Africa Wild

Hey Guys,

It’s time to start our October 2014 TT.

This was the 3rd trip to KNP this year for Bushcraft, The Cow, Hawkeyes, Bushpig and Albert.

As it was the October school holidays we knew that we would have the normal mission to book accommodation, so for the first time we decided to use a booking agency, but still never got what we wanted, however we eventually scored a reasonable balance between the “middle” and south of the park.

The trip ended up as below:

3rd, 4th and 5th Lower Sabie
6th and 7th Satara
8th Talamati
9th and 10th Lower Sabie
11th Nselweni Imfolozi

As one can see above we weren’t staying at our usual Jozini Dam spot on the way up, because the rats were on school tours and only got back late that Thursday afternoon, so for the first time we were driving straight through.

I’m finding it rather difficult to summarize the trip as it seemed to have a little of everything, but we did have what one may describe as lion luck and if you don’t like lion, then this TT could get rather boring as only one drive while in the park didn’t produce a cat.

We battled a little in the raptor/bird department, which upset the Cow, but at least it got me out of having to name them, although there are still a few which I will need help with.

Bushpig emerged this trip as our queen spotter and I think we would have missed plenty sightings without her beady eyes. I just hope that this continues in future trips.

There were no medical issues this trip besides my normal stomach drama which “pops up” at strange times; but we did have a few interesting accommodation type issues.

We got to meet Penny, PJL and family and then a few days later, leachy, which was cool. I also had a mate from work in the park, but we were only in the same camp for our final night.

I’m going to omit all rhino sightings as most locations are obvious, although I don’t really think it makes a difference as I doubt there’s a poaching gang waiting to read KNP TT’s.

In summary, I hope all ride the wave, hang around during the lion overdose times and still enjoy the TT.

To be continued

3rd Home to Lower Sabie

As we had to drive straight through from Toti to Lower Sabie in 1 day for the first time, we decided to pull the rats out of school on “break up day” to avoid the expected Swazi border chaos on Saturday.

Our house sitters had collected keys, etc the previous evening, so we were free to leave anytime, but I soon realized that very early mornings and speed doesn't work well with 4 females, therefore we eventually hit the road at 5am and arrived at Komatipoort just before 1pm to do our meat shopping.

After a brief encounter with a faulty official who didn’t understand how queuing lanes work, we were in the park and although it had taken nearly 9 hours, it wasn’t as bad as we expected.

The first thing we did was fuel up in Croc Bridge and organize all the cameras.

Eventually all were organized and we decided to duck up the H4-2.

The Croc Bridge locals immediately made an appearance, but we didn’t stop for pics until the Vurhami Bridge.







The next 20km produced all the normal locals including buffalo and ellies.





Around 3km outside Lower Sabie Bushpig’s sighting roll started “LION!!”

I had missed them so immediately received the hairy eyeball from the Cow, but I couldn’t believe that there wasn’t another car around as although the lion were a long way off, they were clearly visible.



Lower Sabie camp car park was jam packed and people were parking all over the place as usual which made me nervous because it was the start of the school holidays, so things could only get busier.

We were all a little sick of the car by this stage, so I took the rats down to the deck while the Cow booked us in. We had 2xBD3U units, so the plan was to spend the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the view.

On our way back to the car I heard someone call me and immediately recognised Penny at the sighting board. Penny’s drive down to Lower Sabie from the Skukuza area had been amazing and it included a lion kill and a leopard on a kill 200m apart, so I was green with envy, but didn’t get excited until her SO informed us that some of the action wasn’t more than 10km up the road.

The original relaxing plan was now out the window because there’s no way I was going to relax with action up the road, so we didn’t even go to our unit.

Lubyelubye produced the first sign of Penny’s report as the local pride were hanging around.





There were only a few cars at the lion sighting, so I didn’t think we would have an issue, but we got a nasty surprise 3km up the road.



I can’t see how people enjoy sitting in this type of queue for half an hour waiting for a turn to briefly see something and there are always a few tonsils in the mix that park on the wrong side of the road and refuse to move, so it doesn’t take long for tempers to go.

“I’m not getting stuck in that mix! Look at that chop hanging out his car!”

