Africa Wild

We continued to follow them for about another km with the hope that they would get back into the hunting mode, but as we were still heading up the H1-2 I was getting nervous about the time because we were moving further away from Skukuza, so I eventually cracked, turned, and headed back down the H1-2 towards Skukuza.

As we got to the Sand River low level bridge Bushpig shouted

“LEOPARD, it’s walking off!”

This leopard was on a mission and too fast for us to locate in the half-light conditions and all we managed was a proof pic of its bum and tail as it disappeared deeper into the bush.


As we approached the western entrance of Alpha loop, just past the Skukuza day visitors’ area, we found a large traffic jam and a leopard was parking off in the drainage line. Half the people had no idea what they were looking for, they were just there because they spotted other cars, so it was very frustrating trying to manoeuvre around them. It was very dark in the drainage line due to the time, so I was missioning with my camera as the pics weren’t coming out and then an overexcited newcomer drove right in front of us blocking our view, which generated an outburst from the Cow and I. (You can guess who said what below).

“HEY WTF”

“Sorry, you are blocking us!”

The newcomer smiled at us but didn’t move and his entire family were hanging out the other side of the car ignoring us. The clock was ticking, and my Garmin said we had 1 minute spare to get to camp.

“Stuff this chaos, let’s just go!”

I had a minor pelican when we arrived in camp because our last 2 leopard sightings for the day had plenty potential, but our timing was out on the one and stupid rude people ruined the other and then to top it off, it started raining. We didn’t feel like standing in the shared kitchen fighting over the only 2 plate that worked with others, so we decided to go to Cattle Baron for burgers which improved the mood slightly.

To be continued

What kind of tree is the one where the turaco is showing off? Fig tree

How many plates are there supposed to be in the communal kitchen?

Excellent sightings again, BC!

The wild dogs and vultures certainly had it in for each other this trip!

Great loerie shot, I must say!

And the obligatory leopards!

How can you put dirty clothes in a cooler?

How was the restaurant?

Lisbeth wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 2:10 pm What kind of tree is the one where the turaco is showing off? Fig tree

How many plates are there supposed to be in the communal kitchen?

I'm not certain on the tree Lisbeth, it looks "Fig like"

Normally 2 sets of hot plates in the communal kitchen we use, however most times 1 doesn't function correctly

Richprins wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 5:54 pm Excellent sightings again, BC!

The wild dogs and vultures certainly had it in for each other this trip!

Great loerie shot, I must say!

And the obligatory leopards!

How can you put dirty clothes in a cooler?

How was the restaurant?

The Cow will be stoked about the pic

We normally travel through Swaziland and they like to inspect the cooler at the border and we are normally carry meat for 1 last braai at Imfolozi, so stash the meat at the bottom of the cooler, put dirty clothes on top of it and make sure the underwear are at the top. The inspection is much quicker this way

Cattle Barron is normally good, but this particular night they moved us around due to some booking stuff up and then also stuffed the order/chow up

2nd October Skukuza to Biyamiti

We woke to drizzle on and off again which was frustrating as it’s not the weather we normally experience at the end of September, early October.

We had to move to Biyamiti today for the last night of our trip, so the plan was to drive down to Lower Sabie early and then to return to camp to pack up and leave before 10am.

The H4-1 was fairly quiet initially with only the odd usual suspect popping up, however there were plenty ellies in the riverbed in certain areas.


I slowed to a snail’s pace instinctively in the leopard spot Flutts had pointed out to us and a movement caught my eye, so I stopped.

“What’s that?”

“There, it’s 2 badgers on the move!”

Honey badgers on the move are a nightmare to photograph as they never stop for more than a second, so there was a minor camera drama and we only ended up with a proof pic of the 1 badger before they disappeared.


The Lubyelubye area produced a large herd of buffalo and then a tortoise drinking in the road.

Nobody needed the loo yet and we still had time, so we decided to take one last quick visit to the H10 bridge, and our timing luck was in as 2 cheetah appeared on the road just past the S82 turn off which is just around the corner from Lower Sabie camp.


The cheetah were unfortunately on a mission, so we were only able to stick with them for about 30 seconds before they disappeared into the bush, however we were still stoked because it was our 1st cheetah sighting of the trip. We tried to locate them again, but after 15 minutes of slowly moving up and down the road we gave up.

There were some cars stopping on the H4-2 around 100m from the H10 bridge turnoff and there was a small cluster of cars in 1 spot on the H10 bridge, so I chose the H10, and we were just in time to see 2 males in the distance cruising off parallel to the river.


I was starting to get a little worried about the time and it had started raining again, so we decided to head back towards Skukuza and pack up.

The return drive was a little quiet in the rainy conditions and we spent more time jabbering about things than looking for game, however a few km past Nkuhlu the Cow gave me a skrik

“DOGS!”

