *

[Heksie]

Day 1… a long way to paradise

So the Kruger bug bit me after staying in the Park for 3 days on my lonesome in Dec 2011. I just had to book again and when a discount special came up I booked the following:
3 nights Shing
3 nights Maroela
3 nights Lower Sabie,
Then came my first meet and greet which was a brand new experience on its own and after everyone left, WendyA invited me for a KPA at a local Pub. We had a few drinks and after chatting about this ‘Sable hide’ thingamajig she said if I book one night there then she would join… So the Monday came, I phoned and found out it is available before Shing and I booked it, instead of being alone in the Park for more than a week, I got a Kruger partner as well… Then came the counting off of days towards our trip, I got another itch and then we booked 2 nights at Satara before Sable Hide as well and it became a 12 night stay. Something else happened during our wait to go to my beloved Park… I thought that we should maybe make it a fundraiser trip? To cut a long story short, the brownie bunch was created and we were on our way to Search the KNP from top to bottom to find the elusive Brown hyenas… Did we find any? Uhm… you will have to read and find out. But fun we definitely had.
It got all closer to the date and WendyA informed me that she will be visiting tannie CV in Phala for a few days before I arrive so we would be getting to Satara at different times. I got a lekker tent for my birthday from BarryEls and Hilda and borrowed some camping equipment from daddy dearest. Everything was packed and I was ready to go to Kruger but the night before it dawned upon me that I have no jack or wheel spanner for when I could maybe possibly get a flat tyre… Oh well, nothing like that would happen to me. I woke up at midnight and left Dronkwordspruit at 1:00 on 25 Novmeber 2012 as I’m one of those lost souls that need to enter Krugs when the gate opens. The road was quiet and peaceful, the sun started rising after Whiteriver and I got to Phabeni Gate about 5 minutes before the gate opened. I knew that it would need more than us two ladies to find a brown hyena so I wanted the whole park to help me search…



My first sighting in the Park was a black-bellied korhaan, a beautiful close-up of this beautiful bird



And some imps



Then a special sighting for me, you know seeing mites is a rare thing in the Park and sommer on my first few kilometer’s I got to drive straight into Flying Cheetah…



Then I turned into the S65 hoping to find some kitty cats, but absolutely nothing, it was a very quiet road today with only a few sightings.





Then it was back on the H1-1 so that I can visit Skuks for a wee break and then take the straight H1-2/H1-3 to Satara. First thing I saw on this road was a Speke’s Hinge-Back Tortoise



And at the Lower water bridge a few birdies, I think it is the common sandpiper and then a green backed heron





Then it was time for me to check out Maroela loop, I thought that I had the time as we can only book in at 14:00. So trundling down this dirt road in search of any feline I only saw a leopard tortie



And then at the end of this road a g-raff eyeing me from a distance



Then back on the tar I got face-to-face with some waterbucks



I drove past Kruger Tablets and shook my head at some stupid people that climbed out of their car at the Orpen rock to climb on the rock and take pics… no, this is not a designated area. And about 1km past them there were a 2 car roadblock (ya I know I didn’t stop and scold but imagine what I would’ve missed if I did) this is what they were staring at…
A LIT








Which became a LUT


And then a LIG


The leopard crossed the road and because of this stupid people that climbed on the rock I missed him by a split second and only got a bum shot. I was on the right side of the road as I knew he would cross and another car on the left side, then they wanted to pass us on the middle, I stopped them and informed them not to speed as the leopard wants to cross and then I missed that moment… aaaaaagh

Oh well not to get angry about that now, I moved on and went to visit my fave place, Leeupan where I got my first ever comb-billed duck



And some white faced ducks



Then it was time to stop at Tshokwane were I saw this tame-ish bushbuck



The road to Satara was also quiet, I turned to go look at the baobab and got some loving imps



The rest of the road produced more g-raffs and a cute little steenbokkie.





I got to Satara where Wendy was already pitched up and sipping on a KPA. I quickly packed out and the tent was pitched and the gazebo offered us shade. Here is our camp, right next to the fence.



