29/30.08.09

Knowing that i had about 600 klicks to do tomorrow and then from next Friday somewhere in the region of 5000klicks over the following three weeks i planned to do none today. It made sense and quite truthfully in my mind the trip was essentially over from a game viewing point of view, and indeed from the perspective of mulling over everything that i had wanted to think about and meditate on.

I was still up early though and after an early brief walk i sat with Ross by last nights fire, drinking coffee and chatting as we watched the bush through the fence. Somewhere around 7am i did go out for a brief drive around a dirt loop that follows the letaba. I found a little spot and parked up under the boughs of a few big trees overlooking the water pools in the river bed surrounded by flat rocks and reeds where i poured my last coffee out of the flask, had my last boiled egg and ripped a chunk of rye bread of my last loaf. The rest, which was not much i threw out under the trees and soon had a variety of red winged starlings, glossy starlings, bul buls, hornbills and guinea fowl for company. As i ate my last bush breakfast for the trip i watched three giraffe make their way from the other side of the river, drink gingerly one at a time in a pool of water before continuing on their way and disappearing off somewhere to my right.

I finished off the loop, which is about 7 klicks, checked out the old missionaries cross that was carved into the leadwood some 3 or 400 years ago and idled down to the big bridge for five minutes or so where i sat watching a hippo grazing, and had my last look this time around at the face in the cliff.

I was back in camp by 9.30 or so where i pottered around and caught up with my scribbling before taking a good long siesta.
A nice shower, letaba has excellent water pressure so it is almost like a good massage, followed by a nice lunch on the verandah of the camps restaurant overlooking a big wide bend in the river bed.

There were various animals around including a very nice sized tusker that was just below and lots of others coming and going from the water.

I took a good walk after lunch, checked the magnificent seven which now seems to have become the Magnificent nine and then walked along the path overlooking the river on my way back to my tent.

I was having supper with Ross and Eve again which Eve was cooking so lucky me all i had to do was chill which i did.

Later i looked at some of Eve’s pictures which were fabulous, there were a few that were simply superb and in fact have been printed by getaway and go magazines, not to mention winning her some handsome prizes…and rightly so may i say.

We had thai curry which was delicious, and once again the evening flew by with constant conversation. Ah elephant came by as we were talking which is always nice to see by torchlight, especially when so close, and at one point we heard a right old commotion somewhere in front of us and probably around 50 to 80 metres away. There were jackals barking and what we thought may be a leopard snarling. Later on, as i retired to bed i could hear several lions as well.

An excellent last night it has to be said.

The final morning arrived and as usual i was up way before six. There was a light mist over the bush in front of me,and i had the wonderful sight of a small herd of impala walking towards me looking quite ethereal as they emerged from the mist as i was brewing my coffee and drinking. I took a long walk around the camp after that, going off along the game path at the very base of the fence alongside the river as the sun rose up in the east.

Even there within the fence, as i walked along the path that had been made by various game inside i could feel and appreciate to a certain extent the sensuality that walking in the bush gives you. The light from the rising sun was fantastic, and with many trees growing high on the bank above me i could truly appreciate them all the more as the sun shone almost parallel with them, the base of their trunks being at least 15 feet above my head.

Back at camp i found Ross and Eve busy packing as they had decided to move on down south for the last couple of weeks of their trip and i got stuck into taking down my little tent and the final packing myself. By 8.45 they were on their way and by 9, i too left the camp heading for Phalaborwa gate.

Normally at this time i am pretty despondent about leaving but somehow this time around it was fine and i was ready to go home. I had done everything i had wanted to do and thought through everything i needed to with the added bonus of getting the opportunity to discuss some of it with what i now consider to be good friends.

The game viewing was not necessarily as good as it may have been and certainly the photo opportunities were not abundant, but strangely enough i felt that was going to be the case when i first set out, i just did not want to write it down in case i may make it worse and create some kind of self fulfilling prophesy so to speak. It is ok though, as i have said, this was all about time for me and achieving afew things outside of photography.

Mind you i am sure that the fact i am going away again in a few days helps considerably… and of course i will be back up for January 2010.

Jeez…2010!!!!

