Flutts, The Brat and Mommo Back in Kruger *

[Flutterby]

16 August: Tamboti - Pretoriuskop cont.

So, as the Brat already told you, we decided to take the Maroela loop and were rewarded with our second leopard!! Not great pics, but still a worthwhile sighting.





My dad was starting to feel better but I wasn't feeling too great...the normal flu symptons...sore body, hot and cold, blocked nose...all that lovely stuff!! We popped into Skukuza and I managed to find some MedLemon Cold & Flu medicine, and then we continued on our way to Pretoriuskop on the H1-1. It was a very quiet drive, with just a couple of impala, kudu and some waterbuck at Shitlhave Dam.



I love my mom!! (Darn grass! )



We checked in at Pretoriuskop and were allocated Unit 66 which is an EB3 unit, the old dormitory type bungalow, which was very basic...just 3 beds, a fridge and a basin. The Brat wasn't too impressed...he likes a bit of luxury. -O The only problem I had was that there were no outside lights so at night we had to hang a head lamp from the door! Surely it can't be too hard to put some lights around these units!



Anyway, my dad and I took our medicine then I went to have shower to warm up. I then put a chair in the sun and relaxed a bit, but I soon noticed a tree nearby that was abuzz with sunbirds. It would be nice if they could sit still for 2 seconds!!

Scarletchested Sunbird



Marico Sunbird (I think )





Whitebellied Sunbird



The Marico & Whitebellied were both firsts!! I then heard an unmistakable call and soon found it...a Purple Crested Turaco!! Another first! Unfortunately I couldn't get a great pic before it flew off.



For our afternoon drive we decided to stick around camp doing the loops roads. We wanted to do the Fayi loop, but we kept taking short roads that all seemed to come out at the same intersection ...and it seemed that a lot of others were just as confused as us!! We saw quite a few people looking at their maps and then the signboards and scratching their heads!! -O We eventually decided to do the S8, but as we came around the first bend my dad jammed on brakes, the Brat shrieked and we were reversing at speed! I was sitting in the back so hadn't seen the ellie we nearly drove into!! -O He flapped his ears and trumpeted and then proceeded to teach us a lesson by refusing to get out of the road. We watched him for about 20 minutes until we eventually gave in, turned around and went back to camp!! -O So much for doing the loop roads! -O

Here's the video of the ellie...although not too exciting as all the excitement happened before I started videoing!

View Video

The tally so far - 2 cheetahs, 2 leopards, 0 lions!!! This was our third day and a first for us....we have never gone for more than 2 days without lions!!

[Flutterby]

17 August: Pretoriuskop

This morning we left camp feeling optimistic. Surely our luck had to change today and we’d find those lions! Our plan was to head down the Voortrekker Road to Afsaal, then down to Berg-en-Dal and back to Pretoriuskop. The Voortrekker Road was in a terrible condition and we were really shaking, rattling and rolling. This must be one of the worst roads we have done in Kruger. Apart from the state of it, we saw nothing. Actually, that’s wrong. We saw a duiker and a giraffe! By the time we got to Afsaal we were all fed up and decided if we wanted to see animals (any animals) we’d better head up to Lower Sabie, so we took the H3 and then cut across on the S21. The S21 is where Heksie had so many brilliant lion sightings...we saw ONE ellie along the whole road!!

We finally got onto the H4-1 and were thrilled to see some impalas!! As we were approaching Lubyelubye I told my dad we must look out for the resident leopard. SO then phoned and I moaned about our lack of sightings then passed the phone to the Brat. As I handed the phone over, my dad and I both shouted “LEOPARD”!! A leopard ran across the road in front of us and I was grabbing for my camera and the Brat was fumbling with his camera and the phone. I told him to just drop the phone but he carried on talking to SO and trying to take pics at the same time.

The leopard looked back once and then melted into the bush, and only one other car had seen it. The luvlyluvly Lubyelubye leopard!





Our spirits were suitably lifted as we headed towards Sunset Dam! There were plenty of crocs and hippos on the banks and the usual Yellowbilled Storks, a lone Spoonbill and 2 Openbills on the far side.



This Black-winged Stilt was foraging around in front of us.



After relaxing for a while we headed back towards Skukuza on the H4-1, seeing some kudu and ellies, and this Brown Snake Eagle.



We then got back onto the H1-1 to Pretoriuskop which was so quiet that the Brat and I both dozed off, and my dad even had heavy eyelids!! The only thing of interest along the whole road was this ostrich which was either laying eggs, sitting on eggs or having a dust bath!

View Video

We got back to camp, I took some more medicine and my dad and I both had a nap! The Brat went looking for birdies to photograph.

[Bush Brat]

The H4-1 was our prize road over the next few days! We used to have good luck on the S21, but it had just gone bad lately.

So, I am going to post some pics from that day (Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the leopard because I was trying to handle the phone and my camera! ) and that afternoon and then carry onto our next day...Day 5.

The Black - winged Stilt.



A sun bird that I found at P-Kop.



That afternoon was also uneventful, but we did find the Fayi Loop which was quite an achievement! -O

A Kingfisher fishing.





Waterbuck.



All the visitors at P-Kop, suffering from the same problem...no animals!



It was off to bed quite early as we wanted the next day to come because we were in LS...the prime spot...it would have to have been better!?
We awoke fresh and optimistic, ready for the day!

