Browns in Kruger April 2014*

[Bushcraft]

2nd Lower Sabie

I woke this morning dreading the public ablutions as being in a confined place with strangers all farting isn’t my scene, but eventually I built up the courage and took the plunge.

I’m not sure what the deal is with male public ablutions, but for some reason many seem to think it’s a meeting spot and the EH5/EH3 clan were having a social while shaving and brushing teeth, which when mixed with the odd bass drum coming from the bogs sounded like a bad rap song.

“Morning”

“Oggend”, “Oggend”, “Oggend” and “Oggend”

There also seems to be the assumption that all are Afrikaans and the social gang started rapping to me at speed, which made me feel like “deer in the head lights”, so in panic I charged into the nearest bog.

While sitting there I had a look around and realized just how scaly these ablutions were with spider webs all over the place and they were generally just dirty. There must be the assumption that those who stay in the cheaper units have a lower expectation when it comes to what’s acceptable.

I then wondered if the Cow and rats were also all hiding in the bog and burst out laughing, which silenced the confused social gang for a few seconds, so I had to peer through a hole in the door to make sure that they hadn’t ducked and ended up getting a bigger fright as the one chap had decided to dry himself out in the open.

Suddenly I heard running footsteps and a door slammed next to me, then silence followed by an explosion and then toxic gas poured into my hiding spot, so an immediate evacuation was in order and I burst from the bog, silencing the confused social in the process and skidded into a shower cubicle.

I eventually made it back to our unit rather weathered and the show could get on the road.

The plan this morning was to head down to Croc Bridge and back again.

It was around 6:15am when we finally left camp, so the morning gate rush clan wasn’t an issue and we were alone on the road; however things were relatively quiet until about three quarters of the way to Croc Bridge where I spotted a head pop out the bush ahead of us.

“What’s that?”

Then it ran across the road “Leopard!!”

The cameras and instructions went flying around again.

The leopard was on a mission for something which we couldn’t see and by the way she was walking it looked as if she was hunting, so the tension increased.

“Video, take pics, wake up, shut it”



Suddenly whatever the leopard was interested in took off and she just watched it disappear.



A few seconds later the first car arrived from the Croc Bridge direction and it was hilarious watching the occupants as the blank faces turned to surprise and the one aunty started doing a dance in the seat. The leopard also seemed to enjoy the dance and checked them out for a few seconds.



The leopard then sniffed around for another 1 minute before ducking into the bush.

The other vehicle then pulled up next to us and thanked us profusely for the leopard, which confused me as it had nothing to do with us that the leopard was there at that exact time. They then warned us about chaos in the Croc Bridge area and we informed them that they were the first car we had seen from that direction.

As we continued on I heard snivelling coming from the back. It was Bushpig

“I never got a picture of the leopard because my sisters kept pushing me out the way”

This set Hawkeyes and Albert off ...

“You are lying!!”

Then a screaming fist fight broke out, which was too much for me.

“I will drop you all on the road and you can find your own way back to camp”

This set the Cow off.

“HEY, you keep quiet! There are 3 of them all trying to take pics out of 1 window!” “Girls, stop it!”

I decided it was safer for me to stay out of this one and the Cow eventually appeased the situation in the back seat.

Next up was another “vulture”, so I quietly tried to continue on, but spotted that the Cow was looking in the same general direction, so quickly slowed and stopped without instruction, which I assumed would get me back in the good books.

It was another gymnogene. They were popping up all over on this trip.



As we approached the Vurhami Bridge we spotted the massive traffic jam which we had been warned about. The cars were 3 abreast on the bridge and there was still a massive queue coming from the Croc Bridge side, so we stopped out of the mix and tried to figure out what to do next.

Suddenly the guy in front of us got out his car and started shouting and screaming, then an old aunty lost it and joined the drama, but still there was no movement.
After half an hour the traffic still hadn’t moved and tensions in the scrum and in our car were rising by the second.

What amazes me is that people from Lower Sabie just kept on pushing past us into the scrum, which just made things way worse and I can’t understand their mindset. It wasn’t even a fantastic sighting either as the lions were around 40m away.





