Browns in Kruger October 2018

[Flutterby]

Unbelievable BC!!

What a gorgeous baby and so lucky to find the mom as well!! At least you weren't under pressure to find leopards now!

[Bushcraft]

Unbelievable BC!!

What a gorgeous baby and so lucky to find the mom as well!! At least you weren't under pressure to find leopards now!

Ya, very lucky Flutts with this one There wasn't too much leopard pressure this trip

[Lisbeth]

Wow! What a cute little thing and it still has blue eyes and you even got the mother. It's almost getting too much for my nervous system

[Bushcraft]

28th Lower Sabie continued

The leopard mom parked off a few minutes about 200m further down the road and then she suddenly got up and walked out onto the road next to us.

22.jpg (173.82 KiB) Viewed 395 times

23.jpg (133.74 KiB) Viewed 395 times

24.jpg (111.03 KiB) Viewed 395 times

25.jpg (147.61 KiB) Viewed 395 times

She then started to cross the road but turned and headed back towards the opposite side and down into the bush towards Olifants waterhole.

26.jpg (99.15 KiB) Viewed 395 times

[Bushcraft]

Wow! What a cute little thing and it still has blue eyes and you even got the mother. It's almost getting too much for my nervous system

Sorry A very cute cub

[Bushcraft]

We had a feeling that she was heading to Olifants waterhole because it’s the only water in the area, however there was only a fish eagle and a wartie relaxing on our arrival and we didn’t have the luxury of waiting it out as it was nearly 9am and I was going to be late for my site meeting/inspection already, so we moved on and only stopped again for an ellie crossing the road.

27.jpg (136.6 KiB) Viewed 388 times

28.jpg (96.89 KiB) Viewed 388 times

It was already a boiling hot day, so I dropped the Cow and rats off at the Skukuza health spa swimming pool for a swim while I went to work.

29.jpg (132.95 KiB) Viewed 388 times

I finished up on site just after 1pm with all the inspections and tests and the contract manager and 2 technicians had done relatively well so they were looking at me with big eyes, hence I suggested that the company sorts them out with a late lunch at the Golf Club, so I picked my clan up from the pool and we all went through to the Skukuza golf club.

The golf club has become our favourite pit stop over the years, but today the wheels fell off. We all completed the tick box menu and handed it in, however 15 minutes later we were informed that they didn’t have any burger options, so we redid the entire process to be informed again that they still couldn’t complete the order, therefore my patience was growing rather thin.

“Please mark what you have in stock on a menu and then I will take this back to the table to indicate to all what they can order”

Halfway back to the table an aunty came out the office and approached me with a stroppy attitude, but she was rattling off in Afrikaans, so I asked her to slow down and repeat.

It turns out that the Golf Club is a fancy spot and one isn’t permitted on the premises without shoes. I informed her that this was possibly my 50th visit and that I had never worn shoes, but she insisted that I would have to leave without shoes.

I immediately wanted to show her a “Toti goodbye”, but the rats and the site staff were watching, so I had to get my site safety boots out the car and put them on which left me very sour because it was 39 degrees in the shade.

Needless to say, lunch was swallowed rather quickly when it finally arrived, I ripped the shoes off in the car park, said cheers to the staff who were driving back to Durban the next day from Hazyview and left for Lower Sabie just before 3pm.

We went back up the H1-2 to check what was happening with the leopard cub, but some people were still parked there from the morning session which shocked me as they must have been cooking in their cars and going to the loo in a bottle or something, but they informed us that the cub still hadn’t come out yet since the morning and based on the waiting crowd we determined it would be unpleasant if it appeared anyway, so we continued on towards Lower Sabie but went down the S30/S128/S29/H10 to avoid the H4-1 crowds.

The S30 isn’t one of my favourite roads, especially when it moves away from the Sabie river at the prospector’s graves area, but it was better than the H4-1 traffic wise at this time of the day and it can sometimes produce, however today we only stopped for Nyala, waterbuck and then 2 giraffe who were scrapping in the road on the H10.

30.jpg (137.84 KiB) Viewed 388 times

31.jpg (141.68 KiB) Viewed 388 times

[Bushcraft]

32.jpg (86.76 KiB) Viewed 387 times

The H10 bridge area produced some lion parking off up the river, but it got more interesting as a male lion came strolling up towards them with what initially looked like a snake hanging out his mouth.

33.jpg (132.92 KiB) Viewed 387 times

As the male approached the lionesses got a big skrik which cracked us up and then a scrap started between the 1 lioness and the male over this pipe/branch/snake.

34.jpg (121.98 KiB) Viewed 387 times

35.jpg (127.27 KiB) Viewed 387 times

36.jpg (129.63 KiB) Viewed 387 times

[Bushcraft]

37.jpg (126.51 KiB) Viewed 387 times

It was now only around 4:30pm but still 38 degrees and everybody was keen to call it a day, so we went back to camp for swim and an early start to our braai.

Later that evening Bushpig, Albert and I went on a patrol around camp and ended up taking a pic of a barn owl outside Mugg & Bean.

38.jpg (106.69 KiB) Viewed 387 times

I got a small pelican much later in the evening as staff/guests were staying in a unit, which I’m sure used to be a guest house many years ago and they were making a fair amount of noise. I understand that it was a Friday night but most paying guests want the sounds of nature and peace.

To be continued

[Lisbeth]

Nice nyala and giraffe twins

Great lion interaction with whatever the "toy" was and lovely pics

I love owls

You'll never be short of bad-mannered people wherever you go

[Alf]

Once again a speeding TT