Browns in Kruger - August 2016 (JHB Clan)

[Richprins]

The cubs were up and play fighting, the parents were still ignoring them, something that I have become very good at over the years.

Lots of lions! And nice some up close...river bed is a bit far...

[nan]

Cant't open

how you do to open all these pics

[Lisbeth]

That's a lot of lions and even leppie. I love the ellies in the evening light

[nan]

it's ok now
indeed lot of cats

[Supernova]

Thanks nan, Lisbeth, Richprins, Ratel, Flutterby and Alf for the comments

[Supernova]

Day 7 – 19th August 2016

This morning was the move to Berg en dal, so we took an early morning drive to the H12 bridge and back, which would then be followed by breakfast and packing.

First up was a Leopard on the sand bank in the middle of the Sabie, this was across from the H11 / H4-1 intersection and even though the crowds had passed there was only one other car there. Soon we were joined by many cars, including a group with their early morning beers, they were very pleasant and added a bit of comedy to the morning. After a good laugh with the morning drinkers we headed on.

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The mating couple had moved a few metres in the last few days but this seemed to be their honeymoon spot.

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The rest of their family were on Alpha loop being chased by OSVs and others. We positioned ourselves in a good spot and waited, the lions crossed right in front of us while the rest of the gang were driving up and down and not seeing much.

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We turned and headed back to pack. The Leopard sighting had cleared and again the leopard remained unspotted by all the car chasing lions in circles...

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Then it was off the Berg en dal, the drive down the H3 has not been kind to us for the last few years and this was no exception. We stopped at Kwaggaspan but all was quiet, before heading on to Afsaal. At Afsaal, we saw a report of a Wild Dog kill that had happened 20 minutes earlier…. This must have happened just after we left.

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For the afternoon drive we took the S110 loop where we spotted another Lion couple sleeping, we chilled with them for a while but they were not going anywhere.

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The rest of the drive was quiet, with a few general game sightings and a few Ellies. We parked at Matjulu waterhole and watched the sun set.

[Supernova]

Day 8 – 20th August 2016 (last day)

This was our last day in Kruger, so we hoped for some good sightings to end it with, but apart from a great Buffalo herd on the S119 we were out of luck.

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The only excitement for the days was when I took Teagy for a swim at the pool in Berg en Dal.

I relaxed in the shade while she was swimming, the pool was full of local kids. One of the kids edged towards the side of the pool and made his way to a bench in front of me where a German tourist has placed his belongings. The kid started digging in the bag and pulled out a wallet, I shouted “HEY, PUT THAT DOWN”, he had not seen me sitting in the shade about 2 metres from him. He jumped straight up in the air, dropped the wallet and sprinted off out the pool area. He was soon followed by the rest of the group, it looked like I had disturbed the days’ takings and now all the Tourists were hanging on to their bags.

The German tourist was very grateful as his wallet was full of cash. I advised him to report the incident to the camp management.


That was it for our 2016 Kruger trip, thanks to all who followed and commented on our trip report.

The End.

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[Lisbeth]

How is it possible that local kids can use the swimming pool and even worse steal from the tourists There is no control anywhere anymore I am almost happy that we have had to cancel our trip this year

Thank you for taking the trouble to write a TT.......from last year and enjoy your upcoming trip

[Richprins]

Joh...Jurassic Park with all the big and hairies during the drought, hey!?

The buff looked bad and thin, I remember, those that survived...

Which makes the horns seem bigger, not that they are small!

Not good at all, the behaviour there at the pool. Many people go to Kruger largely to escape the criminality in Zumaland for a while, which SP fails to appreciate enough, IMO.

Thanks very much for this story, Supernova, and good hunting again soon!

[Pumbaa]

What a cat festival, Supernova,

and thanks so much for a more than brilliant trip Report with lots of stunning sightings and shots