Browns in Kruger April 2014*

[Bushcraft]

29th Satara continued

First I thought it was elephant turd, but then as we got closer the one turd moved, however I didn’t want to make name just yet, so waited. Suddenly the second turd moved and the brain worked out what it was “Badgers!!”

The Cow hadn’t been paying attention, but now started the involuntary hand waving again, which always gets me excited “Stop making noises and waving, take pics!”

I stopped a fair distance from them as I have learnt that they duck in an instant.



Suddenly we realized that it was a mother and junior, which was a first for us, so the tension increased “It’s a mother and baby. Take video!”

I assumed that I had now thoroughly confused the Cow, so grabbed my camera and concentrated on getting pics.

The mother badger spotted us and started to cruise off, but then remembered that she had a junior and hit the brakes.



The junior wasn’t in the same rush so the mother rushed back and started to usher the junior towards the grass.



They both stopped for a second while the mother gave us the hairy eyeball and then in an instant she grabbed the junior around the neck and took off into the grass.



This sudden move from her had me flapping with the ignition, but eventually we got into position to spot her charging through the grass with junior in her mouth, however in seconds they disappeared from sight.

All the teeth were still hanging out when we arrived at Timbavati, but it was at the time of day when the skottel gang all arrive, so we used the loo and cruised down the S40 back towards camp stopping for buffalo, giraffe and a junior zebra along the way.







We stopped again at Nsemani, but had promised the rats that they could spend some time in camp today and swim, so we decided to duck.

The rats roared off to the pool, the Cow chose tonight for her supper night, which gives me a break from the braai, so she was busy in the kitchen and I was left in peace on the veranda to continue with the Oros flu medicine.

To be continued

[Bushcraft]

29th Satara continued

After 4 hours of Oros flu medication on the veranda I came to the conclusion that it definitely makes the teeth hang out, but produces an increase in the need to run to the loo, so I backed off to ensure an empty tank for the evening drive.

The Cow had finished supper which would get reheated later and the rats had recovered from car fever, so at around 3:30pm we decided to leave for an evening drive earlier than normal.

I was still suffering from the crowd phobia we had experienced further south, so the plan for the next few days was to find peace and one of the quietest roads in the Satara area is the S39 from the H7 to Timbavati as its 30 odd km of dirt and many find that a little long.

The H7 produced the usual suspects, but added a weird hairy worm to the list.



First up on the S39 was an impala family and we found it rather strange to find such a young junior at this time of the year.



The next 15km produced a wide variety of general game, including more giraffe than we had seen so far, therefore the rats were highly attentive because there was something new around every corner.

The next sighting we stopped to take pics of was a Marshall with a legavaan kill in a tree right next to the road, however we noticed what looked like a strange growth on its chest which caused some concern.





The Marshall then did a strange thing and started giving us the hairy eyeball which had us all rolling with laughter.



Time was ticking, so we had to leave the faulty Marshall and continue on.

About 3km before Timbavati picnic site Bushpig started fidgeting in the back and then casually said “lion”, which at first didn’t sink home with me “What did you say?”

She then casually continued “There’s lion back there”, which resulted in immediate brakes and frantic reversing “Where!!”

“Lying right there”

It was on my side of the car and I had missed them, so the Cow was checking me out with a skew face.



There were 2 lionesses just relaxing next to the road and we were the only car, so my teeth were hanging out.

The one lioness started roaring and then it turned into calling which got me excited because this may mean cubs in the area.



A few seconds later the 2nd one joined in and then there was total silence between the roaring, so it was awesome being the only car around to experience this.

Time was becoming an issue, but I was going to push the envelope a little as I definitely thought that there were cub in the area.

Suddenly both lionesses jumped up, which got us all squinting through the grass for cubs, however all we spotted was an impala a few meters from the lions, so this created more excitement “They are going to hunt!”, but a few seconds later the darn impala spotted them and took off.



The lions relaxed again and continued with their calling, but the Garmin was moaning, so reluctantly we had to leave. We had spent 25 minutes with the lion and never saw another car.

I now realized that my tank wasn’t totally empty from the lunchtime Oros medication, so Timbavati picnic site would be required, but time was now an issue, therefore the Cow started “Hold it!!”

