Tag: sunset drives

South Africa Safari Day 20 The day of the hyena

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We got up early 6.30am, showered, put on relatively clean clothes🤣🤣, breakfasted, made a pack up lunch and got on our way. It was our last day in Satara…tomorrow we move down to the south of Kruger to Pretoriuskop.

We headed down the tar…I selected zebra today and John selected wildebeest as first spot. It was a cold grey morning a real contrast again from yesterday’s sunshine and heat. We drove some time before seeing some Zebra …sorry John 8-4 to me🤣

Today we had decided to take the S126 which cuts across to the Orpen tar road. It’s a lovely scenic route, with chances to see lots as it runs alongside a twisting and turning river, which has patches of water in it.

We saw a huge amount of varied game around a waterhole…elephants, wildebeest, zebra and impala…a lovely wildlife picture…

We travelled on, the road was not great…unless the parks board spends some money on upkeep of their dirt roads, it won’t be so long before only 4×4 vehicles will be able to handle them.

We came across 2 big lone male buffalo, called dagger boys.

As we slowly picked our way down a hill I suddenly stopped, asked John for the binoculars….there about 400m on the far side of the river was the derrière of a large rhino. It stopped its route march and turned sideways giving us a wonderful view…this is really a majestic creature, reminding us of prehistoric times. A few moments later he continued his route march and completely disappeared from sight…how lucky were we…even John had to marvel at how I had seen it….these eagle eyes still work when they have to🤣🤣

We travelled on to the picnic spot….its unfortunate that I needed the loo…a long drop…defiantly not to be recommended…not only did I have to contend with that but the door had no lock and a lady walked in and caught me on the throne🤣🤣….never mind, I’ll never see her again and I hope I didn’t traumatise her too badly🤣🤣

Back on the road we crossed the main Orpen road. Had a Quick Look in the dam…the hippos and crocodile were all happy and we continued onto the dirt road which comes out on the tar north of Satara…..This road had been graded so it gave us a more comfortable ride.

We passed elephants, impala, zebra, wildebeests and giraffe.

……before long we saw a Kori bustard…its thin greyish neck made us think it was a female as it was very different from the two males we’d seen several days ago.

Around the next bend there were 3 more Kori bustards…a really lovely sight.

Further up the track a car stopped us and asked what we had seen…they were as excited as we were by the Kori bustard.

They told us of a leopard sighting just a few minutes away. However when we turned back onto the Olifants Satara tar road there were about a dozen cars all vying for position…we asked 3 different cars and none had actually seen the leopard…the 4th car said it was no longer viewable as it had laid in the long grass..another almost saw it, moment…..!!!!

We returned to camp and decided to go to the Cattle Baron for brunch rather than eat our sandwiches, they would be ok tomorrow…brunch was great

After a rest we headed out for our usual S100, H6 circuit. The cool, dull overcast weather meant we only really saw groups of the plains animals- zebra, wildebeest, impala and a scattering of giraffe and a few largish herds of elephant.

On the H6 there were some WBV on the giraffe carcass, which is a sure sign that the lions have left …as seen in the pictures above…..( I haven’t worked out yet how to move a picture when I put them in the wrong place !🤣)

We stopped at the hyena den and sat patiently. It was very quiet and our patience paid off as the mum and 2 pups appeared.

Hyenas are nocturnal and have interesting social structures. Their clans are led by a female matriarch, mostly because hyena females have three times more testosterone than males, meaning they are physically stronger and have more aggressive temperaments. The highest-ranked individual in a hyena clan is the alpha female, followed by her cubs. Hyenas are Intelligent, curious, and opportunistic in matters of diet, they are known as the vacuum cleaners of the bush…basically they eat all the left overs from other animals kills….that doesn’t mean they won’t kill something themselves, but they tend to be scavengers.

We watched on our own for quite some time before continuing back to camp.

Our count for the day was 99+ impala, 99+ zebra, 9 vervet monkeys, 1 red billed hornbill 3 lilac breasted rollers, 23 giraffes, 5 yellow billed hornbills, 4 Kori bustards, 7 grey Lourie, 2 bateleur eagle, 2 buffalo, 24 Chacma baboons, 1 rhino, 88 elephants, 1 crocodile, 6 hippo, 4 hooded vultures, 1 tawny eagle, 1 martial eagle, 58 waterbuck, 1 steenbok, 9 warthogs, 99+ wildebeest, 2 WBV, 3 hyena, 7 kudu, 3 guinea fowl……not a bad days viewing.

We returned to the Cattle Baron for a light supper then an early night.

