Kruger Self drive Jan 2019 - Call of The Woodland Kingfisher

[Hads]

Thanks again @Tom Kellie for your wonderful comments and feedback.

Well if that is a African Wildcat well that is my first and right in front of my chalet, it obviously is looking for scraps and the odd tourist must feed it.

It sat with us for quite awhile.

Thanks for identifying the little guy for me.

[Tom Kellie]

17 minutes ago, Hads said:

Thanks again @Tom Kellie for your wonderful comments and feedback.

Well if that is a African Wildcat well that is my first and right in front of my chalet, it obviously is looking for scraps and the odd tourist must feed it.

It sat with us for quite awhile.

Thanks for identifying the little guy for me.

 

~ @Hads

 

May I please ask a few followup questions?

 

Roughly how many meters away from you was the African Wildcat?

 

Did it seem relatively calm while it was near you?

 

Did it lick its paws, make sounds, or lay down?

 

I'm asking because my one-and-only extended encounter with an African Wildcat involved looking at the top of a stump where it rested, looking around.

 

A fascinating sighting. I'm glad you shared the image. Thank you.

 

Were I to ever visit the Pilbara, I wouldn't mind a sighting of a pygmy python!

 

Tom K.

Edited March 1, 2019 by Tom Kellie

[Hads]

@Tom Kellie I live near the Dampier Archipelago on the coast in the Pilbara region of NW Western Australia, if you ever get here one day I would love to show you some of the local sights and wildlife.

 

Roughly how many meters away from you was the African Wildcat? 5 meters

 

Did it seem relatively calm while it was near you? Yes it seemed very relaxed probably due to residing in the camp and being used to Humans

 

Did it lick its paws, make sounds, or lay down. It sat up the whole time, it did lick its paws from memory - I think he was waiting for scraps which I did not give him/her.

[Hads]

Day - The day of Elephant encounters.

 

The 4 of us all travelled together today in the one vehicle.

The route taken was the H6 to sweni hide, the S41 and then around the S90 back towards camp.

The early risers where a nice black backed jackal and Hyena on the H6.

 

 

Kori Bustard

Hyena making its way back to the den.

 

 

The sunrise was also stunning - how good are the sunrises on Safari - it doesn't get much better than this.

 

Up she comes..

 

 

Edited March 1, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

Travelling together the 4 of us had good fun the whole day.

I did not take as many photo's of the plains game but had fun with Redbilled oxpecker on Giraffe.

Water buck in nice light.

Cleaning time in the Chacma family.

 

 

Classic Franklin pose (Swansons spurfowl?)

Red billed oxpecker

 

 

Help!!!!!

Ok I know you are in there somewhere........

Edited March 1, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

A car stopped us on the S41  near the Gudzani east waterhole and said there were 4 cheetahs on a kill........ As we were heading in the right direction we thought we would be fine.It was about 10km's away - we were very excited.

These cheetah boys apparently have been seen alot in this area.

As we arrived there was 3 cars sitting there.........One guy said your 5 mins late they just walked over the hill.........  We only saw the vultures... We were abit disappointed but that is life on Safari.

We continued on with our Journey and had our first Ele sighting of the day - the first of many....

 

Near the Nwanetsi bridge

He came up onto the road.

A situation I always try and avoid - is being in front of a queue with a bull elephant walking towards the cars - no room for reversing quick if needed.

Later in the day Conrad and I had a moment with an Ele.....

Near the S100 was a group of 4 Ele's all back to back resting - interesting positioning.

 

 

The holy one.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

It was getting up around 9:30am and we were close to camp, we decided to have a drive to Nsemani dam and then return for Brunch.

As we got to the dam 3 Ele's had entered for a swim - they were great to watch and seemed to be enjoying it very much.

One of the Ele's however seemed abit annoyed and stroppy - he splashed and stomped angrily in the water on his way out towards the road.

 

He made his way towards the road crashing into tree's and seemed upset - their is a high ridge up the side of the dam to the road, Ethan said to his Dad " can he walk up the wall Dad?" No way said Conrad..... Next minute this guy walked straight up the wall between us and another 2 vehicles - we all moved very quick out of his way - lesson learnt never underestimate what wild animals can achieve. I did not get photo's of this as it was abit chaotic.

What a wonderful end to our morning drive.

 

 

 

 

 

The Angry boy...

Blue waxbill back at camp.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Hads

[Tom Kellie]

2 hours ago, Hads said:

@Tom Kellie I live near the Dampier Archipelago on the coast in the Pilbara region of NW Western Australia, if you ever get here one day I would love to show you some of the local sights and wildlife.

 

Roughly how many meters away from you was the African Wildcat? 5 meters

 

Did it seem relatively calm while it was near you? Yes it seemed very relaxed probably due to residing in the camp and being used to Humans

 

Did it lick its paws, make sounds, or lay down. It sat up the whole time, it did lick its paws from memory - I think he was waiting for scraps which I did not give him/her.

