Notes ...

Before I begin… another installment of the Kruger adventure let me say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We don’t need a national holiday to be thankful. We should practice Thanksgiving on a daily basis! Thankful that we have life first and then all the things that make life worth living- family, (both real and acquired), friends, and the ability to change or adapt! With those things anything can be accomplished.

"Bill" the Hornbill

Our 4th day in the park was pretty low key. We are still at Satara, where we stayed for 4 nights and quite frankly, ready to move on. Our hut faced an open space, where there were lots of birds and squirrels. I broke the rules accidentally, (I knew we couldn’t feed the animals), but I didn’t think feeding the birds was wrong… so I have some great pictures of ‘Bill’ the Hornbill. He even ate out of my hand. He has such a cartoon face. I think I see a quilt in there somewhere. I also had a Spurfowl and a dove eating from my hand. It’s obvious I am not the only one to have broken the rule. So we packed our stuff and headed for our next camp, about 60 km (37 miles) and approximately a 2 ½ drive…. Sight/game seeing along the way. So what did we see… on the drive? Well the temperatures were high and the sky was overcast, so there wasn’t too much activity. But this is Africa, and there are lots of animals to see.

We had heard of a lion sighting, so before heading north from Satara along a river, we dropped south along a paved road to see the lions. These lions were practically on the road. We watched them for a bit, but the only activity was a lioness moving from a sunny spot to one at the back in the shade.

The Brush

When we turned north we drove from moderate dry vegetation to a somewhat sparser and lower growing vegetation, although it was bushier so it was dense. Once again we drove slowly and I saw some flowers and on closer inspection… they were teaming with butterflies and bees. There were 2 species of butterfly on this floret. An almost white one, it had a lime or aqua cast to it… and there were quite a few on the plants. Then there was a much smaller more colorful one.

The day was warm enough that the elephants were having a great time playing in the water. At 2 different locations we saw fun. The first is an elephant cooling down by spraying water over himself. He would slip his trunk over the side of the tank, and then spray himself down. Once in a while he would take a drink. He had a partner

on the other side of the tank doing the same thing. The other was a group of elephants at a shallow water pan; several of them put their trunks in the water and exhaled making the water bubble up. Sort of like kids in the tub playing motorboat.

As we were watching the elephants another butterfly went flying past and as luck had it landed within in my sights… I don’t know the species, yet.

Butterfly

Wahlbergs Eagle

As we passed a large tree we spotted a Wahlbergs Eagle having lunch. Its lunch was nearly gone, but I did manage to snap a great photo or two. I wouldn’t put my finger too close to the beak. It’s sharp.

Wahlbergs Eagle

Our accommodations for the next couple of nights was at a Camp called Olifonts. It sits high on a cliff overlooking the Olifonts River. It has just been refurbished and has a marvelous deck for dining outdoors where you can watch the wild life. Our Hut had a view of the river, and from our patio we watched the Giraffes move along the tree line and hippos come out for feeding.

I’ll try and wrap up the trip to Kruger in one or two more posts… and then maybe a post of the odd photo, that I liked but didn’t have a way to insert into the blog.

If you’ve made it this far Happy Thanksgiving!

More later-Beth

On the second morning we had a Walking Safari. Once again, it was up before the sun and assembled for the short ride in a truck. For some reason… I thought wearing Capri’s and tennis shoes would be good clothing for a walk in the brush. I don’t think very well without coffee… and didn’t put any bug repellant on either, although I Did pack better walking clothes and bug stuff. Not smart! It is the rainy season, therefore it’s also tick season. The ticks here carry a disease, called oddly enough “African Tick Bite Fever”. After a short drive, we get off the truck, and are given some basic instructions and then, immediately start walking through long brush. After about 5 minutes I figure I’m going to have a tick… might as well enjoy the walk and experience. We are already taking Anti Malarial drugs… maybe I won’t have a tick and that will be all good.

(Remember to enlarge a photo, click on it. Also there are a few different pictures and larger views on my Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/beth-near_chicago/)

Guides with guns

As we walk along we see some birds… it is so early in the morning

and cloudy that the camera doesn’t think it’s light enough to take pictures. The first animal we hear in the brush is an elephant. One of the Ranger Guides… goes to find it, and then signals for us to come up. Once we get there… and we see where the elephant is… we are ushered quickly away. We had come up in front of the elephant, not off to the side, where the chances of being seen are less. Bull elephants don’t like to be surprised. It was pretty cool, but not much to photograph, since we were hiding from him. Before I forget, our guides were armed with big guns... just incase we run into trouble.

