For the second and last full day before moving on to Lower Sabie we took the road...to Lower Sabie!!
Maybe there is a flaw in the planning starting to show already here, it will be more obvious as we go on too but if you place yourself in a corner there is little choice of which way to go. I was aware before we left and had made the decision to always head north where possible to cover all the spaces, particularly those where we were skipping rest camps.
Once again, we arrived at Lower Sabie for brunch and this time I had a steak pie and a coffee and it was only marginally better than the previous day's sausage roll. Soggy puff pastry doesn't do much for me. We had heard good reports about Mugg and Bean, the caterers at both here and Skukuza, but the snack offerings made us decide we'd Braii whilst stopping there too!
Anyway, my grand plan, the tour of the park , was heading north wards after Lower Sabie and I wanted to go back to Biyamiti Weir one last time, I'd fallen for the place.
We took a new tar route then the gravel S21 before joining up with the route we'd taken on our first full day which had been so rewarding.
Arriving at the weir I was delighted to see no cars, I had it all to myself! Well, with just Claire anyway.
Wow, great stuff.Two Saddle-billed Storks were showing in close proximity!
One was even sat down to make it easier to frame the subject!
No Waterbuck drinking today but there were Impala
Nervous too, the slightest movement and they leapt back.
No wonder either, it's only a relatively small pool at this time of year but it has some large residents that are not always apparent!
Out of the water you can see what a monster this one is too.
Well over 3m in length once that has you in it's grip its curtains.
It's not the only monster though, in fact it's small in comparison!
The Hippopotamus might look harmless, a big docile beast but looks are deceiving. They are the cause of many human deaths and judging by the scars they carry they are not averse to the odd fight with they fellow species.
Just look at those teeth!
If there was just one spot in the whole of the park I could go back to, this would be the one. It has everything going for it but maybe only when the time of year is the right one. When water is flowing over the weir you couldn't park where I was, you wouldn't be getting those wonderful eye level views.
Yes, the heron you might find easier as its a few inches off the ground but these are not!
You could be in the water with the bird
I could have stayed all day
You never know what might happen next
There was always something to catch the eye it seemed.
However, as I'm not the best photographer in the world by any means and I need several visits to get it right, well as right as I am capable of anyway.
This would have been brilliant if I had put the focus point in the right place but I just missed!
and maybe with hindsight a smaller aperture for more depth of field...particularly as the bird got closer and closer.
I wouldn't have said no to some brighter light either but there again, you do soon learn that a dull day in Kruger is your ally. The sun brings both heat haze distortion and the animals retreat out of sight so , sooner it dull than brilliant sunshine.
I'd subjected Claire to long enough in one place so we moved on.
Amazing how blasé we become. Today's "lifer" can soon become tomorrow's also ran.
So many Rhino opportunities that if they weren't right in front of me I didn't bother.
That soon would apply to many other species too.
However, Steinbok and especially this Dwarf Mongoose were still on the wanted list!
I knew if we waited long enough we'd get the full shot and sure enough after 15 minutes of deliberating it came out!
It had been another great day of wonderful sightings and our trip still had so much more to come.
Tomorrow would bring a new camp , a new experience.
T.B.C.
Maybe there is a flaw in the planning starting to show already here, it will be more obvious as we go on too but if you place yourself in a corner there is little choice of which way to go. I was aware before we left and had made the decision to always head north where possible to cover all the spaces, particularly those where we were skipping rest camps.
Once again, we arrived at Lower Sabie for brunch and this time I had a steak pie and a coffee and it was only marginally better than the previous day's sausage roll. Soggy puff pastry doesn't do much for me. We had heard good reports about Mugg and Bean, the caterers at both here and Skukuza, but the snack offerings made us decide we'd Braii whilst stopping there too!
Anyway, my grand plan, the tour of the park , was heading north wards after Lower Sabie and I wanted to go back to Biyamiti Weir one last time, I'd fallen for the place.
We took a new tar route then the gravel S21 before joining up with the route we'd taken on our first full day which had been so rewarding.
Arriving at the weir I was delighted to see no cars, I had it all to myself! Well, with just Claire anyway.
Wow, great stuff.Two Saddle-billed Storks were showing in close proximity!
One was even sat down to make it easier to frame the subject!
No Waterbuck drinking today but there were Impala
Nervous too, the slightest movement and they leapt back.
No wonder either, it's only a relatively small pool at this time of year but it has some large residents that are not always apparent!
Out of the water you can see what a monster this one is too.
Well over 3m in length once that has you in it's grip its curtains.
It's not the only monster though, in fact it's small in comparison!
The Hippopotamus might look harmless, a big docile beast but looks are deceiving. They are the cause of many human deaths and judging by the scars they carry they are not averse to the odd fight with they fellow species.
Just look at those teeth!
If there was just one spot in the whole of the park I could go back to, this would be the one. It has everything going for it but maybe only when the time of year is the right one. When water is flowing over the weir you couldn't park where I was, you wouldn't be getting those wonderful eye level views.
Yes, the heron you might find easier as its a few inches off the ground but these are not!
You could be in the water with the bird
I could have stayed all day
You never know what might happen next
There was always something to catch the eye it seemed.
However, as I'm not the best photographer in the world by any means and I need several visits to get it right, well as right as I am capable of anyway.
This would have been brilliant if I had put the focus point in the right place but I just missed!
and maybe with hindsight a smaller aperture for more depth of field...particularly as the bird got closer and closer.
I wouldn't have said no to some brighter light either but there again, you do soon learn that a dull day in Kruger is your ally. The sun brings both heat haze distortion and the animals retreat out of sight so , sooner it dull than brilliant sunshine.
I'd subjected Claire to long enough in one place so we moved on.
Amazing how blasé we become. Today's "lifer" can soon become tomorrow's also ran.
So many Rhino opportunities that if they weren't right in front of me I didn't bother.
That soon would apply to many other species too.
However, Steinbok and especially this Dwarf Mongoose were still on the wanted list!
I knew if we waited long enough we'd get the full shot and sure enough after 15 minutes of deliberating it came out!
It had been another great day of wonderful sightings and our trip still had so much more to come.
Tomorrow would bring a new camp , a new experience.
T.B.C.
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