Whistlestop dreams at Tsendze

[krugerbru]

For the first morning drive of the trip, I was naturally wowed by everything,. We saw a few cool things

This Sharpe's Grysbok relaxing under the trees.



Martial Eagle Patrolling



and this beautiful Impala ram in the morning light



then my all time favourite, a Southern Carmine Bee-eater perched on the Mopani trees. I loved this as you don't see that often. So pretty chuffed to see two of them

[krugerbru]

After a really satisfactory breakfast, Elina took some time to show me the African Barred Owlet she had seen that that morning

.

We decided to head to Letaba and spotted this Cape Vulture basking in the sun as we exited one little loops along the Tsendze River (we tried all of them)



More Ellies!!



After a solid scan of the Letaba River, we headed for the Elephant Hall, which is a must see every time we're there. The majesty of all those tusks never gets old.



We were playing around with the panorama feature on my phone, trying to get all the tusks in one shot. Kids and wife had a blast.



Back on the road back to Tsendze, it was a scorcher. We were only too happy to have a few stunning sightings to break up the monotony of the draining heat



Juvenile Ground Hornbill having a snack



I really struggle to get a picture of a large male Waterbuck. They are incredibly skittish, so I was very happy when this large ram stood still long enough for this snap

[Lisbeth]

Great all around

[Alf]

Elephant hall always a must.

Just wondering what happened to the old tusker photos that were replaced by this ugly tiled picture

[Flutterby]

Some lovely sightings so far!!

[Richprins]

Nice selection, bru!

[Pumbaa]

What a fantastic start, Krugerbru,

for sure I am a great fan of all your birdies you saw - From the Storks from the Shipandani causeway until the owl Cute sharpi as well

[Klipspringer]

I love the birdies, too. The carmine bee-eaters in the lush green are beautiful

[Peter Betts]

We need to talk about the Cicada's though. What is your formula for keeping them away? You obviously need light, but they seem to want to more than you. It was incessant. Some people say you need to invest in a red light. Is this the formula?

If you go in Summer to the bush especially you have to put up with snakes , Malaria, Heat , Huge storms, Mopani worm Carpets, and insects like noisy Cicada's. If you need to trap chase away , poison (as in Ants ..Some people actually use poison !!! ) insects then you have to seriously ask yourself if Tsendze is the place for you..Maybe a airconditioned hut at Satara all nicely fumigated against the 'horrors' of the bush??? My take is that you are entering their home by going to say Tsendze ..learn to live with it ???

No stress Peter, fully aware of the different conditions that summer brings as this isn't my first rodeo. I love the snakes, insects and the storms you mention. Sometimes it's nice to have dinner without Cicada's flying into your food and drink. I was just checking if anyone else had some advice, as at times it felt like a biblical plague. Best tip is switch off all lights

The poison is shocking though... some people!!!

The best is to turn off the gas/Neon Lights when having supper at night ..then the insects , moths and Cicadas go to the neighbours ..Good summer trick we practised when my kids were your kids age