Enjoying The Kruger Without Staying In The Park

[harrys]

Must say that you had some wonderful sightings from the start and up to now..... Really cool

[Lisbeth]

I arrived at

And had a nice breakfast at

with a view

It would be better to remove this one as I was there on Feb. 18th 2019 The toilet was not exactly shining, but not that dirty either

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On the way out I noticed this Very old to say the least

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Someone asked somewhere if they still have movies at Letaba, obviously yes

We all tend to pay little attention to the very common animals, but these Egyptian geese are in fact very pretty

I did a piece of the H1-6 and found the Das Neves Cross, which I had not noticed before

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A few kilometres from Letaba, on the S95, stands a very old leadwood tree, which has a typical Portuguese Cross carved into it. It is not certain who carved it or what the significance of it was. One possibility is that it was carved by Diocleciano Fernandes das Neves who arrived in Lourenço Marques on October 5 1855 at the age of 25, and returned to Portugal some 13 years later. During those 13 years, he traded in the interior and hunted elephants. His trade route passed through the current Kruger National Park.

It is possible that he carved the cross on his journey in 1860/ 61 en route to the Soutpansberg. Das Neves' own records gives us a glimpse into such journeys - 150 porters were required for the trade goods, a further 68 for the camping equipment, and the group was "protected" by 17 heavily armed elephant hunters. An alternative explanation is that the cross might have been carved by one of the Portuguese soldiers who carried post for João Albasini between Lourenço Marques and Goedewensch.

The rain had made the river swell quite a lot. All the small islets on both sides of the bridge had gone

[Lisbeth]

A little waterbuck was walking all by itself along the river; I wondered if it was the one that I had seen with the mother a short time ago I hope that he/she found the mother

A pic of Letaba camp taken from up the river

At this point I had turned around as I wanted to go to Olifants. On the way

After about 15 min. I had to turn around as I was about to fall asleep . I still wonder why

A nice pair of straight equal tusks

Last stop and then straight home with the air con on my face in order to stay awake

Unfortunately I never got to Olifants

[Flutterby]

I hope that little waterbuck found its mom...it looks so lonesome!

[Richprins]

A great selection again, Lis!

I love the little waterbuck with the scenery!

And the hornbill termite, and the historical info.

Tiredness comes with relaxation, and often after a nice brunch!

[Mel]

Looks more like a shouting lark on termite mount

Agree on the marabous. Dunno what they did wrong to deserve such a fate

What a beautiful view to enjoy breakfast with!

Ja, the waterbuck kiddo... hope it got lucky

[Pumbaa]

Love all the birdies you saw, Lisbeth

The Letaba river looks very similar to the one when we were there still a lot of water flowing - Also love your kudu shots with the mountains in the background

[Klipspringer]

I like the kudus around the koppies

And the birdies

[RogerFraser]

Interesting the tree plaque . Shame that poor water-buck -hope it found mom

[Alf]

A few nice shots from Letaba camp