In Search of Some Good "Spots"

[Richprins]

Good stuff, Rattle!

That road can be long and boring too!

Very nice bird shots, and difficult to get duiker to stand still!

[Flutterby]

Nice of the duiker to stand still for you, they don't often hang around!

We've never had much luck on this road...agree with RP, it can be long and boring!

[Lisbeth]

Never seen a duiker standing still

"Long and boring"

[Pumbaa]

Ratel,

love your zebra and barbet shots.

Sure that road can be boring but for us always a wonderful drive and especially when we do stay at Biyamiti the Bridge crossing the Biyamiti is always good for lions in the evening....or birds

[Ratel]

My goodness! I know the S25 is a long road, but I just noticed we have been on it for 1 month!! Time to get going to Berg en Dal...

Sunday 27th August continued...

Somewhere along the way we had randomly encountered these sleeping beauties. Rhino sightings had been few and far between in Kruger so far, so we were very pleased to see this trio. That said, there was not much happening so we didn't stick around for very long.

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I think this was the Biyamiti crossing? While we were stopped to soak up the stunning view Lyca's sharp eyes spotted a cagey Monitor amongst the rocks.

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A Golden-breasted Bunting gave us a reasonable photo opportunity.

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In the latter half of the S25 we stopped to chat to an oncoming car. They casually told us how they had just come from a Leopard sighting! Our heads almost exploded as they told us how it had been up in a tree right next to the road, but then had gotten down and walked out of sight. We moved on quickly, following their directions to a tree which you could quite literally park underneath, but alas no Leopard could be found. We used our binoculars to check the trees in the direction we had been told it departed but it appeared to be long gone. How frustrating that we had missed it by less than 10 minutes. It must have been an incredible sighting!

As time was flying past at an unnatural rate we abandoned plans to detour via the S119 and proceeded straight to the S114 and then H3 without any significant sightings. We were still holding on to a glimmer of hope that the Cheetahs might be visible, but not surprisingly they were nowhere to be seen. So with grumbling stomachs and aching rear ends we headed straight to Berg en Dal for lunch.

[Richprins]

Hello, Rattle!


Ja, I think that is the Mbyamiti crossing!

Nice rhino and almost leopard and almost cheetah!

[Lisbeth]

A rather empty drive The bunting is nice and seeing rhinos is always nice, even if behaving like lions

[Ratel]

Lunch at Berg en Dal was most appreciated, and after a number of days staying at Lower Sabie it was great to experience a much smaller rest camp. Down on the dry mud a couple of Bushbuck and a female Nyala grazed on the few fresh shoots,

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an Elephant herd approached down the valley,

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and a male Rainbow Skink basked on the perimeter wall.

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After we had polished off some food we went for a bit of a bird walk. First up was an Orange-breasted Bushshrike.

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A Brown-headed Parrot fed quietly just above our heads.

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One of the main reasons for us wanting to get to Berg en Dal was to search for Purple-crested Turaco. Lyca's keen eyes eventually located one, much to our delight! It was even more magnificent than we had imagined, though it was a shame the light was poor and the photos don't do it justice.

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As the day pressed on with no consideration for our desire to loiter, we soon had to hit the road and start making ground back towards Lower Sabie.

[Richprins]

Have the nyalas got that far to the southwest already? Rare, Rattle!

They are not really meant to be there...most originate from the Skukuza bunch that mostly came from private introductions in the Sabie-Sand, with later supplementation. Then they went south along the river and quite recently popped down to the Croc river, moving steadily westwards.

lovely pics all round!

[Lisbeth]

You were lucky to get a good pic of the Purple-crested Turaco