Browns in Kruger July 2013 *

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Bushcraft
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Re: Browns in Kruger July 2013

Post by Bushcraft »

10th July Satara to Talamati

This day started very early at around 2:30am as the Cow and Hawkeyes were now completely stuffed and running to the loo every 15 minutes. It’s about then that we worked out it was food poisoning from the toasted chicken mayo as they were the only 2 who had it and I only had 1 bite, so only got it mildly for half a day.

I dug through the stash of cement tablets and dosed them up, but it didn’t make a difference and the running to the loo continued. Fortunately we always carry a large amount of cement tablets, due to my loo issues, but by 6am we were running low on tablets, so I was starting to flap for the rest of the trip.

In the 25 odd years that I have known the Cow I have only seen her this sick once before.

I really started flapping when the penny dropped that we had to move to Talamati today, so should be packing up.

At about 6:30am I had finished loading the car and suggested that I took the 2 small rats on a drive while they slept and come back to pick them up later, but the Cow refused, so at around 6:40am we left camp, but decided to stay fairly close in case of an emergency.

The roaring lions from the previous evening stopped at about 3am, so I assumed that they had moved off, therefore we drove down the H7 towards Nsemani Dam.

As we arrived we spotted a few cars on the left opposite the dam and I just knew what it was as it’s his spot, but he started moving as we slowed, so I found myself begging the Cow “Take a pic, please take a pic” as I couldn’t while still moving forward, but the Cow was out of it.

Eventually we got a “bush leopard”, a bum view and a tail in the bush.

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We sat waiting for around 15 minutes in case he decided to come out the bush, but eventually gave up. During this time the Cow found a kingfisher to take pics of.

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I asked the loo question and all seemed ok, so we decided to duck up the S40 to Timbavati.

Just past the S40/S12 intersection I spotted something running down the road towards us and shouted “Jackal!!” , but then the confusion started as it was twice the size of any BBJ the we have seen, so I squawked “Side Stripped”, but then again got confused as there was no white tip to the tail. (Other pics are up in the mammal identification forum)

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Just before Timbavati we found a large herd of ellies, including a few uptight juniors and then an Egret or Crane model for the Cow.

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The Cow and Hawkeyes charged off to the loo again as we arrived at Timbavati and I went to chat to the attendant to thank him for his information the previous day.

To be continued


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Bushcraft
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Re: Browns in Kruger July 2013

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10th July Satara to Talamati continued

We hung around Timbavati for awhile as the Cow was taking serious strain, but eventually she felt ok to hit the road again, so we decided to duck straight towards Talamati with the hope that we would make it before the loo was required again, so we ducked back down the S40, but stopped first to take a fish eagle pic for the Cow.

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The Girivana Dam area produced as few warties, ellies and some waterbuck

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The rest of the drive was fairly quiet, but as we hit the H7/S36 intersection the loo was required again, so I shot down the S36 to Muzandzeni and the long drop didn’t seem to be an issue today as the Cow charged off.

I checked the time and decided to hire a skottel and cook breakfast while this loo commotion was going on, but only Albert, Bushpig and I ate.

After breakfast we ducked down to Ximangwaneni Dam and found a lone ellie cruising around, but not much else was happening.

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The Cow and Hawkeyes were now looking even worse, so I decided to turn and duck for Orpen to see if I could get some medicine. They went back to sleep, while Bushpig spent her time irritating Albert, so it ended up a long lonely painful drive, but I did stop once to take an ostrich pic.

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The S106 is a corrugated nightmare, but unfortunately the only route to the Orpen area at the moment and the traffic was hectic, so I was soon jammed between cars and bouncing around like crazy, which didn’t help things for the Cow and Hawkeyes.

Just before the end of the S106 Hawkeyes jumped up and frantically wound down her window, but didn’t aim straight, so vomit sprayed half in the car and half outside, which unfortunately meant a shower for the guy travelling behind us also.

Bushpig and Albert started shrieking as they tried to climb on top of each to get away from the vomit, the Cow semi woke up, but didn’t seem interested and I didn’t know what the heck to do, so just put foot for Orpen.

The Orpen shop didn’t have a rocket scientist on duty unfortunately, so my requests for cement tablets fell on deaf ears, so I cruised around the shop with Bushpig and Albert to see what we could find, but only found 3 different types of medicine for constipation, but nothing for the alternative, so returned to the car empty handed.