We sat and watched the 1 lioness take a drink and then reversed out of the chaos while we still could.



There are just too many day visitors pouring in at Croc Bridge and if SANParks want to continue with this then they must expect more incidents and scraps in the park and not blame individuals when it happens, as they have caused it in the first place and if they want to continue with these sighting updates in the south, then they must police those sightings. It’s not rocket science and it just requires the will to do it, but then again, maybe they want this as it will give them leverage to stop self drive, which many seem to think is the long term “master plan”.

To be continued

[Bushcraft]

An amazing pic of the leopard looking back at you.

I am now in a quandary. When I hear you talk about the crowds at sightings and everybody bringing their handbags out I am very grateful that we can go in out of season BUT then when I see your incredible photos and sightings then I think maybe it might just be worth it to put up with all the (s)crapping.

What a lovely place to see a pride of lion - all spaced out on the rocks as if posing just for you.

Nope STF One gets better sightings out of holiday season I would never go in holiday season if I had a choice.

I like August and September, but KZN school holidays stuff me up

Below is what that lion sighting looked like when we arrived and the dirt loop looking down on the Vurhami Bridge was 10 times worse



We moved forward just until we could get a proof pic and then reversed out of the chaos and this took more than half an hour

[Bushcraft]

2nd Lower Sabie continued

As the chaos on the Vurhami Bridge showed no signs of letting up, I turned and ducked back up the road.

Next up was an ellie cruising along, then a brown snake eagle for the Cow.





We weren’t keen to drive the H4-2 again back to camp, so turned down the S130 for some peace on the narrow little dirt road; however a few minutes later spotted another large VX land cruiser in the middle of the road, but moving slowly.

After 15 minutes we had moved 1km, which was almost as bad as the previous traffic jam. I have no problem with people who want to drive at 5km an hour, but then they must have the manners to pull over for those who don’t want to crawl along at walking speed.

Another 5 minutes passed and still we crawled along, however things were now getting tricky as a few of us needed the loo, so I started to put more pressure on the VX, which eventually pulled over, so we slowly went past; however the young aunty driving daddy’s car made a show of waving us past, which set the Cow off

I again thought it was better to leave this one for the Cow as I don’t have a grey area, so it’s either big time explosions or nothing; however all this drama, traffic and tension was starting to get to me again, so I made a mental note to look for an opening at Biyamiti.

Peace returned and we carried on at our casual pace until more “vultures” appeared for the Cow.

I’m not sure what this is and assume a Tawny.



Around 5km from Lower Sabie we found a lioness parking off in the riverbed, but as she was just relaxing, we took a few pics and headed for Mlondozi for breakfast.



Mlondozi was jam packed, so my misery continued, but we eventually got a skottel and quickly cooked a simple bacon and eggs breakfast, so were soon on the road back to camp.

I immediately fired up my laptop and tried for a miracle opening at Biyamiti, but no luck, so decided to check what stock we needed for Biyamiti the following day and then we all went on a lengthy tour of the camp to find alternate accommodation for future trips.

Many may laugh and say “The huts are awesome and cheap” but the first pic below was my view to the left and the second my view to the right. The only spot for our table and chairs was in the “walkway” between the danger tape and our unit.





The construction workers walked through this gap all day and they weren’t shy in checking out my young girls most of the day, whether I was staring at them or not, which made the rats nervous and me wild.

Eventually all areas of entertainment were exhausted for the rats, so the nagging to swim started which the Cow agreed to, so the rats disappeared to the pool.

The Cow then started to hang her teeth “We are alone”.

Well, luckily things didn’t progress at pace because minutes later Bushpig and Albert came charging back from the pool shrieking their heads off.

“Hawkeyes is hurt!”

I expected a broken bone or something, but then spotted Hawkeyes hobbling back to our unit with a red face.

She had been stung by something on the toe and one would have thought the world was ending.

I commented that due to the swelling it looked like another big toe, which only increased the drama, so I ducked for our pathway table setting for another Oros mix.

It was May, so gates closed at 5:30pm, therefore we ducked out for another drive at around 4pm, but I didn’t feel like a long route so we parked off on the H10 Bridge for awhile watching the locals and the one terrapin had us all laughing due to its relaxed position.