The best surprise that day I got in camp where I got to tick another lifer for me… a Diederick’s Cuckoo



Wendy suggested that we should drive the S100 and off we went to find anything to add to our day-sightings. A beautiful waterbuck



And a brown-hoodie



Then another lifer… I have always thought that the cheetah of KNP was an urban legend as I’ve been going to the Park for years and have never seen one. But that afternoon my myth was slammed and I got to see a far off cheetah on the S100 of all roads. It was a great and adrenaline thrilled drive.



We got back to camp with 1 minute to spare and organized a morning drive with Irving. Then I bought a nougat at the shop as we were going to celebrate our brownie trip and my first ever cheetah with Amanuga…



We made a lekker fire that night and chatted till about 23:00 when we decided to turn in as we had to be at reception at 4:00.
Day one finished and done.. but no Brownies found.

To be continued…

[Twigga]

Another TT!! Sorry to hijack your TT
Can you remember way back in Dec 2011 when we shared the same leopard sighting near Afsaal? Just thought of it now

This was our pic, I think you can see your car in the bottom left corner?


Wildtuin Des 2011 643 by twigga2011, on Flickr

And this was your pic, our car in the background


Raai wie by twigga2011, on Flickr

[Heksie]

Yes I do remember that trip and you Twigga, sorry we didn't see each others ribbons otherwise we would have had a chat. It was also a great kitty trip for me had 6 leopard and 4 lion sightings in 4 days then... Oh the good old days
Did't you have doggies that day at SKuks? I think I remember that, but I missed them...

BC it is great having such an awesome sighting and sharing it with a mite, we had the golden kitties with you in April 2013 That was great as well

[Heksie]

Day 2… getting to know Satara better

So firstly, this is my first ever trip where I’m camping and then secondly, I’m visiting all the camps except Lower Sabie for the first time ever. So I got to know the areas as well as the camps much better during this trip, which was totally amazing for me. If I could give a hint to anyone visiting Krugs ever; is it that November is the best month, not a lot of people are in the camps, the roads are only for you and the weather is just perfect. Will I be able to visit Krugs in Nov? When I retire one day…

So on with my story: We woke up just past 3 as we had to be at reception too early for my liking. Very quickly a hot cup of MMC was made, it was much colder than we hoped this morning and I quickly jumped into the communal shower. All warmed up by my cuppa and two jackets, we headed to Satara reception to meet the other unfortunate souls who booked a morning drive. The truck wasn’t packed which was great, we could move around for if a certain sighting was on the opposite side. Our route was the S100/S41/S90/no-entry road to Satara. It was freezzzzzzing cold on the truck-we decided ‘never again’ would we do this to ourselves. But the sightings were great, the only negative thing I could maybe say was that the oke that drove didn’t talk much like my previous drives, I like learning about nature during a drive, it just adds to the experience. Our sightings were:
Juvenile Ostriches



Ellie on the S41



And a red crested korhaan, a whole new experience that I seemed to not have gotten on cam was their free-falling flight… If said correctly? They would fly and then when they are a few meters in the air just plough down towards the ground like a torpedo, really something to put on your wishlist.



Then we got to a kill, they were about 20m from the road and there were only 2 other cars. We sat with them for about 30 minutes, and just enjoyed every single moment of it.







Then we had to move on as this was not our time, another reason why I prefer driving in my own car. We saw on the no-entry road a massive buff herd.





And warties



We got to camp, and another cup of hot MMC was poured to get over the morning-drive chill. I couldn’t feel my nose after the drive. We got a visit from our new friend whilst having coffee.



And another lifer for me: the Red-billed buffalo weaver



After thawing in the sun we decided to go visit the kitties on the S90 again and then drive to Timbavati for lunch. We got some old and new sightings this time.





