“I can’t!”

There was nobody at Timbavati when we arrived, so I hit the ground running and we were soon on our way down the S40 towards the H7.

As we passed Girivana Dam we hit a pile of traffic, but couldn’t figure out what was up ahead; however a few seconds later the procession started moving again, so confused we continued on behind them.

Suddenly ellies burst from the bush in front of us thereby cutting us off from the procession.

The Cow got a big skrik “TURN AROUND!!”

“I can’t, we need to get to camp!”

“I don’t care!! Go around!!”

“What? Down the S12”

“YES!”

“We will never make camp by 6pm then!!”

“I don’t care!!”

I was now unsure, so decided to just sit a minute and see what happened, but this started the begging “Please!!”

Fortunately the ellies checked us out a little and continued on, so we continued slowly past them.

I haven’t posted any rhino pics yet, I think....but these guys kept us busy for awhile at some stage on this drive. They refused to leave the road or look at us and this bum view had the rats howling with laughter at them.



We would normally stop at Nsemani Dam again, but there were queues of cars coming our direction from the dam, so we just continued down the H7 to camp.

A few km from camp I spotted a familiar large vehicle in front of us, it was Scipio, so we had a mini meet in the car park, but he had guests and I had promised to take the rats on a patrol around camp as supper was already cooked, so after half an hour we went our separate ways.

Our faulty neighbours, who occupied a few family units to our left, had decided that the adults would braai at one of the other units and that the out of control teenagers and rats could braai and carry on at the unit next to us, so I instantly developed a major spoonbill; therefore thought it would be safer to take my clan on the promised tour.

After supper the rats crashed; the Cow went to read her book in bed and I sat glaring at our neighbours in the dark from the veranda.

Half an hour later the young teenage boys had a scrap with one of the brat pre teen girls, who then decided to storm off towards our unit and then had a massive tantrum directly in front of our veranda, so without thinking I completely lost it “Foot-sack!! There are people trying to sleep here!! Go and have your drama at your own unit!!”

I then realized that a large portion of the camp would have heard me, so expected some brat defending father to come stomping across to our unit; however a mother arrived, so I thought “Here comes a bigger drama, followed eventually by a Cow defending husband”.

The mother was a loud as the kids “What’s going on!!” and then the one boy got grabbed by the ear, which nearly caused me to burst out laughing.

“Leave your sister alone!!”, which I’m sure most of the camp heard and then she walked off leaving me thinking “Is that it????”

Fortunately my outburst had given all the kids a bigger fright then the incompetent mother, so they moved off quietly to the adults unit and peace returned.

My conclusion is that kids in Kruger aren’t the problem, the parents and the example they set is the issue.

Whahaha. Thank goodness for the Cow

To be continued

[Toko]

Awesame Martial Eagle

This one has its crop full. Most raptors, including eagles, have a crop which is an out pouching of the esophagus, where they can store food when the stomach is full, or hold back indigestible stuff, such as feathers, fur, scales. This is than mixed with mucus and regurgitated.

The hairy thing is Monkey moth caterpillar of the family Eupterotidae

[Bushcraft]

30th Satara

The rats were hassling to find the badger again and expected them to be sitting on the S127 waiting for them, so I gave up on the logical explanation and agreed to head up that direction again. At least it wasn’t hyena, as the den on the H6 caused many nagging sessions last year.

We chose to duck up the S40, stop at Timbavati, go across the S127 to the H1-4 and back to camp, so a relatively short drive.

The S40 produced some locals and a favourite for the Cow, a Burchell’s, then some giraffe, a Marshall and green pigeons, but nothing to get my adrenalin going.









At the picnic site we decided to drive 3km of the S39 to see if the lion from yesterday were still around, but they weren’t; however Hawkeyes found an Eagle Owl along the way which she was very proud of spotting.

Each time the owl fluffed its feathers the rats packed up as it made the owl look like a fat chops.





The badger obviously weren’t having a tea party on the S127, but it did produce a gymnogene and then just down the H1-4 another showed up. Gymnogene were wild in Kruger this trip and maybe someone on the forum could explain why.





The rest of the drive back to camp produced ostrich, the normal Kori gang who hang out in this area and a few chameleons.









