Day 12… an unexpected change in plans
22 December
I was glad spending another day at Satara so decided to take the normal routes S90->S41->S100 for a morning drive. I saw Sparrow and co this morning at the gate and they informed that they are going to enter the S39 N entrance and work their way down to the H7 so when the gate opened we waved each other goodbye and drove on our merry ways. I must say that it is best to drive N when you leave Satara camp as most cars rather drive the S100 and H6 or H7, a much quieter road for those that don’t want roadblocks etc.
I was driving extra slow this morning, I enjoyed everything and kept my eyes open for any movement in the grass but strangely enough my first sighting was something huge
The sun started to show itself and some zebbies posed for a sunrise kiekie
An ellie in the morning glow
Steenbokkie
And a duiker, they tend to run away before I can take a kiekie but this morning I got one
Then the beautiful view of Gudzani
An emerald spotted dove
And some baba-verves keeping me busy with their antics
I got to camp just before 10:00 and popped open a KPA as it started to get hot, just as I lit my first cigarette, my phone beeped and I saw that Wendy has sent me a message stating that she would rather stay 4 nights in CB than 3 if could not change our bookings from Malelane to CB the last few days so she is going to pack up camp and then move off BUT I am more than welcome to stay with the boys… my brain started ticking, which doesn’t happen regularly, and decided that I came to the Park with Wendy so where she goes I go. I started packing up and when everything was almost in my car she arrived. Also a bonus for my Satara trip was that we ran into Riverrat and we had a lekker chat whilst Wendy was taking down her tent and then just out of nowhere she started screaming… we ran towards her and saw this thing that was between her tent and flysheet!
Known as a
tailless whip spider
Amblypygids range from 3 to 23.6 inches (7.6 to 60 cm) in size according to legspan. Their bodies are broad and highly flattened, with a solid carapace and a segmented abdomen. They have a pair of median eyes at the front of the carapace, located just above the chelicerae (in a manner somewhat similar to that of crustaceans), and possessed three smaller eye pairs placed further back on each side, for a total of eight eyes.
Amblypygids possess medium to poor eyesight. Their pedipalps, which serve as sensors for many related arachnids, are modified for grabbing and retaining prey, much like those of a mantis. The first pair of legs act as sensory organs and are not used for walking. The sensory legs are very thin and elongate, have numerous sensory receptors, and can extend several times the length of body. Typically, the animal holds one of these legs out in front of it as it moves, and uses the other to probe the terrain to the side.
All I want to comment is that this thing is bloody scary!
After getting rid of it, by chasing it with a water bottle, we packed in the last things and were off towards the South again. It was hot and there weren’t a lot of things on our way to CB.
A baby zeb
Egyptian goose with goslings
Purple rollers but the sun didn’t allow for nice kiekies
A herd of buffies
And then the only thing we saw in hundreds from LS to CB were these…
We got to the camp at 16:00 and it was pretty full, thinking where do we want to pitch up our new camp, pondering between a fence view with no shade what so ever or the shadiest spot in the camp…
We were gatvol of the afternoon heat so the trees won that day and it was the best decision that trip. We unpacked and our camp was chilling under the trees in no time with some sundowners. That night we got some wood from our neighbours as it would be their last night in the Park, how nice are the campers? And we also saw our first scorpion for the trip which wasn’t something I really wanted to see as I love either being barefoot or wearing slops…
We made a braai and had chicken sosaties with cous-cous salad together with our ice cold KPA’s. We decided that no matter what this is our home for the next 7 days, even if we have to sleep underneath other people’s cars.
To be continued…