It was a great drive, having visited Timbavati for the first time ever, and finding out that we missed a lioness coming through the picnic spot. How I wish I was there… We got to camp just before nightfall and we had to get our things ready for the next day as it would be SANParks’ forum birthday and we organized a BIG meet at Satara and a special surprise for those that couldn’t attend. With all the thinking and running around I did the one thing no one wants to do in KNP…



Yeah you guessed it, I locked my keys in the car… There is one way to do it with ol’ squeekems: close all the doors, lock them, open the boot, then throw the key in there and close it. Yep! I did it… We had to drink a KPA on that brilliant maneuver and then we moved off to go visit Dellac and SO at their bungalow. After a few more Amarula’s and KPA’s I didn’t have a worry in the world and went to bed all warm and fuzzy.

To be continued…

[Heksie]

Day 3… a day to busy for Kruger

We had a very busy plan for today, this is why Wendy decided for my part that we should never-ever-ever again organize a meet in the Park, but do I listen? As my car keys were still locked safely in my boot, we decided to do a morning drive in Wendy’s trusty Jimny and then come back later to sort ol’ squeekems out. We decided to check out the S90 again and then go to Nwa’Netsi for some MMC and then the H6 back to Satara for our webcam surprise. Our first sighting for the day and a first ever for me was something that waddled over Satara’s lawn, we got such a surprise that I was only able to take a blurry pic.



I was very excited, it seemed that the day has a lot of potential and I was looking forward to what was in store. We got some buffs having an early brekkie…



And more juvenile ostriches pecking



It was cloudy this morning which gave me time to take a few landscape kiekies…





And then we sat for a cuppa at this playful BBJ’s, they were sniffing and running and chasing eachother all over the place.



I had to make Wendy stop for a few birdies as well, a Burchell’s Coucal



A lifer for me, Red breasted Swallow



And a mocking cliff-chat



It was my first time at this picnic spot, so we made a lekker cup of MMC as it was still a bit cold and cloudy. We sat and enjoyed the view whilst sipping on warm coffee, at a time there was a giraffe in the distance munching on some trees. I really enjoyed this spot as it was peaceful with no monkeys and not as busy as the Southern picnic spots. We were running on a deadline-again something not to do in Kruger-as we had to meet the mites at 13:00, so we had to get moving. Just outside the picnic spot we came across this Striped skaapsteker, striped or Three-lined grass snake, White-bellied grass-snake.



Just before we leave our first camp I want to share a pic of our view at Satara... The best in the cmap I say



We got to camp with enough time to pack up camp and get a very helpful Satara attendant, who used a piece of fence and a screwdriver to unlock my car… YAY! All is good again in the world of Liewe Heksie!!!! Everything packed and a bottle of Amarula on the passenger seat, we moved to the Satara restaurant for our Forum birthday… Here is some pics of the festivities.







This was an amazing and oh so funny experience for us, we were 9 forumites in total, some coming from Shingwedzi that morning. It was DellaC+SO, Annieowl, Porridge, Jaxidean, Eastr, JeanniR and WendyA. We stood for about half an hour giggling in front of that camera, some of the other guests came to see if we were looking at some animal... It was a realy jol that morning with those people. We finished 2 bottles of Amarula in no time (definitely the drink of Kruger) and all had to set off again as Porridge and Jaxi had to still go back to Shing and we were on our way to Sable Hide. To the road again, Wendy left before me as quickly wanted to check out a sighting on the S100… I had an inside scoop from EKoppen about male lions there and you guys know how I’m all golden kitty crazy so off I went to check them out… they were nowhere to be seen so I was about 10km behind WendyA. It was a quiet road to Letaba but the few sightings I saw was very special. First the Satara scopsies, we saw 5 that morning.



Some ellies and buff in the distance



Saddle-billed stork and rhino





White-headed vultures



And then something I’ve never experienced before at Olifantsriver. There were yellow billed kites everywhere, they glided very close to the bridge and I could actually climb out and take a few kiekies.



