28 November 2017 – Even The Bad Days Are Good So Long As I Am In Kruger

No two days in a game reserve are ever the same. Some days the creatures appear around every corning and the adrenaline pumps all day long as one predator sighing after another pops up. On others you can drive for miles through beautiful countryside but with hardly a sign of life and you wonder if Scotty has beamed the wildlife up from the earth and then all of a sudden they’re there again and you once again exclaim in awe and wonder at the sight of gentle impala or strikingly beautiful zebra.

We started off early this morning on the H4-1 and enjoyed some good birding and saw all the regulars. We took several loops until we came to Skukuza where we had breakfast at The Cattle Baron which overlooks the Sabie River. It is an awesome venue.

The Jacobin Cuckoo

Who can resist all this cuteness?

Always great to see the red-crested korhaan

Red-billed Oxpeckers grooming a kudu

After breakfast The Earl said he would not take me to my favourite hide – Lake Panic – as our next camp would be Skukuza and we would have five days to spend there! But then he told our friends that he might have a grumpy wife for a few hours so stopped there anyway! What a brilliant spot. I could have stayed there all day. The lesser masked weavers were busy with nest building, the African Black Crake was busy seeking snacks, a squacco hero fished and so did a green-backed heron. We saw several pied kingfishers and a little malachite as well.

Lesser-Masked Weaver

Female Pied Kingfisher

Male Pied Kingfisher

Green-backed Heron

Expert at fishing

Squacco Heron

All fluffed up

A terrapin is always fun to see

Mom and baby hippo

It was an elephant day today and although we’ve seen many we still get a thrill with each new heard we encounter.

Suddenly the hills were alive with elephants

They came down and surrounded us

Later we came upon a huge herd, quietly marching through the trees to a waterhole. It’s quite scary when they wave their trunks at you, trumpet loudly and then pass you by with a nonchalant gait.