A Short, unexpected KNP visit

[BluTuna]

February 13 (about 3 weeks ago).

SO : We have to use some of our timeshare points before the end of July or we lose them.

BT : Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

SO : are you listening to me?????

BT : Hmmmmm. What?

SO : We have to use some of our timeshare points before the end of July or we lose them.

BT : OK, can we book now for November?

SO : No, we have to go before the end of July.

BT : OK, book a long weekend somewhere in July!

SO : What about Pilanesberg? They have accommodation avaliable at Sun City.

BT : UGH! Anywhere but Sun City! What about somewhere near the Park?

SO : I'll see what else they've got.

Later....

SO : I've just booked Hazyview Cabanas for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of March.

BT : Where?

SO : Hazyview Cabanas.

BT : Where are Hazyview Cabanas?

SO : Near Hazyview, about 20kms from Phabeni Gate.

BT : Oh, OK. When?

SO : March 1, 2 and 3. In just over 2 weeks.

BT : What? I thought we were going in July.

SO : We are, we still have some points left so we're going to Sanbonani.

BT : Oh!

And now it's all over bar the TT and just to get the anticipation mounting we had a very interesting trip which included one never seen before species and one species that we've only seen once before!

[Toko]

Sounds familiar

Now

[Bushcraft]

[Flutterby]

[JustN@ture]

Great spot that BT

[Richprins]

Well, well, well....

[pooky]

[BluTuna]

Thanks for joining me, Tokoloshe, BC, FB, JN, Pooky and PeachRinse - Not sure what three holes in the ground have to do with anything but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

I'm still working on episode 1 which will be posted as soon as I get some pictures loaded.

[BluTuna]

March 1st. Home -> Hazyview Cabanas.

In order to make the most of the short time we had, we needed to be on the road at 05:00 on Friday to miss the rush hour traffic. Amazingly, we got going at 05:30 despite my SO's best efforts at holding things up (as usual).

It rained and rained, then it cleared, changed its mind and rained some more. Our usual stop for breakfast at the Wimpy at the Belfast One-Stop was thwarted by a power cut and some flooding so we moved on to Milly's.

I wasn't too impressed the last time we stopped here but this time I chose the omelette which was very tasty and not bad value for money.

The SO took the wheel for the next shift and I took in the scenery as we traveled the Schumanskloof road. I couldn't resist shoving the camera out of the window and taking a few pictures of the low clouds in front of the hills. There are some road works on this route which require that one lane is closed and this means stopping and waiting for several minutes on three occasions. It's still a better route than the N4 past the noxious paper factory.





Suitably rested, I took the final shift from the end of the Schoemanskloof road and we entered the Park at around 11:30 at Malelane.

It was great to be back in the Park, especially as I hadn't anticipated coming back until much later in the year! The bush is very green and overgrown making it difficult to see anything more than a few metres from the road, but I can't remember the last time I saw the park looking so verdant.

At Afsaal, we stopped for a cup of their excellent coffee and in the stream at the south end of the picnic site, I saw some of these beetles whizzing around in the water.


And a very tame squirrel who let me take some portraits.



Most of our sightings we had were hidden by the bush or the light was too dim for a decent photo but along the S1 I noticed that something was crossing the road ahead but I couldn't make out what it was. It turned out to be a brand new - never seen before species for us! New species don't happen very often for us in the Park, after 25 years of regular visits we've seen every 4 legged animal that's bigger than an Aardvark and many of the smaller ones too.

This was a moment to be savoured.

And now........

The never seen before (by us).....




















To be continued

[Flutterby]

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