Wednesday 23rd August (continued)
We took the H8 and H1-5 to Letaba, seeing little more than Impala on the way but enjoying the change of scenery none the less. Passing the Letaba Rest Camp turnoff we proceeded further north looking for the resting Wild Dogs we had been told about. They had been between the rest camp and the bridge over the Letaba River but alas we arrived at the bridge without having seen puppies nor even any cars parked off. It was a wonderful stretch of road alongside the river however so we intended to enjoy the river views a little more on the return leg.
Crossing the Letaba River we looked immediately for the 2 Leopards which was supposed to be in a tree right near the road only 200-300m further north. Again we were left scratching our heads as there didn't even seem to be a suitable tree.
After driving a couple of kilometres we turned back and soon were at the bridge again. An oncoming car stopped for a chat and they confirmed that the dogs were not where they had been earlier, and that the Leopards had moved the kill further back from the road and therefore out of sight. They took us to the tree it had been in and we immediately understood why. It was a tiny tree and didn't seem at all suitable for stashing a kill in, not to mention affording no suitable branches for a full-bellied Leopard to sleep on. We thanked the nice people for helping us out and started making our way back to Letaba, only to find a momentary roadblock.
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An Elephant herd grazing on the bank of the river also required a few photos.
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Paralleling the river we found out third Martial Eagle for the day enjoying a feed, added some Spur-winged Geese to the bird list, and played the "count the hippos" game.
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This is such a lovely area and one we would love to explore more on a future trip. And we could certainly appreciate the slower pace of the north versus the crazy south!
At Letaba we first immersed ourselves in the Elephant Museum. What a great facility this is! It was great to get to read the stories of the big tuskers and see their impressive tusks on display. Lyca even had a cuddle with Shawu!
The hall was far bigger and contained more information than we expected, so additional time was spent reading about other aspects of Elephant life and human interactions.
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We finished our visit by patrolling the camp grounds looking for new and interesting birds and admiring the views of the river. Again the best seats were occupied by old folks seemingly with all the time in the world. I can't wait until that is me!
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A ninja Bushbuck tried out its urban camouflage...
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While another emerged from a more sensible resting place.
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Some nice birds such as Giant Kingfisher, Red-capped Robin-chat, African Jacana and Scarlet-chested Sunbird put in appearances, and then some African Green Pigeons put the icing on the cake as we made our way back to the car.
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Finally it got too much for me and I went and found the waitress and asked for our food to be packaged up to take-away. It promptly arrived and we bolted for the car. Off to Letaba! 