Hamba Kahle

27.08.09 Midday and here i sit in Mopani again. After another excellent sleep i was up very early for a sunrise drive but apart from the usual there was nothing out of the ordinary, everything was as marvellous as usual…although i must say, as i sat waiting for the sun to rise the early morning birds did seem exceptionally noisy which of course is fabulous. All the various types of francolins in particular were really on song.

After a good long shower outside, again surrounded by a perfect rainbow i came through to Mopani where i have been chatting to a field guide for quite a while ( not to mention his party of 6 german females!!)…i wanna be a field guide…lol.

I managed to download my mails again and had some great news in that my little brothers first grandson was born this morning at 3am, Jack be his name and tonight i shall toast his birth with a chilled beer by the fire as i finish off my potjie.

Coincidentally i came to at about 4am this morning, 3am English time when he was born, and i shall look forward to telling him one day about where i was and what i was hearing at the time of his birth.

Through being here and having the luxury of being able to switch off from the stresses and strains of life this has been a brilliant trip for me. I cannot say i have come up with all the answers i need but i have cleared my mind to a very large extent and now know my next few steps in certain areas.

Knowing that i will be doing in excess of 5000 klicks next month when i go up to Botswana i have decided that for the next few days i am going to do very little driving and lots of sitting…listening and watching the birds and just appreciating whatever i may see or hear regarding game.

I have changed my plans slightly and am going to leave tzendze tomorrow to spend the last couple of days at letaba where i will really chill, do some socialising with Ross and Eve and spend time in the camp seeing what i can capture with the camera.

I just walked out onto the terrace for a while and watched a bull elephant close to where i was across from a stretch of water that lies to the right. Almost next to him was a group of 15, grazing impala and as they had been approaching a 12 foot croc came out of the water and was laying behind a ridge of sand waiting for them to reach him. They sussed him out from about ten feet though and scarpered back the way they had come before disappearing into the bush line, some of them with high, long, beautifully graceful leaps that they do over some bushes.

Anyway, it is almost 3pm now so i am going to head out somewhere and park close to some water and trees and hopefully something will come along in front of my lens.

I arrived at the confluence just before 3.30 and parked in my usual spot right on the edge of the bank at the very point where the two rivers join. As i have written earlier there are two large long pools of water, maybe 60 feet long each and about 20 feet wide at their widest point at the joint of the ‘T’ created by the joining of the rivers, albeit mostly sandy dry river beds at this point in time. I had a good scan around and immediately spotted the soft white underbelly of a couple of lionesses just on the bank immediately north of the ‘T’.

North

Does that little diagram make sense? The figure ‘I’ is the river where the two pools of water lay and the dotted line is the other river, if i had the computer skills the two lines would join.

The lionesses lay in low green riverine bush to the north as per the diagram but in actual fact, just to confuse things further North is actually west…lol. I was sitting on the bank under the ‘wing’ of the left hand side of the ‘T’ about 30 metres away and maybe 20 feet higher than them, a perfect view!

Brilliant to see them, then as i looked harder i counted another one, then another and another. There were in fact 6 of them with the sixth one being about 10 metres away under another bush, three lionesses and a male. That was it, my afternoon was sorted!
I got my bigger lens organised, made myself comfortable and settled down for the next couple of hours.

Within 5 minutes there was movement further up the river and i saw a water buck coming down to drink..fantastic and the adrenalin started to pump a little. The buck came closer and closer, a few steps, smelling the air…looking around…a several steps more…until he was just 30 metres away from the water and the lions on the other side.

The lions had seen it about the same time that i had and instantly become alert and still, the one separated from the others in crouch position watching the bucks every movement intently, the others now also crouched and laying as low as possible to the ground behind the greenery. My heart was definitely beating harder…some fantastic pics coming up!!

Then i heard the low rumble of another car, a prado , coming up behind me with three people who i could hear chatting almost as easily as i could hear the engine. They pulled up behind me with a sqeal of dusty brakes and immediately one almost shouted out LION!!…

Well, i don’t know, maybe the buck understood English because virtually instantly he bolted and was gone. Jeez i was so pissed i could not even bring myself to even look at these people.

I think what must of happened is that they distracted one of the lions who turned to look at the new arrivals and the buck saw the movement, it was over in a flash and the lions then all looked up at the bank in disdain and virtually snorted with disgust!!
After a few minutes they all went back into snooze mode and to make things even more irritating the folk in the other cab took a few snaps of them and drove off again. I never understand that at all, all many people really want to see is lion, then when they find them they get bored after a very short while and move on again. Oh well, who am i to judge.

