12 May 2014
The first day of a new tour and after having lunch in Nelspruit we
entered Kruger through Phabeni gate. Immediately we found a 'Dagga' boy lying
in the river bed and plenty of impala, zebra and wildebeest near to Nyamundwa
dam. We carried on and found a solitary male giraffe as well as a male
elephant near the side of the road. We also found warthog before turning onto
Watergat. That road was fairly quiet with impala and zebra seen but we did stop
and have a look at the numerous cape glossy starlings and the Red-billed
hornbill at the side of the road. When we turned onto Napi we found a small
herd of elephant crossing the road ranging in size from the large matriarch to
a tiny baby probably no more than a year old. As we stopped to look at some
hamerkop by the road I spotted a male waterbuck standing in the bush staring
straight at us. We also found plenty more impala before we arrived at Nkambeni
safari camp, our lodge for the next couple of nights.
13 May 2014
After leaving the lodge, this morning, we immediately came upon the
resident impalas on camp road. We then made our way down Napi which to start
with was fairly quiet until just past Shithave dam we found a male sable
standing in the middle of the road, we made our way to the spot he had crossed
and found him, just in the bush getting the opportunity to have a good look
before he disappeared into the bush. Further along we spotted plenty of impala
and kudu before we came to a small traffic jam where there were four hyenas by
the side of the road, two females and two youngsters. The youngsters
disappeared into the bush quickly but the adults were happy to relax and soak
up the early morning sun and as we moved closer we got some great photos. After
a quick detour for a possible lion sighting, which we missed, we headed to
Skukuza for coffee, before we got there we saw warthogs, cape buffalo and a troupe
of baboons.
After coffee we headed around the river finding more impala, baboons as well as vervet monkeys and hippos. We made our way to a second lion sighting we had heard about stopping at a lovely elephant sighting as a large family herd crossed the road both in front and behind our car. I then got a whiff of the not so nice aromatic smell of an elephant in musth and sure enough a minute or so later a large male crossed the road in front of us following the ladies down to the river. When we got to the lions they were unfortunately hidden very well in the tall grass, the male did pop his head up occasionally but the sighting was not very good. We waited for around 30 minutes at the sighting but with no luck so I decided we would go for lunch and then try our luck afterwards.
After our lunch break we found a journey of giraffe close to the road as well as zebra and impala before we came to the lion sighting again. This time they had moved closer to the road and we were able to get a very nice look at the female who also obliged us by popping her head up and staring at us. The male, however, stayed hidden, in the grass with only the top of his mane showing. As we made our way back along the river we came across more elephants as well as a flock of vultures who had been busy bathing and then dust bathing before holding their wings out to dry in the midday sun. We also found Southern ground hornbills and Pied kingfishers. We came across 4 separate sightings of white rhino, all very close to the road with two crossing the road in front of us as well as elephant, impala, kudu, warthog and waterbuck sightings.
After coffee we headed around the river finding more impala, baboons as well as vervet monkeys and hippos. We made our way to a second lion sighting we had heard about stopping at a lovely elephant sighting as a large family herd crossed the road both in front and behind our car. I then got a whiff of the not so nice aromatic smell of an elephant in musth and sure enough a minute or so later a large male crossed the road in front of us following the ladies down to the river. When we got to the lions they were unfortunately hidden very well in the tall grass, the male did pop his head up occasionally but the sighting was not very good. We waited for around 30 minutes at the sighting but with no luck so I decided we would go for lunch and then try our luck afterwards.
After our lunch break we found a journey of giraffe close to the road as well as zebra and impala before we came to the lion sighting again. This time they had moved closer to the road and we were able to get a very nice look at the female who also obliged us by popping her head up and staring at us. The male, however, stayed hidden, in the grass with only the top of his mane showing. As we made our way back along the river we came across more elephants as well as a flock of vultures who had been busy bathing and then dust bathing before holding their wings out to dry in the midday sun. We also found Southern ground hornbills and Pied kingfishers. We came across 4 separate sightings of white rhino, all very close to the road with two crossing the road in front of us as well as elephant, impala, kudu, warthog and waterbuck sightings.
14 May 2014
Today was the final day of this tour but we still had time to go for a
short drive before we had to head back to Nelspruit. We took a drive around
circle road as well as shabeni loop, unfortunately the morning started off very
quiet as all we saw to start with was kudu and impala. We then spotted tree
squirrel up on the rocks before finding a family group of klipspringers all
watching out from their advantage point up on the top of the rocks. As we drove
along Albasini we found more impala and a family group of warthogs who made
sure they kept their distance from us.
Unfortunately it was then time to leave the Kruger and head back to Nelspruit where I said farewell to my three guests who are heading back home to the USA.
Unfortunately it was then time to leave the Kruger and head back to Nelspruit where I said farewell to my three guests who are heading back home to the USA.
Keep watching for more!!
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