I was so busy moaning and trying to take pictures of the chaos in front of us that I didn’t realise cars were building up behind us until the Cow chirped “You aren’t turning around now”, which got me more excited as normal.

“Hey, go around us! Move!”, which set the Cow off “You’re not going to fit through there! You are going to hit his car!!”

I then realized that I was losing the plot and we had only been in the park around 2 hours, so I counted to 10 a few times and waited for our chance to get out of the chaos.

Fortunately someone else in the mix blew a gasket and the hooting and hand waving started up the road, which resulted in a path opening up between the cars, so I took the gap.

We immediately spotted the reason for the chaos and it was the leopard with the bushbuck kill that Penny had told us about, so the Cow snapped a few pics as we slowly moved through.



I was now out of the chaos, but on the wrong side of it and we still hadn’t even unpacked yet, so I was a little confused on what to do next.

We then spotted 1 car stopped around 150m further up the road, which is when we remembered Penny’s story about a lion kill close to the leopard, so we cruised up to check it out.

Penny told us that when they arrived they had found a bushbuck next to the road which seemed confused, dazed and was breathing heavily. A lion suddenly came out the bush, walked up to the bushbuck and grabbed it right next to them, but she couldn’t understand why the buck didn’t run off or react, so she assumed that it was possibly 2 bushbuck together and that the leopard had taken 1 out, which resulted in this 1 taking off up the road, so it was exhausted.

The lion was still visible in the bush with the buck.



After returning from KNP I read a post on the SPF about the same scene, but this person had arrived before Penny and supposedly a vehicle (which this poster said was a staff vehicle) had hit the buck and driven off. They then stayed with the buck while it was trying to recover but the lion arrived.

It was now around 3:30pm and I was stuffed from driving, so we turned to face the traffic jam again, as it was our only practical way to get to camp.

To be continued

3rd Home to Lower Sabie continued

I took the first gap which opened in the leopard traffic jam and ducked through. We could have waited in the queue another half an hour and gotten a better pic, but it’s not the type of sighting we enjoy, even if it was a leopard.

I only stopped twice on the way back to camp for a giraffe and a duiker.





We arrived at our units around 4pm, unpacked and I had my first KNP dop on the veranda, but we all couldn’t help wondering about potential action up the road, so at around 4:30pm we decided to drive up to the S79 causeway and back.

The day visitor gang, who cause most of the traffic issue in my opinion, normally have to start for an exit gate at around this time and it was immediately apparent that the roads were a little quieter, so things were more relaxed in our car.

The lion were still hanging around in the Lubyelubye, but they were still sleeping, so we cruised on.

We stopped again at the leopard as it was far more peaceful with only a few cars hanging around, but the leopard had moved to a new position and was difficult to see, so we snapped a pic and continued on.



About halfway down the causeway we spotted a white Fortuner with Eastern Cape number plates cruising along in front of us and I remembered that PJL said that they were in the Lower Sabie area and that we should keep an eye open for a loaded white Fortuner because he would have his clan and parents in the car.

The Fortuner turned left off the causeway and headed towards Lower Sabie, which is the same way we were going, so I went into stalk mode and followed along.

The Fortuner then stopped on the N’watimhiri Bridge and the drivers pip popped out of the window, it was PJL and clan.

We chatted awhile between cars and then both headed towards the leopard, but the leopard was still asleep, so we continued on towards the Lubyelubye lions that were starting to show signs of movement.

I was now torn between the leopard and the lion because they were only a few km apart and we had entered that final “happy hour” when predators normally start to move, so I chirped to PJL that these lion generally move onto the tar at about this time, but we were going to check on the leopard once more.

There was only 1 other car at the leopard and he was still asleep, so I developed a pelican because it had been the wrong decision, therefore I did a quick turn and headed back towards PJL and the lion.

I immediately spotted PJL with lion in front of his car, but there were plenty other cars hanging around, so we kept our distance. (The little piece of white car in the bottom right of the pic is PJL’s car. Sorry PJL as your TT hasn't got there yet ).



I couldn’t spot the collared pride female and knew that this pride had many more members, so issued the rats with instructions to keep an eye on the road behind us because more would be making an appearance shortly.