I had a small pelican when we arrived at camp as it hadn’t been a very exciting morning drive and it was still fairly early; however it meant breakfast at a reasonable hour for a change.

To be continued

[Dewi]

Phew.....just caught up here.

It always seems to be raining cats and dogs on any Clan TT.

Some great raptor sightings. Ans a Blind Snake to boot.

My guess on the Gymnogene sightings is maybe a post breeding movement into an area to exploit a food source? Just a guess. Great that you saw so many.

[Bushcraft]

30th Satara continued

After breakfast Bushpig and Albert went on patrol for squirrel, but found a tortoise instead, so came roaring back to our unit to get backup, but I was too comfortable with my Oros, therefore the Cow was on duty and did a serious leopard crawl to get close ups.





The leopard crawl came to an abrupt end though and shrieking started, but it only mildly got my attention.

Suddenly Albert was charging around with her nose blocked so I decided that things were getting interesting, but the legs wouldn’t move, so the mouth seemed the best option “What’s happening!”

“The tortoise dropped one!”



After around 2 hours of Oros I was bored, so started hassling for something to do; however the Cow wasn’t interested in my hanging teeth and preferred her book, so I decided to irritate the rats, but soon became irritated myself; therefore went back for an attack on the Cow.

“I’m bored, let’s move”

“What! Where do you want to go now?”

“For a drive down to one of my favourite roads; the S33”

“Ok, but then this is our evening drive”

My teeth returned and the rats got ushered towards the car.

The H1-3 produced a few locals on the way down including ellies, but we didn’t take pics as most were far off.

I had an agenda behind the S33 as it has produced leopard for us at odd times in the day and I was desperate to find another; however around 4km from the turnoff we hit a massive traffic jam.

Lions had decided to appear in pockets all over the place, which seemed to get many highly excited









The road was choked with cars, so we changed plans and decided to drive back up to the S125 rather than trying to find a way through the chaos.

We stopped at Kumana Dam on the way to get a few pics of the locals.





The S125 was rather quiet, but there didn’t seem to be any other people on the road, so it was still fairly enjoyable and we just chugged along.

Around 3km before the S36 we found the first car and they were travelling even slower than us, which was fortunate, because they suddenly stopped and it was clearly obvious why.



The other vehicle had a junior in the back seat who seemed to suddenly get excited about something moving behind us, however his parents weren’t paying much attention, so I decided to check the bush out where he was pointing and something moved; therefore I quickly started the car.

“Why have you started the car! What are you doing now?”

“Relax!”

I reversed about 15m and found the second male close to the road, but in thick bush.



A further look around produced a female relaxing in the sun.



The other car then decided to drive off, so I couldn’t help but wonder about the chaos on the H1-3 for lions in the riverbed and here we were alone with them.

After around 10 minutes I started to get bored again as the lion were just parking off, but the Cow wanted to wait for another car to arrive so that we could at least help them with a sighting.

Another 10 minutes passed and still no cars, so I was starting to develop a long lip, but just before I could chirp again, the one lioness got up and cruised over to the 2nd male, which caused a small greeting and more lion to move behind him.



They then decided to lie flat in the long grass, so I managed to con the Cow to move on.

We never spotted another car all the way to Nhlanguleni picnic site which was cool, but there wasn’t much happening in the way of sightings either.

We were also the only people at Nhlanguleni and the attendant seemed rather confused to see us, so I quickly checked the time to make sure that we weren’t making a big stuff up, but we still had plenty time so decided to wobble around for a couple of minutes and watch the zebra drinking in front of the site.

The rats needed the loo, but only Bushpig went, which is normally the case as she loves the adventure of a long drop; however after a few threats the others followed and we were soon back on the road.

Lugmag Dam isn’t a dam any more, although there was still a little amount of water near the dam wall and plenty buff, zebra, impala, ground horn bills, etc cruising around, so we spent a few minutes there just enjoying the surroundings.

Half an hour later we turned onto the S33 with interest as we hadn’t driven this road since it reopened.

To be continued

[Bushcraft]

30th Satara continued

The S33 initially seemed exactly the same, so my vision of adventure and driving into the unknown disappeared quickly.