South Africa Safari 2025 Day 14 – The day of the Eland

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After a superb day yesterday we awoke early ..just before 7am. John made the coffee, while I attached photos to yesterday’s blog….the best time to get a quick upload is around 1-2am…but failing that due to being asleep morning tends to be quicker …just 2/3 minutes per picture. My task completed I met with Josephine who had our laundry all fresh and sweet smelling. I gave her 170 Rands (about £7,50) which made her absolutely beam from ear to ear….it was a small price to pay to save me doing it…I hadn’t quite worked out how to dry it and I’ve never had much success at handwashing🤣🤣

We had our last two yogurts in peace…no vervet monkeys pestering us today…perhaps they have the day off on Saturdays🤣. At the garage the kindly attendant washed and polished all the car windows while filling it up with petrol, we showed our gratitude and away we went..

We had decided to go up to the northern end of the Park , to Punda Maria some 76 kms away. John hasn’t been doing too well at naming first spot of the morning so once again I gave him first choice…he chose Waterbuck, we had seen lots around camp yesterday, and I chose Elephant.

We didn’t see much game for about 20 minutes, probably due to the smell of smoke still hanging thickly in the air from the controlled burn yesterday evening.

Eventually we saw a giraffe…closely followed by a few elephant….oh dear!!! I couldn’t help but remind John that I was now 5-1 up 🤣🤣. it was almost an hour later when we finally saw a Waterbuck 🤣

We saw some great sights on our trip up the road. There were a herd of zebra in the dried river bed. We witnessed them drinking out of some holes in the sand we automatically presumed the elephant had dug. Elephant often do this when water is either dirty or in short supply. However while watching the zebra we witnessed two different ones using their front hooves to dig out the holes further…it made us wonder if they had dug the holes from scratch or were just deepening elephant drinking holes. It was a practice we had not seen before. We sat some time watching these ingenious creatures meet their own needs and helping the youngsters get water.

Further along the road a car was pulled up at the side of the road and we focused where they were looking. There were some buffalo to the right but they weren’t looking there. So I asked the lady who told me there were some Eland….and sure enough in the thick bushes we made out 4 beautiful Eland. We haven’t seen these in Kruger for many many years. They are only inhabitants of the very northern part of the park.

The eland is often referred to as the cow of the wilderness. It is the world’s largest antelope. It has the endurance to maintain a trot indefinitely and can jump as high as 1.5 meters. It is known for its strength, stately presence, and spiral horns. The eland is surprisingly agile and graceful. It is a browser which utilises a wide variety of plant species. It can survive without water for periods of time by eating fruits and using their liquid to sustain it. Wow…were we delighted when we caught this fleeting glimpse.

Further up the road there was a large water tank and trough with zebra and elephants milling around. The very strong smell of decay alerted us to the remains of a dead elephant near by. It looked as if it was just the skin and some bones left.

On a mound of earth near it stood a “Jimmy”…….he had a wee and skirted around the carcass before disappearing into the scrub land. Jimmy Jackal – my nickname for a black backed Jackal is one of my favourite creatures…Cheeky, intuitive, sprightly and intelligent. I was ecstatic as we’ve only seen one other so far this trip.

As we continued we came across a small pocket of water with a lot of zebra, a few waterbuck and a couple of buffalo.

Not far from here, on the opposite side of the road, was a huge amount of White backed vultures in the air, on trees and then we saw even more on the ground . We realised it was a feeding frenzy. The ones on the ground were feasting on the remains of a buffalo. There was even a Maribou stork getting stuck in. We could see no signs of the lions who had presumably killed and had their fill of this beast.

Almost walking behind and round the kill was a huge herd of over 100 buffalo obviously going to the water.

We really were seeing a lot. Continuing on our journey we got to a waterhole….it was literally teaming with activity..zebra, impala, several wildebeest’s, a small herd of elephants and would you believe it a herd of 7 tsessebe. All were strolling in to the waterhole having a drink and wandering back away again. We sat along time watching this amazing sight….

We left the main road which continues up to the border post of Pafuri. We turned left towards the gate and camp of Punda Maria. The vegetation was quite dry and we went a fair way of the 20 kms without seeing anything. Then we had a km or two of successful sightings. A handsome bull nyala stood at the side of the road in the shade with 3 females, a young buck and another bull…they really are a handsome antelope…

The males with their yellow stockings and shaggy brown coat with white stripes and patches,…. The female so much smaller with its tan shaggy coat and barcode type white markings and white dots…such a beautiful couple.

We continued to see zebra, giraffe, impala and the odd elephant.

We turned right up to the camp…..oh dear this really hasn’t moved on in the past 35 years… The two rows of terraced tiny rooms standing adjacent to the communal washrooms with their shower, bath and toilet. The communal kitchen stands next to this. The reception, shop and restaurant all housed in the same building at the far end of the camp.