I caught up to Wendy only at Letaba and now for the last stretch to Phala-gate. This is not one of my fave roads after driving it a few times now, and the sightings were on the lesser side. A special sighting for us was 3 rockjumpertjies just past Masorini ruins.



And then a wow sighting was at the Gate, let me tell you another place that is birders heaven is this Gate. I got another lifer ---> Bennett’s woodpecker



We got to the hide with about 30 minutes to spare-that was cutting it close but we were happy that we were there and ready to settle down. Here is some pics of what Sable Hide looks like and our adventure there.



There in the very absolutely desolate far corner is the longdrop to which you should walk in the dark all by your lonesome... very scary if you are only two gals there...



Wendy making our very delishioush MMC



Here is the beautiful sunset over Sable Dam…





We had such a an amazing night, braaing some chicken sosaties and hearing lions very far off, there was impalas butting heads and browsing next to our hide. I was freaking scared sitting there in the open with only a 2m high wooden fence separating us from the hungry man eating lions of Kruger. I have the most amazing imagination that ran away with me that night. After our lekker braai and dinner under a full moon we moved into the hide. MMC’s were made and then we were checking out the dam, we were lucky enough to get night visitors, ellies in the mood to have a bath. They were ‘purring’ and swishing and sloshing in the water and it was an amazing experience, I passed out just after midnight to their rumbling in the background…

To be continued…

[Heksie]

we can park the cars Inside at Sable Dam... never saw
it will be nice to be there for the night... maybe a little scary if we are "only" two

Yes, you have a lock for the gate so only the people that booked the place for the night are allowed to park inside. Again only we had keys to use the bathroom facilities as well.
If you go, I think four to six is a nice crowd but you can be up to 8 people sleeping over. They have a great braai area there and such a great vibe! We are going again this Dec and at least we will be 5, we are going with some YF mites which I met last year October. I won't be so paranoid then

[Heksie]

Sounds like a fab day!! I also want to know what was waddling across the lawn.

it was a great day with the meet and to spend the night at a hide
It was definitely a honeybadger

[Heksie]

Day 4… moving in a Northerly direction

Waking up just before 4:00 with the sun already showing in the horizon… only in Kruger would I get up this early. I’m telling you that Wendy’s thermos is flippin’ brilliant as it still had water hot enough for a morning coffee at the hide. I went for a quick wash (using a washclothe, soap and 25l water canister that was in the ‘bathroom’ ya, sorry peeps, no luxury bath or shower at the hide) and then we start packing up everything so that all is sorted by the time that the birders start checking in. We left the hide at about 5:30 and did a quick loop drive before going back to the Phala Gate to return our bedding and meet CrestedVal and SO. They stay about 6 months in Phalaborwa every year-how great is that? To live on the doorstep of Kruger? Here is some of our sightings the morning…





Then at Phala again I got a lifer—the paradise flycatcher



We had such a great kuier with tannie CV and her family, they have the nicest place where they stay every time the come to visit South Africa and they offered us lekker coffee in this drizzling weather. After about an hour we had to move on as we still had to do some shopping at the Spar and then move to Shing. Spar has lekker meat but they didn’t have a great range of veg which was a let down. We also bought some more Amarula as our stock was running low. All finished and everything packe3d into our cars we entered the Park again and decided to drive the H14. We were very chilled driving about 20km/h and enjoying the cloudy weather. This road was full of life with animals everywhere, what surprised me was all the buffs we saw… we saw easily about 500 on this road. All that Wendy said every time we saw them was that ‘where there are buffs, there are lions’ Here is our sightings on the H14…









And another lifer-Wendy stopped and showed me this Namaqua dove



A DCG



Buff…



Buff…



And more Buff…



And then there is this loop about 5km S of the S133/H14, every time I did a loop Wendy would drive straight as she had the feezer in her car and was driving heavily packed. I did this loop like the other and it is a wonderful amazing little road which stole my heart in an instant, it has this 100m stretch right next to a water stream and first I saw this grey heron



And then I drove straight into this sight…



I quickly took a few shots and then I had to go back up to fetch Wendy, I was so excited and waited for her on the other end, I was waving animatedly at her trying to let her drive quicker towards me and then I showed her to follow me. We enjoyed their company for about 30 minutes before the first car came unto this loop and we sat and chatted and drank MMC and just chilled with these beautiful specimens that were chilling in the shade.