About 2km in we spotted our 2nd car since leaving the H1-3 more than an hour ago and it was a massive VX Land Cruiser which was stopped , so we slowly approached.

A few seconds later we noticed that they were looking at vervets in the tree tops, however the one vervet was giving the odd warning shout, so I was immediately interested, but we couldn’t see anything of interest, so I started the car and pulled up next to them.

“Any luck today?”

It was instantly apparent that the VX occupants were the antisocial type and I was ignored, so immediately I wanted to show them a toffee and drive off, but the vervet was still shouting, so I put on my best cheesy.

“Have you seen something?”

“Monkeys”

This was like pulling teeth and I was about to give up when suddenly the lemon face spoke again ...

“Your back tyre is flat”

It was short and sweet, but it still took time to sink in.

“#$^% , Cow our tyre is flat”

I was no longer interested in the shouting vervet as I had some concerns about our spare wheel also. I then remember that I had a small compressor under the back seat, but clearly remember the sales dude saying “Don’t buy the cheap one as it won’t handle your tyres” .

“#@%, I purchased the cheap one”

The Cow wasn’t paying much attention to our situation which was getting me wilder “Hello, what’s the plan!!”, but the Cow still didn’t respond and was just gazing into the bush.

Suddenly the Cow shrieked “LEOPARD!!” and started the hands in the air dance again.

This gave me such up fright that I jumped in the seat and bounced my head off the car roof.

“Where!!”

The Cow was still overexcited and jabbering amongst the hand waving “There!! You see that bush over there” and I interrupted

“There’s bush everywhere, land marks, 1 ‘o clock, 2 ‘o clock, specifics!! Take pics and stop waving!!”

“HEY, watch how you speak to me!!” Now the Cow had forgotten about the leopard and wanted to scrap with me.

The leopard had been lying flat under a bush, but now got up, so we all spotted it, but it seemed to be in hunt mode, so chaos exploded in our car and cameras where flying in all directions.

The VX occupants were now all looking at us with eyes like saucers, so I howled at them “There’s a leopard over there!” and drove forward.



The leopard froze for a second while checking something out in the bush and then started off with speed, which caused chaos to erupt in our car again.



Suddenly a mother wartie came into the picture and she was on the leopard’s tail, so I was roaring forward to keep up and squealing instructions at the rats to take pics.

Unfortunately we only got one pic which isn’t totally blurred where you can see the wartie and a section of the leopard.



The chase continued into the bush and every 10 meters or so we got a glimpse of the leopard, however it was all too fast for pics and soon they were out of sight.

Suddenly the Cow shrieked “Watch out behind you!”

The VX clan were roaring along in reverse behind us, but the aunty driver had very little idea on how to reverse so was flying all over the road, therefore I quickly made some adjustments to allow them plenty room.

They pulled up next to us “Was that a cheetah?”

I thought “Eish, you really are clueless”, but said “No, a leopard”.

I then remembered the flat tyre and asked “Do you mind hanging around while I get out and.......”, but they drove off.

We were now completely alone, so the rats and Cow were put on sentry duty, because I had visions of the leopard bursting through the bush and I got out to check the tyre.

I wasn’t sure of the damage, so decided to try my cheap skate compressor, therefore another mission started as we tried to get it out from under the back seat without the rats getting out the car, we were soon in business and I got back in the car.

The darn compressor took strain, but eventually pumped the tyre up, however when I disconnected it I could hear air coming out of the tyre, so said “Time to move, we need to reach the H1-3 before things get worse”.

The rest of the S33 produced a few more locals, but we didn’t stop for anything until the tar when another tyre check was in order and fortunately the tyre still had enough pressure in it to drive.

A few km later we hit the H1-3 lion from earlier and things were more peaceful with only 2 cars still hanging around.

The large male and a junior had also arrived though, but we only stopped for around a minute.





100m further up the road we found another 2 cars and teenage male relaxing right next to the road, so stopped again for another minute.





A few km on a large ellie was approaching the road and we would normally have stopped to watch him cross, but just snapped a pic and continued on.



I was watching the Garmin and counting down the km to camp, but with around 12km still to go the tyre was completely flat, so the compressor mission started again.