The only difference I could see over the decades is that it now has a petrol filling station. We browsed the shop, used the toilets and left…this is not a camp we would ever consider staying at…just that little too authentic of a bygone era.

We retraced our steps stopping regularly at sightings both new and already seen on the trip up. The waterhole was still a hive of activity. We ate our rolls watching the feeding frenzy on the buffalo carcass…the Maribou stork was gone but a lapped faced vulture had joined the table…this is a rare sighting these day.

We turned up to the water tank and trough where the dead elephants carcass was…we soon realised we had joined a wake or perhaps a memorial service or celebration of life. There was an eery silence from over 50 elephants, spread around the area, in family groups, a respectful distance from the deceased. We felt very privileged to witness this final farewell attended by so many of the wildernesses giants…..with such a huge gathering one may have expected a lot of noise but there was total silence…..we showed our respect by backing away and leaving them to mourn in peace.

Returning to camp we saw a number of the usual wildlife- elephants, zebra, waterbuck, impala, and just before we got to the camp gate we witnessed a male nyala walk across the dry sandy river bed to a tiny pocket of water.

Our spotting count for the day was massive…99+impala, 7 squirrel, 2 yellow billed storks, 5 wildebeest, 2 ostrich, 1 yellow billed hornbill, 2 red billed hornbills, 19 giraffe, 1 steenbok, 1 black backed jackal, 4 eland, 99+ elephant, 99+ buffalo, 99+ zebra, 2 lapped faced vultures, 5 lilac breasted rollers, 24 WBV, 52 waterbuck, 2 Maribou storks, 29 Chacma baboons, 8 tsessebe, 11 kudu, 3 grey Lourie, 9 nyala, 9 guinea fowl, I bushbuck, 2 bateleur eagles, 1 grey heron.

Back at camp we rested until 17:15 then made the barbecue. There was no outside spotlight on the braii so we decided to do it in daylight. However it was gone 6.00 pm by the time the coals were ready to cook on.

We had 8 chicken skewers… we were having it with noddles and sweet and sour sauce. It would have been very nice if I hadn’t of over cooked the chicken…I was anxious to cook it all the way through and over did it….but the meal was still tasty…the cremated chicken effort took my barbecuing skills back down to 3/10 which even John didn’t disagree with.

He kindly washed up and we played cards while eating some chocolate for dessert….i know I shouldn’t but we’d had very little edible food throughout the day and a little tastebud delight was required…followed by an early night.

South Africa Safari 2025 Day 13 – The day of the Tsessebe.

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“Oh it’s such a perfect day
I’m glad I spend it with you
oh such a perfect day you just keep me hangin on
you just keep me hangin on” …

….That’s what you do Mother Nature…..and then you deliver, time and time again. ……half way through this perfect day we both burst into song….after all, the birds, wildlife, trees and plants aren’t going to tell us to shut up are they. It was a lovely bright day with temperatures back to around 26 Celsius.

We had a slow start to the day…both showered and hair washed, clean cloths and just a small pot each of yogurt for breakfast, supplies need replenishing. John made rolls for lunch while battling to keep the vervet monkeys off the food and out of the kitchen…if it wasn’t the monkeys it was the glossy starlings and the squirrels….quite a sight to see John “sshhhing” them away…one monkey distracted him while another sneaked in behind …eventually he succeeded. I had in the meantime been sorting out the dirty washing ready to go to the laundry.

Our house keeper arrived just as we were leaving. I asked her where the laundry was and she pointed but then she said she would do it for me. I asked how much and she said anything I wanted to give her…so I said 150 Rands ( £6) and she beamed from ear to ear…I gave her the detergent and she said she’d bring it all back tomorrow morning…bless her. When we got back at lunchtime she had decorated our beds with the towels and leaves and pods and she had put a glass on a doily full of flowers next to our beds….Josephine you are a lovely lady.

With the washing taken care of it meant we could go out game spotting much earlier. We went out of the back gate and headed along the river side….wow…it was prolific for game…within 10 minutes we had driven 2 kms and seen 8 different species……our first sight was a squirrel just as we left the camps gate. We saw loads of waterbuck, giraffe, elephants, small groups of dagger boys – old male buffalo, zebra, kudu, hippos, and of course we soon counted 99+ impala….for an area which has a reputation of being devoid of wildlife it was our most prolific day game viewing so far this holiday.

We spent along time looking up a tree with 2 other vehicles who informed us there was a leopard sleeping up the tree……if it was it was buried deep in the foliage of the tree …as you know leopards can sleep for along time and we decided to leave her to it.