We got onto the H1-1 and saw some ellies and impies. Then onto the S7 where we saw...NOTHING! We finally got onto an unmentionable road due to certain sightings...this road had been good to us in the past though. We saw a rhino, impies, giraffe and the usual game, until my mom quickly turned and whispered as loud as she could -O that there was a blackie!! We tried to be quiet because the last time we saw a blackie he was gone due to our excitement. We reversed and there he was. As my mom bent to get her camera, I shouted, "HE IS CHARGING!!" He was coming straight for us at full speed. As the car was already in reverse my grandpa put his foot down and we ended up reversing into a bush! -O When we eventually had to stop because of the bush he was so close that we couldn't see his head, but luckily he stopped and started to back away. It was into first and Mommo put his foot down again to just get away from him...and of course the rhino started charging us again. We escaped by the skin of our teeth! We knew that blackies were aggressive and temperamental, but not like this! We were all shaking and about a minute later a kudu appeared next to the bush which got me and my mom yelping because we though it was another blackie!

After all the excitement stopped on the Skuks High Level Bridge where we saw this croc.



We tried the Maroela Loop again to try and find the leppie, but we didn't find him.
We did see this Woodpecker.



And a Kingfisher.



Some impies.



Then an Nyala herd, the biggest herd we had ever seen in Kruger. They were in thick bush so it was hard to get a decent pic.



Then we got back onto the H4-1 to LS. Just before Nkhulu we pulled into the loop along the road and found a traffic jam...

[Flutterby]

17 August: Pretoriuskop

Well, the Brat has gone rushing ahead, while I still have some stories to tell!

For our last afternoon at Pretoriuskop we set out to find the Fayi loop...again! We eventually negotiated the loops and forks and found it! After travelling for about 45 mins without seeing a SINGLE thing, we decided to see if we could set a new Kruger record...to take a drive without seeing any animals at all!! This was eventually ruined when we saw two waterbuck!! We also this Pied Kingfisher looking for dinner.







Before this trip the Brat decided he wanted to bring back the Spotter's hat that we used to have when I was a kid. The spotter wears the hat until the next sighting and all the good sightings get written on the hat (and later embroidered). He also insisted that it had to be a really ugly hat!! -O

Mommo wearing the hat! -O



The Brat doing his daily diary.



Here are some of the pages in his diary. You can buy a similar diary in the shops, but it doesn't have enough pages so for our last few trips the Brat has designed and printed his own.

[Bush Brat]

Day 5 continued...

So, we came up to the traffic jam which was a long line of cars on the loop. We thought maybe leopard because of all the trees, but we were delighted when we finally got our turn to view the animal...which were 5 lions sleeping!!!
Finally some lions! They were quite close to the road but the bush was thick so the pics aren't great.

These three were together...then the other two were hidden behind a bush so only their legs and tail could be seen.







We stayed with them for a while but knew that they weren't going anywhere so we headed off. As we got closer to LS, specifically the Lubyelubye Rocks we saw another traffic jam. We asked what they had seen and they said a leopard was there with a kill but he walked off now. It must have been the Lubyelubye leopard, but the only animals there were plenty of vultures and a tawny who had managed to snatch something.





At Sunset Dam we saw these two Cranes.



Some nyala.



We arrived at LS a bit early so we went to the deck for some beverages and then went to check in a bit later. Once in our bungalow I took a walk to the fence and saw a bushbuck, while mom went around looking at all the trees.



We went out again at about 03:15 and decided to take the H10...

[Flutterby]

The Brat won't let me carry on with the next episode, so I'll just show you some of my pics from that morning....

Morning



Finally, lions on our 5th day doing what lions do best.





Look at the eyes on this youngster!!



Not as good as RP's Nyala, but still a handsome chap!



The Tawny at Lubyelubye near the supposed leopard kill. Horrible backlight!!



There were lots of vultures around and I was trying to get them in flight, but I got this instead....quite arty don't you think? -O



I gave up on the BIF's and settled for a silhouette instead.



Ag, look how cute...



I then realised that my bean bag was missing. It's quite a heavy one that I can leave on the window without it falling off...supposedly...but it was gone!! I had it when we saw the lions so it was someone between there and Lower Sabie...oh well, either the lions had a new toy or someone had got themselves a bean bag. We had also lost our green ribbon by this stage...leaving a trail through Kruger with all our belongings! -O

[Flutterby]

Tx Dewi, and thanks for fixing my picture!! Look how clever Dewi is...

[Bush Brat]

Day 5 continued...

So off we went onto the H10... we had the usual sightings...some ellies etc.
After some driving we came across a traffic jam...and we all guessed what it was before we even saw it...CHEETAH!! ...or so we thought.-O I say this because it was a cheetah, lying quite far out under a bush...we had been with him for a while and only after 10 minutes Mommo realised that it was a cheetah...he thought we had been looking at a lion the whole time...and he even looked at it through his binocs!
There were some zebra and warthogs close by and whenever he got up to stretch we thought he was going to chase them...but he didn't. We could see he wasn't going anywhere so we carried on to try and find some lions that people told us about.
We didn't find the lions but we did find a reedbuck. On our way back we stopped at the cheetah and we got there just in time because he was heading for the road!



He crossed behind us and kept on looking back as if something had scared him off...he did run off from the bush actually - not walk.





We returned back to camp feeling very happy because this was our 3rd cheetah for the trip! That night two hyenas were patrolling the fence...a perfect way to end off the day! We also saw a total of 10 rhino!

[Flutterby]

For anyone who is interested in the Brat's diary, we have come up with an Africa Wild diary which you can download and print for every trip you do!

Take a look here:

AW Spotting Diary

[Flutterby]

18 August: Pretoriuskop - Lower Sabie cont.

As you know, the H10 produced our third cheetah (or lion if you prefer )!!

Our first stay with him didn't produce great pics as we were looking into the sun.



But when we came back and he crossed the road he was in perfect light.



I had forgone taking pics to video him crossing the road...don't you just love it when you press Stop and you realise it's just started to record!! Yes, well, clever me was recording nothing the whole time!!