After a while a few more cars did arrive and stay but they were all much more serious about their game viewing and sat patiently in their cars waiting to see what would happen if anything.

For the next hour and a half or so the lions occasionally got up to stretch their legs, or rolled over..one side to the other and a couple of them seemed to far prefer laying on their backs with their legs up in the air.

At about 4.30pm a couple of fish eagles flew in and the one came in to land in a tree on the bank directly opposite me overlooking the pools af water.

I trained my lens on them and sat for at least 30 minutes waiting to get the perfect shot as she took off again, occasionally capturing various moments of them looking up and down or readjusting their position. I kept glancing over at the lions to make sure they were still there, which, apart from a few new positions and the one on its own having joined the others, they still were..

At one point i turned round to get a boiled sweet out of the packet on the passenger seat and the bloody thing flew off at that precise moment!!…can you believe it. My head was only turned for an instance and when i looked back there was no sight of him.

I did not have long to be irritated with myself though, the sun had now gone behind trees to the west and as the shadows fell on where the lions were laying i could see them become restless and start to move.

One by one they got up, stretching themselves and walking around a little, a couple of them in particular seemed more eager than the others. After a short while they stared to space themselves out alongside the river bed.

There was a bit of playing with two of them, the one had moved into the riverbed and lay down low behind a clump of reeds, as her mate approached a few minutes later she leapt out in a feigned playful attack. When they move like that it is easy to be able to see the power and agility within them, not to mention the speed. Of course the approaching female saw it coming and side stepped out of the way with ease, swiping the air with her paw as she did.

I remember once, i was at Moholoholo watching a couple of lions through a wire fence, one had apparently been a circus animal for most of his life and the other an orphan from the wild. I had a little camera with me and had poked the lens through the wire to get a shot. I was concentrating on what i was doing when a third male lion stalked me and out of nowhere leapt up at the fence by standing on his hind legs.

Well let me tell you, if one of those things comes at you with serious intent you would simply not have a chance. The paw was higher than my head and the mouth was level with my eyes with just this thin wire fence separating us, i could smell his breath on me as he exhaled into my face and looked into my eyes with a growl.

A ranger was present and the bugger, having seen it happen before let it be as a joke on me…lol…some joke, but i saw the funny side. In fact i can say that it was actually a great moment to have and an expertience i shall not easil forget!!

Anyway, back to the present, and with the lions clearly setting up their ambush tactics for an early evening supper i had to leave, it was almost 5.45 and is always the case in these situations i begrudgingly started the landy up as the pastel coloured aura left by the sun started to fade into the evening sky.

Although i still have a couple of nights left it felt like the beginning of the end of this trip, and i suppose it was. Fortunately for me this time the feeling is well tempered in the knowledge that after a few days in Joburg next week i shall be off again on my way to Chobe and the Okavango delta in Botswana.

Back at camp i lit the fire, put the pot on to warm up the potjie i had made the night before, and cracked open a beer. The beer was very special tonight as i learnt by mail today that his first grandson, Jack, was born this morning, so i toasted and drank to his birth and good health as the scops owl piped in to be answered by his mate further to the east.

I intended sitting up for a while as the fire died down but the wind started to get up and i decided to extinguish the embers and sleep. Later at midnight i was woken by lightening slightly to the south and quite a serious downpour, a little early in the year for rain but they do say over here that the august winds bring the rain. I got up just to check my tent and lower the awning over my kitchen area so as not gather a puddle and within 10 minutes was back fast asleep again until past 5am.

26.08.09 For sure that was the coldest night so far. One good thing about cloud cover is that it keeps things a bit warmer….actually another good thing about clouds is that they often provide the best sunsets and sunrises.
I slept solidly, like a baby in fact until just after 1.30am when i was woken by the need to pee again…i must stop having so much liquid to drink in the late afternoons and evenings, not that it has been beer, in fact i have not felt like or had one for several days.

I know i slept very well and deeply because even though it had only been for 5 hours i was quite refreshed and would of got up if i could of gone out.