Hawkeyes had cleaned things up with toilet paper, so the car was liveable, but I still wasn’t sure what to do, therefore asked the Cow and she said “Let’s just get to Talamati” and went back to sleep, so off we went down the S140 which was the shortest route.

The S140 is one of the quietest roads in the park and today was no exception, although maybe because nobody was really looking by this stage, but we did encounter a massive herd of buffalo about 200m from the Talamati entrance.

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I could see that things weren’t going to wait for the buffalo to cross, so I slowly moved through them and into camp.

We were a little early but I think the aunty at reception spotted my hair standing up and what the others looked like, so gave us the unit keys.

The Cow and Hawkeyes went to bed, so I was left to entertain Bushpig and Albert for the afternoon, therefore went straight for a triple G&T.

After a few triples my blood pressure dropped to a normal level and decided to take the 2 younger rats on a trip around camp to pass the time.

The hide produced a few ellies having a dop, which entertained for awhile, but then others pulled in to the hide, so I ducked with the young rats to give them peace.

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We then cruised around all the units to check out which was the best and unit 5 or 10 (which is a different type due to a fire years ago) won the competition.

Hawkeyes woke up at around 5pm and looked a little better so she joined us on another excursion towards the hide and we found that a few wildebeest had pulled in.

Suddenly Bushpig started shrieking “hyena, hyena!!”

A hyena was cruising around, but then got to close to the wildebeest herd, which set them off big time and the hyena was running for its life with the entire herd on his tail, which had the rats rolling with laughter. Only the young rats had their cameras, so they only got pics of bush and dust.

It was now around 5:30pm, so we ducked back to check on the Cow.

The Cow had improved slightly, so I started a fire and hoped that a new day would bring better health.

All were asleep by 8pm, so I switched all the lights off and settled in on the veranda with a dop, but soon fell asleep and there was no Cow to wake me up, so at around 1am I woke with my teeth chattering and wobbled off to bed.

To be continued


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Bushcraft
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Re: Browns in Kruger July 2013

Post by Bushcraft »

Twigga wrote:Such special sightings Brown clan ^Q^ ^Q^ ^Q^

Talamati definitly on the bucket list and still awaiting the loan from the bank ;-)

I will never eat any chicken in Kruger anymore after reading your ordeaL!!!

0() 0() 0()
Shot Twigga \O

Talamati is cool if you get the correct crowd in camp. In April we had a faulty crowd who wanted to party, but this time it was awesome.

The roads around there aren’t very productive though, so the waterhole in front of camp is the main attraction \O

My clan thinks KNP chicken is a swear word =O: =O:


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Bushcraft
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Re: Browns in Kruger July 2013

Post by Bushcraft »

PRWIN wrote:Bc great photo,s again, what you using and lens .You must give my that weight lose program so that I can use it :shock: O-/ :-) =O: =O: =O: . I would have gone back and jammed all those sandwiches down there gullets. :evil: :evil: :evil:
Hey PRWIN 0/*

We can’t take pics =O: =O: and are still learning the art 0*\

I’m using an old Canon 550 with a 170mm-500mm lens and the Cow a Canon super zoom SX40, I think, Hawkeyes a Canon SX30 and the juniors SX12’s

I would have loved to follow your sandwich advice at the time =O: =O: \O


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Re: Browns in Kruger July 2013

Post by The Cow »

0/* BC,

Didn't realize so much happened on this day - have a vague memory of some of it, but it's mainly a blur :o0ps:


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Bushcraft
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Re: Browns in Kruger July 2013

Post by Bushcraft »

11th July Talamati to Lower Sabie

I woke feeling positive that things would be better health wise, but they were both still battling, so I issued the last of our cement tablets and slowly packed the car.

We were also meeting Heksie and WendyA at Lower Sabie for a braai tonight, so I was hoping that things would improve by then.

We eventually got on the road just after 6:30am and the plan was to head on the shortest route straight for Satara to see if they had some medicine, failing that we were going to have to stop at Skukuza on the way to Lower Sabie.

Just outside Talamati a cool gentleman stopped us and said “Did you see the lion” and of course we hadn’t even been looking, “No, what lion”. He then said “reverse back about 100m and you will see him sleeping in the grass”, so we thanked him and hit reverse.

