6 Dutchies in a toyota avanza

[mattie010]

Thank you all for following this TT!

The cubs luckily weren't only running, but also playing and just having fun. They were full of energy.

The lack of experience certainly had the pro's and cons. We were lucky we had 6 pairs of eyes, which made spotting game slightly easier.

We didn't smell them luckily





So the way up to Skukuza didn't produce much and no really nice

In Skukuza we set up camp and enjoyed camping in Kruger, although Skukuza was a little too crowded. It was a nice start though after a long day stopping for almost everything
In the evening we went up to the riverbed and first spotted some elephant in the fading light. Finally a good elephant sighting, but really bad for photos, so no photos taken!
We walked for up and down the river (as far as possible) and sought some animals with our flashlight which shines surprisingly far given how big it is. First we spotted a large genet really closeby, but all the time it tried to hide and after seeing it quite good for a few seconds we walked farther. And after a while we spotted this creature just a few meters below us - I have - till today - no single clue what it is. I only have two photos that are acceptable. It was really dark and there were plants growing everywhere, so I hope you can still see it a little:

You might just see it's head. Really bad photos, but mainly I am curious to what it is? Anyone can ID it?


The other, worse photo that is somehow still acceptable. The other photos were really, really bad...

We soon after that went to sleep a little, just so we could get some sleep before packing to go to Satara. Since we (and especially I) aren't really people loving the morning and we were all tired we slept till 7am in the morning and were packed at around 7.45am and left camp just when we could. I haven't done anything regarding checking in or checking out and didn't even bother with it.

This day we left and drove down the H4-1 towards Satara and stopping at some dams and pans (which were mostly dry). We saw general game (even things we spotted the day before ).
First thing in the morning was a buffalo, but hiding deeply in the bush. Next thing were impalas and soon after that zebras and some lovely birds. We passed the first bridge (we passed two or three bridges in total) and saw a brownhooded kingfisher. It was just aside of the bridge in a branch and we could barely see it, so we left after a few clicks.

Just the very next thing we didn't expect: a leopard! Hiding in the grass we almost couldn't find it, even with people pointing at the leopard it was still hard to see it. But, when you finally saw it, you could really see it very well. The pictures aren't that great on the other hand, because the person on the window seat couldn't handle the camera So we just set it up and made that person try to make some pictures. Sadly the pictures didn't work out great, but it is visible. We stayed for some 30-ish minutes with it and then decided to leave the scene because it was not going anywhere.


Next thing are two klipspringers of which one tried to hide away a lot.


And after that we headed to a picnic spot. Can't recall which one it was, but it was near this stunning dam - which one click just can't describe. We saw through the binoculars some elephants, crocs, hippos, waterbuck and zebras:




We drove straight past some stunning landscapes and suddenly saw impalas running for their lives. We stayed at that place for some twenty minutes but nothing showed up and it appeared the hunt had failed and the carnivore didn't mind anymore and went sleeping I guess ^^
After driving further and further we spotted some elephants having a drink. Or whatever they do.


So after a long drive we decided it was time to rest and give ourself some time off. We all enjoyed finally being able to stretch the legs in Satara and set up camp quickly. We still had an hour and a half left so we went on another drive. A fairly quickly drive, since we returned after seeing lion a big distance off. We decided to head there early morning next day to maybe see them again. We took some pictures and left. Not many cars around though, so that was really nice.

First thing next day were those lions. They were still way off (luckily they didn't move far) the lighting was bad (although the bad pictures are my fault) but still I want to show my first lion(s) three males of which only one wanted to show himself a little:


So the next thing was following the road to some dam. Nothing much to be seen here, only a giraffe really far off in the distance. A guided vehicle told us though that there were wild dogs up the road at the left side near some rocks. It was quite a drive they told us, which it was. We drove about 15-minutes till we saw them. At least.. We thought it were wild dogs, but when looking through the binoculars (again far off) we all saw it weren't. It were some black backed jackals, still nice though.


