We had one full day at Lower Sabie Camp before moving on to Talamati and I realised that it was probably the only chance to explore some more of the southern part of the park. The main tar roads that link Lower Sabie and Skukuza are allegedly hot spots for predators so we had to give it a try. Claire agreed we should get off early to try and take in as much as possible but instead of taking a tar road we chose gravel, the S29. The majority of the road is open grassland and the guide books give it a high rating.
First thing in the morning we drove the whole length and hardly saw a living creature. We were prepared to get up early, our subject matter presumably wasn't! However, I was delighted to spot a pair of Black-winged Kites
I once had a horrendous experience locked in a tiny hide for 16 hours in the vain hope of photographing this species ( or anything else for that matter), the most uncomfortable day I have ever spent with nil reward to show for it, consequently I have a score to settle with this species. Once again though I didn't get what I was after and the birds stayed distant, every time I moved the car nearer they moved further away again. At least I got to see and photograph one this time though so that was pleasing.
Just off the S28 there is a gravel road that leads up to the Mlondozi Picnic site and it's a route well worth taking.
When we got there we were the only people bar the man who looks after the place and appears to live in a nearby cottage. The birds were only just waking up!
A Dark-capped Bulbul
and a Laughing Dove were having a scrap over a piece of bread.
but the special bird sighting here was a pair of Mocking Cliff Chat.
Male.
and female.
The views from this picnic site which is raised on a hilltop were far reaching and impressive. Although distant we had four of the "Big Five" seen in the area including this male Lion.
Not the best of views, it must have been a mile away, but if nothing else we'd seen one!
Closer to us a pair of Hyena were just below the hillside.
and there was a steady procession of different species visiting the waterhole below.
This part of the park is close to the border with neighbouring Mozambique and is vulnerable to raids by poaching gangs so it's heavily patrolled by armed rangers and from up here I'm sure they can keep an eye on things for miles around.
We stayed a lot longer than anticipated there was so much to see and by the time we left there were 4 or 5 cars plus an OSV full of foreign tourists like ourselves. A man stepped out of one car with two trays of eggs and I'm not sure if that was for personal consumption or if you could buy food there. As in all the picnic sites you could hire a gas skottle to have a fry up meal and quite a few do.
Anyway, we pushed on with the intention of taking the S30 gravel road then the H4-1 tar road taking us to Skukuza Rest Camp for breakfast there.
Skukuza is the biggest camp in the whole of KNP. Described as a small town , it even has an airport, it seemed it would be my idea of Rest Camp hell. Sure enough the car park was jammed packed, the queue for take away snacks huge but it did have a wi-fi signal. I could find out how my beloved football team was getting on and I was pleasantly surprised to see we had opened up an 8 point lead in the league table too!!
The catering at Skukuza is run by Mugg and Bean, as it is in Lower Sabie. We chose a breakfast wrap which was OK but far from memorable. Returning to the car park it's amusing to see all the day visitors who have arrived in OSV's looking for their own vehicle. There were dozens to choose from but they are all identical in design and colour so there were a lot of confused people searching for theirs! Yes, all the vehicles have signage but I also noticed a large proportion of these visitors appeared to be from the Far East. I would have the same problem if the writing was in Chinese too!
Anyway, we were glad to escape the mayhem but we did note that the shop in Skukuza is by far the best in the park.
We decided to head east via the tar H1-2 , a highly rated road, but once again saw very little of note before eventually arriving at Tshkwane Picnic site. There we had lunch, a Jaffle which is a toasted sandwich. Very nice indeed but it didn't look as good as the food a neighbouring table were eating. I enquired as to what it was and made a note to order the same on my next visit.
I would be back!
The picnic site was quiet compared to Skukuza and Afsaal, the one we visited on our first day, and when I asked a member of staff they said they had been busy until news came through of a kill sighting 8 kms up the road and all the vehicles had suddenly taken off to search for it.
It goes against my instinct to join in with the crowd but our day had been fairly unrewarding so far, and I can assure you it can quite often be too, so I decided to join the crowd if that's what it would take to see something of note.
Our drive took us 10kms further north than I'd anticipated driving and we still hadn't come across anything until we arrived at a large waterhole, Mazithi Dam .
Here at least there was some activity and only a couple of cars watching so it seemed too.
Elephants enjoying a mud bath.
and when they had cleared the area, a Giraffe came down to drink.
A pair of Saddle-billed Storks seemed to be catching Frogs at a steady rate.
Each one washed a little before it met its final fate.
There were a few other birds on the water too but after a while we decided it was time to go when something caught my eye.
Striding towards the waterhole one of my top target species for the trip.
The sighting of the day for me, I was delighted as there had been some doubt as to whether I might see one.
It was a fair distance away but the views weren't too bad!
The "kill sighting" might not have materialised but this was better as far as I was concerned.
We headed back south, the extra 20 kms worth the effort.
Arriving at the Open Dam loop we decided to take a look, once again seeing nothing but once back on the tar road we came across a group of three Klipspringers about to cross the road.
I love these little antelope that walk so elegantly on tip toes!
Mind you, easy to miss when you are driving along as they are well camouflaged too.
As we were passing we decided to have a quick peep to see what was about at the Mlondozi picnic site passing our first Ostrich sighting of the trip as we went.
That alone was worth the diversion but there was nothing there and nothing to be seen from the top when we got to the site itself.
Still, all in all a productive day with some decent sightings. I greeted our neighbours in camp on their return to ask how their day had gone.Incredible they said, they'd taken the Orpen dam loop and a pair of Lion had suddenly appeared out of the bush and walked alongside their car for the next couple of kilometres.Just goes to show, luck plays a huge part, a few hours later we had seen absolutely nothing!
