Lions On The Loose

[PJL]

What about telling SANParks to cut the grass more often? Lots of sightings ruined by long grass

I like the elephants and they show so well

Lis you’re onto an idea there
Fortunately the long grass wasn’t an issue for some sightings to come

[Mel]

Superb photos of the ground hornbill. And I liked the hairdo of the heron too

Mongoose are always cute and it's great to see other species when you get away from your "home" park.

But those predators... hiding... Not what you're used to from those Addo lions and hyenas

[Alf]

Mongoose are always very cute

[PJL]

Superb photos of the ground hornbill. And I liked the hairdo of the heron too

Mongoose are always cute and it's great to see other species when you get away from your "home" park.

But those predators... hiding... Not what you're used to from those Addo lions and hyenas

Thanks Mel
I guess in Addo the bush is so thick you either see the predators or they're totally hidden... none of this spots in the grass nonsense

Mongoose are always very cute

They are! We looked out for them whenever we took the S130 but never saw them again

[PJL]

I'm going to loose track of days if I'm not careful, so....

Fri 21st June

We were up nice and early for our first full day in the park. By the time we got to Crocodile Bridge gate it was still very dark, but the queues were building. We had decided to see what it was like without a pre-booking, which in hindsight was a bad move. The big queue of cars with pre-bookings were let in first and we had to sit for quite some time. Fortunately we were one of the first non-pre-booking vehicles to be allowed in, and we were processed quickly at reception.

Our aim was to head up to Skukuza for lunch via Lower Sabie, so our first stop would be where the leopards had been seen the day before at the junction of the H4-2 and S130. The youngster was apparently being seen from time to time running between bushes, but despite there initially not being too many cars at the place we just couldn't get any kind of view
After waiting for too long the leopards moved totally out of sight which had me in a grumpy mood as we had wasted a fair amount of time at the non-sighting

Continuing on with our original plan we went up the S130, then across to Duke waterhole and up the last part of the S28 before re-joining the tar up to Lower Sabie. The S130 was quiet, but we found some zebra attempting to drink at the muddy waterhole at the northern end of the road



There were a few usuals around Duke, but a lump in a tree turned out to be a Verreaux's eagle-owl



Along the S28 some vultures were warming up in the sunshine



One of them was a lappet-faced variety which I don't think we have seen before



On the H4-2 we found a vehicle reversing, and after chatting to the driver it seemed we had just missed out on another leopard sighting
In fairness they had only seen it for a split second before it dashed into cover so we hadn't missed too much

Along the Sabie there was a big herd of buffalo drinking



We stopped at the Lower Sabie bridge and whilst watching some hippo realised this huge monitor was lying in the sun just below the car doors



It made for some good close-ups





In the distance we saw a martial eagle, but it was a long way off



We stopped at Lower Sabie for some much needed coffee and hot chocolate. We found the service there to be very good most of the time despite the swell of visitors over the holidays. Our car had accumulated some serious dust already, so we decided to add some assistance in finding cats



Little did we realise at the time how accurate the directions were

[Flutterby]

Missed leopard sightings are always frustrating! But you still had some nice sightings.

I love the directions on the window!

[Lisbeth]

I cannot see the pics! there is only a "no entrance" sign

[PJL]

I cannot see the pics! there is only a "no entrance" sign

Hopefully fixed now Lis?

[PJL]

Missed leopard sightings are always frustrating! But you still had some nice sightings.

I love the directions on the window!

We did have some nice sightings
After a while we forgot about the window signs, and later in the day got a bit confused when random people drove up next to us and thanked us for the directions

[Lisbeth]

I cannot see the pics! there is only a "no entrance" sign

Hopefully fixed now Lis?

Thank you