Searchin for Doggies in the Hot Summer Sun KNP Jan 2015*

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RogerFraser
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Re: Searchin for Doggies in the Hot Summer Sun KNP Jan 2015

Post by RogerFraser »

:ty: Toko Thnx for the ID
Lisbeth They were very weary of the road and went across at high speed .Yes we seem to be stork magnets on this trip. O:V
Bushcraft-Thnx \O
Flutterby - We have been trying to get there in Winter for many years but when you still got School Holidays to contend with its very difficult .I am trying to swing a visit to a family cottage at Marloth park in winter this year to experiance KNP in winter .Only two more years of School holidays then overlanding will begin in ernist again .KTP ,Bots ,Etosha are all on my lists .... O\/ O\/ O\/

Day 11 Jan 13th Part 3


After Tshokwane we decided to go down the H4-2 towards Leeupan to see if we could find any sign of the lions that we saw on the previous week on the way to Maroela.Not finding them before Leeupan we drove around the pan and found some Geese and Pluvers .
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We carried on the way down the road and I swear at the very same spot we saw them a week before we found a vehicle and there in the bushes LL's snoozing in the shade.
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After spending some time there it was obvious they were not going anywhere and the temperature had climbed to around 45 degrees so we left.

We stopped off at the tablets
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On the other side of the koppie a Duiker was on the lookout and his partner was snoozing in the shade.
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We carried on our way and came across a small traffic jam .Lions the car that moved for us to see .And sure enough in the shade a male and female lion were lying panting heavily .They were mating the car explained but we had arrived at intermission and it seemed they were not going to be moving soon and it was an already crowded sighting so we left after navigating the cars and OSV's arriving enmasse .
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On the H12 high level bridge over the Sabie river it was quiet so we stopped and pulled out the binoculars to have a look around .While there we saw a group of three junior ellies come down to the river .They spent the next 25 minutes playing ,splashing pushing and shoving in the river .It was really fun interaction to watch at one stage I swear they played leapfrog with one going under water with only the tip of its trunk and the other going over the top .Later one even picked up a branch and beat up his siblings with it .We took lots of pics and a video .During the time we also got to watch the OSV and cars coming and going watching for a few minutes then shooting off.
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By now the ellies were starting to climb out and I looked up at the end of the bridge and what on earth .There was two Lions walking along the ridge next to the road with a car following . At that time with an OSV next to us as I started my engine the OSV driver saw what I had seen and shot off to the end of the bridge causing the Lions to head of into the bushes .Ok I though to be clever and go through to the short dirt track opposite .We drove round while the OSV stayed and radioed off the sighting .We drove the dirt road and all we met was another Ellie heading down to the river .So we drove back to the junction and looked up the road .We gathered the lions had come back out this side by the 10 odd OSV's lining the road .So we took our que and headed back down the H4-2 to Lower Sabie for lunch .


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Re: Searchin for Doggies in the Hot Summer Sun KNP Jan 2015

Post by Lisbeth »

Next lesson 0/0 : The geese are white-faced ducks and the other feathered ones are blacksmith plovers. The duikers are klipspringers. Lesson finished! ;-)

I love your elephant spectacle ^Q^ ^Q^


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Re: Searchin for Doggies in the Hot Summer Sun KNP Jan 2015

Post by Bushcraft »

I understand the school holiday story as it’s the only time I can go also O/ July is very busy in the park, but definitely worth a winter visit. I find the October school holiday period in KNP very productive as it’s usually just before the spring rains hit.

Snoozing lions O:V

45 degrees :shock:

I love parking off on the H12 bridge X#X

10xOSV’s causing chaos and stuffing up a sighting O/


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Re: Searchin for Doggies in the Hot Summer Sun KNP Jan 2015

Post by Flutterby »

I still think October is the best time of the year in Kruger - short grass, before the rains and mozzies, and fantastic sightings! ;-)

45 degrees!! :shock: 0*\ . I just love watching ellies in water..just like kids...lovely pics! \O And some lions in between...a good drive. ;-)


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Re: Searchin for Doggies in the Hot Summer Sun KNP Jan 2015

Post by Richprins »

A massive kudu there, Roger! :shock:


The ellie bulls sometimes practise "mating" in the water...a bit of a taboo subject! lol


Nice ostrich, IMO, and that road is not that bad, often nice and quiet! \O

A thread about it here: https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=263&t=3488


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Re: Searchin for Doggies in the Hot Summer Sun KNP Jan 2015

Post by RogerFraser »

Day 11 Jan 13th Part 4

Apologies for the number of pics upfront but I cant seem to reduce this part of the day without sharing lots of pics ....

At camp we found a visitor at the men’s bathroom window. A small variegated grass snake was eating insects off the
screen.
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We left for the afternoon drive the ide was to drive the H4-2 to Croc bridge then come back up the S28.we found some piggies crossing the road.
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A bit further along we found a relative of Lenny

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We approached the bottom entrance of the S82 and found a traffic Jam down the road and around the S82 .We slowed down and saw the reason Wild Dogs were asleep all along the tree line in-between the two roads .

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Now having spent a few hours with a sleeping pack a few days before and looking at the cars around we decided to rather drive down to Crocodile Bridge and come back to the dogs later.

Across the Vurhami bridge we turned up the dirt road to go look over the dam and found boneapart right at the turnoff.
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The temperature was still very high .We decided to stop in at croc bridge for refreshments and go back to the dogs as nothing else was out in the heat .

