so having got to punda maria i set off onto the "mahogony" loop
that first little water hole on the left when taking the northern entrance
used to be a favourite extended stop a number of years back before
we "discovered" teba........
it still is a hive of activity..........
and has that enchanting atmosphere of
"let's have a picnic here"
the entire area is so inviting and lush.
i rumbled off down the road to the witsand waterhole
i always think of the cape when i see the name "witsand"
but i understand the name derives from the white sand that was unearthed while the borehole was being sunk
which, i think, has been out of commission as an artificial water source
for quite some time now, however, after the recent rains there seemed to be a bit of water in the "crib"
i sat at the loop at end of the road next to a puddle of water
where the brown-veined white butterflies where lined up next to the edge
like windsurfers at blaaubergstrand......
and just watched and waited for whatever might appear...
after a while i heard a splash in the puddle........
then i heard them.........
woodies !!!!!!!!!
at first i thought i had found the source of where "brown-hooded" kingfishers are created..........
but, despite repeated attempts...................
these two never managed to keep any of the brown shades from the puddle on their plumage.....
then they were gone ..........................
leaving the butterflies staring in amazement.............................
so.... i left punda maria and headed south along the h1-7......
a purple roller had just picked up breakfast and decided to have take-aways
so off he went.
a short while later i came across this decent looking fella.
i found him near "babalalalala".......
so maybe that's who he is ?????
a lone mother and her foal ??????????
boyela always seems to have a resident jumbo utilizing the concrete dam...
i never took the chance to have a look at the new day visitors centre at shingwedzi when i passed through there on new year's day
so i popped in to have a squiz
they even have their own kiosk !!!!
quite exposed, but after a few years maybe so more trees would have established themselves.
still going south on the h1-6
these stunning trees
and elephant activity in the shingwedzi river.....
this scat was on top of the signboard to the old main road loop
and it looks very similar to the scat i photogrphed near ngobeni on new year's day
any ideas of its source ????
( i know it is squeezed from a sphincter muscle......... i would like to know who that muscle belongs to !!)
at a stop on the mingerhout loop overlooking the confluence of the letaba and tsendze
was this very disciplined family of elephant crossing the tsendze.
note how they keep their rigid formation throughout
and even after having crossed the river they still seem to keep a structured formation.....
good to see families that still have that structure in their lives.....
they had barely moved out of view when another group appeared in the river bed
in contrast to the previous group this one was more of a scattering
as they loosely made their way up the far embankment
probably one of those modern liberal families.........
:roll: :roll: :roll:
a short stop on the letaba bridge were this b/t was sunning himself
and the late afternoon spider web
and then off to camp..........
an interesting sight were these bundles of mopani trees
having been cut and bundled on the side of the road.....
i wondered if it is part of a verge clearing exercise that would assist road users on this busy stretch in seeing any animals that might be on the roadside
or.... if it is merely an economic process of harvesting firewood for the local communities....
just before camp is this secluded little water hole with the same characters in it as when i was there last year...
anyone who was at letaba in december will remember them..........
eventually i arrived at letaba and i could soak up the view of the river from my garden cottage