Our timing was lucky again as the dogs were standing in the road as we came around a corner.

I pulled off to the side of the road and switched off, but the dogs then decided to approach us and stand around right in front of the car, so the only way to get pics without moving was through the windscreen of the car.


The dogs then decided to run off diagonally into bush, but numerous cars had now arrived behind and next to us so there was no way to reverse unless one wanted to cause a major traffic jam, therefore we watched them move off through the back windows of the bakkie before moving on to Skukuza.


We arrived at Skukuza just before checking out time and quickly chucked our stuff in the car, however we had enough time to grab some snacks and cooldrinks for the road to Biyamiti.

The H1-1 and H3 down to Afsaal was very quiet with only the odd wartie, kudu and elephant showing themselves, however the rain had stopped, and some sun was peeking through the clouds in places, so we would at least be able to enjoy Biyamiti.

It was nearly lunchtime when we arrived at Afsaal and it was very busy, so our brunch plans changed, and we just purchased some more snacks at the shop and continued on but hit the brakes again around 1km from Afsaal just before the H2-2 turnoff as some stopped cars gave away 3 wild dogs sleeping.

The dogs were fast asleep and not going to move, so we moved on down the H2-2/S114 to the Biyamiti weir which only produced a croc local.


There was some nervous tension from the Cow as we entered the private S139 road to Biyamiti due to the nutty elephants that hang out on this road, however the odd ellie we came across was in the riverbed, but it was generally very quiet sighting wise.

We were allocated unit 7, which is nicely located in camp, so I was stoked, and we were soon unpacked and exploring around camp.

I immediately went to check out our braai to see if it was functional for our traditional large Biyamiti wood fire and ended up doing the highland fling as a rock monitor surprised me next to the braai.


We spent the next 2 hours patrolling the camp fence line and relaxing on the bench in front of our unit as some ellies and waterbuck were moving around in the riverbed. The Cow also put some water in a rock bird bath thing in front of our unit for the birds and in minutes a baby bushbuck arrived, checked us out, went for a drink and then it decided to hang around us at a distance.

At around 5pm we decided to go to the Biyamiti viewpoint 2,5km down the road from camp for the sunset, but on arrival found another family had the same idea, so with pelicans decided to continue on a down the road to where it opens up to a view from the car.

5 minutes later we decided to turn and head back to the viewpoint with the hope that the other crowd had moved on, but as luck would have it, a parade of faulty ellies had arrived on the road which instantly set the Cow off.

“STOP!”, “GO!”, “WAIT!”

“Relax, I will move past them slowly”

“NO………………….. I can’t watch this!”

I inched slowly past the ellies, which were both sides of the road, while the Cow huffed and puffed at me

“That one is flapping it’s ears”, “That one is going to charge!”

But I just continued forward at snail’s pace while focused on their body language.

Suddenly Bushpig shouted “LEOPARD!”, which gave me a big skrik and I swerved all over the road.

“WHAT, where?!”

“Where’s the camera!”

A leopard was cruising along the road towards us, but the Cow was still focused on an elephant

“GO, that elephant is coming!”

“Where?”

“THERE!”

“Relax, it’s a teenager and it’s going to walk past us”

“Where’s the leopard gone?”

The leopard had now seen the ellies and he was walking off the road, so I went forward again as we were going to lose sight of him, but the Cow was still flapping

“THE ELEPHANT!”

“Stuff the elephant, there’s a leopard!”

The leopard ducked off into a bush that was fairly close to the road, however it was a mission to get a view of him.


A second later the other family that was at the viewpoint arrived, turned, and reversed in next to us.

“Leopard”

The Cow was still watching elephants though

“THEY ARE COMING AROUND US!”

I was so focused on the leopard and hadn’t paid much attention to the ellies that were now walking in front and behind our car.

The occupants of the other car seamed to get a skrik also and the driver started his car.

I wasn’t worried though as it was still mainly teenage ellies, however seconds later the one teenager lost it’s cool, trumpeted and waved its trunk at us which gave the driver of the other car a panic attack and he took off at pace down the road while the Cow dropped a few….

“#@^*” “@#%*”

But I wasn’t moving as the elephants had gotten the attention of the leopard, especially when one started chowing on the same bush he was hiding under.


Seconds later a few ellies spotted the leopard, paused, trumpeted, and then charged at him.

The leopard was way too quick, but the fat ellies were highly excited and they continued with their charge while trumpeting until the leopard was out of sight which had us all laughing, I think the Cow more from relief though.

I started our tradition fire as we got back into camp, and then we all went to watch some ellies along the fence line in front of our units while we still had some light left.

10 minutes later a storm type wind came through, so I charged off to pull some wood off the fire before it really got going but roasted some fingers in the process. I ended up with a flat fire and a pelican as the weather had definitely turned for the worse again, so we ended up with an early night.

To be continued