Instead i lay in bed dozing and listening to the sound of the bush. It was very busy, elephants were back after a couple of nights absence and i could hear the low rumbling growls of their stomachs and every now and then the cracking of another branch or tree being broken down. The sound is like the crack pistol shot almost.

The hyaenas were noisy all night and at about 3.30 the howling was very close, it must of been almost next to the fence of the camp it was so loud. The jackals were also barking and making plenty of commotion, the scops owls were constant and occasionally i heard the pearl spotted owls too. Later in the morning after i had gotten up at 5.15 i heard the giant eagle owl again in the distance. Intermingled with all that were many other night noises mixed together creating quite a racket altogether, a pleasant racket though, the night bush opera i call it.

Even though there was not a cloud in the sky the sunrise was still quite special, as i passed by mooiplas a red fiery ball rose over the lebombo in the distance and the sky turned from dusty pink to peach to yellow to bright blue.
A fantastic sight to start the day, which was very timely because it looked like i had a problem or two. First of all i get in the car to find that my freezer had switched off and the rear battery system was not charging and then the red light for my brakes started flickering. By this time i was already on the Nshawu dirt track but i decided i would get on to the tar road and take a drive down to letaba where i could get some power to see if it was the freezer or the actual system.

I was just thinking of stopping to open the bonnet to check the brake fluid when i saw a bull elephant about twenty metres to my right. He was probably only about 5 or 6 years old in his early years of adulthood with tusks that were less than a metre in length, however, whatever age he was he was still bigger than my landy. I could see that he was irritated as he moved towards me as i passed shaking his head and flapping his head with his trunk raised. I did not think too much of it as i carried on by doing about 20kph, however as i looked back i could see that he was picking up speed although not coming towards but parrallel with the track i was on but i just thought it was gesture and carried on figuring he would settle as soon as i was past. The next second i look in my left hand wing mirror and all i could see was elephant filling the whole mirror and coming up fast on my rear left side less than 15 metres behind me!! Well i figured he was not interested in chatting so i put foot and moved up a gear I started pulling away but he kept coming so really put the pedal down and sure enough within another fifty metres or so i looked back and saw that he had stopped and was shaking head after me. I tell you, something like that really does get the adrenalin going even though i felt no real danger to myself being in the car and with speed available, i guess a gut feel kicks in and i know when i am in the dwang or not when faced with difficult situations but even so i am not an adrenalin junkie per se and don’t need that too often.

The rest of the drive down to the tar road was uneventful and after having a good look around i checked under the bonnet to see that indeed the brake fluid was low so after topping up i went on my merry way heading south for letaba.

Mind you, i did see two bull elephants in the reeds in the middle of the river bed having a go at each other, i could not see too well as they had kicked up a hell of a dust cloud. I did stop to try to get a picture which would of probably been a brilliant shot but as i did they seemed to stop and head over to the opposite side leaving just a big cloud and their rear sides disappearing through the reeds. I wondered whether they were perhaps so grumpy because it had been such a cold night. There were in fact many tuskers dotted throughout the reeds all along the river, possibly a warmer place to be but i don’t know that for sure.
I had discussed the possibility with Ross and Eve of moving down there for my last night to catch up with them and apart from getting the power i figured i would have a look for their tent when i arrived, maybe have breakfast together on the verandah overlooking the river if they were there.

On the way down i had to wait for about fifteen minutes at one point as another herd of elephants were busy crossing the road and after this mornings performance i was not going to push my luck at all.

At letaba i first went to a power source and to my relief the freezer came on as soon as i plugged it in so that was not the problem, and then, silly me, i saw that the system had tripped and all i had to do was flick the main switch on again. Relief all round, i could of done that in the first place, but i guess that being so early in the morning and dark when i realised there was something wrong i did not even think of it.

Then to the main gate reception to check on safari tents (permanent tents)for my last night but it booked up solid. I drove round the camp grounds and found Ross and Eve’s tent but no one was around so i left a note to say that i may in fact rock up a day earlier as i realised when i drove down how much i like the terrain around letaba camp and thought it might be nice to have a full day in the area before heading back north and stopping on the big bridge over the letaba for breakfast.

I took a slow to medium drive back after that, not really looking for animals, but lost in deep thought about various things.

