Pooky and family March 2015*

[pooky]

Phew sorry about the delay. Busy busy week with friends from Aus. staying with us and organising a special birthday function for my dear SO
and I tried twice to post only to be thrown out both times

Anyway here we go again

Thursday 2nd April

We were moving to Satara today. I was sorry to leave Lower Sabie area but I do love Satara and surrounds

We set the alarm for 5am as usual. When the 'alarm' went off we got up - but I did think I was short on sleep
for some reason Mike let the air out of the mattress and we went to the ablutions. I wondered why there
was no one else there. All the while I had the place to myself - strange. When I came out MIke was waiting for
me - did I know what the time was - No. It was 4.10am. Someone had sent a Whatsapp last night and
it had only come through at 3.50am (My cell was new so I wasn't used to the different tones yet )
Well we were up now - bedding folded up! We grabbed our torches and headed for the deck - eyes wide - where
was the mamba from last night ` We sat and watched the fire which had now moved in the direction of Mlondozi.
It would die down only to flare up again. Eventually 5am came and we could go and make some tea/coffee and wake
the rest of the gang up.

We had a quiet drive up to Tshokwane via the H12 and H1-2. We were early but decided to stop for a venison pie.
Really delicious . The monkeys were out in full force as usual. They are very clever and only target what they
perceive to be easy victims. A young girl came to the counter around the big fig tree and plugged in a toaster with 2 slices
of bread already in the toaster. Before she even finished plugging it in a monkey came and grabbed the bread.
Next to us were 3 older couples. The one lady had a packet of jelly-tots securely placed under her arm on the table. She was watching the monkey
on the counter. The moment she looked away as quick as a flash he jumped down, grabbed the jelly-tots and off onto the roof.
They leave people with younger men in their group

A slightly off colour mourning dove. I love their call.


Kumana dam was as pretty as a picture with a variety of animals around.



We arrived at Satara, quickly booked in and found ourselves a nice campsite. This time we had no power as all of those
were fully booked. No problem with a good solar panel to keep the fridges going and an inverter to charge cell/camera batteries.

More later!

[pooky]

Friday 3rd April

My daughter and here SO and 2 boys arrived yesterday from Somerset West. They started in Pretoriuskop -
Satara was fully booked until after Easter. For the first time in many years the whole family were in Kruger
at the same time

We started the day going down the S100 and guess what - nothing - this so often happens. We find later in the
day is often better on the S100.

Gudzani dam was looking very pretty, but little activity. Also a bit low for this time of the year. The bushes
in front of the parking area have grown quite big so visibility has been reduced somewhat


The drive was very quiet to Nwanetsi - which was very busy and noisy, so we didn't stay long.

On to Sweni hide. One of my favourite places.

a grey heron had caught himself a nice big fish








A couple of ellie families came down to drink.

We spent a long time watching the comings and goings and just relaxing. Blue-cheeked bee-eaters were flying
around, but never sat still long enough for a good pic.





We did manage to photograph this bronze mannikin (I think)



More to follow from Sweni

[pooky]

3rd April continued


There were quite a few hippo lying up against each other. This one was on her own. Then we saw why. The tiniest
hippo. It couldn't have been more than a day old and mum wasn't letting anyone come anywhere near her.



Mum ushered her baby to the bank, so we could get a really good look. Its loose skin hadn't even filled out yet.









This was tiring business,a nap was needed.





We watched these two for a long while until mum pushed the little one back into the water.

[pooky]

continued.

We eventually moved on. The roads were very quiet, but we did see some nice birds.


First up was an African hawk-eagle.





then a juvenile marshall eagle,which gave us a flight display as well.





Pearl-spotted owlet



This, I think, is a juvenile dark-chanting goshawk.



and a double-collared sandgrouse.



a brightly coloured chameleon changed the theme a bit



This game viewing was a tiring business, but for goodness sake don't take him away from the window -he might
miss something

[pooky]

Saturday 4 April

We decided to go down the H7 towards Orpen.


There was a herd of buffalo in the Timbavati river, otherwise a fairly quiet driver.


We went on to the Muzandzeni picnic site. There were so many cars and people we didn't stay. We went on down
the S36 where this big tusker was quietly feeding next to the road.





This peaceful scene was at Ximangwaneni dam.



A kudu bull with very muddy horns.



