Africa Wild

Amazing luck again, Bushy!

3 wild dog sightings in one day!

You write very well, quite nailbiting at times.

Albert is a stunning photographer IMO.

Ja, the Golf Club is not like it was when it was still a secret...

Lisbeth wrote: ↑Thu Jun 27, 2024 3:35 pm Cheetah, leopard, lions and wild dogs twice You were spoilt with sightings......as usual

Why don't you take along homemade sandwiches and drinks in a cooler box from time to time? Of course it is nice to get out of the car and getting served, but if you have to wait for hours...

Yes, we were lucky at times with sightings

We sometimes cook extra small sections of steak during the evening braai and we make steak sandwiches the next day. Food is more about fuel to me than the enjoyment of eating, I just want to get it down the hatch fast

Richprins wrote: ↑Thu Jun 27, 2024 6:17 pm Amazing luck again, Bushy!

3 wild dog sightings in one day!

You write very well, quite nailbiting at times.

Albert is a stunning photographer IMO.

Ja, the Golf Club is not like it was when it was still a secret...

Ja, lucky at times this particular day , especially with the dogs Our record is 4 packs in a day, so I was hoping for another luck just outside Skukuza on our drive back to camp, but it never happened

Nail biting

Albert is certainly better than the rest of the family with a camera

Ja, the good old days at the golf club when many didn't know about it

4th October Skukuza

We woke to a sunny but cold morning and the plan today was to head down the H4-1 to Nkuhlu and back up the H12/H1-2 to Tshokwane for a pitstop and then return to camp via the H1-2 for brunch at our unit.

The H4-1 was fairly quiet until about 1km from Nkuhlu when the Cow suddenly grabbed the dashboard and indicated to stop.

A leopard was catching the early morning sun while relaxing on a rock in the riverbed.


There were a few blades of grass blocking a clear view of the leopard which was frustrating, so I wanted to move around and try to find a clear view, but 2 x OSV’s stopped behind us a few seconds later and to my horror we were jammed listening to boisterous guests.

About 10 minutes later the leopard started yawning so we knew it was going to move and seconds later the leopard got up, moved off the rock, and disappeared into the dense bush in the riverbed.


We stopped for a loo break at Nkuhlu and I tried to poach some information from those arriving from Lower Sabie, but it seemed like it was fairly quiet further south, so we continued with our plan to head back up the H4-1 towards Tshokwane.

This route produced the normal locals, including some boons just outside Nkuhlu and a grey heron catching frogs at Leeupan.

The sighting board at Tshokwane wasn’t showing much either, so we decided to rather head back down the H1-2 towards Skukuza for breakfast at our unit but as we went back past the H10/H1-2 intersection we decided to first stop at Orpen Dam and just before the S32 turnoff a little head popped up from a drain next to the road and seconds later more heads appeared, so I quickly pulled over and switched off.


The juniors were initially very nervous, but they seemed to get confidence from mom’s lack of reaction to us, so they slowly all came out the drain and some started suckling.

We sat with the hyena family for nearly an hour as the Cow and Albert were loving the juniors, but eventually we made our way to Orpen dam, which didn’t produce much, before continuing back to the H1-2 and down towards Skukuza.

It was rather quiet until Alpha loop just below Skukuza where we found a few cars parked and some lions in the riverbed. The lions were sleeping and a crowd had already developed, so we snapped some proof pics and headed for camp to cook chow.


The Cow got busy cooking the bacon and eggs for breakfast buns, while Albert and I relaxed under the Lapa.

I was amused to find that my mini screwdriver, that I had wedged in a hole in the Lapa pole a few years ago to hold our light at night, was still there. We’re staying in the same unit later this year and I hope it’s still there.



After a late breakfast, the Cow and I relaxed under the Lapa while Albert went to catch up on some matric studying.

I’m no bird expert, but the Cow was stalking birds around the Lapa during the early afternoon and I think that she got pics of a white-browed robin, a black collared barbet and blue waxbill, however please correct me if I have any of the IDs incorrect.

For the afternoon drive we decided to do some of the H11 & S1 since we hadn’t done much exploring on that side of the park yet and a few km onto the S1 we hit a major traffic jam and it was a leopard sleeping.

The leopard was only partially visible and the OSV crowd was out of control, so we took a proof pic, turned, and ducked back towards the H11 as it would have taken an hour to get through the crowd to continue on with the S1.


After a negotiation at the Skukuza 4-way stop, we decided to rather just continue on down to Nkuhlu and take a walkaround there since it would hopefully be quiet as the day visitor crowd should have moved off from that side of the park by now.

There wasn’t any fireworks on the way down to Nkuhlu, but we did stop for pics of a junior Bateleur that was right next to the road, and then some giraffe and ellies having a drink in the riverbed.

z


Nkuhlu was quiet as predicted, therefore we wobbled around for a leg stretch, but time was against us due to our stint on the S1, so we had to make tracks back towards Skukuza.

About 2km north of Nkuhlu the landscape opens up where one can see a section of the S30 across from the H4-1 and something caught my eye on our side of the riverbed, so I slowed to walking speed and then the penny dropped.

“LEOPARD!”

“Pass the camera, it’s moving………. QUICKLY it’s going to duck!”

“WHERE?”

“THERE, pass the camera!”

“#$^&*, it’s gone behind that massive bush”

The Cow and I now had another mini domestic, since by the time I got the camera from her, I couldn’t see the leopard anymore.

I looked at the Garmin and we still had a few minutes spare, so the forward/reverse mission started and just as I was about to give up Albert spotted a leopard.

“THERE, the leopard!”

“WHERE?”

“It’s moving………. it’s gone behind that bank”c

The leopard that Albert had seen for a few seconds was about 50m from the leopard that I had seen, so we were now confused at the leopard’s hiding location and how it had managed to get 50m further without us seeing it, therefore the forward/reverse mission continued, but it was getting tense as time was ticking on us.

On our final last slow forward mission, I spotted the leopard laying to the side of the original bush it had disappeared behind.

It was a mission to focus the camera in the fading light, but eventually I managed to snap a few quick frantic pics before leaving for Skukuza.


We didn’t have time to stop for pics of anything on the way back to camp, but the 2 lionesses from earlier in the day were still in the riverbed close to alpha loop and the normal Skukuza hyena gang were cruising around just outside camp, however I only relaxed again as we joined the queue of cars into camp with about 2 minutes to spare.

Albert and I started the fire while the Cow backed up our pics from the last few days and then called us to see something in the pics.

In my final pic of the leopard we had just seen, was the head of a 2nd smaller leopard in front of it, so Albert had seen a different leopard that was obviously moving towards the 1st leopard and we hadn’t joined the dots.


This is the 2nd time this has happened to us; the last time was just outside Lower Sabie on the H4-2 looking straight into the morning sun where we thought it was just 3 male lions and later when going through the pics a leopard was hiding out between the lions.


To be continued

Who would be surprised that the Browns had seen two leopards instead of only one and the other one from earlier on

Your tawny looks like a juvenile bateleur to me

The cow had caught some lovely birdies

Very strange that your screwdriver was still there but quite funny

It seems to me that during school holidays and weekends Kruger has become even worse than a few years back traffic-wise How is it possible to enjoy a sighting with lots of OSVs with loud-speaking passengers around

Lovely shot of the giraffes

At that age the hyenas are still cute

WoW Bushcraft,

as always impressive leopard sightings - Seems to me that you are always frantically on the lookout for them

But also lions, wild dogs and even a cheetah plus lots of different birdies

Definitely a very successful trip so far