Africa Wild

I did not do this trip with the wild ones....

JN - your sightings and pics are super.
We did not see one red hartbees on this trip and for the Ellie, just super.
Would like to thank you for putting in the order for me for Ellies on this trip also...

BH - so... what was the big sighting ????
You go to Welkom and leave us in the dark. //\0-- Hope you still feel 'welkom' when you return.. -O -O
PN - you were there.... write to us in small letters and we promise not to tell....

Ag welll.... we will have to wait 'nogga' day or two. -O

BH - I believe I owe you an apology - a small one though. My vultures were actually Marabou Stork as you said...
but it was far, and it was overcast ..... and it was.... thank you.

Herewith some pretty flowers for the mites I shared a wonderful weekend with....

and to each one that took the time to read this 'crazy' trip report.... thank you...



One of the twenty plus pictures I still have to ID....


We found a dassie in some rocky hills, but he knew we were watching him and he laid very still....




The SMW and myself kept a close eye on the men washing dishes.... checking for any signs of AWOL...


The squirrel loved me..... it only had eyes for me....


until...... Darren turned up. She must have thought that such a handsome young man would have something for a lonely squirrel to eat ..????


Waiting for BH to catch up and then we can break-up camp and hit the road.... slowly. -O

Good monday all you peeps...

well well...i really do think this can go on forever, but maybe it is time to break the news...

hope your monday is much better than mine!!

so when is the next trip PINKS?

Lisbeth wrote:Hey Bunny, we have been salivating for a week now //\0-- But then again, if you have some more hilarious stuff, it is more than welcome...there isn't so much else to make me laugh at the moment...

You sure you have been salivating for long enough now Lis? Maybe not so much. My keyboard hasn't needed replacing for at least a week now.

I also concur with your saying nothing funny is happening around here at the moment. It has also been a long time since I had to have our IT boyz in here to replace my monitor because I didn't manage to keep from snorting my coffee all over it...

Amoli, I recall that squirrel as having eyes only for your hands. He /she was more interested in if you had food for it.

Kruger huh?? Sounds like a plan but I think this is the wrong thread for that one.

JN where is my

These peeps are waiting for the BEEEG ting and I need to be at my best when I .......

on second thoughts. maybe one of you should just drop the bomb......

Ok boys and girls.
This was ultimately the best sighting and a lifer for me of the Sunday morning drive:

BR for PN, JN, BH and HB...... ooh my - what a wonderful sighting.

It is a beautiful picture - so sad I missed it

The actual place we saw the Rhino will have to unfortunately, remain a mystery hopefully for the sake and safety of the mom and baby.

The actual sighting was fairly accidental. We had seen the rhino a long way off from the road and basically, they were just another two fat ous. For some inexplicqble reason, I decided to turn right towards what we thought might be a dam. the road was not exactly car friendly and when we stopped to reverse, we decided we were close enough to have a look at the beasts.

Damn fine thing we did. It was definitely the sighting of my life, never mind the weekend. I have always wanted to see one in the wild. Don't aks me why. My mind is made up, confusing me with the facts of the matter won't be of any benefit. :

The drive back to camp was relatively quiet and I think we were largely all somewhat subdued by the splendour of what we had seen. Our hunt for cats proved to be unproductive, but somehow, it didn't matter to me. (Ok, hun, you can stop beating me now. I promise I didn't chase the cats away.)

Back in camp, it was cook some grub, pack up and decide on the route home. Although I have been to PB several tiimes before, the route was new for me. We got to see Amoli's vultures en royte to the Bakubung gate. Ice cream was the order of business and we left with a degree of sadness at leaving a fine nature reserve.

On va uvva hand, we were happy that we had shared a good weekend. Fun and laughtyer was had by all and I look forward to the next weekend bash. It will take some doing to upstage this one.

Thanks all for an truly memorable weekend and a load of fun.

PS. I can truly say that sometimes in jest, fine things can happen and I count myself blessed to have made such friends via this electronic world we frequent so often. Long live the forum.

lowveldboy wrote: NOW THAT IS A SPECIAL SIGHTING!!!!!

Indeed it was. If only because they are such rare creatures.

Lisbeth wrote:Blackie with "baby" How many are they in Pilanesberg?

Not nearly as many as there should be Lis, and I put that down to mankind and his unkind attitude towards nature and wildlife.

We have invented guns and all manner of implements with which to destroy one another and our beautiful planet. And we have used these guns to anhialate the animals that would otherwise compete for space to survive. Instead of sharing, we have greedily grabbed up the land, taken down the natural vegetation and turned it into commercial farming so we can feed the teeming millions. Any animal that invaded those fields would simply have been shot.

Bushcraft wrote:Great stuff guys /
Thanks for a laugh and the narration that made us all feel as if we were part of it
Awesome Black Rhino sighting :mrgreen:

Thanks for being kind enough to say you enjoyed it. For us, (well for me anyway) it was an awesome trip. I got to see the wonders of nature.

"All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small. All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all." (One of our hymns I loved most when I was a primary school lad.)

In conclusion, it occurs to me that the good Lord hath given us dominion over the earth, to subdue it and to use it to our betterment. I just don't believe that He had this in mind when He gave us the keys to the Kingdom. I am convinced that He did not mean for us to abuse this privilege. In this, I think there was a grave error of judgement.

Once I was forced to go to the zoo with my younger siblings and I was very unhappy. Close to the lion enclosure (cage) there was stand that had a sign saying "The most dangerous animal on earth" Beneath it was a reflective "mirror" type thing. At the time I was incensed. Over time I have come to understand the truth in this.

This is one of my reasons for being so against the development of hotels within Kruger or any other nature reserve. Nature is as nature is, we should strive to keep it that way and not interfere. We have done enough of that already and given the results of our handiwork, I don't think we are doing a bang up job, unless we use that term to describe our exceedingly fine effort of trashing our home.

For me trips to the reserves always end with this bittersweet thought pattern. I am overjoyed while I'm there admiring the work of the Master Engineer. But when I leave and get back to the reality of the human world, I am reminded once again of our folly and our failure to see this foolish behaviour that will lead us to our own destruction. Then I am inordinately saddened.

I maintain my stance that humans in general are not to be trusted.

I have no proof that hotels in Kruger will be a disaster, it is just an instinctive gut-feel. I know with certainty that these will be the first seeds of true destruction of a fine nature reserve. I guess I'm not the only one.

A quick expression of our trip there.
My apologies for the double postings:

Awesome stuff PN,

BH it was an awesome trip for me too, thanks to all for an enjoyable time
last days photos from my side ....















Thanks everyone