Groundhog Day: Pretoriuskop Over and Over Winters 2018-23

[Richprins]

13°C max temp? Did you have to clear your car windows from frost in the morning then

Almost! Very heavy condensation!

[Pumbaa]

Love your hyenas, Richprins,

and the ground hornbills - For us it is always a highlight to spot them - Great Kudu shots as well

[Flutterby]

Nice sightings. Hyenas are always fun to watch.

[Richprins]

Eventually I managed to coax Momprins out of bed, and off we went on a longer daytrip!


The little bit of dirt road between Pk and the tar road to Skuks!

And a rather dry Shitlhave Dam...no cellphone signal!

A weird layer cake of colours!

On the H1-1 Momprins pointed out a kudu!

On closer inspection it appeared as if she was trying to lure it closer with a piece of naartjie...

[Richprins]

And then quite a rare opportunity a bit further on - a controlled burn in action!

(One can see some of the birds swooping around, nailing the insects that have to evacuate! )

It was EXTREMELY well-organised and supervised.


The burners walk a length of a few hundred metres setting the grass alight. In this case it was a stretch between the tar road and the firebreal that runs parallel 30m or so to the north (So forming a very broad firebreak, also to do with the fire-exempt fenced-off plant study plots in the area. )

In the background is the support vehicle with a water tank on the back. Very slick.

It is all about the wind, and we hardly felt or smelled anything!

Quite thrilling, I must say. Anyway, onwards to an equally-deserted Transport Dam. I was starting to get a bit peeved that no animals seemed to be thirsty in Kruger.

[Mel]

No feeding the animals

And I'm sure there is a bird somewhere around Transport Dam

[Lisbeth]

I wouldn't be too sure about the bird, it looks completely deserted

[Richprins]

Too cold for drinking!

[Flutterby]

Probably the wrong time of day at the waterhole.

[Pumbaa]

Although it is looking very dry there is gladly still water left in the dams