Next we decided to duck 5km down the H4-2 to check if the lioness from the morning was still around and she had been joined by another.





While we were watching the lion I got irritated by a camera firing away from the back seat, so turned to check it out. Hawkeyes wasn’t taking pics of the lion and was more interested in documenting her swollen toe, which was now rapidly starting to look like another big toe.



It was now 5pm and we only had half an hour, so ducked off to Sunset Dam to relax with the locals





I was in “time out” mode by this stage, which is something that happens to me on every trip. I reach a point where the charging for sightings takes a back seat and the will for peace and relaxation takes over, so we decided to head back and start a fire.

I made myself comfortable with a dop in our pathway seating arrangement and got the fire going.

A few minutes later a guy approached me and asked “Are you on the AW forum.” I must have seemed rather faulty, because I was wondering if this chap was clairvoyant and then I suddenly got paranoid for a second about RP’s “hit list” and then I thought I recognized the guy

I was quiet for a few seconds while the brain did some calculations and then I hesitantly said “Yes”

“You are Bushcraft, I said to the wife it must be you because you’re not wearing any shoes”.

It was jb72 from the forum and then I remembered seeing a pic of him from one of the meets he attended.

We chatted a little about sightings, etc and the fact that he’s had to move to JHB and then he ducked off to start his fire. He’s a cool guy and if he reads this “Get back into the forum and post your sighting from the H2-2 as it made me green with envy, so it will do the same to others!!”

The shooting star mission from the rats started again, which is the one cool thing about camping and a hut arrangement as it forces the clan to sit outside with me.

I was hanging to visit Biyamiti again, even though it would be our last night, so we all crashed relatively early.

To be continued

[Bushcraft]

3rd Lower Sabie to Biyamiti

We woke to another misty morning and standing outside having my morning cigarette I couldn’t even see the smoke, so kept checking to see if it was still burning.

We had to pack and face those rotten ablutions again, so I wasn’t enthusiastic, but we eventually had everything organized at around 6:30am.

The Cow and I had a chat about the day and I was fairly keen to get to Biyamiti, con an early book in and just park off for the rest of the day in camp, which would be a first for us, but I was sick of the driving and had to face the long road home the next day. I knew that this would cause issues with Hawkeyes, but the Cow agreed to handle her, therefore don’t expect too much from today’s sightings.

The plan was to head down to Croc Bridge, have a pit stop and then duck across to Afsaal for breakfast via the S25, S114 and H2-2. I wasn’t keen on the Afsaal part, but Bushpig had been promised pancakes and there would have been drama if we didn’t deliver on that promise.

First up was something for the Cow, which was a tree full of hornbills and I initially didn’t understand her excitement, because they are all over the place in Kruger, but then looked carefully again through the mist and she was correct, these weren’t the normal crowd.

We battled to focus on the gang due to all the mist, so settled for the 2 closest to the car. I believe from the Cow that these are Trumpeter Hornbills.



The rest of the drive to the Vurhami Bridge produced all the normal locals, including buffalo and ellies, but we just stopped, checked them out for awhile and moved on without taking pics.

Just outside Croc Bridge we hit the day visitor and the clueless sheep gang all looking at each other for some mystery in the mist. More than half just stopped because others had stopped and weren’t even looking in the correct direction. We spotted the vague shapes of lion far in the bush, so took a proof pic and quickly made our way through the rugby scrum.



I fuelled up at Croc Bridge for the last time and we went on a little wobble around the shop for last minute Biyamiti supplies.

The S25, S114, H2-2 section to Afsaal didn’t produce much besides a fair amount of locals; including ellies, buffalo and the 2 we took pics of below, however it ended up a rather long haul, but it was the quickest way to Afsaal.





The clan bailed out the car extremely excited for pancakes, however major pelicans followed as the chap behind the counter stated “No pancakes”, which set the Cow off as they had waffle batter, which is supposedly something similar; but the penny didn’t drop and a blank face stared back, so to avoid drama I started suggesting something else and soon pulled a sales pitch for temporary peace, but did pass a comment about the fact I had just driven all the way to appease kids who wanted pancakes, but still a blank face looked back.