Tomorrow though it was time to move on to Talamati Bushveld Camp, one I was really looking forward to. Just 15 units, no shop or facilities such as fuel and laundry but there were two hides, a waterhole and not many people to share with.
Bring it on!
TBC
First thing in the morning we drove the whole length and hardly saw a living creature. We were prepared to get up early, our subject matter presumably wasn't! However, I was delighted to spot a pair of Black-winged Kites
I once had a horrendous experience locked in a tiny hide for 16 hours in the vain hope of photographing this species ( or anything else for that matter), the most uncomfortable day I have ever spent with nil reward to show for it, consequently I have a score to settle with this species. Once again though I didn't get what I was after and the birds stayed distant, every time I moved the car nearer they moved further away again. At least I got to see and photograph one this time though so that was pleasing.
Just off the S28 there is a gravel road that leads up to the Mlondozi Picnic site and it's a route well worth taking.
When we got there we were the only people bar the man who looks after the place and appears to live in a nearby cottage. The birds were only just waking up!
A Dark-capped Bulbul
and a Laughing Dove were having a scrap over a piece of bread.
but the special bird sighting here was a pair of Mocking Cliff Chat.
Male.
and female.
The views from this picnic site which is raised on a hilltop were far reaching and impressive. Although distant we had four of the "Big Five" seen in the area including this male Lion.
Not the best of views, it must have been a mile away, but if nothing else we'd seen one!
Closer to us a pair of Hyena were just below the hillside.
and there was a steady procession of different species visiting the waterhole below.
This part of the park is close to the border with neighbouring Mozambique and is vulnerable to raids by poaching gangs so it's heavily patrolled by armed rangers and from up here I'm sure they can keep an eye on things for miles around.
We stayed a lot longer than anticipated there was so much to see and by the time we left there were 4 or 5 cars plus an OSV full of foreign tourists like ourselves. A man stepped out of one car with two trays of eggs and I'm not sure if that was for personal consumption or if you could buy food there. As in all the picnic sites you could hire a gas skottle to have a fry up meal and quite a few do.
Anyway, we pushed on with the intention of taking the S30 gravel road then the H4-1 tar road taking us to Skukuza Rest Camp for breakfast there.
Skukuza is the biggest camp in the whole of KNP. Described as a small town , it even has an airport, it seemed it would be my idea of Rest Camp hell. Sure enough the car park was jammed packed, the queue for take away snacks huge but it did have a wi-fi signal. I could find out how my beloved football team was getting on and I was pleasantly surprised to see we had opened up an 8 point lead in the league table too!!
The catering at Skukuza is run by Mugg and Bean, as it is in Lower Sabie. We chose a breakfast wrap which was OK but far from memorable. Returning to the car park it's amusing to see all the day visitors who have arrived in OSV's looking for their own vehicle. There were dozens to choose from but they are all identical in design and colour so there were a lot of confused people searching for theirs! Yes, all the vehicles have signage but I also noticed a large proportion of these visitors appeared to be from the Far East. I would have the same problem if the writing was in Chinese too!
Anyway, we were glad to escape the mayhem but we did note that the shop in Skukuza is by far the best in the park.
We decided to head east via the tar H1-2 , a highly rated road, but once again saw very little of note before eventually arriving at Tshkwane Picnic site. There we had lunch, a Jaffle which is a toasted sandwich. Very nice indeed but it didn't look as good as the food a neighbouring table were eating. I enquired as to what it was and made a note to order the same on my next visit.
I would be back!
The picnic site was quiet compared to Skukuza and Afsaal, the one we visited on our first day, and when I asked a member of staff they said they had been busy until news came through of a kill sighting 8 kms up the road and all the vehicles had suddenly taken off to search for it.
It goes against my instinct to join in with the crowd but our day had been fairly unrewarding so far, and I can assure you it can quite often be too, so I decided to join the crowd if that's what it would take to see something of note.
Our drive took us 10kms further north than I'd anticipated driving and we still hadn't come across anything until we arrived at a large waterhole, Mazithi Dam .
Here at least there was some activity and only a couple of cars watching so it seemed too.
Elephants enjoying a mud bath.
and when they had cleared the area, a Giraffe came down to drink.
A pair of Saddle-billed Storks seemed to be catching Frogs at a steady rate.
Each one washed a little before it met its final fate.
There were a few other birds on the water too but after a while we decided it was time to go when something caught my eye.
Striding towards the waterhole one of my top target species for the trip.
The sighting of the day for me, I was delighted as there had been some doubt as to whether I might see one.
It was a fair distance away but the views weren't too bad!
The "kill sighting" might not have materialised but this was better as far as I was concerned.
We headed back south, the extra 20 kms worth the effort.
Arriving at the Open Dam loop we decided to take a look, once again seeing nothing but once back on the tar road we came across a group of three Klipspringers about to cross the road.
I love these little antelope that walk so elegantly on tip toes!
Mind you, easy to miss when you are driving along as they are well camouflaged too.
As we were passing we decided to have a quick peep to see what was about at the Mlondozi picnic site passing our first Ostrich sighting of the trip as we went.
That alone was worth the diversion but there was nothing there and nothing to be seen from the top when we got to the site itself.
Still, all in all a productive day with some decent sightings. I greeted our neighbours in camp on their return to ask how their day had gone.Incredible they said, they'd taken the Orpen dam loop and a pair of Lion had suddenly appeared out of the bush and walked alongside their car for the next couple of kilometres.Just goes to show, luck plays a huge part, a few hours later we had seen absolutely nothing!
Tomorrow though it was time to move on to Talamati Bushveld Camp, one I was really looking forward to. Just 15 units, no shop or facilities such as fuel and laundry but there were two hides, a waterhole and not many people to share with.
Bring it on!
TBC
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