It was now about 12:00 and we had to move on as it was still a long way till Shing, we stopped to take a pic of the wonderful view at Letaba low level bridge...





And then a big surprise, for me and the sighting of the day! I drove and then this rustling on the side of the road caught my eye, I stopped and saw a red thing running. I know my pics are shite but it is proof. It was a red crested korhaan chasing a female with his crest ‘punt in die wind’ Every time she was about a meter from him he would lower his crest and then sneak towards her and then when he is much closer the crest would spring alive and chase the poor girl. Was a very exciting 2 or 3 minutes for me.





More sightings on the H14…





And buffs again…



Then we got unto the H1-6 and were greeted by a few not so friendly ellies… We had one encounter where the ellie was eating from a tree and when a car would drive past, he would leave that and move a few steps towards the car and flap his ears… we were a few cars behind him so we had to wait our turn to be flapped at. Here is the culprit who is in his ‘calm’ disguise but do not let this fool you.



We had a quick bathroom break at Mooiplaas and were entertained by these squirrels… Made me laugh and think about my Leachessness’ TR



It was getting very late and we still had a camp to set up so on we moved. Now the H1-7 is not my fave road as there is a million mopani’s and it is very very very difficult to see anything, so we had sightings in the road…







We turned towards Shing and saw some bobbies and a SBS very far on the riverbed.





We got to Shing at last and it is the most Northern we have gone in the Park ever, we arrived just past five and set up tent, it is an amazing camp. The best was that we were only 3 ‘camps’ in the whole camping area so it was so peaceful and we had a great spot next to the fence. We immediately popped some KPA’s and enjoyed the sunset whilst starting a fire. We had a long day but full of such amazing and wonderful sightings. Another great day in the Park.

To be continued…

[Heksie]

Day 5… exploring Shingwedzi

We woke up this morning all bright and ready, we were in a bit of a rush yesterday as we had to get somewhere but today we decided to take a chilled-out drive and get to know the area of Shingwedzi. We also decided to save a bit on petrol and share Wendy’s Jimny. We packed the car with the essentials, made a fresh cup of MMC and then to set out into the unknown. Just before we left the camp I had to take a pic of the full moon…



The first thing we saw this morning was a marabou stork



And then a Shingwedzi sunrise



Our route that morning was the S50, I just love any route next to the river of some kind. It bring a calmness to a person (now except he H4-1, always too busy for me). We wanted to see kanniedood dam and the two birdhides on this road. The first sighting on this road was a highlight for us two. We drove every single loop and the second one we took we heard this weird sounds, we searched the trees for these sounds and then we spotted three Verreaux Eagle Owls. A lifer for me… each made their own distinct sound which was a first thing I saw as well. We stayed with them for about 20 minutes.





Now for you birders out there, this road is fantastic for you as we saw a lot; Goliath Heron, Yellow-billed storks, darters, grey hornbill, Ground hornbill, great egret, white-fronted roller, Woodland Kingfisher



Grey Heron



Red-billed Firefinch



And then the highlight of my day, I was looking and hoping for this sighting for almost a year now, this bird flew past us and I almost had a excitement-fit. A lifer for me-> broad-billed Roller, we were swooning over this bird for about half an hour, just taking pics when Wendy commented that tent to one a leopard passed us and thought to himself that we are crazy birders…



Some other sightings on our drive were:











Something you don’t see very often is an extra looong around the tree bending nyala



Another sighting of a Verreaux...