The lion was close to the road, but once again in long grass, so it was another frustrating sighting and we couldn’t wait for him to move as the loo story was going to catch us again, therefore snapped a pic and continued on.

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The rest of the drive produced the normal gang, but we didn’t stop again for a pic until Nsemani Dam where the Cow wanted a pic of a mother and junior hippo.

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Just before Satara my phone beeped, it was Heksie and she had information about a lion kill on the S100, so I started vibrating, but still needed to go to Satara, therefore the pressure was on. (Thanks Heksie)

Satara had even less than Orpen, so we gave up on that idea, had a pit stop and ducked off towards the S100.

The traffic jam on the S100 was rather large and we couldn’t get near the main spot, so stopped where we could at least see something to take some pics.

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A couple of hyena were also hanging around, but didn’t seem overexcited about charging in.

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One of my mates who was staying at Tamboti had driven the road the previous evening and had missed the kill by a few minutes, but later informed us it was a waterbuck and that there had been quite a few lion, but in our position we could only see 2 through grass, so I wasn’t sure if we should turn around or try and take a gap through the crowd.

Eventually I decided to make a way through the crowd, which is never a pleasant experience.

The cars were 2 rows deep, so although we drove past the main spot, couldn’t stop for pics without blocking someone, but there were still a few lion lying around that we hadn’t seen from our first spot.

We eventually stopped on the other side of the crowd and could see 1 lion eating.

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The crowd again started to grow and we were getting blocked in, so I lost it and drove off.

About 4km up the road we found this chap, so maybe it was a good thing getting out of the gang.

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We found ourselves a cool spot away from other cars that had stopped and switched off to watch him.

A few minutes later I heard another lion roaring so got excited “Quiet, silence, Bushpig zip it”, “There can you hear that”, but blank faces. This happens fairly often and maybe it’s because I have a serious set of wing nuts that although are old, still work better than the average ears. “There again”, still blank faces, but the lion that we were watching had heard it and let rip.

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The crowd from the “kill” was starting to arrive and others needed the loo again so we ducked off to N’wanetsi.

We waited around until the Cow and Hawkeyes felt safe as it was now time for the long trip down to Tshokwane. Just mentioning the name gave them both the creeps.

The H6 produced the normal hyena cruising around the den site, but we didn’t hang around due to the loo intermission times.

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I originally was going to make a scene at Tshokwane and ask them to eat their own chicken mayo mix while I watched, but it was crowded and I had calmed down substantially, so decided to leave the issue.

After another loo break we were back on the road.

To be continued
Last edited by Bushcraft on Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.


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Bushcraft
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Re: Browns in Kruger July 2013

Post by Bushcraft »

pooky wrote:Sorry to hear the 'loo' problems are still with the Cow and Hawkeye 0*\

Nice roaring lion \O \O

I can imagine the crowd - and dust - on the S100 0*\
Yip, the loo story is nearly over ;-)

The S100 was crazy that morning and the gang even made a new road O/

Thanks for checking things out again \O


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Re: Browns in Kruger July 2013

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11th July Talamati to Lower Sabie continued

Around 2km outside Tshokwane we found a car next to the road and then I spotted movement in the bush next to the road “Wild dog!!”

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There were 4 or 5 that we could see but only one was moving around and causing major frustration as we were battling to line him up through the bush for a pic.

I suddenly got in a flap because I realized that these guys were going to be around for awhile and that Heksie was on her way down, but there was no cell signal, so I sent the message with the hope that it would go through as soon as we found signal.

The Cow and I then had another camera scrap as she was better positioned to take a pic, but my camera confuses her, so she insults it, which gets me excited “Look through the view finder, you are catching the mirror, focus on the eyes!!”. The camera normally gets thrown back at me and today was no exception.

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Suddenly I heard a groaning from the back seat and then some frantic window winding from Hawkeyes as she vomited again, although aimed a little better this time, so only a small amount entered the car, but my nose was twitching instantly and others were looking at us, so we decided to move on for some rapid fresh air.

The rest of the drive down to the H12 Bridge produced a few of the normal gang and then a hyena cruising down the road in the middle of the day.

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We checked out things on the bridge and then decided to duck down the S30 towards Lower Sabie as the Cow and Hawkeyes seemed a little better; therefore a Skukuza visit wasn’t required.