20 odd different pancakes is way too complicated for the new current structure, as Afsaal isn’t what it was, so I expect the menu may change.

We parked off at Afsaal for around an hour and then decided to cruise to the Biyamiti weir just before lunch time.

Some of the usual locals were hanging out at the weir, so we spent some time there with them.









After around 10 minutes with the locals we moved on down the private S139. The first thing we noticed was the amount of damage to the road from the recent “floods”. Temporary repairs have been done in many sections, however they won’t last through an extended period of rain, so I hope more permanent repairs are on the cards.

Things were rather quiet, besides a few locals, but it was awesome being the only car on the road and my teeth were still hanging out, because we were going to my favourite camp.

We arrived at Biyamiti around half an hour early and were permitted to book in, which is normally the case in this little camp.

I have a tradition of a major wood fire when at Biyamiti and today was no exception, so I quickly purchased 2 more bags of wood to add to the 1 we had in the car and cruised off to our unit.

The camp manager was at our unit to welcome us and stated that he had just finished his inspection and that our unit was as it should be, which was a nice touch of customer service.

I immediately started my wood fire and cracked a dop which raised a few eyebrows, but the plan was to spend the afternoon in camp as I was sick of driving around.

The Cow then decided to break the news to Hawkeyes, which resulted in a massive pelican followed by some serious appeasing, but the long lip stayed for around an hour.

At around 2pm a large elephant herd arrived in front of our unit, so we all ducked off to the fence to watch.



They were very vocal and it was so awesome just sitting on the grass watching in total silence.

The commotion from the one junior had us all laughing as it seemed to be having a massive tantrum, which resulted in reactions from others and the noise just got louder until it reached a point where it felt as if we were amongst the herd.



Around 10 minutes later another herd arrived which resulted in a small standoff until the smaller herd moved on.

The Cow had moved around 15m down the fence line and was paying special attention to something, but I didn’t take much notice as I was surrounded by jabbering rats all asking questions about the ellie action.

Suddenly the Cow started chirping in a high pitched tone “Something is happening down there!!!”

This was a first for all of us.

To be continued

[Bushcraft]

3rd Lower Sabie to Biyamiti continued

I’m not sure if females have a 6th sense when they are getting plotted by a male, but the Cow had picked up on something with a large bull and aunty that had moved off from the others.

The Cow continued with more urgency due to my initial lack of response.

“I think something is happening with those 2!!!”

Then I spotted that the one eyed snake was loose and had a mind of its own, so the penny dropped and I also started squawking.

“VIDEO, take pics, hurry, move!!!!”

I didn’t have my camera and only had a point and shoot in my hand, so panic was starting to set in, but fortunately Hawkeyes also had her camera to back me up.

However she hadn’t clicked what I was now also shrieking about.

The trumpeting and noise like I have never heard before suddenly started, which instantly shut the rats up.

Then the leap took place and the one eyed snake suddenly started to behave like a worm full of ants, which set Hawkeyes off big time.

“DAD!!!! DAD!!!!” “That’s nasty!! Cover their eyes!!”

Hawkeyes was seriously now trying to cover her sister’s eyes which were now the size of saucers.

“Take pics!! You won’t see this again from camp!!”, but I was trying very hard to not burst out laughing.







After some weird actions and more trumpeting the male lost balance and fell off the aunty, which finished me off and I couldn’t hold my laughter any more.



I now wonder if I should take Lisbeth’s advice about teaching the “birds and bees” at a mating sighting. This sighting would have scared the junior rats away from “boys” for many years, so it would suit me perfectly.

The Cow and I both had a big cheesy, Hawkeyes wasn’t sure and the 2 junior rats were in shock. Then the questions started at a rapid pace, but fortunately more trumpeting started from a junior ellie who wanted to play, so the rats got distracted again.



The ellie action continued for another 10 minutes, but it was too much for the one junior who had been charging around and he collapsed, which had us all laughing again.



The ellies slowly started to move off, so we returned to our unit to restock the fire and get something to drink.

