A Fantarantulatastic Trip To Kruger - April 2017

[PJL]

The snout of the croc just out of the water looks scary

Lovely views on the Sabie

Yes Lis, the crocs were a bit scary looking - particularly when they were just a few feet away from you!! A few days later we saw someone out walking along the low level bridge... when we asked them what they were doing they said they thought you could walk on any of the bridges in Kruger

Lovely sighting of the snake-eagle.

Thanks Flutterby, we were lucky it came past as the drive was getting a bit tedious by that point

How I would like to be there

Right now I'd like to be back there as well nan

Looks like you started relaxing nicely, Peej!

Nkuhlu looks a bit dry...where is the Sabie River?

Tshokwane looks great, I must say!

Any tea to be had at Lower Sabie?

Always some or other carcass there at the low-water bridge, it seems!

Nkuhlu/Nkumbe error on my side Too many Nku's around
Yep some tea at LS
Apparently not a washed up carcass as such - the crocs had taken it down themselves the prior day

You driving from Satara to Lower Sabie and back again I have done Lower Sabie to the S86 and back again and it was a long day

I think you hit a typo with Nkuhlu and meant Nkumbe

Ya, always something dead at the H10 bridge

It was a long day... particularly the way back as you'll see
However the view and time spent by the Sabie was worth it
Thanks for the typo warning... was asleep there

Love your Nkumbe view, PJL,

as well as the view down to Mlondozi - These are very special Kruger moments - Sigh

Thanks Pumbaa... some stunning scenery in that section

PJL

Time for me to get on top of things again here

I did have a peak every now to make myself green over your sightings and to admire your photos,
but mostly I felt too knackered to write something sensible (not sure if I'm able to do that even
if I'm not tired though )

That rough baboon sticks to my memory because we saw something similar. And then the offender got punished by the little one's mum

Then there was that mongoose... again we saw that too and I was thrilled because I usually get to see yellow or slender mongoose, so dwarf is rather
special... but it was available for a photo like yours Plus, the little banded one later in the trip - so adorable

(The photos from that morning are generally great - with the mist enhancing special features, e.g. the sunrise)

How was the second mating sighting received in the back of your car?

Your double cheetah sighting --> (Actually triple, counting the morning one as well...)

Also, fluffy hyenas for D and your brilliant scenery photos - awesome stuff so far

Now I'm curious to learn what you saw in the park elsewhere to us. However there are still a couple of days to go before we enter at all.

Thanks for catching up Mel
Lots more to see on this trip as well

[PJL]

April 5th Continued

It had been really great relaxing at Lower Sabie, but the downside was that we had a long drive back. On a brief stop at the low level bridge there was a fish eagle patrolling



It was pretty much the same route back to Satara, and it turned into something of an elephant parade







Near Kumana dam we had a sighting of a crested barbet and a giraffe in nice light





There was no sign of any cats on the way back so we ended up driving past camp and up the H1-4 to see if our luck would change but it was all very quiet. The red-billed quelea flocks had been incredible in their size, and most evenings they seemed to fly east before coming back again the next morning (who knows where they were going )... so I attempted a few shots to try and show just how enormous the flocks were





It had been a big day out, but a good one

After supper the kids were nagging to go walk around camp to try and find the african wild cat again, so we decided to all go and look at the sightings board. Walking along the road a big shadowy lump formed in the torchlight. We had seen plenty of those king cricket things which seemed to be plaguing some areas, but just as we got close I realised this wasn't something to be picking up, and at about the same time a few muffled shrieks meant the rest of the family could see what it was... the part-naming of this report... a TARANTULA



In Africa, they are known as a baboon spider, but they are exactly the same family as the tarantulas you find elsewhere. This one was massive - about 15cm long! The photo was courtesy of my phone so that involved getting very close to it... I was glad it didn't move

Once the photos were done it suddenly shot off and boy can they move - which produced more shrieks. Thankfully it headed towards the rondavels rather than the campsite, but just the thought of the spider being around meant that I had both kids crawling up me at regular intervals during the rest of our walk

[Lisbeth]

The snout of the croc just out of the water looks scary

Lovely views on the Sabie

Yes Lis, the crocs were a bit scary looking - particularly when they were just a few feet away from you!! A few days later we saw someone out walking along the low level bridge... when we asked them what they were doing they said they thought you could walk on any of the bridges in Kruger

Did you tell them that they had not read the pamphlet properly?

[All-Nature]

Seeing photos of Tshokwane makes me very home sick!
Great Croc shots and loved the Crested Barbet too they are always so busy

Amazing red-billed quelea flocks It always amazes me to see them all taking off at once

Super of the Spider I would also have shriek

[Richprins]

Beautiful spider pic, Peej, and a difficult shot trying to get the queleas? Ja, it was amazing those millions!

The baboon spiders are endangered, so hope it got away!

Many many years ago we were camping as a family at Berg&Dal, in a midnight lighting storm! Just like in the horror movies one of these guys was lit up by lightning on the side of the tent!

But we assumed it was outside. Logic eventually led my dad to click that it would not be outside during the rain, so it was found inside eventually and dispatched...a bit of chaos, I must say!

[Lisbeth]

Are they venomous?

[PJL]

Seeing photos of Tshokwane makes me very home sick!
Great Croc shots and loved the Crested Barbet too they are always so busy

Amazing red-billed quelea flocks It always amazes me to see them all taking off at once

Super of the Spider I would also have shriek

Thanks AN
It was only the second crested barbet we've seen, so was stoked to get some pictures
That spider was something else But I think we were very lucky to see it

[PJL]

Beautiful spider pic, Peej, and a difficult shot trying to get the queleas? Ja, it was amazing those millions!

The baboon spiders are endangered, so hope it got away!

Many many years ago we were camping as a family at Berg&Dal, in a midnight lighting storm! Just like in the horror movies one of these guys was lit up by lightning on the side of the tent!

But we assumed it was outside. Logic eventually led my dad to click that it would not be outside during the rain, so it was found inside eventually and dispatched...a bit of chaos, I must say!

Trying to photograph those quelea was impossible But at least worth a try The noise was what amazed me most... you could hear the flocks flying past like they were powered by jet fuel

That baboon spider made a good escape and I'm sure it was fine. Brilliant horror movie story - how did you sleep afterwards

[PJL]

Are they venomous?

Yes they are, but not dangerously so. If you were bitten by one you'd feel it (perhaps like a bee sting) but more from the strength of its jaws than the venom. They aren't aggressive and will only attack if provoked... and like this one will generally just run away

[Richprins]

We slept ok, Peej, maybe my 3rd trip to Kruger as a child, we were still tough then!