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Kruger Self drive Jan 2019 - Call of The Woodland Kingfisher


Hads

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Thanks @michael-ibk we were truly lucky blessed the last 3 days.

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We stopped at Skukuza for a wonderful lunch overlooking the Sabie River.

There is always plenty to see and the Vervot Monkeys provide plenty of entertainment and are pretty cute.

 

Cape Buffalo

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Who you looking at....

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We better find mum.

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In my Comfort zone......

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Why cant you just sleep like your brother....

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I Love this shot.

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Edited by Hads
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We left Skukuza and headed southwards back towards Biyamiti - being the hottest part of the day it was a little quiet.

We heard about a leopard kill on the S65 N'waswitshaka waterhole road - but the leopard was resting out of site when we arrived.

 

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Our journey also took us via the Transport dam , one of my favourite places in Kruger - there was 2 Cheetah sited but they were flat sleepy cats.

 

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Lovely fish eagle at the Transport dam

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Mr Hippo out enjoying the midday heat .

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White faced ducks

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Closer to camp there was a resting Dagga boy and a pair of nice Klipspringers.

 

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Near the western end of the Private Biyamiti road is a nice weir which you drive past at eye level - it has some resident hippos.

 

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Edited by Hads
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As it was a big day for FIL and I we did not venture to far for our afternoon drive staying on the Private Biyamiti road.

We had some very nice sightings still and enjoyed them on our own .

 

We had a nice sun-downer close by at the local lookout and reminisced about our Sensational day in Kruger.

 

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And for my next trick

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Lovely herd of Ele's

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Male Kudu

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Ok I lost both fights and 1 1/2 horns - I had a bad day........

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I see it.

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And I see you too!

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Red billed oxpecker in action.

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Female water buck

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Guinea fowl in fading light.

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Edited by Hads
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Our last day in Kruger for this Safari  - I always have a tinge of sadness on the final game drive for the trip.

What sightings would we come across.

I discussed with FIL if we could drive North and do a big loop via the S65 to see if we could catch our lepard in the tree - obviously chances were slim.

We had a plan and we sticked to it - the day was overcast with patches of rain.

 

Our first sighting was a cracker though - 3 large male lions on our private road, no other cars just FIL and I. We stopped and had a very early coffee and rusk and enjoyed these big guys.

They moved around a little with our presence and then settled down to rest again watching us from a distance.

No 1

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No 2

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No 3

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What a cracking start to our day.

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Which one do you want to eat??????????????

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We left the big boys in peace and drove off with big smiles in our hearts.

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At the Weir was Mr Hippo with his back turned to us

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North of the weir along the  S114 we had a Ele road block.

This guy was resting his trunk and then decided to have a dust shower.

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We have to wait awhile until we could get past.

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Edited by Hads
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The S114 is always a pleasant drive, next up was a couple of stunning White Rhino's.

 

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You can't help but feel sad when you are in the presence of these wonderful animals and you can only pray for the safety of there future.

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We continued along to the S65 road to try get a glimpse of the leopard with it's kill. Unfortunately most of the dead impala was gone and the leopard was nowhere to be seen.

 

However once we got onto the H11 there was 2-3 cars driving slowly and looking for something in the long grass. A very friendly guy in a landrover said they spotted a leopard walking along but was hard to see.

 

We got a glimpse.........

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We made eye contact - she was a stunner.

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She then climbed a tree directly in front of FIL and I - AMAZING. We stopped the car and had another coffee and rusk and enjoyed her presence for about 25 mins before decided to move on.

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Striking pose

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Let's get up further shall we.

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Silhouette in the overcast skies.

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With a keen eye she was scanning the area.

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She then gave us some wonderful photo opportunities.

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Is rain coming??

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Not long after this shot she hopped down and walked deeper into the long grass

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FIL and I High 5 each other as we slowly drove off.

Edited by Hads
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FIL mentioned we should have breakfast down at the Afsaal traders rest camp which sounded like a fantastic idea to me.

You would not believe it though just north of Afsaal about 1 km there was about 4 cars stopped on a hill watching another leopard sleeping in a Marula tree.

It was tricky to get a decent look and the rain was getting heavier - we stopped for a few minutes and decided to go have a lekker breakfast :) .

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After breakfast  we headed south along the down the H3 and took a little detour along the S118 and then back on the S114 before we got to the exit gate at Malelane.

The S118 is a stunning little drive along the Mhlambane river -  we had 2 beautiful sightings of Bateleurs.

The first in a tree.

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The second was on the S114 and was eating a  leopard tortoise that had been run over by a car  - well I assume it had anyway.

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These are a Majestic bird

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Nothing is wasted in the wild.

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Another striking pose

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Not much will escape these Talons........

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Thanks to everyone who followed along with my Trip Report, I hope you all enjoyed it.

FIL and I had a blast.

Thankyou Kruger for sharing your treasure's once again.

 

Goodbye :) 

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Edited by Hads
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Towlersonsafari

Hurrah! what a splendid series of sightings-we cannot wait until we are there next-only a year! thanks very much @Hads

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Your welcome @Towlersonsafari and thanks for following along the journey.

 

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Dave Williams

Great stuff Hads. If I get half the sightings you did I'll be delighted!

The Tortoise being run over by a car seems like a really unnecessary thing to happen, it's not as if they dash in front of you after all.A shame.

 

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@Hads, reading your TR with some excellent sightings made me realise that I desperately need a Kruger fix. :D Thank you!

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@Ritsgaai - maybe it's time for the Kruger fix.

@Dave Williams thanks for following along the TR. I am sure you will get many wonderful sightings.

It is a shame about the Tortoise - they are no speed demon. Some drivers have no respect thats for sure :( .

 

 

 

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Thank you for the excellent trip report! I cannot wait to visit Kruger one day. Beautiful pictures!

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  • 5 months later...
Dave Williams

I have just been re reading the Biyamiti section as I have now booked it for next year. You had remarkable luck seeing what you did in such a short space of time!

 

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Hi @Dave Williams - I think you will really enjoy Biyamiti, nice private road and the Biyamati weir is close by :D

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Dave Williams
10 hours ago, Hads said:

Hi @Dave Williams - I think you will really enjoy Biyamiti, nice private road and the Biyamati weir is close by :D

 

That's exactly why I booked it!

 

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