To be continued

[Lisbeth]

Where do you think all the little ellies come from? http://youtu.be/aNUonUzo3Lg

[Bushcraft]

3rd Lower Sabie to Biyamiti continued

Hawkeyes started with her pelican again about the afternoon drive and the Cow had to do more appeasing, which was all too much for me, so I decided to take the 2 junior rats on patrol around camp.

There’s a little path through the bush next to unit 15 which takes you down to a section of thick bush within camp, but next to the fence, so we headed that direction.

Bushpig and Albert are still fairly gullible, so I have a pink ticket with “war stories” when they are around, so I crawled along for every noise in the bush, which had them following suit.

“Remember that leopard your uncle, Supernova, found hunting bushbuck along the fence here”.

“Check that tree, a leopard could easily get in camp”.

“There have been leopard in this camp, remember the manager’s warning”.

I now felt that they had been scared into total silence, so we moved along peacefully, but halfway down the path a bushbuck took off in the bush, which had the 2 juniors climbing up my leg again and then the snivelling started.

“Dad, let’s go!!”

Secretly, the bushbuck had also given me a skrik, so we cruised to the hide.

I don’t fancy the hide so much at Biyamiti, because one can see more standing outside the hide; however it’s a novelty for the rats.

Bushpig spotted what looked like a slender mongoose running around in the riverbed, so she was trying for a pic with her little point and shoot, but kept stuffing it up. I was bored so wasn’t paying much attention, but happened to glance up and noticed a Tawny circle above the mongoose and realized what was about to happen.

“Give me that camera quickly!” and I tried to snatch it from Bushpig, who hung on to the camera and glared back at me.

Suddenly the Tawny dived, so I yanked the camera with Bushpig still attached, pointed in the general direction and hit the button.

Bushpig and Albert now realized what had happened as “their” mongoose took to the sky.

The pic is blurred, but you get the general idea of what we witnessed.



We excitedly returned to our unit to spill the beans, but found the Cow and Hawkeyes on their own mission.

A baby squirrel had fallen out of our unit’s roof and hit the deck, which put the Cow in rescue mode, but the junior squirrel had started squawking which resulted in mother squirrel charging to the rescue and junior made it back to safety.



I was having a jol with all this action happening in and around camp, so more wood got put on the fire and another dop was on the cards.

I soon realized that we were going to run out of wood, but the legs were feeling lazy, so I conned the rats to cruise to reception and get more wood.

Around 10 minutes later they returned with the wood, but Hawkeyes had a long lip.

“Something isn’t correct dad; the wood suddenly went up R5”

I just don’t understand why a staff member would take this kind of chance as there’s a big sign on the reception door “Wood R40” and I had just purchased 2 bags for R40 a bag.

This chap wanted to skim R10 out of 2 bags from Hawkeyes, so she only purchased 1 bag for R45. I was wild about this scaly tactic, but again didn’t want a scene on our last day, so just informed the rats that he was a thief and we got on with our afternoon; however I still get angry when thinking about it and I should have caused a scene.

Just before 5pm we decided to do another tour around camp as it was getting dark, so we hoped to spot some of the camp visitors and ducked off down the fence line to the other section of bush to the left of unit 1.

First up was something for the Cow and I have to test if I’m getting better at this. Is it a Jameson’s fire finch?



Next was a creepy crawly which I wouldn’t go near.



The tension started to grow as we approached the bush section and the junior rats started the push in closer, but around 10m in the bomb shell dropped.

“Whaaaaaaat’s that dad?”

I couldn’t resist even though I knew it would cause a scene, but I was sick of walking and wanted the fire and another dop.

“A leopard trap”



The tap dancing starting immediately and we hit a steady pace back to our unit and the fire.



A visitor arrived on our veranda shortly thereafter and caused a small commotion, but it soon became apparent that the bat had a junior, which for some strange reason made it more acceptable to the clan.



The rats went to sleep after supper, the Cow went to read one of her hundreds of books and I switched all the lights off to enjoy the last of the fire.

I was just starting to doze off when a movement gave me a fright, so after fumbling with the torch I found the culprit.