Around 1 minute later Bushpig shrieked “LION!! More are crossing behind us”

These lion were at the Lubyelubye Bridge and there were no other cars around, so I jammed the car in reverse and started back up the road.

1 other person who can be seen in the pic below also spotted them, but only reversed a little and then drove off which left us alone with the lion.



The collared female and another lioness then stepped out the bush right next to us which caused an explosion in our car because I still had my 500mm lens on.

“COW!! I told you to always change to the 250mm lens after 5pm for this reason!! @%$^#*”

“Don’t talk to me like that! Change your own lens!”

“I’m driving, you can drive and I will be organized”

The lion started towards the edge of the road, so more panic set in “They are ducking!! Just give me your #$*#&# camera”

The flash and low light capability of the Cow’s “point and shoot” isn’t that hot, so I had to sneak up fairly close and balance the camera on the window for stability, but eventually got some pics.







Albert took the pic below with her little camera and with half the window in the frame one can see how close they were.



The Cow then looked at the Garmin and realized that time was an issue, so we said our goodbyes to the lion and headed for camp.

I started the fire and then took a walk around the hut area with a dop to see if I could find PJL, but then remembered that he had said they may hit the Mugg and Bean for supper, so I gave up on finding them and headed back to our unit.

Our first “braai” ended up sausages heated on the fire which became hotdogs, but we were all stuffed from the long day in the car, so by 9pm we were all in bed.

To be continued

4th Lower Sabie

The gates in October open at 5:30am, so the plan this morning was to head out early towards the leopard with the bushbuck kill, therefore we were up before 5am, but we normally wake the rats at around 5:15am, so I was shocked to hear the Cow on the phone with them just before 5am.

The rats had bats in their bathroom and one rat, which I won’t mention for fear of more drama, had gone to the loo and found a bat in the toilet bowl, so was now hiding under a blanket with big eyes.

The only “weapon” I could find in the bathroom was the toilet brush, so I raged around like a master swordsman, but the bats were in a class of their own, so the only successful capture was the 1 in the toilet bowl. I certainly wasn’t going to put my hand in the loo, so the toilet brush turned into a fishing rod and soon I had the bat on the brush.

Unfortunately the bat had drowned already so after charging around after the rats with it I put it back in the loo and flushed, which caused another unexpected drama.

“DAD, why did you do that, shame!” and then the tears nearly started.

It turns out that I was meant to dig a hole and conduct a funeral service, so the learning curve with girls continues.

I then looked around the bathroom to see if I could find their entry point and I was amazed to find a towel shoved up in the roof as I don’t know how anyone would have got there without a ladder. (The towel was still there when we left 3 days later, so it must have been the “permanent” fix).



We were ready to leave camp before 5:30am, so I decided to relax on the veranda for a few minutes with a smoke rather than sitting in the queue, which turned out to be a good decision as an otter suddenly bailed into the river in front of our unit and started cruising around, which caused great excitement amongst the rats.

We eventually left camp just after 5:30am and it was very quiet initially, but the leopard from the previous day was still in the tree, however it was a mission to get pics through all the leaves, so we left the rapidly growing gang of cars and continued on.





Just before the S79 one of the rats started wailing for food, which is when the Cow and I realized that during the otter excitement we had forgotten the food and drinks, which freaked me out big time because it meant we would have to go back to camp or have a very short morning drive.

Eventually we decided to take the tar, turn down the S79 and head back to camp.

We stopped briefly to check the hippo at N’watimhiri Dam and I was about to pull off when the Cow said “What’s that on the side of the road up there”.

We all instantly shrieked “Leopard!” and the flapping started.

The little leopard obviously wanted to cross the road in front of us, but our commotion had upset the scene, so she started to run back into the bush and out of sight.



I was wild that we had stuffed it up with all the excitement, but there were no other cars around, so we decided to cruise slowly up and down with the hope she would make another appearance and a few minutes later she popped up next to the road again, which again caught us by surprise and the rats choired “LEOPARD!” at the top of their lungs.

This time as the little female jumped up the Cow shrieked “There’s another one!” and a larger male ran out the grass after her.

Fortunately they both only ran a few meters into the bush and stopped to check us out.





The pic below is the only one we managed with both “visible” in the same frame.