Somewhere soon after those black backed jackals this lovely creature suddenly shows himself:


Also that afternoon we did a short drive giving us a few nice shots:








And "birding" at camp:






After this we started to just relax at camp. We still had to "wait" for some hours, but also had to do some cooking and some dishes. That and the fact we walked around camp was great. Not only the bush is great outside camp, also the camp is great and offers excellent views. Especially for someone who is in Kruger for the first time, you tend to make long days. You want to be up out as early as possible and be back in camp as late as possible. We eventually learned this wasn't the greatest way of spotting animals
It was nice to drive around a few times during the hottest hours, because grazers and browsers go to the water, which was quite scarce at some points. But predators try to relax and well.. After a one or two full days of game viewing you have seen most of the "normal" stuff so you tend to look around for predators. We also went to look for those lions but they were not to be found again by us.

Next episode: the night drive!
Note: after this episode the episodes will cover a shorter amount of time, since we made more photos and better photos!

[harrys]

Some great sightings with the Leopard and Lion

The animal in your first 2 photos is a giant reed rat

[Lisbeth]

The pic of the impalas drinking is very nice and so are the birds and bees Nothing better than practice to learn how things work You even saw a leopard

A giant reed rat What a pity that it was hiding.

[Toko]

Yes, the small animal is a Greater Cane Rat Rarely seen, they are nocturnal, but sometimes one can see them close to a river in a camp

I like your photo of Orpen dam. Lots of water letucce there, but the crocodiles may like it

Nice closeups of the Lapwings. But my favourite is the Cape Dwarf Gecko on the Aloe, have never seen this before, but thinking twice it's a good hunting spot for a gecko Or it is only basking in the sun

And you found lion and leopard, so you had your load of cats

[Pumbaa]

What a brilliant start, mattie,

with already lots of lovely sightings your great cane rat is an amazing sighting

Curious to know what's coming next

[Bushcraft]

Cane rat A rather rare sighting

Leopard and lion

Orpen dam is a cool spot, just duck the long drop toilets

[Richprins]

These are good pics, mattie!

The Orpen Dam seems to be infested with Sylvinia again...an alien invader that is a perennial problem!






But ja...great sightings!

[mattie010]

Thanks all for reacting and the id. Lovely to hear it is quite a rare sighting ;)
Those rats are eatable right?

Next episode will be up soon.

It is a pity the orpen dam is invaded, although it looked extremely natural.

Thanks for the id Toko of the Cape Dwarf Gecko!
It was hunting.

More (big?) cats are coming though, next episode. It will come tomorrow somewhere around 1pm I guess ^^

[mattie010]

Looking now through the photos and nowhere can I find the lions we saw so closeby during the nightdrive. I think we all were so thrilled to see them so close (2 meters maximum) and we were so stoked we forgot to make
Also we haven't maked photos of a hyena, because well... I'll mention this later

At least There are some decent photos and well, we saw loads of animals. Serval, two times AWC, lions, two porcupines (I saw only one but for 5 minute, so can't complain) and even more.

The nightdrive itself was at Satara, which happened to be a stunning location. Seeing all those animals was truly magnificant.
Luckily we had brought our own flashlights (2 rather good ones) and we had one of those lights mounted on the truck. We didn't even look at the stars during the drive, the driver and spotter only searched for (elusive) animals. Daytime animals were not worth a stop and after the first big batch of elephants we just drove on when seeing elephants.

Of course the first animal was a hyena:

Those lovely creatures roam the fences in search for food and well... This one is said to always being here at this spot when night falls. I think it is really sad that people feed them, especially since they have to be murdered...

Looking in the dark is different. The flashlights and headlights of the truck make the eyes of lots of animals glow. It makes it easier for a first-timer in Kruger to spot the animals. Seeing some well camouflaged animals is easier for us in the dark

Driving fast on a gravel road (we left the tar pretty early) we didn't see much. After ten minutes not much to be seen. Suddenly someone yelled "stop" and the vehicle stopped. We spotted it soon and quite a surprise for us: a cat! No "big cat" but it was a nice cat. Serval:

Here it was, made with a 70mm so not all too far.