We eventually reached camp just after 5pm and I went straight to the garage to beg for assistance, but they lacked urgency and will, so sent me to the car wash section and a cool chap there helped me remove the wheel, however when he spotted the hole said “NO”.

I scratched my pip as I wasn’t sure what he was on about. “Hole too big?” and he nodded.

My spare rim was suspect, so I said “Let’s try and fix”, so a do it yourself puncture repair kit got produced and soon air was getting put back in the tyre.

The cool chap now had a grin and said “Sharp”, so he scored a bonus and we were off to our unit, but I wasn’t sure how long the repair would last.

It was now around 5:30pm, so the fire got started earlier than normal and our neighbours brats had finally learnt to stay away from the grumpy old man next door, therefore it ended up a peaceful evening.

To be continued

[Bushcraft]

1st Satara to Lower Sabie

Sorry Lisbeth for this episode as it’s just lion, but it's all we found

When the alarm went off I immediately went to check the tyre and it was still ok, so there were no major dramas to start the day with the exception of the fact that we were moving to a hut at Lower Sabie, which creates a double drama, mainly because public ablutions were on the cards for the next 2 days and we always have a drama when packing due to the co-ordination of the rats, however we arrived at the Satara gate just as it opened.

It was a very misty morning and in patches it was difficult to see the road, therefore it was difficult to see which direction the gang was going, but after a small negotiation we decided to check out Nsemani Dam one last time before turning back and heading down the H1-3. I had also received a message from my work mate that they were heading up to Tshokwane for breakfast, so the plan was in place for the day.

We were in the first batch of cars and just before the dam a hefty lioness appeared out of the mist.



She crossed the road in front of us and ducked down the little no entry road before the dam.



50m further up the road a male appeared heading the opposite direction, but a small drama was starting in our car as it was a mission to take pics in the mist.



Then a lioness suddenly popped out of the grass in front of us and juniors started appearing all over the place.







The crowd behind and next to us was starting to grow and there’s always some ass who loses his marbles and today was no exception, so we just stopped and waited to see who the first clown would be.

“What’s up with this toss?”

“I don’t know but he’s going to scare the cubs”

Before we could continue with our skinner, the idiot in the pic below pushed past us and through the lions, which sent the cubs running all directions.



I was about to comment when the Cow suddenly lost it “You @#%$#^. What are you doing?”

I wasn’t amused at the toss, but I was highly amused at the Cow waving her hands and having a tantrum with someone else, so while grinning said “Relax”

“No I won’t! He has stuffed it up for everyone”

I agreed with her, but there was no point in making a scene, because Kruger has an unlimited supply of idiots, especially in holiday season, so I left the car off and let the gang all push past us.

After a few minutes we were alone again and around 30m behind the rugby scrum, so when the rats suddenly howled “LION! He’s coming at us!”, the Cow and I got a big skrik.

A male which we hadn’t seen was cruising towards us.



Then a few lionesses also appeared and the one tried to climb a bush, but got bitten by another on the bum, which caused the rats to howl with laughter.



More and more lions started popping out the bush from all over, but the cars from Satara kept coming, so we were getting crowded again; therefore we took one last pic and reversed out of the chaos as soon as a gap opened up.



I switched off again about 30m from the S40 turnoff and we waited patiently to see if there were further developments.

A few minutes later I heard something, so quickly got the rats to shut it.

“There, do you hear that? There’s a lion roaring up the road”, but blank faces.

The Cow always says that I have satellite dishes for ears, so I decided to follow my radar and turned up the S40.

Around a 1km up the road the Cow squawked “There! Lion!”



This was a big boy and he was heading diagonally towards us, so we slowly followed along.

He stopped a few times to mark territory, etc, but he seemed on a mission of some sort.



We followed along for about another 300m and discovered the objective of his mission. He had an aunty stashed behind a bush.



We sat around for a few minutes and more cars started to arrive, so we decided “enough lion” and turned to head back down to the H7.

To be continued

[Flutterby]

So, your trip down the S33 was just another normal day in the Brown clan...lots of shrieking, hanging teeth and pelicans!! Glad the tyre issue was sorted out.

Great lion sightings on the H7...you were so lucky!!