I reversed slowly for about 100m and we caught brief glimpses of them as they headed along parallel to the road, but the bush was getting very dense and we soon lost sight of them.

I switched off next to N’watimhiri Dam for the hippos again and the one chap who looked like he was smiling had the rats cackling.



The short drive back to Lower Sabie produced the first ground hornbills of the trip, the Cow got artistic with a leopard’s tail as it’s the only part we could see and the Lubyelubye lions had decided to catch some morning sun.









To be continued

4th Lower Sabie continued

It felt strange driving into camp at 7:30am, so I rushed everyone inside to the loo and grabbed the chow and drinks, so we were back on the road in 2 minutes.

I was more relaxed now as we were finally organized and the morning had already produced, so I stopped at Sunset Dam for 15 minutes to enjoy a few of the locals.





The sun tanning lions and the camouflaged leopard were still around, but as we had already spotted them we just continued on.

Next up was a bushbuck and a few boons hanging together and then a Nyala crossing the road.







We stopped briefly at Nkuhlu for a walk around and I was going to try and attempt to gather some information from people arriving from the Skukuza direction, which always makes the Cow, Hawkeyes and Albert highly embarrassed so I was left to cruise around with Bushpig.

Once I had lined up what I thought was a suitable family I made a move in their direction, although my timing couldn’t have been worse because a boon also made a move at the same time, but on their food, so chaos erupted.

The father of the family was a mountain of a man and he had smoke coming out of his ears, so I halted our approach to look for a new angle. The mountain man came storming past us swearing in Afrikaans and returned with a bag of stones and a catapult, so I thought that the thieving boons was a definite possible topic, but the mountain man couldn’t speak English, so I was left with an awkward situation, therefore decided to try broken Afrikaans, but I couldn’t remember what a baboon was in Afrikaans, so ended up talking about an “aap”, however couldn’t stop laughing as I said it, which didn’t go down well with the mountain man who mumbled something I didn’t understand, but his pelican I understood, so I decided it was safer to cruise back to the car.

We weren’t sure what to do next so eventually we decided to continue up the H4-1 for a few km and around 2km later we found a herd of buffalo and a few lion watching.





I think it was around here where we bumped into PJL again and he informed us that there were dogs in the H12 Bridge area, so I was stoked for them as dogs can be a mission to find at this time of the year.

We were about to turn back towards Lower Sabie and PJL had said that the dogs were a long way off, but I still wanted to check it out, so plans got adjusted and we headed off to the bridge with the hope that they were still around.

A few km later the Cow spotted a few ellies lying down in the thick bush. It was a mission to get a clear view, but it looked like a small herd had all decided at the same time to have a snooze. No wonder many call them the "grey ghost", they disappear because they have a snooze





There weren’t more cars on the H12 Bridge than normal, so I initially thought that we had missed out on the dogs, but soon we spotted 1 hanging out in the riverbed.



To be continued

4th Lower Sabie continued

The wild dog in the riverbed was a long way off and we could only get glimpses of a second dog in the bush to the left of him, so I was keen to start back towards camp, but suddenly the Cow spotted a movement towards the middle of the riverbed and a junior dog popped out.



I then had a theory that more may be visible down the S30, so we cruised 200m down the road and found a few more juniors interacting.





By the number of vultures hanging around we assumed that the adults had made a kill earlier in the morning, but now the vultures were getting rather close and a few juniors took exception to this and started off after them, however the vultures were sharp and ducked long before the dogs got close.



All were getting rather hungry now as it was around 9:30am, so I started up and headed back down the H4-1.

The same clan made an appearance on the way back, but we did have brief action just before the S21 turnoff as someone had spotted 2 leopard in the distance, so I switched off and waited next to an OSV operator who 5 minutes later shouted “there” and instantly got on his radio, but the leopard were a long way off and were only visible for a few seconds, which resulted in a panicked blurred proof pic.



A couple of km later we had a little more excitement with a lioness walking along below the road and we thought she was going to come up onto the road, but she disappeared in the bush.



Breakfast got scoffed down as soon as it was ready because it was nearly lunch before it was cooked, but as per the norm I was soon bored with the view and the Cow and Hawkeyes were relaxing with a book, so I volunteered to take Bushpig and Albert on patrol around camp.

