lotsadonta africana & ruminant blues singers *

[Richprins]

Hey!

Is this the one that has the water enhanced?

[leachy]

it is the one !!!

[Richprins]

Is our Lodging possie still operating at the border post as before

Here's a link, ispeak...unless you're meeting at an undisclosed location! -O

viewtopic.php?f=78&t=485&start=10

[leachy]

so........

having often heard and sometimes seen the trumpeter hornbill at pafuri

i managed to eventually get a fairly decent photo of one.
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and this vulture chick waiting for a meal on the nest up high right next to the bridge
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in june of 2011 i had expressed a concern that the trees on the southern bank of the levhuvhu seemed to be dying.....

i was pleased to see that they were probably just undernourished

as you can see they look healthy and lush....
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it is always fascinating to see the winding sculptures that adorn the trees next to the bridge
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and the intricate textures of some of the others
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this one seemed to be "bleeding"
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i had to head on back to punda

and this sentry gave the all clear for my safe return.
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next to the h1-8 there was quite a lot of surface water after the recent rains

and this family were making good use of the cool mud
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while these guys close by seemed to be waiting their turn....
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[leachy]

so........

en route back to punda

there was this interesting indaba at nkovakulu

something to do with drinking water rights........

seems that the bovine was with e-manzi and was checking to see if the elephant's

e-manzi tags had a credit balance......

and they were trying to convince the lady that their boss, who you can see walking away in the background had just paid and used the drinking facilities...

at first there was a bit of a standoff, but the lady eventually believed their story...

damn bureaucratic buffs
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i popped in briefly at kloppies.....

only to find these chaps lounging in the shade under the tree.....
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i did, however, meet a delightful young and busty green-eyed brunette beauty parked in her little hyundai

struggling to open a beverage bottle with her car keys,

so i sent leatherman to the rescue....



he is a superhero that lives in my car....


turns out that she works at the outpost as a guide and she had a few days off

so she was off to satara and letaba for a few days with some friends,

i have often wondered where park rangers go to on holiday ????

she told me some disturbing stories of the day visitor chaos at the pafuri during week ends......

i bade her farewell and continued off to the other punda
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close to camp i spotted this young filly and mother who seems to be in the ministry
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a "traffic calmer" on the mahonie loop
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now, we all know that ground scrapers have become extinct in the kruger ....



so it was pleasing to see that there are still some groundscraper thrushes....
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a few health inspectors
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some wild sesame flowers
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and this termite mound

that seems to have become some sort of roundabout of sorts on one of the game paths....
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then.....

in the late afternoon light i saw the weirdest thing.........



the sun shining through the membrane of this young kudu's nasal passages...
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[leachy]

so ............

now here's the thing

as anyone who has been to punda knows

the trees in the area are magnificent.......

not only magnificent but useful as well

a few years ago my learned colleague and friend mister richprins

pointed out the lebombo ironwood on the slopes around punda........
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they are the tall spiky looking ones...
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look almost like conifers
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interesting at the time !!!!!!!!!!

i later learnt that the original huts at shingwedzi and punda where built using this wood.

ever noticed the roof structure of the punda huts are made solely from this wood.

there is not a single metal/iron/steel component.......

no nails, no screws no wires used to make the roof structure.....
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all lebombo ironwood......

this where i stayed ..

see my chair and r2d2
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and this is the garden i sat in at night with r2d2
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i had neighbours from the cape who had a bit of battery problems with their
bmw x5 diesel suv

and one afternoon they forgot about the faulty battery and switched their car off while on a drive on the mohonie loop.

the first car that came along was a little hyundai rental driven by a couple from denmark.

when the bmw man asked if he could attach his set of jumper cables to their car

the dane refused because he firmly believed that a petrol driven vehicle cannot jump start a diesel driven vehicle...



after much convincing the bmw eventually got started.

-O -O -O

did i mention that the cape folks were wine farmers

and this is their product
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so i had to return to pafuri to hook up with all the dimwits for a fry up under the jackal berry trees

stopped at kloppies

a couple of buffalo
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these two having a tussle
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a gyppo flyby
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and a bunch of red billed quelea
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a red-billed teal.
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the dam
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and this interesting sculpture of a demonic looking stump........
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at nkovakulu this ellie reaching for the cooler water
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while this giraffe could not make his mind up whether to drink or not..
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this guy fast asleep next to a baobab
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popped into the picnic spot to look for richprins

but only found this very little nyala with it's mommy.
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eventually found the dimwits at crooks.......

on the way back to pafuri i had richprins in my vehicle

and we came across one of his nephews

who was being a bit of a show off.

wanted to find something to throw at us
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and then tried to show off his muscles
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and even put up his fists to challenge rp to a duel.......
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[leachy]

so...........

the move from punda to shingwedzi had come and gone without too much trauma



it was very dry around the shingwedzi area...

even the waterbuck are under developed......
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and it was with shock and horror that i laid eyes on the barren wasteland



that was the kanniedood desert
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during this visit..

it was with much hilarity that i overheard a tourist expressing amazement at the dry state of kanniedood,

according to her,, kanniedood is never meant to dry up....ever...!!!!!!!

that is why is called kanniedood......it is never meant to die.....

-O -O -O -O -O -O -O -O -O -O -O -O -O -O -O -O

this eagle owl was trying to get some shut eye in the heat of the day.
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and it was near shingwedzi

that i attended the midday soirée of the bovine blues singers
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crooning away in the heat of day.......
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so....

i was to venture up the mpongolo walk to "sleeping man" picnic spot

to meet sprocky and the dimwits for a light brunch..

one of the draw cards of this loop is the astounding variety of arboreal sculptures
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and some of their inhabitants
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and browsers
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a little pond somewhere near sirheni

with a black egret
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and a mandatory loxodonta making a appearance.
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[leachy]

so. ..............................

as i arrive at the babalala drinking hole

i find this group of seemingly very thirsty ellies scurrying across the veld

in double quick time as though they were crossing a bed of hot coals
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they arrive and begin to start drinking with a mission



as though it was closing time
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and they are soon joined by another jolly jogging jumbo hurrying along in a cloud of dust

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and soon the crowed at the bar gets even bigger

as the newcomers introduce themselves

and settle down to some serious drinking..
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a while later ............................

the family group decides to leave

as things started turning into a bit of a piss-up..



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i enjoy my brief sojourn with sprocks and the dimwits

and depart for shingwedzi

finding only this impressive looking tusker searching for water in the riverbed
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[leachy]

so.........

one full day left in the park (oh bother!!!!!!)

and i head off towards the capricorn loop

via the isdood desert and the grootvlei dam......

pleased to see that there is actually quite a bit of water in the shingwedzi river beyond the desert

and behold......... a lifer.....

blackcrowned night heron


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and.... what the yanks would call..

a "daughter"
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also.... a heartening sight indeed was the fact that there was a decent amount of water at the bird hide
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for this family of gyppos .......

despite the evidently dry conditions in the general area....
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arrived at the dam just as morning prayers were taking place
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then a short sniff sniff in the air to determine the daily plan before their next stop.........
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and i pop in at the view point to document the vista.
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and off to meet the dust devils of the capricorn loop
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and the kori bustard showing off in front of the opposite sex
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i returned to my villa

to monitor the building progress of the annex to the villa
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and to relax to the sweet sounds of the swallow symphony
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the afternoon's in camp entertainment was concluded with a performance

by the y/b/k aerial ballet company
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[Richprins]

I think the Dam is Grootvlei, and the bird hide and lookout those ones with the long names!

Tihongonyeni is the windmill with the Kori!

And the elephant does have a collar!