A Weekend in Grietjie

[nan]

love the "last pic" of the day

[leachy]

also love that "last pic of the day""

i think anywhere with an overactive 3 yr old is hectic

but having one around in the bush is a tragedy.

[Richprins]

I think he got

[Flutterby]

Lovely stuff, Flutts!

Quite the complex family there...

The boy returned "subdued"...wonder why?

Fancy panorama pic!

Like the kudu.

Thanks, the "subdued-ness" didn't last long!

Great stuff, Flutters.

Good to see some pics of other people enjoying my "back yard".

Thanks Sprocky...it's a lovely place!

What a sweet little thing......not the SO but he does have the look of a little brat

Sitting around a fire always creates a certain atmosphere

You don't think SO is sweet?

love the "last pic" of the day

Thank you nan!

also love that "last pic of the day""

i think anywhere with an overactive 3 yr old is hectic

but having one around in the bush is a tragedy.

Yep, it was quite hectic!

I think he got

Unfortunately that is part of the problem. They don't really discipline him and give lots of threats but never carry out on anything! But it's also easy to talk when the Brat is 19 and we don't have those problems anymore!

[Flutterby]

The next morning we were up early for our day trip to Kruger. Anita and Tony opted out as they couldn't spend the whole day in the car with the little one...good decision! Although I couldn't believe that they have never been to Kruger!!

Flavio and Tina (the God parents) have been to Kruger a few times but they always stay in the fancy private concessions with game drives included, and had never been further north than Satara, so it was nice to show them how we do Kruger.

We arrived at Phalaborwa Gate just before 6.30am. Thankfully I had pre-booked our entrance, and were told to go to the front of the very long queue! There are three tills at Reception but only 2 were being used...one for pre-bookings and one for un-booked entrances!! There was one person in front of us so we didn't have to wait long but if we hadn't booked I'm sure it would have taken well over an hour in that queue!

After our cars and cooler boxes were searched , we entered just after 6.45. We headed down the H9 and popped into Sable Dam. It was very quiet with just a Blacksmith Lapwing to look at, possibly sitting on eggs.



There was very little game around and a Dark-chanting Goshawk was our next stop.



Our first stop for animals was for a herd of buffalo.



We wanted to stop at the Masorini ruins but I told SO to take the low-maintenance road by mistake so we missed them and couldn't be bothered to turn back!

At Rhidonda waterhole there was quite a large herd of buffs drinking, but the bush is so thick that is was quite difficult to get a good view.



This Golden Orb was closer and easier to watch.



While watching the buffs and spider, SO suddenly shouted "lion"! He was looking on the other side of the road. The Brat spotted it too but I didn't. There was now lots of manouvering and trying to show Flavio and Tina what they had seen. Two ladies in another vehicle had also seen it, so there was soon a bit of a traffic jam, but SO said it had been walking quickly and had disappeared into the thick bush. We scanned the area with binoculars and I then saw spots behind some leaves on a termite mound!! I shouted "leopard" and showed everyone where it was...this time everyone saw it. The leopard then jumped down from the mound and moved into a slightly clearer spot but it wasn't a leopard, it was a cheetah!!







It wasn't easy to get any good pics and it soon moved off. There was now a big discussion as to whether SO's lion was a lion or a cheetah, but he insisted that it was a lion. After seeing Aat's pics of cheetah in almost the same area I think it was a cheetah.

The Letaba area has never been my favourite part of the park, and I would never have dreamt of seeing a cheetah here, so I was quite chuffed!

[Richprins]

Well done, Flutts!

Nice pics, and lovely lion sighting!

Thank you for educating the rich people about our lifestyle!

[Lisbeth]

I have never been lucky enough to see a cheetah in KNP

The bush looks very green and impenetrable

[Twigga]

Wow Flutts! Good "spotting

Never seen cheetah that side

[nan]

wow Cheetah

[Pumbaa]

Love your antelope shots from the previous post, Flutterby,

and for sure the cheetah was a more than fantastic welcome gift into Kruger