The camp is full of blue headed lizards or agama and these lizards always get the rats excited because of old war stories I tell them about 1 chasing me out a tree once when I was a rat, but nothing prepared them for what was about to happen.

We found a large lizard sun tanning, but he seemed half asleep so our concentration turned to the small birds on the grass which Bushpig was trying to photograph with her little camera.

Suddenly the lizard bailed out the tree and almost charged between our legs which got me doing the Highland fling and my dop went flying as Albert was attempting to climb up one of my legs which unbalanced the fling. The lizard then did a massive leap and grabbed one of the birds as it took off 2m in front of us, but turned with the bird and headed back between us to its tree which had me doing the fling again.

It took a few seconds for the brain to engage and then I shouted “Take pictures!!”, but Bushpig was still standing there with her mouth open, so I snatched her camera and charged after the lizard.

The lizard didn’t seem shy so I could get fairly close with the little camera.





The rats were now both jabbering at once because the lizard had lived up to the war stories, but I now realized that we were along the fence line in front of the BD3U units and many were smiling and looking at us, so my pip started to glow as they wouldn’t have seen the lizard from that distance, so probably thought I was dancing around to entertain the rats.

Then a couple started to approach from one of the closer units, so I immediately started pointing at the tree to save face, but once again this was an Afrikaans couple who didn’t seem to understand my frantic English.

Fortunately the lizard moved and they spotted it with the bird, which got them more excited than we were and they summoned the rest of their family and the rats got to learn what a lizard is in Afrikaans.

We proudly returned to tell the Cow and Hawkeyes, but then got greased for not calling them.

To be continued

Thanks all for checking the last episode out

4th Lower Sabie continued

I was still recovering from the shock of the lizard greasing when I heard familiar voices, it was PJL and family who had come to visit. They were off to Berg-en-Dal before heading home, so had come to say cheers.

It was great to finally chat outside of a vehicle and I wish we had more time, but they needed to head off, so after around 20 minutes we said our final goodbyes.

I started to get restless around 3pm, so suggested that we went on a drive earlier than normal and return to camp earlier than normal for a braai, which to my surprise was accepted by all.

PJL had mentioned that he had heard about 20 odd lion at a kill on the S137, but I had commented that the traffic chaos would be hectic as it’s a narrow little road; however the rats also heard the conversion so the nagging started. I agreed on one condition, that if the road was blocked and there was chaos, then there was to be no moaning when I just turned around and drove back. The terms were eventually agreeable to all and we ducked off down the H4-2.

The H4-2 section to the S130 turnoff didn’t produce much besides a few ellies drinking.



Around 1km into the S137 we spotted the first lion walking and then a few meters further up the road we spotted the cars, but I was very surprised to see only 4 vehicles and a clear road to the side of them, so I commented that it was probably all over.

We eventually spotted about 10 lion sleeping in different locations over about a 30m area and it was strange that they weren’t together, but the 1 sleeping on its back was amusing the rats as she wasn’t being very ladylike.



A few minutes later one car further up the road ducked, so I decided to move up to that location and that’s when we spotted the “kill” and the rest of the lion.





Suddenly a vicious smell burnt my nostrils

“Who farted!”

The rats erupted instantly blaming each other, which as per normal resulted in Albert howling and the Cow stepping in to keep the peace

“It’s not Albert, the smell is coming from the dead zebra!”, which set the rats off again “Gross, move dad!”

The lion were around 10m from the road, but due to the long grass the view wasn’t that great and the smell was making me green, so after 5 minutes we decided to head back towards Lower Sabie.

We stopped briefly on the H10 Bridge to check out the local kingfisher gang and then turned to duck up the H4-1.



A few km outside Lower Sabie a lioness made an appearance in the riverbed and then we spent some time with a kudu having a chow next to the road.





The naughty boon gang were hanging out in the same area as the kudu, so we soon found them more interesting .





Next up were a few cows on steroids and a bushbuck “kill” with only a vulture making an appearance.





It had been a long day, it was now after 5pm and we were around 10km from Lower Sabie, so we decided to duck back to camp for an early braai start.