And more buffs



Now this was a different sighting for us both, not anything we have seen in the park… a white/albino impala ram



We got back home at about 13:00 and relaxed in camp. We opened some KPA’s and just chatted the afternoon away. But it was soon over as we had to try this Redrocks –loop as well. Now just a note, one road that we decided we would never drive again is this road… together with the S106 it is on my no-no list. We just didn’t enjoy this road at all, we did have a few nice sightings on the end of this road, an antelope that I haven’t seen in the Park yet was these Sharpes grysbok





And a tusker



We got home and started the fire, we sat in front of the fence enjoying the setting sun. I sipped on a new sundowner called a ‘creamy mint’ (some chocolate –mint vodka and of course Amarula). We braaied some wors and chicken sosaties and had it with a lekker salad.





We ate like kings whilst listening to the kings of the animal kingdom roaring away in the distance, this was truly a great day.

To be continued…

[Heksie]

Day 6… Northward bound

After a great nights’ sleep, funny enough is it a bit windy in November and no problem with heat at all during the dark hours, we wake up to freshen up as we have planned to visit Pafuri picnic spot and then Crooks corner. Neither one of us have traveled this far up North so it would be a new adventure for both of us. It was a beautiful morning and the first thing we did was to stop on the Shing bridge and enjoy this amazing sunrise…







It was incredible standing on the bridge and enjoying one of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve had in the Park, it was dead quiet and the wind was rustling in the grass, just you and nature. We had to move on as we had a long way to go and time unfortunately don’t stand still.
Then came a few animals on our drive; ellie



Zebs



And ou daggaboys, we laughed so much. They were true ou manne, having the bladders of a 20 liter waterjug and looking very grumpy at 5 in the morning.





Then a very exciting surprise for us as some friends informed us that there are no wille herds above shing, we saw them about 10km N of Shing. 6 willies is a herd mos?



There were a few puddles of water and we were lucky enough to see more comb-billed ducks



It was a very quiet drive and we had our first stop at the Beautiful Babalala picnic spot where we had our wee stop and for a few minutes got sidetracked by some termites



We had a bit of a roadblock, you know the kind that is almost worse than peak-hour traffic in the city…



And at Punda we got some more buffs



On this road I got another lifer for the trip: the Violet-backed Starling



And these birdies were everywhere; it seems that they love the North as I rarely see them in the Southern part of the Park, the white-fronted bee-eater.



We got to Pafuri and was sad to hear the famous Frank was on leave. So we had a little chat with the oke in charge and rented a skottelbraaier for our breakfast, eggs, cocktail sausages and fried tomatoes. What was surprising was the fact that we saw no verves, and or any other animal that bothered us during our brekkie. After a delicious brunch and MMC we moved towards our next destination and oh what a beautiful road it was. We discussed something Leach said about a part of this road being a green forest home for pixies and fairies… It is one of the most beautiful stretches in the Park. And for those that longs to see a nyala, this is the road to be on.



Just look how dry the Limpopo river is, it wasn’t what I expected at all.



Here we sat a while just looking over the riverbed, there were actually people sitting with a umbrella almost the whole morning just waiting to see what would happen here. I’m, definitely not one of those patient people… Some other sightings here were;





On our way back we saw a few ground hornbills



And a Mr Magnificent



And a bobby having a sip



a Purple roller



And a first for us were these Tsessebi



We decided to take the Mphongolo loop, and even not seeing a lot of animals we still enjoyed this beautiful loop. It had a lot of loopies itself that followed a river and the bush is lush and green. We had some ellies, bushbuck, storks, vervets, imps, sharpe’s grysbok and bobbies on this road.







And in our last stretch we took a small road that takes you to the Shing-causeway. We got some buff and for our last sighting another lifer for me, the common greenshank.





We got home just before 17:00 and after a day of adventure we were absolutely smackered, we made the fire and started packing in the things we didn’t need for the night as it was our last night and we had to leave very early, Wendy forgot to put in petrol so we had to wait, well drive around until 6:00 the next morning before we could actually leave the camp. We had a meet at 13:00 at Satara with mites from San Francisco. So it was eat, drink a few KPA’s and then turn into bed tonight.

To be continued…