Frost, Fires & Family Time

[Mel]

The views on Kranskoop Loop are fantastic! I really love that drive, even if you don't get that many critters there. Hence the kudu bull was a good catch, particurlarly because I find the kudus generally very skittsh there and they often disappear into the bush before you can get a decent shot...

No wonder that PCG is all fluffed up, when you even have to defrost your windscreen

Very cute zebra foal!

And the oxpeckers... grrr... would have loved to see them again, but not in April

[Flutterby]

Lovely views. The little zebbie is very cute!

[Alf]

You could see even the animals have goose bumps all over

[Pumbaa]

What amazing aardwolf and cheetah sightings once again , PJL

Your shots are magnificent and simply wonderful - Love the ones from the cute cheetah cubs plus the breathtaking landscape and beautiful zebras

[PJL]

The panorama is gorgeous and the zebbies are very good looking

Thanks Lis

Those roads look like tar roads!

There are some tar roads - particularly on steep sections, but generally the roads are gravel

The views on Kranskoop Loop are fantastic! I really love that drive, even if you don't get that many critters there. Hence the kudu bull was a good catch, particurlarly because I find the kudus generally very skittsh there and they often disappear into the bush before you can get a decent shot...

No wonder that PCG is all fluffed up, when you even have to defrost your windscreen

Very cute zebra foal!

And the oxpeckers... grrr... would have loved to see them again, but not in April

I agree about the skittish kudus... and the fact that there aren't normally too many animals to see on that route, but as you'll see we had some luck this time

Lovely views. The little zebbie is very cute!

Thank you Flutts

You could see even the animals have goose bumps all over

What amazing aardwolf and cheetah sightings once again , PJL

Your shots are magnificent and simply wonderful - Love the ones from the cute cheetah cubs plus the breathtaking landscape and beautiful zebras

Thanks Pumbaa

[PJL]

As we continued with the mountain drive, I was keeping an eye out for mountain reedbuck and grey rhebok. Both species are found on the higher areas but we hadn't seen them on our previous visit, so I was genuinely surprised to spot a grey rhebok high up on a hillside



As we moved a bit further round the hillside, a few more came into view. I think it must have been a small family group - the male being the one I spotted first.



The sighting had really made my day, but our luck got even better when we came across another group of grey rhebok - this time quite a bit closer to us





I think this second group must have been some young bachelor males as their horns have still got a way to grow yet





Further down in the valley as we headed back towards camp we had a distant sighting of a fish eagle



Probably the most photographed tree in the park....



We finally got close to some red hartebeest who were taking a mid-morning nap. There are plenty in the park, but we just hadn't found any close enough to photograph until this point



Back at camp we had a bit of spare time before braaing, so I took the kids geocaching. It was a bit trickier to find the cache than we had been expecting, and it involved searching under rocks which was when H came across a small scorpion



After some serious searching we finally managed to find the cache... which was a good thing as I was keen to put my feet up and enjoy the view again whilst getting the braai going



TBC

[Mel]

Aaahhh, a Castle man

...but as you'll see we had some luck this time

This time? That is the understatement of the year!



I'm happy to admit that I can at least compete with that sighting though Both the rhebok and the fish eagle actually, just a bit more distant, but still not too bad.
The grey rhebok and the mountain reedbuck seem to get scarcer with the cheetah population taking a liking in them according to Charl. So, every sighting is a bliss
That's obviously also the reason that quite a few of the cheetahs were relocated. There were only 6 adults in the park left when we were there in April.

[PJL]

...but as you'll see we had some luck this time

This time? That is the understatement of the year!

[Pumbaa]

Fantastic that you came across Grey rhebok, PJL

[Lisbeth]

I belong to the Castle Club too

Lovely grey rheboks, they look so soft Their horns make them look rather funny though

The Catle/braai scenery is great

A very interesting and pretty looking tree