MABALINGWE 14TH TO 18TH MARCH 2011 - LAST DAY

Pleasant evening - no wind or rain.  Woke to Lions roaring again this morning. Went out for our last drive (afternoons tend to be too hot and very quiet). Snapped a couple of birds in the camp

Chin Spot Batis

Waxbills enjoying a bath

We did spot a "cat" crossing the road ahead of us (quite far) - it could have been a leopard or a serval (Luis saw spots) - suspect it was a leopard as legs did not appear long enough for serval - but then, it was quite far and, obviously, no sign of it once we reached the crossing spot!
On the same stretch of road, we saw this really goofy looking young giraffe - gotta love the hairstyle

Goofy

We head home tomorrow - so ...... until the next trip ....

MABALINGWE 14TH TO 18TH MARCH 2011 - DAY 3

It rained well into the night and thereafter the drops dripping off the trees onto the caravan roof prevented us hearing any animal night noises. Plus rain is always conducive to a good nights kip! Game ride this morning was largely about birds.  It started off very misty, so, while we didn't have Gorillas in the Mist, we had Giraffe and Wildebees in the Mist (let alone the unseen lurkers):

Giraffe in the Mist

Wildie in the Mist

Some of the birds posed for us:

Good old faithful Crested Barbet

White Throated Robin serenading us with his pretty song

Melba Finch

Pied Babbler

Comb (Knob Billed) Duck

 

 

 

MABALINGWE 14TH TO 18TH MARCH 2011 - DAY 1 & 2

Reasonably uneventful journey getting here.  Last 10km we were stuck behind 4 massive abnormal load corn harvesters taking up 3/4 of the entire road (R516).  We were in no rush and stayed tucked in behind them - enabled us to see some scenery and it was entertaining to see the oncoming traffic getting forced off the road.
Went out for a late afternoon drive but didn't see much - apparently there was some recent elephant and impala culling - tends to make the survivors skittish!  Did have this close sighting of a blue headed agama:

A pleasantly restless night as woken by honey badgers scratching in dustbin and crunching bones, unidentified things walking on roof of caravan, roaring of lion (distant), hooting of owls, screeching of francolin (something set them off!), very late night call of the woodland kingfisher, jackals - ah what bliss! Sharon had a nightmare - something to do with a leopard chasing her - and she woke up shouting and kicking.  That woke Luis up!!
We were determined to rise and shine early Tuesday morning to see if game were more accommodating.  Up before sunrise, normal blutes, sipping pleasant cup of coffee when "things" started plopping on our canopy - Luis got his "very powerful torch" and was shining torch up into trees above us - exclaimed that "it was raining" (but only above his head, we must add) - turned out to be a monkey peeing. Drenched his newly shampooed hair and dribbled on his T-shirt. Good for a giggle or 2 ... or 10.
Below pic is our camp site (offending "monkey tree" to the right of camp).

Had a pleasant 3 hour game viewing experience. 

Banded Mongoose

Lovely large kudu (largest male we've ever seen)

This cuckoo would not show his chest but based on hint of black stripe while "posing", we suspect this is a striped cuckoo not Jacobin.

Back at camp, the heavens opened up and the rain came pouring down.  Still very warm and rain welcome to wash away the lingering smell of monkey pee (yet another giggle!).

KNP-PUNDA MARIA (2 NIGHTS); SHINGWEDZI (2 NIGHTS) & LETABA (2 NIGHTS) - 9TH TO 15TH JANUARY 2011

Feels like we're back home.  A very watery visit - wouldn't be surprised if there's flooding in the near future. Mostly overcast but still hot (& humid). One day of full sun and hot as hell!!! Park is very green and dense so viewing is extremely difficult.
Punda Maria:  Plenty of goggas and no Doom to be had in shop (our "permanent" stock in the caravan was not replenished!).  Stopped at all restcamps en route to our various next destinations and no Doom available at any of them! Lathered ourselves with Tabard lotion. "Lime Green Spider" very prolific and hanging from just about every tree - trips to 'blutes very scary.  Saw little snake at 'blute as well.  (Couldn't ID him).
Special trip to Parfuri to "see" any of:  Narina Trogon; Crested Guinea Fowl or Trumpet Hornbill - didn't see (or hear) any of them.  Rivers at Crooks Corner (border of SA, Zimbabwe and Mocambique) in full spate as were all the rivers on rest of our journey. Mahoney's loop very pretty with lots of "flowery" vegetation (Pride of De Kaap; Lowveld Cluster; Toad Trees included).  Held up by elephant and distracted by Red Back Shrike attacking a scorpion so back at camp 1 minute past gate closing.  Warden thought it was funny.

"Lime Green Spider"

Wet bedraggled Jackal

Chingwedzi:  Some nice bird sightings and close up personal encounters with Crocs on the causeway outside camp. They submerge themselves right next to the causeway with the water flowing into their mouths to catch any luckless fish, etc.