A few km down the S30 we found 2 cars next to the road, although they were the sour antisocial type and wouldn’t volunteer information, but we eventually found what they were looking at. It’s the first Nyala that we have ever seen on the S30.

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A few km later a massive road block appeared, but fortunately it was next to a loop in the road, so we ducked around the loop and exited in front of the traffic jam and then reversed to ask the nearest car what was happening.

It turns out that a leopard had killed an impala deep in the bush, and then a hyena pulled in and stole it. The leopard wasn’t visible, however you could vaguely see the hyena, so I slowly moved on, but we hadn’t gone 30m past the crowd when the Cow shrieked “leopard!” and there he was standing in the open and the entire gang wasn’t aware of his presence, because they had hyena sighting fever.

The darn leopard then decided to duck down in the grass, so we lost sight of him, but we decided to sit it out and see if he popped up again.

The crowd continued to grow around the hyena area and we could hear that things were starting to get nasty as some aunty at the back started to scream “Move so I can see!!” and a few minutes later there were tyres spinning followed by a few “@#$#@%” and then a few rebuttal “@#%$#%”, so it was getting unpleasant.

The leopard seemed to also have an issue with the commotion and popped his head up.

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I’m not sure what the rest of the gang was looking at, because the hyena was so deep in the bush that you could only see the odd spot and from where the majority of the crowd was parked you could never see the leopard, so frustrations seemed to grow amongst gang, which resulted in the leopard popping his pip up again and then he moved off, so we decided to leave the gang to their hyena and continued on.

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The rest of the drive to Lower Sabie was quiet and our only other major sighting was Vinkie and AP on the H10 Bridge just outside camp.

We booked in to our EH5 hut and I quickly organized the best braai I could find and stashed it in front of our unit.

Hawkeyes and the Cow went to lie down, BP and Albert made mates with the neighbour’s rats and I sat outside with a dop.

A few greedy green pigeons pulled in while I was relaxing, so I took a few pics to get my points up with the Cow.

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It had been a long day in the car and we had Heksie, WendyA and Heksie’s mom pulling in for a braai later, so we decided to do a short drive up the H4-1 and only stopped to takes pics of an ellie/buff combo and then a large herd of buffalo

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The weather looked rather suspect when we arrived back in camp, so I quickly started the fire so that we could cook for the rats and get them out the way, but I had finished cooking and still no Heksie or Wendy, so thought that they had decided to duck us.

A few minutes later my phone went and it turned out they were still coming, but Wendy had to finish her homemade brew first, which sounded very interesting.

At around 7 all arrived, I added more wood to the fire, Heksie’s mom made toasties for all us and we sat chatting about a wide range of things from sightings to forums, including ablution experiences and it turns out that Wendy has a nifty contraption for this and acts like she’s parked on the side of the road making coffee when using it, so I put that one in the memory bank if I ever spotted WendyA on the road “making coffee” .

Just after we finished eating Wendy pulled out another cool contraption, a cigarette making machine which rolls a prefect smoke and I was duly impressed.

A little later the darn rain arrived, so we had to duck inside, which was a squeeze in the EH5, but we managed and fortunately the rats don’t wake for much, so we didn’t disturb them.

Heksie’s mom I think eventually called it after 10, which was fortunate as my teeth were starting to hang out for a few more dops and with RP on his way the next day it could have been a very long 2 nights.

It was so cool to finally have a chance to chat and it’s always awesome meeting people who love Kruger like we do.

To be continued


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Toko
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Re: Browns in Kruger July 2013

Post by Toko »

Not easy to photograph a leopard behind the grass, but you managed ^Q^ ^Q^ ^Q^

Green Pigeon feeding on Jackal-berry O/\ O/\ O/\ is even a nicer sighting ^Q^ ^Q^ ^Q^


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Re: Browns in Kruger July 2013

Post by Bushcraft »

Flutterby wrote:Sounds like an awesome day - lions, wild dog, leopard and a great evening with friends!!! \O \O

Love the pic of the leopard through the grass and your pigeon is not bad either!! ^Q^

Back to the leopard at Nsemani, where does he like to hang out?
It was good day Flutts \O Heksie and Wendy are O/\

The leopard is often seen below the dam wall, but on the left if you are heading towards Tamboti ie no dam =O: =O: \O --00--


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