A quick escape to paradise. *

[Penga Ndlovu]

On Tuesday I decided that it was far too long that I have been to Kruger and decided to book me into Satara for the weekend.
Just a simple spot.
Small, but big enough for my small tent.
I got myself a great one.
Right next to the fence



But more about that later.

Left the concrete jungle at 2 am in the morning on Saturday and took a leisurely drive on the N12, N4 to Nellies and then to Malelane.
Entered at 7 in the morning and my first spot was a Rino resting in the shade as the sun was already in a blazing mood



A bit further Elephants and then it was time ti get some brekkies at Afsaal where I had a look for Scopsie the Owl



Yep. It is a dark shot, but I do not want to use the flash when the bird is about 2 meters from me.

The breakfast was great as usual and we pressed on and decided to take the S14 towards Renosterkoppies and we found a rare sighting: BlueTuna.
We had a short talk and took off again towards the memorial.

There I found this baby:



In Skuks it was a buzzeling busyness like a beehive and after taking in Ice for the cooler for the second time as it was all melted, we took off towards Lake Panic where it looked like there were more people that in Skukuza.
Nevertheless I had the opportunity to took some nice shots

[Penga Ndlovu]

After Lake Panic we decided to head up the tar towards Tshokwane for some refreshments, new ice and a kudu wors roll with Sheba.

First a lifer for me.
A White headed Vulture with a kill.



After that a very sleepy male Lion who fell asleep in a very awkward way



This lady Kudu has sought refuge from the sun under a tree and was not planning on moving very far.

[Penga Ndlovu]

It was a kind of a slow drive after having had lunch at Tshokwane and we decided to get away from the heat and get into some shade at the Baobab.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, i saw some movement at the end of the small loop at the entrance towards the Baobab.
I decided to drive in there and this is what I saw lying lazy in the shade.



And in the shade 4 jewels



It was great to have had the all for ourselves for more than half an our and we forgot all about the Baobab.

Fulfilled with this great sighting we moved off to Satara.
Saw a few Ellies underway and finally arrived in camp.

After checkin it was time for a swim to cool off, set up camp and swan again and then decided to take a short drive to Nsemani dam.
No Ellies there, but only a Hippo that tried to chase a lone FishEagle away.



Then we decided to go to the back of the dam and upon returning to camp, suddenly this jumped out of the bushes in front of the car and entertained us for about 10 minutes

[Penga Ndlovu]

The next morning we were up at dawn and lo and behold.
The hyena was still there.
Either extremely well fed or very pregnant. :lol:

We broke up camp and were on our way towards Olifants in a jiffy.
It started out great.
Within the first 45 minut

It was a kind of a slow drive after having had lunch at Tshokwane and we decided to get away from the heat and get into some shade at the Baobab.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, i saw some movement at the end of the small loop at the entrance towards the Baobab.
I decided to drive in there and this is what I saw lying lazy in the shade.



And in the shade 4 jewels



It was great to have had the all for ourselves for more than half an our and we forgot all about the Baobab.

Fulfilled with this great sighting we moved off to Satara.
Saw a few Ellies underway and finally arrived in camp.

After checkin it was time for a swim to cool off, set up camp and swan again and then decided to take a short drive to Nsemani dam.
No Ellies there, but only a Hippo that tried to chase a lone FishEagle away.



Then we decided to go to the back of the dam and upon returning to camp, suddenly this jumped out of the bushes in front of the car and entertained us for about 10 minutes

es we had 4 of the big 5.

And finally a good opportunity to photograph the Burcells Coucal



The rest of the drive to Olifants was not that eventful, because it was getting very warm again.

Olifants was a welcome sight to get some refreshments and we decided to take the back road to Letaba.







After a great meal at Letaba we took of to Phala and for the first time ever I closed the windows and put on the aircon full blast.

At Sable the Ellies were very playful and some even a bit too playful even for my liking





But finally it was time to leave again.

Went to visit my bud for an hour or two and had a dip in the very inviting pool and then headed back to Jozi.
In the mountains we saw that the thunder and lightning were making a great show and between Lydenburg and Dullstroom we found ourselves in such a storm that I was not able to see the road if I drove faster than 50 kms an hour, but we made it back safe.

Now planning the next short drive in the 3rd weekend of December