From Floods and Surprises in River beds

[Mel]

Oi! We're headed towards February - your pace is picking up

Super ellies

And do I still have to mention the birds

[Flutterby]

So many birds at the weir.

Great sightings at the waterhole.

[Pumbaa]

Thanks so much Alf, Peter, Richprins, Lisbeth, Mel and Flutterby for your Always so lovely and encouraging words

Indeed I have to hurry a bit now

[Pumbaa]

Some herds were about to leave,

_K9A0617.jpg (45.96 KiB) Viewed 262 times

_K9A0628.jpg (32.96 KiB) Viewed 262 times

some were wet and busy with the water,

_K9A0637.jpg (43.72 KiB) Viewed 262 times

_K9A0639.jpg (33.43 KiB) Viewed 262 times

[Pumbaa]

the antelopes with good reason stayed in the distance

_K9A0652.jpg (44.82 KiB) Viewed 262 times

and we could not drag ourselves away as still so many elephants were around

_K9A0678.jpg (52.43 KiB) Viewed 262 times

and a bit farer away now we still could hear the fury trumpeting but then it was also time for us to leave as the clock was ticking.

_K9A0686.jpg (39.72 KiB) Viewed 262 times

Due to the location of our bungalow with the view onto Pioneer dam we already decided to braai again as we normally would have visited the restaurant as same is always fantastic there but as we only stayed one night we simply had to enjoy the view with

_X5I5229.jpg (60.4 KiB) Viewed 262 times

[Pumbaa]

and without us

_X5I5232.jpg (69.66 KiB) Viewed 262 times

and we even had our own private baobab and

_X5I5233.jpg (88.71 KiB) Viewed 262 times

after such an eventful day we fell asleep immediately.

Friday, 22. February 2019 - Mopani – Shingwedzi

Explored roads: H1-6 – S142 – S50 – S143 – S50 – S135 – H1-7 – H1-6 – S52

First stop after we packed everything into our car was for sure the Shipandani causeway and against my expectations was same already blocked

_X5I5241.jpg (49.39 KiB) Viewed 262 times

by two huge crocodiles and a couple of birdies

_X5I5243.jpg (57.82 KiB) Viewed 262 times

[Pumbaa]

unwillingly one after the other cleared the way and we after all felt a bit guilty because we scared them up.

_X5I5253.jpg (49.58 KiB) Viewed 262 times

It was still quite early and it could have been brighter but at least we spotted the green backed heron

_X5I5267.jpg (26.48 KiB) Viewed 262 times

as well as a grey heron and then we heard branches cracking and an elephant bull appeared on the scene

_X5I5272.jpg (65.22 KiB) Viewed 262 times

he was thirsty and originally I got scared again because he was so huge and close

_X5I5297.jpg (68.61 KiB) Viewed 262 times

[Pumbaa]

but luckily he was not interested in us but only in his morning drink

_X5I5307.jpg (71.96 KiB) Viewed 262 times

and so all of us relaxed quite soon and after a little while he disappeared again and we carried on only to stop next for this breathtaking sunrise.

_X5I5324.jpg (22.45 KiB) Viewed 262 times

Mooiplaas was at that early morning deserted but along the S50 we spotted a couple of waterbucks busy with their breakfast

_X5I5327.jpg (55.86 KiB) Viewed 262 times

but the rest of our drive on the S50 was extreme quiet but Timon discovered something in the distance in the high grass which turned out to be a lone buffalo – nevertheless I like the shot because of the dense vegetation.

_K9A0692.jpg (19.98 KiB) Viewed 262 times

[Pumbaa]

On our way to Tihongonyeni we then came across a family of black backed jackals

_K9A0708.jpg (33.02 KiB) Viewed 262 times

out of which in the beginning only one of them could be seen

_K9A0715.jpg (34.9 KiB) Viewed 262 times

_K9A0720.jpg (33.1 KiB) Viewed 262 times

to be continued……….

[Richprins]

A lovely selection of quality pics again, Pumbaa!

What number unit is that again?

And a unique crocodile view indeed!

Lovely ellie action shots!