Richprins' Short Business Trips to The Park

[ExFmem]

Oh WOW!!! Beautiful animal and some great pics as well!

[Twigga]

Great sighting Prins!

[Richprins]

!

[Pumbaa]

so finally you found the road

We never found the road, Pumbaa!

But you found that magnificent leopard - I think this is a far better sighting than a tar road

[Klipspringer]

[Richprins]

[Richprins]

Anyway, as said, we had failed in our objective to find the mythical new road, so onward to the second objective - fixing the cooler..


One knows as one approaches Skukuza, as it is the place of Trains, Planes and Automobiles!

But not so much for automobiles anymore, as the workshop behind the filling station is now dysfunctional.

This used to be the go-to place for auto problems, and consisted of a vibrant auto-mechanic facility where tourists could be helped, and we used it a couple of times in the old days which really saved our bacon. There was an angry old fellow there who informed us that virtually all of the equipment had been "liberated", so now one phones a cell number and they direct you to the workshop depot in the admin compound outside the camp, which is actually out of bounds for tourists...


Anyway, I know this place because I used to accompany a friend who delivered parts to Fleet Management there, so off we went!

This was actually more pleasant, as the place has been spruced up a bit!

We eventually were directed to James and his assistants at the communications hut, who was to be our saviour!

It was not so good for Borderline, as James took one look at his Prestik attempt to fix the cooler's plug and took an EXTREMELY dim view of it, tut-tutting and getting to work while Bl stood around and observed sheepishly...

James gave us a brand-new fitting, for FREE, and installed it so that it was completely Dimwit-proof!

We did go to the nearby shop and buy the crew a nice brunch of fries and cooldrink...I like the containers, which seem biodegradable?

well done, James and co.

[Richprins]

So one objective successful, and off we went down to no. 3, Nkuhlu!


There was no rush whatsoever, and it was extremely pleasant driving down the tar road next to the river!

However, the sun was beginning to peek out now and then, and traffic was increasing a lot, so I ordered a detour down the quiet S-30 on the other side!

The idea was to sit at the first loop and rest a bit in the shade...


It is remarkable as it has the shadiest trees one can get, Red Ivory trees, and the dense stand is quite unique!

There are lots of other trees too!

[Richprins]

The proper name for the trees is natal Mahogany, and these fast-growing evergreens are common in Lowveld towns, and extensively planted in restcamps. They rarely get this big, however!

We picked up a towbar cap...these sometimes get removed by predators, but this on was probably just crushed by tires!

Some German Tourists arrived and I began bothering them, so BL suggested we leave. This is one of the views to the river...useless in summer but nice in the dry season!

[Lisbeth]

Dimwit-proof

I did not know that there are miracle mechanics in Kruger, but James must be one

Lost of different nice and bad looking trees, but they are all green