A cat or a lifer a day keep the doctor away

[Pumbaa]

Such lovely shots, Pumbaa!

Difficult to pick a favourite, but the leopard certainly posed wonderfully!

I like the crocs in the nice light too!

Not nice to be so hot in the morning already!

I wonder what cuckoo that is?

It was indeed a very uncomfortable heat and it was a common cuckoo (same was a bit far away)

[Pumbaa]

Babalala picnic spot was now not far away any longer and shortly before same there was a larger pond on which a little grebe was swimming and then a short break on the picnic spot itself was needed.



Along the tar road after some quiet periods we stopped for a group of male waterbucks



who chased themselves around which was lovely to watch



to only end standing and staring at each other.



On the other side of the road we discovered a cute waterbuck youngster together with its mother





and not far from there a herd of impala was grazing joined by a group of ground hornbills



this was again such a hot spot where lots of animals could be spotted close together after parts where nothing was around.



The ground hornbills were busy in collecting some stuff



whilst this little cutie looked so fluffy



and now we even could capture one of the ground hornbills who flew up onto a tree



whilst the impalas presented themselves into the high and fresh green grass



and now we even noticed why the ground hornbills always flew up to the tree another one peeked out of a hole in the tree.

[Pumbaa]

After these interesting sightings we carried on with indeed not much around and we already decided that before we will leave the park we will also drive up to Klopperfontein and via the gravel road there to Punda Maria and somewhere on the tar road we stopped for a large herd of elephants



whilst at Klopperfontein a group of impalas were staring into one direction for sure we waited a while but they quiet down again and so we continued



but had for sure admired and photographed one of the many impressive baobabs along that road.



We then met an extreme impressive buffalo



who attracted a lot of oxpeckers



and also a beautiful nyala bull – They are such beautiful antelopes and we are always happy when we spot them.



Then it was already time for our beloved Mahonie loop which is always a more than lovely very last loop before we are about to leave the park and we normally already looking very much forward to it. Right in the beginning we discovered a group of woodhoopoes and luckily one of them



was more than willing to pose a bit longer for us.





We also met more nyalas and kudus



and an elephant bull



and impalas



but then the rain got more and more





until same came down torrentially and we then were already half through the Mahonie loop so we simply carried on but got a bit afraid about the water masses as we also had to cross a small stream which luckily went very well and then nearly at the end of the loop a huge must have been one of the hugest elephant bulls we ever saw walked right in the middle of the road into our direction – “Really!?” We did not want to turn around as the road meanwhile was extreme slippery and the little stream must have meanwhile turned into a torrential river so we had to wait until the rain still came down. Suddenly the elephant then cleared the road and we finally reached Punda Maria camp for the obligatory final ice cream. It was a bit sad that our drive on the Mahonie loop ended that abrupt due to the rain as we spotted a lot of more antelopes through the pouring rain.

The drive until we reached the N4 was on top adventurous too as sometimes the road was completely flooded and the view was extreme bad but everything went well and we finally reached safe and sound our destination.

The end!

[Lisbeth]

I have never seen waterbucks behave like that; they are always so calm. Cute little one.

Great pics of the woodhoopoes. They rarely sit still

Stupid me, who thought that we'd have to wait another year for a new TT

Thank you, Pumbaa! As always a lovely pastime especially for those who are not as brave as you are and stay at home with the nose in the Internet

[Richprins]

I loved this final episode, Pumbaa!

A lovely area of the park indeed.

I like the waterbuck bulls, hornbills and buffalo!

Thank you so much for your wonderful reports, they are a real treat especially in these times!

[Pumbaa]

I have never seen waterbucks behave like that; they are always so calm. Cute little one.

Great pics of the woodhoopoes. They rarely sit still

Stupid me, who thought that we'd have to wait another year for a new TT

Thank you, Pumbaa! As always a lovely pastime especially for those who are not as brave as you are and stay at home with the nose in the Internet

Me too never seen waterbucks chasing each other and we simply had to go to Kruger after all

[Pumbaa]

I loved this final episode, Pumbaa!

A lovely area of the park indeed.

I like the waterbuck bulls, hornbills and buffalo!

Thank you so much for your wonderful reports, they are a real treat especially in these times!

Hopefully I can finish the next one a bit earlier