We came out at Kumana dam again. Plenty of game there - and plenty of cars - spot the lion - top left



The game seemed oblivious to the lion - but I suppose the knew that they were there



The buffalo were watching the lions



A starling was in the bush next to the road - a distraction while we spent about 2 hours waiting for the lions to
do something. They kept threatening but nothing happened. There were other lion on the other side of the road,
but they weren't participating in anything.





A giraffe wanted to cross the road but there were too many cars and the smell of lion probably also put him off



More to follow.

[pooky]

Sunday 5 April

It had rained during the night, so every thing was wet and it was still quite grey.

We decided to go back to Kumana to see if the lions had made a kill. But the buffalo and lion were all gone.


We found this big blind worm (I think) on the wet tar. Cameron was very excited and of course wanted to hold
it



In the big trees around Kumana the baboons were just waking up. Some were not in a hurry to get out of 'bed'



Someone got out of bed on the wrong side this morning and wasn't a happy chappie. Quite a spectacular sighting
with lots of noise and splash











An hyena was scavenging around an old buffalo carcass below the dam



On the way back we had a very brief sighting of the only cheetah we saw this trip. It was near Nkaya pan.



A long-tailed paradise whydah in very bad light



Not a zebra crossing but a giraffe crossing on the H6 towards Nwanetsi. The picnic site was again very crowded
so we went on to Sweni hide.



Some ants were busy moving home, across the road.





Back at Sweni the hippo and the tiny baby were hiding around the corner, but the heron was fishing again,
with some success.







and it was play time for these hippo.



More to follow - this was a very busy day

[pooky]

Sunday continued

Before we left Sweni this guy climbed up in front of us. I have no idea what it is




We went back along the S41. Very quiet. At the Gudzani river there was this very small croc.



Then a very relaxed buffalo lying next to the road.





European roller



and a Namaqua dove on one of the causeways. They are not always that easy to photograph


We came across this giraffe with unusual markings. Almost like a leaf pattern.



One car was parked on the side of the road on the S90. And far off in a dry tree looking very uncomfortable
was a leopard. I think we were lucky to see it as I am sure he wouldn't have stayed like that for too long



We went down the S127 to Timbavati and Ratel Pan hide. On the way to the hide we saw a dead giraffe in the
river bed. There were no lions around, only one very weary hyena and quite a few vulture.





The hide is not as good as it used to be because the river has changed its course and is further away now.
Just past the hide was a family herd of ellies playing in the water and sand.




Then they climb out and crossed the road in front of us - doing the 'elephant walk'



The day is not finished yet - more to follow

[pooky]

Sunday 5 April Final chapter



When we left Ratel pan on our way back to camp a French couple stopped us to ask if we had seen
any lion. There were 2 lionesses in the Timbavati river bed a couple of K's past the picnic site turn
off. They weren't easy to see so we took them there. They in turn told us of wild dog further along the
S39. We left them at the lion sighting and carried on to find the doggies. There were 3 other cars there,
and although the dogs were close to the road it was difficult to see them let alone take pics. There were
a lot branches and twigs and some grass.

After about 15 minutes they started moving and 'talking' to each other, yip yip yip

These were some of the pics we managed to get.















This dog had a collar on but also lots of small open wounds. There were at least 2 others that had small wounds.
They were a bit sluggish compared to the rest of the doggies. This pack consisted of about 20 dogs.



We were +/- 32 ks from Satara and it was getting late. None of us wanted to leave but we had to. We were the
last car . Mike was driving and off we went. A way down the road a rhino was standing in the middle of the
road. I thought - super photos coming up - Mike never even hesitated - there were a couple of gasps from the back seat.
The rhino swung around off the road and we were through

We joined the queue at the gate at 6.05pm An exceptional day

[Toko]

Sunday 5 April

It had rained during the night, so every thing was wet and it was still quite grey.

We decided to go back to Kumana to see if the lions had made a kill. But the buffalo and lion were all gone.


We found this big blind worm (I think) on the wet tar. Cameron was very excited and of course wanted to hold
it

Burrowing asp aka Southern Stiletto Snake Atractaspis bibronii

A snake that usually comes up to the surface after rains. Said to be bad tempered and can bite off your finger

[Toko]

https://books.google.de/books?id=0wLmuG ... ii&f=false

Not harmless at all