We retraced our route back to camp. On the way back we came across a magnificent specimen of a bull Nyala…a very handsome male…he seemed to be on his own with no harem.

On arrival at the camp it was once again a hive of activity…bus and mini bus loads full of school children and locals. It was “heritage day” earlier in the week and we think the park drops the conservation daily fee for locals during the week. As we drove through camp I stopped and commented how beautiful a lady looked in traditional clothing, she wanted us to take her photo which we obligingly did…

We stopped at our chalet for a quick loo break before heading out of the front gate….lo and behold on the opposite bank of the river were two tsessebe antelope.

The tsessebe has a strange name which is fitting for its rather strange look. It is larger and somewhat different in appearance than the other two animals of the same genus (blesbok and bontebok). Both sexes carry horns which are more splayed, and a black (rather than a white) blaze marks the face. The tsessebes upper parts are dark reddish-brown with a distinct purplish sheen and paler belly. They have a characteristic shoulder hump which is higher than its rump. The tsessebe is reportedly the fasted of all antelope and it can reach speeds of up to 90 km. It is a grazer and is often the first to arrive on areas after a burn as they specifically like fresh growth and shoots.

As we watched these rarely seen beauties another car stopped and asked us what we were looking at. We told them and they drove straight on, obviously neither appreciating the rare sighting or the beauty of this magnificent creature.

We continued out to the S53 where we had seen the lions yesterday. On the way we saw a lot of white backed vultures, elephant, zebra and a lone wildebeest. The S53 was no longer lion ridden, there was no sigm of them. Not far from where they had been, a group of Chacma baboons happily sauntered across the track. The thick undergrowth and vegetation makes spotting a challenge and photo opportunities near on impossible…

On our way back to camp we spied a very elegant martial eagle in a tree close to the road.

We watched aline of zebra cross the dry river bed and disappear into the bush. Stopping back at the tsessebe we decided to eat our lunch. Back in camp it was time for a rest.

Our spotting count for the day was …we don’t include the sunset drive spots because it’s too difficult to record bouncing up and down all the time.. 99+ impala, 65 elephant, 6 squirrel, 13 warthog, 58 zebra, 63 waterbuck, 13 kudu, 21 giraffe, 6 yellow-billed stork, 48 buffalo, 2 yellow billed hornbill, 2 quail, 8 spur-fowl, 37 hippo, 1 grey lourie, 1 nyala, 1 African fish eagle, 21 Chacma baboons, 2 saddle-billed stork, 4 tsessebe, 3 vervet monkeys, 1 wildebeest, 9 WBV, 1 lilac breasted roller, 1 martial eagle……what a prolific game drive!

We wandered across to the carpark for the sunset drive at 4.15pm. I was immediately pounced upon by some colourfully dressed ladies who wanted their photos taken with the white, blonde lady….i was grateful when another couple joined us and shifted the photographic lime lite to them. It was a strange experience.

When the small 10 seater Safari vehicle arrived we quickly jumped on. While the driver did his paper work another group of local visitors jumped on the vehicle to have their photos taken on a Safari vehicle with the white people…it was all a bit overwhelming and surreal. We were glad when the driver returned along with 2 more guests who sat on the row of seats infront of us. Delight introduced himself, reminded us of the Safari vehicle game drive etiquette and informed us that the extra two people were also game rangers/ guides from one of the local 5* reserves. Great we had 3 guides instead of just one. We set of for out 3 hour drive with high hopes.

Delight followed the same route we had been in the morning. We saw some lovely sights along the river banks . Including 2 more tsessebe. He stopped several times to talk about both lion and impala scat- poo!! We went to where the leopard had been seen but the remaining car said it had already left the tree and disappeared into the undergrowth. We did however catch sight of a fish eagle.

On our return trip a large eagle owl was seen in the twilight.

We went some time before sighting a Scops owl at the edge of the road. It flew into a tree and we watched it for a while.

A couple of adorable bush babies were seen leaping around the bushes. Quite close to camp we saw a raging bush fire but Delight assured us it was a controlled burn. The Parks board does have areas they burn from time to time. They keep it under control by putting in firebreaks. It is so the earth regenerates and it allows seeds to germinate and fresh growth quickly appears. This is the time of year they do this, just before the rains begin.

On returning to camp we tipped Delight and thanked him for a very enjoyable 3 hour drive. We decided as it was 7.45pm we would eat in the restaurant. We both had pies, I had chicken, John had venison. Thankfully they had vegetables which were delightful, a mixture of cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, mange-toot, courgette, peppers and corn….i think it was frozen but it was very welcomed. Our meal cost less than £15 for us both. We returned to our chalet happy and tired….an excellent day in the bush….oh what a perfect day…