 

~ @Hads

 

Thank you so much!

 

The marine life in your part of Australia was featured in a graduate school class I took many decades ago.

 

That's a very special place to work and live.

 

That the African Wildcat was so close is interesting. I appreciate the follow-up information above.

 

The Nsemani Dam elephant photos are delightful — what a show!

 

The second Cordon-bleu image, focussing on the luminous grass stem is outstanding. What a photo!

 

Tom K.

[Hads]

@Tom Kellie - the blue waxbill photo was supposed to be focused on the bird not the grass, but it turned out ok in the end, one of those lucky shots.

[Hads]

It was just after midday and everyone was chilling out, Conrad said Hads lets go for a midday drive, FIL and Ethan took time out to relax as it was a scorcher. 

I did not have to be asked twice and before I knew it we were heading Southwards down the H1-3. We kept going until we got to Kumana dam, it has plenty of water this time around and lots of grass.

Ellie's were there having a nice swim and we sat and enjoyed them for half hour or so.

Having a good bath.

 

 

 

Plenty of plains game around as well

 

 

Spot Mr Woodland

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

After enjoing the Ele's we headed off down the S125 - then onto the S36 & headed back to camp via the Tar H7 road.

The S125 is a beautiful riverine drive but the bush can be thick in places.

We had more Ele encounters on this road, one got abit hairy............ Let's say one young bull did not like us driving by too close too him - another lesson learnt....

 

Yellow crested Barbet.

 

The young Ele bull who we upset......

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

As we drove quietly past the young bull Ele - I thought I would capture him on film.

This is when things got abit hairy for a few seconds and had the Adrenaline pumping.

Conrad's quick thinking got us out the way - he picked a Gap between 2 small tree's to get through and we did abit of Off roading..........We had a good laugh after this - The Ele more than likely just mocked charged but it got the blood pumping.

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

We headed back to camp as we had some distance to cover - what a great fun midday drive we had .

Not far from the Ele encounter we came across a breeding herd. Definitely a day for Pachyderms.

 

Sorry pic is abit blurry.

Tawny Eagle - well at least I think it is.

 

C'mon I'm hungry mum.

My old favourite.

Edited March 3, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

We were only back at camp for half an hour or so and FIL & Ethan were ready for the afternoon drive.

We definitely made the most of this day in the park - we did not drive far this afternoon and we had another pleasant drive on the S100.

First up Mr Ele Bull - who would of guessed

 

Conrad spotted the lovely little bush buck.

Juvenile Bateleur?

Conrad got very excited when he spotted this Bateleur 

Ground hornbills out and about again.

One less frog in the world.....

 

 

We finished up with a Fish eagle  & my favourite bird the WKF 

Kudu Bull

This croc was in a large uddle on the side of the road not far from the Nwanetsi river on the S100 - a bigger croc might of pushed him away.

Edited March 3, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

What another wonderful day in Kruger - great to spend time with special people.

We earnt our Beer's and Braai tonight.

I did manage to capture a blurry picture of Mr Honey badger running through camp while we were having our Braai - evidence pics only.

 

 

 

Mr HB

I had the camera settings all wrong.........

Scorpion in our hut.

Edited March 3, 2019 by Hads

[Peter Connan]

Some great sightings again! You seem to have gotten really close to your wkf this time.

 

I do hope you know that shirt is lying?

 

[Towlersonsafari]

Ahh the nervous laughter  of relief after a close ele encounter!

[CDL111]

Great day out with the eles.

[Hads]

Hi @Peter Connan - I went looking through the pics and seen what was written on the shirts.

I had to use Google as I did not understand what was written on young Ethan's shirt .

My father in law often yells at his farm dogs - VOETSEK , but does not wish them a nice day 

 

I was very lucky with the WKF this time - the last pic he was focused on something in the bush and did not fly away.

Edited March 3, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

Day 6 - Predators out and about

 

We caught up with Conrad and Ethan about 4:30am and said our Goodbye's, Conrad had to get back to work the following day and he had planned a big drive South of Satara looking to exit Kruger down near Phabeni Gate - he did see more lion prides and a leopard as he did this drive out of the park. It was great spending time with both of them

 

We all headed off on our own directions - FIL and I decided to do the S100 - S41 - S90 route again.

First up was a lone Hyena just out of camp and a troupe of baboons.

 

The S100 was very active with lots of plains game.

 

Chacma troupe

Look out ........

Life's tough

European roller

Nice croc on one of the S100 river loops

Plenty of Wildebeest with young.

Nice Tusker

Impala family

Friendly Sparring

Green pastures

Young Kudu Bulls

Very Relaxed

Mud face on.

Water Buck Bull

Edited March 11, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

We got onto the S90 and there was a car stopped.

As we got closer we could see 1 cheetah laying down - now we are pretty pumped to be seeing our first spotted cat.

 

After a good look around there was in fact 2 Cheetah's about 70 metres apart looking off in the distance at some Zebra and Wildebeest which had young one's.