[Bushcraft]

Things are quiet at work today and I start a new large project next week, so I’m going to hurry things up a little.

1st Satara to Lower Sabie continued

The gang on the H7 had dissipated and only a few cars were still hanging around, therefore we decided to check the dam out quickly, but there wasn’t much happening, so we turned at the end of the dam wall and started back towards the H1-3, however there was movement in the bush behind the dam wall and a junior and mom made a brief appearance, so we stopped for a few quick pics.



Halfway back to the H1-3 we found 2 buffalo having a scrap, which got Bushpig jabbering about who was going to win, however they suddenly stopped and walked off in different directions, so it was a major anti climax for her.



All needed the loo, so we ducked back to Satara.

The Cow went on a mission to Mugg and Bean for coffee, but they had no milk. Then the mission started to choose a muffin which is never an easy job with rats.

By the time they had finalized their choice my patience was near its end, so I stomped off to wait in the car.

The clan eventually arrived and all had pelican’s as the rocket scientist behind the counter had stuffed up a previous order, so had to supply their chosen muffins to another patron and were now out of muffins.

“I’m never going there again” “They need to train the staff”

It was all too much for me and I have learnt to expect incompetence, so I just listened and continued down the road.

We stopped at Kumana Dam to enjoy the misty atmosphere and nearly had a drama with a determined ellie who was coming down the road.





The rest of the drive to Tshokwane produced the usual crowd, including the remains of a buffalo kill next to the road a few km from the turn off, which got the rats highly excited.

There were a few vultures hanging around, but the pong was incredible, so we continued on.



We bumped into my mate and clan just outside Tshokwane as they had been told about the buff kill, but I informed them that it wasn’t anything to get excited about, so they turned and followed us into Tshokwane.

The mate wasn’t sure if we should skottel or order chow due to the war stories about food poisoning, but we eventually agreed to order chow as it was already after 10am.

I warned them about the fact its hit and miss when ordering food in Kruger, so hopefully they didn’t expect too much. Hawkeyes after her food poisoning and STF’s story about birds dropping their load into chow won’t order anything accept chips and even those get a careful inspection.

The Cow went on a mission after a mongoose and eventually got the shot, while my mate and I caught up on his trip.



After half an hour all got bored with their little missions and returned to sit at the table under the boma.

Suddenly the Cow shouted “Snake!”, which got my mates wife rather flustered.

A harmless variegated bush snake was cruising around next to our table and I couldn’t help but laugh at some of the comments and conversions that followed from the crowd which gathered. The snake turned into a boomslang and then a green mamba.



An hour had now passed and still no chow, so the Cow was starting to get wild again; however it finally arrived 10 minutes later.

It was now around 11:30am and I just wanted to get to Lower Sabie, so our next stop for pics was on the H12 Bridge.



The traffic filled H4-1 in the middle of the day isn’t my cup of tea, so the blinkers went on and we only stopped once more for a pic of a faulty buff hanging around in the river.



There are 4 EH5 huts in Lower Sabie and we had requested a 1st and 2nd choice and had received an email confirming our first choice, but once again they stuffed it up and we got the only hut I would never request, so immediately I had a pelican.

When we arrived at our unit we discovered construction happening in front and behind us, but there was no notice of this on our reservation which there’s meant to be, so the pelican got bigger.

They are building a boma in front of the EH5/EH3 dormitory type accommodation which will be a cool addition once done, but not while it’s getting built.

We cruised into our unit only to discover that the unit hadn’t been cleaned yet and it was 2pm, so now I was getting very wild.

The Cow rallied around the cleaning staff and tried to keep me peaceful which at this stage wasn’t easy, so I went immediately to the cooler box for a beer and pulled up a chair to “enjoy” my construction view.

We eventually got into our unit just before 3pm, but my pelican had passed the point of no return and I just didn’t want to be at Lower Sabie, so the only option was to drown my sorrows.

At around 5pm Hawkeyes started hassling about our tradition of never missing an evening drive, so I reluctantly agreed and we cruised to Sunset Dam for half an hour to check out the locals.

The evening braai went better than expected and we all ended up sitting outside looking for shooting stars and Bushpig spotted her first one, so was stoked.

To be continued