In truth that is what this trip is all about really, rest, relaxation, totally tuning in on myself and focusing on the near future. I have had some specific things to think about, problems and old issues and meditating on them here is the perfect tonic. It is a luxury that i fully realise how fortunate i am to be able to take the time to do so. Then again, there have been times in the past when i have not necessarily been in a position to do this but i have done it anyway, at the end of the day my physical and spiritual health is far more important to me than anything else that life throws at you.Game viewing, photography and blogging is part of the process, but just being here is what i needed, i guess i can call the bush my sanctuary, it has been for many years in addition to everything else it provides me with.

I found myself looking more at other people in the several cars that passed me by and trying to read the minds and moods of the various folk. I think i did to a large extent, but i am not confident enough to share those thoughts as yet, i don’t want to sound like a smart ass. I do wonder about some people though and cannot help but feel that too many people in this world just do not smell the roses so to speak.

I am sitting in Tzendze at 8.10 in the evening right now and for the first time here i have just heard heard lion, maybe a klick or so away. Not roaring per se, but that gruff sawing sound that they make Grr, grr, grr from somewhere deep inside their throats, a deeply resonant sound that they make as a form of short distance communication.

The evening has been lovely. I made myself a lekker potjie and lit a fire to sit by whilst eating and now feeling very chilled and well fed as the fire burns down.

Back to today; On the way up i stopped at middlevlei for 30 minutes or so watching various animals coming through the bush to drink as they kicked up dust clouds just walking along. The dust rising above the Mopani bush making it very easy to spot them coming. At one stage there was a couple of warthogs drinking that were then chased away by a small herd of zebras…all the animals seem a bit irritable today, maybe it was the cold night and the dust they make rise up.

A helicopter hovered around the Nshawu in the distance and i wondered again if it was Rudi counting the ellies.

Back at camp by 11 am i made a nice breakfast once again on the skottel followed by an outside shower again. It is quite a scorcher and the sun made rainbows in the shower.

By 2pm i was sitting back up on the terrace at Mopani enjoying the peace and tranquillity and doing a bit more scribbling here. To be honest i almost felt like spending the entire afternoon there it was so pleasant.

However, as the day waned i moved out again thinking i would have a slow drive past Mooiplas and then back to camp to rustle up my potjie which is exactly what i did.

On the way i saw a family of 4 ground hornbills walking towards and past me through the bush which was nice, a slender mongoose and i managed to get a couple of pics of a pair of coursers pecking in the dirt at the side of the track, i am not totally sure which variety they were to be honest but i think they were bronze winged coursers which i have not seen before as far as i can recall. They are nomadic birds and not at all common.

After that i came back to camp getting a couple of shots of the sunset on the but still managing to be back soon after 5.30 giving a 30 minutes of so to prepare my fire and cooking for the evening.

25.08.09 Having slept so early i was fully awake soon after 4am and up by 4.45, very much relieved to find that the wind had died down completely. It was lovely to just sit in the dark drinking my first coffee listening to the night sounds of the bush die away. I could hear the great eagle owl hooting far away and close by was the sounds of both the scops and pearl spotted owl.

There are others camped in the various clearings of the bush camp and it is also quite interesting to hear the sounds of some of them waking up…!

I was up at the gate by 5.45 and shortly joined by a group of four who were being picked up by a ranger from Mopani for an early morning bush walk, so i chatted to them briefly before heading off to Mooiplas in the hope of getting some sunrise shots as the skies were still pretty well clouded over. Not to be though as the clouds proved to be too dense.

However, i did come across a couple of Kori Bustards have a early drink and then as i headed down the track further towards the Nshawu i came across a pack of ten Hyaenas walking along the track in front of me. A great sighting and i ended up trailing them for nearly an hour as they walked on. Three of them branched off at one point so i carried on with the other three havinga good chuckle as two of the younger ones at the back attempted to catch a couple of francolins that zipped into a thicket to escape.
I eventually lost them in a lala palm thicket right on the sandy banks of the Nshawu where i then sat watching a herd of approximately 20 Tssessebe at the rocky water pool if the reeds whilst breakfasting on my favourite bush breakfast (in the landy) of boiled eggs and rye bread with another coffee.