Arriving back at the sighting there were no cars and no dogs ... where to go now up the S82 or the H4-2 .We drove up the S82 a short way and then turned around coming across another car who asked us the same question where are the dogs ? We went back to the H4-2 and there about 2 kms up the road we found them.
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We were not in any great hurry so we pulled up well behind the queue of cars and waited to see what would happen.
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Every now and then a dog would move , a car would pass and they would shuffle around .Some of the Pack ran around up the road entertaining some cars further up .
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Around this time a large dump truck arrived at the back of the queue .He was obviously needing to get somewhere and although patient he managed to weave to get past the remaining cars .This upset the pack who got up due to the noise.
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By now our GPS time to gate was showing we would arrive with 2 minutes to spare ... time for us to move .There was not many other cars around but somehow they still managed to block the road .We slowly tried to weave our way between traffic and dogs spread now across the road a.
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And we passed the last dog and accelerated to get back to camp
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GPS shows we will arrive at gate on time no time to spare.....
We drove the speed limit where possible and after 10 kms approaching the S28 intersection what is that in the road.Could it be .More wild dogs ..
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Two individuals looking a bit scraggly they had been in a muddy puddle somewhere .

We did a fast photo shoot and shot off
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We left the sighting the GPS showed we could still make gate closing as long as we drove the speed limit.

After the slight hill we were coming down and I looked up and there was a huge breeding herd of ellies approaching the road oh no if they get there before us we wont make it .But our luck holds we and a little car behind us manage to shoot past before they start to cross the road .We made the gate closing with a minute to spare .KNP delivered again . X#X X#X


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Re: Searchin for Doggies in the Hot Summer Sun KNP Jan 2015

Post by RogerFraser »

:ty:
Lisbeth,Flutterby- Yes we had specifically planned to see Dogs this trip .In our wildest dreams we though /hoped for one sightings but had such great sightings of them and another one to come ... O\/
BC-Yes the ladies at LS had a rather friendly baby Rat .The SO has still not recovered =O: ... Friends of ours staying with us told us of an incedent where the rat decided to visit her while she was in the loo and climbed onto her shoulder O** .We also had something in the bin the last two days banging arround .No one was brave enough to figure out what it was :twisted: ..
Toko -A few more to come. O/\
Richprins - yes they were always sleeping when we found them .Hoping to find them again on a cooler trip to see them more active. :-) I have one main use for Tom our GPS that talks with a ladies voice lol .When we get close to gate closing times we use Tom to judge if we can make it or not ... comes in very handy ;-) .


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Re: Searchin for Doggies in the Hot Summer Sun KNP Jan 2015

Post by RogerFraser »

Day 12 Jan 14th Part 1

Ok got the bird book out .Lisbeth going to need your help on a few of today's pics ... ;-)

This was our last full day in the park .We awoke to a steady drizzle . Our plan was to drive the roads we had not managed to reach yet .Starting with the S82 down to the S130 loop and then down to Croc bridge and backup the S28.Leaving Lower Sabie we came to the S82 and found a no entry sign up .Very strange it was only a light drizzle definately not heavy enough to close ,we had to re-plan the trip.Ok we will go down the S28 again to croc bridge and come back to S130. We found out after getting home there was a double poaching incident and arrests were made near to Skukuza ....

Not far along we found a familiar sighting exactly where we had seen them a few days prior having his early morning Mud Bath.
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We decided to go past the bird hide as it was still raining and a bit dark .Not far past the turning we came upon a beige head poking out the water logged grass .A Lioness lay watching her pride mate just a few meters into the bushes watching something in the distance .
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Whatever they were watching had obviously just left before we got there ,And the second lioness returned.
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We were just getting ready for them to settle down when they suddenly jumped up and began stalking something else across the ridge .After battling to follow their progress through the bushes over the ridge they finally appeared close to the river and settled down .
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They then moved to behind the bushes and lay down .We decided to move off and had just gone up the hill when another car approached we stopped and shared the sighting with them .They told us about a large herd of Buffaloes on the S107 .So we headed off to see them .


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Re: Searchin for Doggies in the Hot Summer Sun KNP Jan 2015

Post by Richprins »

Lions generally struggle in the wet summer, Roger...as prey disperses due to water all over, depending on rainfall in the area over time. You can see these lionesses are in poorish condition.

You are persistent in driving about in the rain, I must say! :shock:

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Re: Searchin for Doggies in the Hot Summer Sun KNP Jan 2015

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Day 12 Jan 14th Part 2

Driving down the S107 we found the herd of Buffalo had started crossing the road .It was a massive herd .They were moving at speed too not sure what was the rush but they had a mission .They would come striding down the road and then literally jump and run across the road .We sat for about 15 minutes and watched the back quarter of the herd crossing over the road .It would be quite a frightening experience to be on foot and see that coming towards you .
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We drove down to the dam but nothing was moving .Traveling back down the S28 we found this Doe
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But nothing else was about .So we turned onto the H4-2 on the bridge we found this fine feathered fellow looking for breakfast.
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We found a confused GNU hiding out in witness protection program close to Croc Bridge
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We stopped in at Croc Bridge and refreshed ourselves and decided to continue our trip on the H4-2 and round the S130 loop.

Traveling down the loop we found not much moving in the start of the loop .About half way round we found a car parked on the side as we slowly drew up they pointed to the grass Wild Dogs they said .We stopped for a while and watched the dogs sleeping and fidgeting about .
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After a while we realised they were not going to be moving around much we decided to move on.


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