To be continued

5th Lower Sabie

This 5:30am gate opening in October makes for a rather early start and I couldn’t help wondering how people handle the 4:30am opening in the middle of summer, but as I tried to force motivation I remembered the otter from the previous day, so by 5:10am we were all dressed and sitting on the veranda with cameras.

The water was still, so soon I started scanning the tree line and spotted something suspect, but it was too dark to make out exactly what it was

“Cow, there’s something moving there which doesn’t look like an impala”.

The morning sun wasn’t coming up fast enough for me, so I cruised to the car to get my binoculars, but as I was halfway back to the veranda the Cow shrieked “It’s lion!!”

2 male lion were now clearly visible on the opposite river bank.



Around 2 minutes later the lion ducked up into the bush so I thought it was over and started packing the cameras in the car, but the Cow hung around watching.

A minute later the Cow shouted “There’s a hippo cruising in the bush where the lion went in” This didn’t get me excited but I started back to the veranda.

Suddenly the Cow let rip “LION, HIPPO, ATTACK!!” which I think woke the rest of the camp up.

The hippo burst from the bush with both male lions on its back which had me jumping around like a mad thing as I had just packed my camera in the car.

The Cow still had her “point and shoot”, so I started squealing at her “Don’t flap your hands, shoot!!”, but unfortunately by the time the camera switched on the hippo had already thrown both lion off and was heading full tilt for the water, which got me more excited “Just push the darn button!”

The pics are blurred as it was too dark for her camera to function properly, but at least it’s something to remember the action with.





The lion stood gazing at the water for a few seconds and then ambled back into the bush.

My teeth were hanging out big time as it had been an exciting start to the day and it was now nearly 5:30am so the gates were about to open, therefore I was pushing the clan to get moving, but a kingfisher pulled in on the fence line which delayed us another minute.



I was keen to try and find the 2 leopard hanging around the N’watimhiri Dam area again, so we headed up that direction with the first few cars.

The Lubyelubye pride wasn’t hanging around on the rocks so I continued on, but just after the bridge Bushpig squawked “lion!”

It took us awhile to all see it, but it soon became obvious that it was the Lubyelubye pride on the move, so I turned and ducked into the little dirt loop just before the bridge and switched off to wait for them to file through.









We were the only car in the loop and each lioness walked past us, so it was a cool sighting, but as the last lioness made her way to the road we followed and very quickly the cars started to pile up from the Lower Sabie side, so we turned right out of the loop and continued on.

2km later we found one of the males of the pride catching the morning sun.





After 10 minutes the male decided to cruise off and look for his brothers, so we continued on.



To be continued

5th Lower Sabie continued

We searched the N’watimhiri Dam area carefully, but the leopards were hiding this morning, so we decided to cruise slowly back to Mugg and Bean to get the nagging rats a muffin.

A SGH and a BSK made an appearance for the Cow on the way.





The Lubyelubye pride were all sleeping on the rocks, but as we had already seen them earlier we just slowly weaved through the traffic, so many looked at us as if we were mad or blind.

Lower Sabie car park was quiet as it was early still, so I suggested that we relax a little on the deck with the muffins, which seemed to excite Albert who started chirping about a morning picnic, but as per normal I had finished before the others had taken 2 bites, so I had to go on patrol to keep entertained while the nibblers finished.

On the way back to the car park the Cow spotted a squirrel jumping around and behaving madly, so we went to investigate, but I got a skrik when I spotted what was causing the excitement and told the rats to keep their distance.







I have no idea what model of snake it is and a snake master mate told us when we returned, but I have forgotten.

We didn’t want to disturb his morning rat breakfast, so after a few pics we left him alone.

It was now around 9am and a little too early to go back to our unit, so we decided to drive down the H4-2 to the S28 turnoff and back which produced an ellie herd crossing including a mom with a very young junior.



The mother ellie seemed relaxed so I moved forward slowly, but she instantly started tuning us with her ears, which got the Cow moaning and begging, so I drove on.



We turned at the S28 north entrance and started back towards camp, but only a buffalo and a few of the normal gang made an appearance on the way.



I wasn’t keen to drive anymore so we decided to park off on the H10 Bridge for half an hour and enjoy the locals before returning to camp.







To be continued

I love the junior ellie

Olive grass snake!