And then the Fish Eagle started to call.....*

[Pumbaa]

It was indeed a large pack, however, most of the pack was very well hidden under close by bushes and even farer away under more bushes



but as there were a lot of cars around (all very well behaved by the way!) and a couple of more arrived and some who stay already longer departed a couple of doggies simply checked what was going around them and stood from time to time up only



to join the other members of their pack after they found out everything was alright. Sometimes you simply have to enjoy the moment as this doggie does with day dreaming and scratching and so we did as well not the scratching for sure but to enjoy the presence of the doggies.





A large troop of baboons arrived I could imagine very well that this was the troop we already saw at the waterhole drinking and both species were eying each other extreme suspiciously and on top the baboons had chosen a tree to rest in nearly behind the resting doggies as even they wanted to provoke the doggies as well with their noisy barking.



A couple of doggies stood up and stayed very alert



but at least nothing serious happened - the dogs simply wanted to rest and the baboons wanted to irritate someone





and some dogs got in fact irritated as this typical dog pose is showing.



Somehow after a while the baboon troop pushed along and most of the dogs went back into the sleeping modus although some of them

[Pumbaa]

found it obviously funny to check out all the cars which arrived at the sighting



but car watching got boring after a while and the dogs decided to join their pack members and rest again together with them



whereas other dogs which stayed invisible for us appeared and checked the situation as well out.



We were fascinated and hooked and did even not know where to look first and which dog to photograph first as it was simply one of those sightings





and in between we packed out some snacks as it was also lunch time and with a bit to chew on the sighting got even better



although the dogs in fact prefer to take a little nap



and it looked as if they were lying stacked on each other according to the many ears we could see behind the bush



but there always appeared one dog checking out the surroundings and offered us the opportunity for some nice close ups







to be continued......

[Pumbaa]

and made it indeed nearly impossible for me later to chose some favourites as all the shots were so stunning and we could not drag ourselves away as the fingers was meanwhile pressing the button automatically.



This one even had a fly on its nose - After we stayed meanwhile for over an hour and we still had a long way to go we simply had to say good-bye to the painted beauties although we could have stayed for the rest of the day



as it still looked as if the doggies would stay a bit longer under the bushes but we got our shots and were in fact happy to found wild dogs again but you can be rest assured that these were not the last doggies we saw during this trip but that we did not know at this time.



The rest of the S21 remained quiet besides a burnt smell which we realized more and more and we also had to drive through thick smoke which was a bit scary and then we even realized what had caused all this it was a small fire.



We do always pay a short visit at Renosterkoppies when driving that road but today is was nothing to be seen and also the cars got less and so we had the feeling as if we were travelling all alone in the park. We again decided to drive via the Biyamiti loop and there we met a group of female kudus out of which one already crossed the street



and the others wanted to follow the leader but our presence made the rest of the ladies a bit nervous so they only dared to watch us from behind bushes.



The one who already crossed the street was not that afraid at all by our presence and decided to go back to the rest of her herd members.



A cute steenbokkie also came across and even stuck his tongue out at us



a lone white storks was foraging in a mud hole



and one of the many buffaloes had declared this water hole as his private spa and was in day dreaming modus



and on one of the koppies a baboon was on the look out.

[Pumbaa]

Finally we found ourselves again in front of the Biyamiti weir and needless to say that we stayed there once again a bit longer as also when we arrived there a large herd of elephants arrived as well



and started to quench their thirst which in fact can take a long time as there were many trunks around which needed to be filled.



Somehow even more elephants arrived



and they started to reunited again and climb that hill which we also had to climb as well



and so we hurried a bit to be first and not that they were blocking the road and did not let us pass as they also had a lot of small ones between them. We gladly made it before they started to cross the street and we also turned now into the S139 our final road for that day.

Now we had time until gate closing time to travel along the S139 but in fact the sightings were very sparse so we could travel relatively fast and also on that road we noticed again some road works on some low water bridges which were not passable but an adequate detour had been erected. Between the view point and get out view point we saw a verreaux giant eagle owl which was extreme sleepy



and did not react to the calls of another one who must have been somewhere close by. At least it was amazing to find again some owls as I am such an owl fan and this was not the last time we saw them.

Although this road is a private one it felt as if all the cars staying in Biyamiti planned to do their afternoon drive at the same time as there was so much traffic as we never experienced before on that road.

A ritual of us is always to visit the get out point close to camp prior entering the camp for the first time and simply stand there or sit on the bench, look around and hanging around in memories and so we did today at least here it was quiet with no other cars around and after spending enough time there it was time for us to check in and spend the rest of the afternoon and evening on our verandah as we in fact had enough from driving.

As requested we got again cottage No. 8 and after everything has been packed away we strolled over to the hide and simply enjoyed the view into the river bed. A woodland kingfisher could be captured



although we heard a lot of them in camp. Some Egyptian goose could be seen in some remaining puddles and even more woodies showed up as well.



Even a hippo had started already with its dinner



and whilst I relaxed in the chairs on our verandah watching the braai going Timon had a great time in trying to capture at least one of the three pied kingfishers who tried to hunt in the middle of the riverbed.



The sun was already about to set and the light in the riverbed was already fading, however, it was fantastic to only hear the splashing water the minute the kingfisher dived into the puddle.



We were about to start to braai when even a beautiful waterbuck appeared and let allow us to admire his majestic beauty. I cannot explain but those male waterbucks are incredible beautiful.



to be continued.....

[Flutterby]

Lovely pics of the dogs! The rest of your photos are also pretty good!

[Pumbaa]

Not seeing the water, it looks as if the kingfishers are kamikazes

The waterbucks are among my favourite antelopes

Lovely thirsty elephants

The puddle in which they regularly dived must have been deep and same was very well hidden behind reeds

wow these Dogs
Verreaux's Eagle Owl, Woodland

but scary about the fire

We reported the fire when we arrived at Biyamiti and they promised to take care of it

[Pumbaa]

Nice pictures of the kingfishers

Gladly that there are so many different kingfishers in Kruger

very relaxed ellies

lovely pics of the kingfisher

We had indeed luck with the grey giants they were all in a good mood

[Pumbaa]

Superb, Pumbaa!

Love the ancient buffalo!

Wonder of one of those doggies has been "tagged" by having a piece of ear cut off?

I guess the dog must have been in a fight with another one and there he lost piece of his ear

Love the kingfishers and the elephants. Lovely photos all around, Pumbaa

Toko - Always a pleasure

[Pumbaa]

Fabulous doggie piccies and I love the kingfishers. Great to see a Verreaux's Eagle-owl

We met the owl once again the next evening

Great action shot of the diving kingfisher And I totally like the second woody shot.
It looks really nosy, but very cute at the same time.

It looked extreme naughty and it was pity that the light was already so low when Timon photographed the pieds

[Pumbaa]

That was a brilliant dog sighting

You have a talent with the camera

The compliments goes to Timon as he did most of the animal photography - Some doggie shots are from me as well

Lovely pics of the dogs! The rest of your photos are also pretty good!

Always great to find so relaxed wild dogs Flutterby