We sat with these guys for well over an hour - we thought there might be a chance of a hunt as both cats hopped up walked a little and then sat back down several times before relaxing in the grass. From memory there was a maximum of 4 cars at the Cheetah sighting.

Very happy with our mornings drive with alot of game out and about.

Whats that over there....

Lets have a look

 

Very open plains on this part of the S90

Maybe I can sneak up.

Thinking about it......

Still Thinking

Bugger it too far away.....

Mr Jackal

 

 

Nice swansons spurfowl in classic pose.

What a wonderful end to a great morning drive.

Edited March 11, 2019 by Hads

[Hads]

When travelling in Kruger a good App to put on your phone is Kruger sightings - we always checked it once back in camp and you also get the alerts on your phone.

"Lion on Kill south of Satara".

FIL was going to rest so I decided to go for a lunchtime drive to see what I could find.

The zebra kill was only about 9km's south of Satara and there was about 6 cars sitting by watching - it was the heat of the day and the Male Lion was not eating and would not let the 4 females near the kill either.

The flies got close though.

 

 

 

Flyblown

Beautiful eye's

 

The lionesses

Maybe he will share......

 

Lets go try get a snack

These lionesses loooked in beautiful condition with very Golden fur coats

It looks tasty

After some snarling and growling by the Male the girls retreated.

 

Edited March 11, 2019 by Hads

[Dave Williams]

Catching up and enjoying every scrap of information on this report @Hads

A couple of observations from things I have picked up reading all I can in preparation for our trip in September are:-

1)The choices of camp. We are staying in 10 different camps at an average of 2.7 nights per stay but I haven't included Satara and have had constant worries that I have missed out. You can't fit everything but we are at Talamati for 3 nights and Olifants for 2 so maybe I'll get over that way even if it's on the journey when we move

2)The photo showing footwear in post 65 immediately had me thinking Scorpion risk then I saw a photo of one in the same post! I was considering getting an ultra violet light lamp too!

3)The sighting APP. I have an open mind but it tends to be more negative than positive. Maybe we'd be better off if there was no communication at all and just took things we found. On the other hand we might not see anything as a result! We are only staying in the south of the park for 6 of our 27 nights purely as I don't want to be in an overcrowded, road jammed environment jostling to get closer to the scene so in those circumstances the APP has a reverse use too! I know where to avoid!

3) The Elephant experience is a worry. When driving I have had just one extremely close encounter with one of only 2 Ellie's I saw in Namibia. I hadn't got the engine running and when it got down to the other side of the road looking like it wanted to cross over where I was parked I decided I'd move.When on a guided drive in Tsavo we had another scary moment and I could feel the guide's anxiety too as we were trapped between a challenging male in front and a whole herd blocking our rear retreat. Ah well, fingers crossed!

4) Where did you buy your Braii food from? How well stocked are the park shops in your experience?

 

Anyway, looking forward to reading more. Excellent report.Thanks for sharing.

[Hads]

Hi @Dave Williams,

Apologies for the slow reply - how good is it to have Safaritalk back up and running again.

Thanks for the feedback and following along.

In regards to your questions I will do my best to answer below.

 

1. Talamati is not that far from Satara, I have driven the roads near Talamati a little and enjoyed them especially the S126/S125. The Eastern half of the S126 is particularly a nice drive. I have never stayed at Talamati but it does sound very nice.

I think you mentioned previously you plan not to drive too far each day but if you get a chance a drive down the S100 - S41 to (with a stopover at the Sweni hide) H6 and then back along the S126 towards Talamati would be an awesome drive but would take half a day I would think.

I have not stayed at Oliphants but have had brunch and lunch there a few times, the views over the Oliphants river are fantastic.

I enjoy staying around Satara due to good chances of seeing predators, it has a mixture of nice open plains S90, and nice riverine roads like the S100.

 

2. The scorpion is the first I have seen on my several trips to Kruger, maybe I have been oblivious to them in the past, I always wear thongs or go bare footed whilst on Safari but probably should take more precautions.

 

3. I enjoy the sighting APP ,as it alerts you to what sightings have been seen, if something is close by it can always be worth a look. I also like speaking to the rangers and safari guides who are very friendly and often give good advice/location on sightings had.

 

3. You are right about elephants, you always have to be careful - my father in law never turns the car off if elephants are close by.

 

4. You can stock up on basic fruit and vege and meat in the kruger main camps, you can not buy food in the Bushveld camps e.g. Talamati

 

 

Happy to answer anymore questions - I cant wait to hear about your trip , your itinerary looks great.

 

Hopefully I can get cracking on the final 3 days of this TR soon. 

 

[Dave Williams]

Thanks for taking the time to enlighten me ! 

I've downloaded the Kruger sightings APP, one way or another it will be useful!!

I appreciate there are no opportunities to buy anything in the Bushveld camps, just wondering if we can get things for a BBQ when passing a main camp, or indeed staying there.Thanks for that useful info too.