Saturday 30th July we left Biyamiti and were on our way to Skukuza where we would spend the next two nights. It is really difficult to get out of the gate at opening time, especially with the kids. Johanna never wanted to leave the warm bed and I believe Denise would have loved to sleep a bit longer too. Therefore it wasn’t bad that we nearly made it a 6.15 each morning.
The sunrise was breathtaking and lots of pics were taken.
Again one of the first animals was a Commun Duiker.
They are so shy and it vanished into the bush all too soon. Johanna loved those little antelopes and often was frustrated when she wasn’t fast enough to take a pic. We are not only looking for the Big 5, so there was lots of interest, such as this lovely plant.
We saw Hornbills, Grey Louries (which were to fast again to take a bird in flight pic ), Steenboks and a Wooly-necked Stork preening himself and asorbing the first warm rays of sunshine.
It was a typical morning in KNP, with Giraffes crossing the road, birds singing like being in a competitiion. I couldn’t think of being at a better place. A lone Kudu bull showed us his beauty, he looked really impressive with his huge horns and the Pearl-spotted Owlet looked like she had a terrible night. Moreover some Slender Mongooses decided to give us a show instead of rushing across a road.
I told my family a lot about the Biyamiti Weir, that some mites took pics of crocs and heron and that it must be an awesome place. So on we went to this special place. On our way another Steenbok watched us curiously. A funny sighting as at the beginning she looked like she had no ears.
When we arrived at the Weir there were no crocs and no herons. It was the wrong time of year, as there was less water than I expected. Nevertheless it was beautiful and first signs of green where everywhere
and here comes a promised Swallow Lisbeth (okay not in flight:roll: ), a Wire-tailed Swallow was so kind to pose for us.
One of the last animals before reaching Afsaal was a lovely Ellie bull. I still wonder why the ellies in the South are so relaxed, well at least we didn’t make other experiences during this trip.
A little bit further on we noticed a small herd of Impalas, suddenly they started running and we thought that maybe some kind of predator could be near. No luck again for us, but luck for the Impalas. We still don't know what frightened them.
Near the picnic spot a White-crested Helmet-Shrike showed us the direction and much to Johannas and Denises delight there was a lovely welcome committee at Afsaal. A Bushbock mum with her little one where resting in the shade.
ohhh those eyes....
Afsaal was quite busy and we immediately had a look, if the Scops Owl was „at home“.
Unfortunately it was nowhere to be found. While waiting for our breakfast we used the time to take pics of the begging Hornbills.
Johanna had fun at the picnic spot, she always chased those naughty birds away and played hide and seek with us. Meanwhile Denise had to carry around Johanna’s jacket and had a good laugh at her little sister.
It was amazing to sit there and watch all those birds. One was preening itself and afterwards tried to get some bread crumps at the neighbours table.
We continued our way up to Skukuza and saw plenty of general game. There was a big herd of Zebras, which crossed the road after a while. One of them gave us a good laugh and a nice pic.
They were peacefully grazing, accompanied by Impalas and later on Wildebeests as well.
A little one had a little disagreement with an adult, but they were within the herd and all we could see was their heads.
The Wildebeests decided to move on to the near waterhole and so we turned and followed them.
They are funny always in movement and two were chasing each other. They didn’t stayed there for long and so we decided to admire the Impalas instead.
This looks really painful
Our plan was to arrive early in camp and to relax there a bit. As we still had plenty of time we turned towards Transport Dam and wow what a good decision this was.
On the way we noticed this:
How kind of Sanparks for all those who want to do a little walk to the loo.
This cute Klipspringer wondered definitely too what this strange blue thing was for.
.... to be continued with a really cute sighting.