Because we were close by it decided to leave pretty soon and well.. With 30 seconds viewing it we only managed to get this not all too focused shot ;)

I knew servals were quite fast, nocturnal and not seen all too often, so it was a great catch. No great photos sadly

We drove on for another 5 to 10 minutes when I spotted something in the tall grass at the left side of the truck. AWC! Not that one from Satara but a real wild one ;)

Here it was, hiding between the high brown grass around Satara. Another nocturnal creature, although this one is said to be seen more during nightdrives. And of course in camp it is seen!


This photo was made with a 18mm to prove how close it was to us! :D


I remember it was dead silent in the vehicle as we continued. Everyone was stoked we had seen this much and we all hoped for the best to see something "really spectacular". Ofcourse this already was, but all as tourists you want to see lion or leopard
Well... I must say we already were so happy seeing this we didn't expect our next sighting. Serval and AWC are great to see and are really nice cats.

So we drove on and continued on some tarred road leading us away from Satara to the bridge on the tar road in the south. Because there were lions seen here the driver and spotter hoped for an lion encounter, but not yet. We had to wait a little longer.

As we continued time started being sparse and we needed to head back for camp. The driver wanted to make a turn on the next place possible and there it was. A hyena lying on the road and just relaxing. Suddenly someone on the rightern side of the vehicle heard something moving and they used the flashlights. Porcupine! Sadly it just came out of it's hiding and well... It returned as fast as it came out

Also the hyena ran away because of all those lights shining and we finally made the turn. We weren't even able to capture all these moments, so bad!

So time was getting sparse now since we were 12km off and we needed to be back in 10 minutes
So we needed to drive fast, but the driver relaxed and said: it doesn't matter if we aren't back in time. I have no problem with that. So he slowly went back to camp, so we all were able to spot more.
We managed to get stuck between a group of elephants. Elephants were in the front, back and sides so well... The driver pushed a little and off they went. No problems at all!

And just a few moments later a hard "stop" echoed from the back and the driver said: "Not now, first we head to the lions laying down on the road in front of us."
So we went to the lions and the person in the back told us he had seen some other lions in the distance. This group was rather big and we counted over 10 lions. 3 males and at least 7 females. We were all too much enjoying this scene and before we knew the lions left. Being in awe of this amazing sighting which lasted for about 10 minutes we were ready to go back to camp.

The nature on the other hand had more plans for us as we still had not had our best sighting. We didn't know why the nature wouldn't let us go to camp, but I don't really mind ;)

So, just a few moments after this awesome lion sighting we had another amazing sighting. We were driving a little faster now, but everyone was ok with that. I just kept shining with the flashlight and yelled STOP. Hard, really hard. I saw a porcupine. The drive asked me three times if I was really sure, but I was. I was extremely sure. And we backed up about 70 meters (wild guess) and there it was, right next to the road, running along with the vehicle for 5 minutes:

Never ever have I expected to see a porcupine. Not in my wildest dreams, not even in my Krugerpark dreams
It was running along with the vehicle, although we weren't going fast. Luckily I was at the good side of the truck, since half of the people had trouble seeing it. As a family we decided to switch so everyone could see it good and thankfully everyone got to see it very good.

So we finally headed towards the gate of Satara when out of nowhere a side-striped jackal popped up in front of our vehicle and he or she was trying to hunt in the headlights
This jackal decided that the headlights were the best place to hunt for everything, but sadly it didn't catch anything at all.
We actually were stuck behind this jackal and since they didn't want it to get exhausted we drove rather slowly. The vehicle tried to pass over a dozen of times, but none were succesfull
After being stuck behind it for 20 to 30 minutes the vehicle manages to pass this smart jackal.


Again shot with a 18mm just after we managed to pass it.

On the way to camp we saw another AWC but far, far off. I think 40 meters almost and since it was getting late we drove on fast.

The nightdrive ended but for us the evening wasn't over. We thought it was, but when we went to the ablutions we discovered a huge herd of buffalo. Well my SO and I discovered it, since the rest of us was studying there dreams. We speeded back to the campsite (on foot) and got the lights out. We tried to count them, but it were too much. They were so close by and it was really amazing. We counted over 100!

And so this day ended with a last beautiful sighting and we already were so lucky today.

For the next time try to grab some since we are moving to Balule!

[Alf]

Nice sightings Mattie