WhiteFronted BeeEater

Green Pigeon

Jacobin Cuckoo (Elusive)

 
Letaba:
Once again, some lovey bird sightings and a small (1 male, 2 females and 1 "unknown" (concealed by grass)) pride of lions. A chameleon was hanging on the elctric fence (which was off at that stage) so we carefully moved him to another, safer location.  He became quite irate and puffed up to about twice his normal size - interesting to behold.

Irate Chameleon being relocated away from electric fence.

Wahlberg?

Martial

Burchells Coucal

Elusive Helmeted BushShrike

Quick shot (no time to "frame") of a Paradise Fly Catcher

4 x lions concealed by grass - would have past by if one of them had not lifted it's head.

Violet Backed Starling

Woody

Mrs Violet Backed Starling

From the time we hit Phalaborwa all the way through to Polokwane, the rain pelted down. Normal tranquil rivers and streams were in full spate.  In some areas, the rivers had burst the banks. After Polokwane the rain was lighter but stayed with us all the way home.  Interesting journey!

GOOD OL' KNP OCT 25th to 31st 2010

Ah, it's nice to be back here - it feels like home.  Spent 3 nights at Letaba and a further 3 at Satara.  (In caravan). Had a blow out on one of the caravan tyres on the way down.  Tyre was wrecked but fortunately, no other vehicle damage.  Battled like crazy to get the wheel nuts off.  At one stage, I stood on the spanner (that SHOULD have done the trick!) but to no avail:  spanner jumped the nut, spun madly and clobbered me on my shin!! (BIG OUCH).  Got 2 new tyres fitted at HiQ in Lydenburg.  Wonderfully helpful crowd but can't say much for the dude from Toyota (whose premises HiQ shares) - this man was rude and threw his toys because we parked where HiQ told us to and that turned out to be where this Toyota man wanted to pull a big bus through.  Didn't ask us to move, just threw toys!!!  I responded in kind!! (Not pretty).  Upshot is, in the end he indicated we should stay where we were (with a rude gesture, I might add) and nearly reversed into us.  My feeling is that that move was deliberate as he did not need to come back so far!  Anyway, I complained bitterly (and vociferously) to HiQ management who extracted an apology from the man (think he's a service technician). 
Definitely a blow out trip as when we were travelling home we were behind a truck and he had a blow out right in front of us - huge "bang" - gave me the fright of my life but Luis responded calmy and dodged all the bits of flying rubber.  Trucker came to a dignified stop in the emergency lane so: no harm done! 
Back to more important things:  KNP is dry with a lot of burning having been carried out.  Still, the animals look healthy.  This was a lion (7 sightings) and bird (lot's of normally elusive chaps photo'd for posterity) trip.
Met an awesome couple - Gordon and Sharon Day from Savanna Bush Lodge outside Pretoria. 
Similar interests and habits.
Below are some random shots of the birds we managed to capture on camera:

Pearl Spotted Owlet

Paradise Fly Catcher

Orange Breasted Bush Shrike

Pygmy KingFisher

Violet Backed Starling

PuffBack Shrike

Burchell's Coucal

For those of you who want the mammals:

And, last but not least, one of the sunsets that Satara is so famous for:

For the greater part the days were overcast but, oh boy, when the sun did make it's appearance,  it was rather hot to say the least.
Till the next trip ......

Day 24 (Augrabies and last blog for this trip)

Ah well - all good things come to an end.  From the minute we left Nam it felt like the holiday was over and ahead loomed a looooong trip home.  Anyway, ended up in Augrabies as an overnighter to break the journey.  Augrabies is renowned for it's Klipspringer (apart from the falls, of course!).  We drove around the entire game section and eventually came upon this solitary female (nearly missed her - she was right next to the road!).

We also had our first (believe it or not!) sighting of monkeys.  Most unusual. They didn't even visit us in the camp (or any of the other camps we have stayed in either).  Lots of little happy Dassies hanging around.

Left Augrabies with the intention of overnighting around Kuruman.  Must mention at this point that a cold front started, oh, probably about 4 days ago - we are now following it and everywhere we stop it is windy and chilly.  We eventually pulled in to the caravan park at Kuruman, got out the car to go to the office and it was bitter!!!  Decided enough is enough and proceeded home.
We traversed a total of  8 227 kms in 24 days - an awesome trip.  Lasting impressions of Nam:  Arid wilderness, no litter, very little traffic, friendly people and general good level of education.
Highlight:  ETOSHA.

Today, Luis spent the entire day cleaning out our mobile office.  It sports:  hot coffee, good lighting, reclining seats, climate control, 12v/220v power supply, GPS, network communication both Nam and SA and cruises comfortably at 120kms for a minimum of 1500kms without stopping!  Well done Brutus and the Rad!  (and, of course, our driver, Mr Luis, who drove the entire 8 227kms apart from the 10 meter stretch I did at "Leopard Gate".  Total diesel cost:  R7 473; Total diesel used:  940l;  Accommodation cost:  R7 320 (this figure includes conservation fees at the various National  Reserves that we stayed in).  Total all in cost (including repairs to Aircon and network data bundle, etc):  R16 585  (Food excluded as that would have been consumed at home, in any event).

We look forward to sharing our next adventure with you.