The genet seemed relaxed, so I wobbled off inside to call the Cow, who told me to wake the rats.

Hawkeyes and Bushpig hopped out of bed and followed their mother outside, but Albert enjoys her sleep and needed to be rattled a few more times. Eventually I raised Albert who by now had a pelican and told her to look out the window.

She rubbed her eyes and shrieked “SERVAL!!!SERVAL!!” which gave me a massive skrik.

Then the pelican returned “NO! Just a genet”. (Shame, I have to find her a serval one day)

The genet checked us out for around a minute and then ducked off towards another unit.





This was our last night in Kruger, so I tried to sit next to the fire again and stretch it out longer, but soon started falling asleep again; therefore cruised to bed.

Strange, we never did an afternoon drive and it was my most enjoyable afternoon of the trip

To be continued

[Bushcraft]

I wouldn’t know what to say if they asked me “Do you do that to mommy”

Just say "that water is dirty!"

Glad it wasn't two bulls "playing"...another thing to explain!

The trials of parenthood, BC!

Put the crooking about wood prices up under "maintenance", and I"ll send it on, BC!

The manager there is very helpful, if he's still there, but I'll try!

Glad you got the "sitting in camp" anti-hamster experience...

That’s a difficult question to answer RP, especially since animals don’t conform to “tradition” and thank goodness modern society doesn’t either

2 bulls or 2 cows That can wait until they are 16 as confusion could cause more issues

There’s a new manager at Biyamiti RP. He took over around 18 months ago and he’s very approachable, so I will have a chat to him when I’m next there.

Parking off in camp was awesome for a change and I finally relaxed on a trip

[Bushcraft]

4th Biyamiti to Home

I hate waking up on the final morning in Kruger, but we had a long drive to do in 1 day and I had work the next day, so final last minute packing happened rather quickly and we were waiting at Biyamiti gate first at around 5:50am.

One has to open and close Biyamiti gate yourself in the morning, so I sat watching the clock and eventually 6am arrived and we were on the road to Croc Bridge.

The Cow knows not to hassle me with sightings when we are leaving because my routine dictates that we need to be at Croc Bridge at 7am to be home at around 14:30pm, which gives me half an hour to make the car wash before work the next day, as my larnies freak if I arrive at work in a dirty car, because I have clients to visit.

It was another misty morning, but it didn’t worry me as I had blinkers on, however the Cow started a few km later.

“Stop, quick pic”

“You are wasting your time, it’s still dark”, but we tried anyway.





Next up on the S25 were more locals, including 3 of the big 5, but around 9km from Croc Bridge I spotted something poking its head out of the grass, so slowed and said

“What’s that?”, but there was some commotion happening in the back or something and the Cow wasn’t paying attention, however a second later the head protruded further out the grass.

“LEOPARD!!”

The Cow now got a big skrik and the waving hands started, which again set me off.

“PASS THE CAMERA!! @#%”

The leopard didn’t just duck across the road though and started to walk towards us, so my blood pressure calmed down.



The first thing we noticed was that she was collared and it did cause some concern as the collar looked very tight; however I’m no expert on leopard collars. She also had a very fat belly, so had either just eaten or was pregnant.

The Cow was operating the video camera and the rats had a war going in the back for a spot to take pics, so I was reversing and trying to take pics through the window, which was a major mission as she wasn’t slowing.

This carried on for around 200m back down the road and fortunately there were no other cars as I was all over the place, but managed a few more pics.





She then decided to cruise into the grass, but still continued along next to the road, so we continued reversing with her, but I eventually just put the camera down and enjoyed the sighting.

After around 15 minutes she ducked off deeper into the bush and a few seconds later the first cars arrived on the scene and continued past oblivious to what they had just missed.

We arrived at Croc Bridge at around 7:20am, so the stress levels were up and we hit the stop/go story big time on the way to the border, so we didn’t make the car wash, therefore our day ended washing the car in the driveway at 5pm.


Lastly, thanks to all of you guys that have shared our adventure with us and for allowing us the opportunity to relive our trip.

Bushcraft, the Cow and the Rats.