Kruger (Again)

[gloriosasuperba]

This is the trip that took close on 2 years to materialise (Covid) and I think our expectations were too high. We hadn't been to Kruger since 2016 when the smell of decomposition seemed to over hang the entire park.
Three comments:
Worst weather we have ever had, on any of our trips.
Thankfully everywhere seems to have malls that are close to the road, not more driving around a town that you haven't set foot in for twenty years.
Certain areas Polokwane to Machado/East London to Port Alfred resemble a large housing estate with houses on either side of the road for kilometre after kilometre.
Trip started in October 2021 and ended before school holidays in December 2021. Itinerary looked like this Middleburg EC (overnight), Kroonstad (overnight), Dinokeng (longer stop), Tshipise (longer stop), Punda Maria, Shingwedzi, Tsendze, One night in Hide, Trailer parked on site in Letaba,
Maroela, Skukuza, Malelane, Piet Retie (overnight), Nyalazi, Pennington, East London, Port Alfred, Storms River.

Weather when we left Pretoria was 19 C, patches of rain all the way, rained the entire time at Tshipise, so off to KNP hoping for better weather, story of the trip, we saw a ot but most of the game was way off the road and difficult to photograph, bird life sparse, compared to other years, Kruger was busy, busy, busy, again I suspect because of Covid and lockdowns.

Weather tended to be one day reasonable, next day dire. Large areas in the Northern sector had been burnt, so no game, except in the distance
where there was plant life.

[gloriosasuperba]

No idea why pictures posted more than once.
On to Shingwedzi, again busy, we booked a perimeter site, small problem of campers who don't book but taking a site anyway.
Restaurants all working on very limited menus.

[gloriosasuperba]

[Lisbeth]

Sounds like a kind of fiasco If the weather does not play along on a holiday, it is bound to be a bit of a flop You did quite a tour with lots of km.

Have you posted the same pic four times, because there was nothing else of note?

The tusk which has taken a wrong turn must be a bit of a nuisance for the poor ellie.


P.S. I commented too soon

[Lisbeth]

Lovely photo of the steenboks

Also the giraffes are very nice like all the others.

[gloriosasuperba]

Ellie seemed okay with deformed tusk, age estimate 20+, she had two calves with her and didn't seem any thinner than the others, Steenbok lamb was feeding, but another one did not want to see steenboks disturbed them

[gloriosasuperba]

On to Tsendze, camp full we got Site 34, despite having booked January 2020.Long drives again.

[gloriosasuperba]

The other plover chick is under Dad's body, you can just see his feet.

[gloriosasuperba]

After the week at Tsendze, on to Letaba to park trailer, have a picnic (in the rain) before going to the hide (shared with a bushveld gerbil!!

[gloriosasuperba]

View from the Hide, dam is quite full, only visitors that we saw hippos and elephants, heard lions but not seen.

Up early morning, collected trailer from Letaba campsite, also very busy, on to Maroela, as a change from badly behaved campers at Satara. On the way lots of ash in the air and smell of burning, closer to Maroela obvious fires in the Manyeleti, did hear there were a number of injuries. Maroela no electrified campsites, despite almost two year booking, ended up on back fence plugged in to the laundry, not ideal.