A Fantarantulatastic Trip To Kruger - April 2017

[PJL]

Thanks Lisbeth, stefan9, nan, Mel, harrys, Bushcraft, Alf, Richprins, Pumbaa, Flutterby & All-Nature for your comments and following along

Bushcraft wants some long-weekend reading so let's continue
Although the spots excitement is over for a while now I'm afraid

[PJL]

April 2nd Continued

We had never been up quite as far as Olifants before, so it was perhaps fitting that a herd should turn up along the way
Initially the long grass was hiding them well



But as more elephant came along, some became more visible



Itchy ear...





As luck would have it at the Olifants bridge we stopped right above a crocodile





It was great to see the river flowing so nicely and the view from the bridge is great





The only other sign of life from the bridge was this waterbuck with its little one sitting close by



We had a very enjoyable break at Olifants. There has been all the talk of issues with the restaurant there and at Satara but we were quite happy with our mugs of strong coffee whilst enjoying the view

[nan]

love the Olifants view and the family

nice Ellie's sighting
and the Croc

[Bushcraft]

The ellie with the itchy ear looks strange

Love the view from the bridge

You guys got a good spot at the Olifants restaurant I haven't been up that side for a few years now

[Lisbeth]

To see the croc from above is strange. I never noticed that the nose is so pointed.

The olifant river is spectacular

[Flutterby]

Love Olifants, probably my favourite camp in Kruger!

[Alf]

Nice breakfast with the best view of Kruger

[Richprins]

Nice experience, hey Peej?

Ja, best view in the Park!

Only coffee? No tea?

[Pumbaa]

That view in Olifants is always breathtaking, PJL,

and then love your ellies and the view from the bridge

[PJL]

Thanks everyone for your comments

Only coffee? No tea?

I'm not sure that they serve 'tea' at that time in the morning
But even if they did... coffee was what we really needed

April 2nd Continued

For a bit of variety we decided to drive back via some of the dirt roads (S92/S90/S89) and pop back out onto the tar near where we had seen the cheetah in the hope they might still be around. Driving along next to the Olifants river we came across the first of a number of steenbok which popped out during the morning.



At the low level bridge over the Olifants there were a few birds hanging around including a pied kingfisher, 3-banded plover and what I think is some kind of sandpiper - maybe someone can help identify?







The Ngotso wier road was pretty quiet with a few giraffe in the distance and the odd impala herd plus another steenbok





Unfortunately the cheetah had moved off from where we had seen them earlier. They were replaced by a couple of european bee-eaters



We probably should have headed back to camp at this stage, but after the start of the morning I think we got a bit carried away and ended up heading across to Timbavati and down the S40 towards Nsemani and back to Satara along the H7 which made it a really long drive in total. Along the S40 we had yet another steenbok then plenty of elephant herds with some nice and close to the road





These two youngsters were having fun making trunk calls



At Girivana the sun-tan lotion was being applied



Whilst at Nsemani there was a pool party under way



Eventually all the activity took its toll and a lie down was required



Which was seen by his friend as a brilliant opportunity to spring a surprise attack



It was getting into the midday heat by this stage so most animals were seeking shade, and our last sighting was a bateleur gliding past



However at the bridge just south of Satara there was a bit of mayhem as apparently a leopard was on the hunt and had then decided to lie down. Confusion reigned as to exactly where it was resting so we decided to skip the crowd and head for lunch... after all we had seen plenty of cats that morning