Game Breakfast

As we walked along, we saw more birds, some antelope, a zebra, a wildebeest, a giraffe and 3 more animals in a spectacular setting. As we came from a tree line and looked ahead… we were announced by a pack of hyenas having breakfast. It was amazing to hear them howl, - it wasn’t really a howl. I don’t think I can describe it accurately, but it was so worth the risk of ticks! As we continued our approach, the hyenas continued to object.

Hyenas, Lion and Jackals

When we were about 30 yards out, a large yellow

lump moved. It was a lion. He didn’t stay long though. Got up, look us over and then left. In the meantime, we continued our approach and the hyenas started to move away. In the background were 2 Black Backed Jackals hoping for a snack from the hyenas. The hyenas were upset, but kept about 30 yards distant. Once we arrived at their breakfast, a wildebeest, they started to come back, but still kept their distance.

Female Hyena

A female picked up a bone and came the closest to us, (incidentally she is pregnant too). It was spectacular to be on the ground with the animals. We weren’t in any danger, as the guards were armed. We had a bit of a snack…. Near the hyena breakfast grounds and then headed back to the truck. The walk lasted about 3 hours and well worth getting up early for.

Back at the camp, we showered. I didn’t have any ticks, and that was the good news, but they are microscopic, so I have to keep an eye open. So once again we have some coffee. By now we are using the communal kitchen, where they provide sinks, counters and burners to cook a meal, but all we make is coffee, in a our camping percolator.

Satara Camp

The camp we are staying at is called Satara. It is in nearly the center of the park. From the road, I have a picture of the outside of the huts. They are round with a thatched roof, about 15 feet across inside, with 2 twin beds, closet and sink, there is a shower and stool in a very small space behind a door. The only other fixture is an air conditioner, window unit. Outside is a covered patio, with a table for 2 with

Sitings Board

chairs, a small (not dorm size) refrigerator/freezer and a lockable cupboard for food. The inside of the room is too small to take photos. But very efficient. Our hut is facing a center green area with trees and lots of birds (bird pics later).

South African Scops Owl

We checked the sighting board… to see what folks had seen the day before and what they were reporting so far in the day. The dot colors are, yellow is wild dog, white is Cheetah, blue is elephant, orange is rhino, green is cape buffalo, red is lion and black is leopard. We decided to take a road we had traveled previously… where the lions were having the zebra breakfast, hoping we’d see them again. We didn’t see them, but we did see Scops Owl, on a tree in the parking lot. Not the best photo, but again the day was overcast and he was in the shade and at about eye level for me, so I had to nearly sit on the ground for this picture! He is only about 7 inches tall so not too big.

one of 2 Males in deep brush

We didn’t see too much activity… We of course happened upon antelope, the only animal the Rangers, Drivers and Guides will guarantee you will see. We did see some zebra, elephants and giraffe.

The other male.

But what have we become in a day and half in the park? Cat JUNKIES!! We want to see the cats. And of course we found one. Actually a pair of lions, 2 males; you will often find 2 males living together, but of course one is dominate. These 2 were well apart in the scrub.

We got into the habit of driving slow enough on the dirt roads for me to spot and photograph flowers and bugs. If you drive slow enough to see them, then you will often be rewarded with enough time to scan deeper or further away and see other creatures or birds.

Saddlebilled Crane

This is an interesting Crane. It is the only crane with this coloration, so it is easy to spot and identify.

This bird is only about 2 feet tall, and the color of the grass…. with some black markings. Could easily be missed driving at the speed limit.

Kudu Buck

We also spotted a beautiful Kudu Buck. Another animal adorned with a superb set of horns. The Kudu are big animals, and the coat color goes from a dun color to a grey that really helps them blend into the foliage. I’m not sure if you have noticed in the pictures, but often the grass is beige, many of the leafless trees are grey… so some of the animals appear to be more shadow when hiding in the brush.

While driving slowly we happened upon a small herd of Waterbuck, and I caught these two play practicing. Almost looks like they were posing for me.