New Territory

[Bushcraft]

Nyathi looks superb Price

Brilliant pics as per normal PJL

[PJL]

Gorgeous ellie pics!

Thank you Flutts

Baby elephants are wonderful For how long did they sleep and block the road?
Has someone taken Valli Moosa's place?

They would have carried on sleeping but for an OSV that was keen to continue down the road eventually making a bit of space to get past. The little ones decided to get up and carry on at that point.
I think Valli probably wasn't the most dominant bull in the park already... Paul is the main guy now I think. He's massive but doesn't have the same big tusks as they trimmed them back a while back after he killed another Kruger bull.

Elephants passed out all over the place!

Lovely shots, Peej.

Ja, when ellies are darted and go down on their chests the first thing to do is push them on their sides or they may suffocate as the stomach pushes up into the lungs...I have the same problem.

Quite something to find them passing out in a few places like you say!

Magnificent elephant pictures, PJL,

love especially the youngsters

Thanks Pumbaa
The youngsters were so much fun to watch

Oh, geez, are those snoozing youngsters too cute!

And, wow!, one proper roadblock

Funny how some days the ellies pop out all over the place right next to the road (or in it), yet on others they disappear in the bush
Yep those youngsters were a little too cute...

Nyathi looks superb Price

Brilliant pics as per normal PJL

Nice to see you here Bushcraft
Yep the price is a bit steep for us - particularly as we normally just camp

[PJL]

Heading down into the southern plains of the park we spotted a secretary bird quite close to the road



One of the kids saw a second one close by and before we knew it a third suddenly arrived on the scene - junior begging mom for some food





Mom duly regurgitated a huge variety of reptiles onto the ground for the youngster to consume

I think there was some part of a puff adder going down the hatch when this pic was taken....



Once dinner had been served, the adults both meandered very close to the road which was great for some pics







The male popped over to Peasland dam in search of some water, but after realising that it was dry he ended up doing a bit of a ballet dance





On our last stretch down to the south gate we had one last elephant bull walk past which was cool




And whilst normally that would be the end of my report, we did pop back into the park again a couple of times just a few days later so I'm going to include some of those adventures next

TBC

[Lisbeth]

Never seen a Secretary bird so young before, not to talk about being fed They are very pretty and the pics are great

[nan]

well done on the Secretary Bird

saw the first one in Kgalagadi, during my last travel

[Richprins]

Superb behavioural shots, Peej!

They really are ridiculous birds...

[Flutterby]

Stunning pics of the secretary bird!!

[Mel]

Interesting sighting of the secretaries! I love watching interactions like these or other not so often seen behaviour

Impressive ellie - fantastic shot

I do miss Addo... "Unfortunately" we managed a good booking in KTP for April 2019 - otherwise we would have been back.

[Pumbaa]

WoW PJL,

your secretary bird shots are amazing - A bird we unfortunately do see far too sporadically when in Kruger

[PJL]

Thank you all for the comments - seeing the secretary birds so close was quite unusual

Our next venture into the park came as a result of a phone call from a friend who guides in the park. Apparently lions had taken down a red hartebeest quite close to the road in the south of the park

Unfortunately the kids had prior commitments until about lunchtime so we only got to the park quite a lot later and I wasn't entirely sure if the lions would still be around. Fortunately I didn't need to worry - there was a decent size queue of cars on Mbotyi loop when we arrived, suggesting that Josie and her clan were indeed in the vicinity

We could see the hartebeest kill, but the initial action involved one of the young boys wandering around a bit.



They had a decent shady spot where a few of them were snoozing



Another of the boys took a bit of a wander and ended up with a ferocious greeting from mom







After a while, more faces started appearing in the grass as Dawn came into view





Her movement triggered a 'further snack time' signal to some of the others







Ribs seemed to be the order of the day



There wasn't a massive amount of meat left on the carcass so some ended up looking hopefully at others plates



TBC