Not feeling like driving much after yesterdays excursion i crawled back to camp soon after 9am where i had a super long shower before heading for Mopani where i sit now in the lounge on Fish Eagle terrace overlooking the dam. I treated myself to a scrumptious ‘dawn patrol English breakfast’ and juice outside on the terrace, before catching up here on my blogging.
Plenty to see over the dam with hippos out of the water still grazing, a couple of water buck at the waters edge, fish eagle perched in a deadwood tree, blue cranes, plovers, starlings, egrets and others with a very fat monitor lizard parked on top of a rock directly below the terrace…it looks like he had a huge breakfast himself!! By time i was all done it was past 3pm already and closer to 4pm before i drove out again.

Taking a flyer i zoomed up to the stapelkop dam which is 20 klicks to the west. A very rutted road gave me a bumpy ride and to be honest i kinda wished i had not gone, but then on the other hand i was thinking of going out there early one morning which i shall not now do. When i say ‘zoomed’ i mean a steady 40 kph!…apart from the fact that i was a bit short on time going faster can sometimes be the best way to cross rutted roads, especially when they are baked hard in the winters sun with no rain for gawd knows how long. I sat for 5 minutes when i arrived to rest up and scan the area which is quite large and then ‘zoomed’ back.
The dam was very low with a couple of low sandbank islands in the middle, these islands were absolutely crowded with some very big crocs ‘sunbathing’. Actually it is probably a good place to sit for the day with a good chance of seeing the crocs take a buck or something coming down to drink.

They should rename the place ‘croc lake’.

There were a few impala to be seen and a couple of waterbuck but nothing else except the bird life which was abundant. I particularly enjoyed seeing two goliath herons flying from end to end before settling to fish.

On the way back i saw another very big tusker, probably also getting on for 2 metres long per tusk but this guy had perfectly shaped tusks fully intact.

I stopped in at an overnight birdhide that is relatively new which is just 7 or 8 klicks behind Mopani , sitting on the river banks with a low causeway to the right, and a mixture of rocky banks, sandy banks and some riverine bush around. It looked great and i promised myself that i would spend a night there sometime. In the water below the hide was a small pod of hippos with one very young small little thing…if there is such a thing as a small hippo.

I have some good stories to tell about hippos as well. For example a hippo that had been left alone when she was very young had been reared by an ex ranger of the park at his place called moholoholo. I must get around to writing a whole story on Moholoholo on its own as there is so much to tell, but on one occasion when i had taken my sister and her family there for a visit, we were on a night drive in an open topped land cruiser when suddenly the hipp,o who was by then a couple of years old, burst out of the bush and followed us at a trot just a metre or so from the back.

That was very funny to see, but later that evening we were all about to sit down for dinner at the rangers table, Paul Jones, when the hippo barged through the door and just about sent everything flying!…i have an old photo somewhere i must find it and scan it so i can upload it here.

I think it was at that point that Paul realised that it would have to be re-located or something as by now it probably weighed a couple of tonnes!! funny though it may seem, the hippos name was tinkerbell!!!

Having just a n hour or so left before the gates closed i went down to Nshawu 1 waterhole where i found two stunning Bateleur eagles having a late afternoon drink, wonderful sight to see them so close up on the ground and this time i was able to get a couple of shots in between taking a few of the setting sun.

Unfortunately the light had just about gone and i had to use a flash which is not so good but at least i will have some kind of pic for the memory album.

This evening has been a delight, completely still which is a relief after yesterdays wind. A nice fire, tuna salad, and a chamomile tea to finish me off while the fire embers are glowing a soft red. The moon is on the rise again so i am able to see a bit and walk around without bumping into bushes and everything is good, even the not so good in my life is good in fact! Nice space to be in.

24.08.08 The wind had got up during the night was gusting and blowing all over the place when i woke up so i stayed in bed till just before 6am. I figured it was not going to be a particularly good day for game viewing so i decided it would be a good day to take a drive through to Phalaborwa to get some veggies and fruit and a few other odds and ends that i needed.

By the time i got out it was getting on for 7am already and within 5 minutes i had the pleasure of having two honey badgers cross the road ahead of me. It was only a short sighting but lovely all the same, there was a ray of sun poking its way through the clouds and shining directly onto them both which highlighted them beautifully against the greyness of the morning.

However i was right about not seeing too much and the drive down to letaba was very quiet, with all the wind around and the dust it was blowing up i am quite sure that all the animals were keeping their heads down.

I did see another yet another breeding herd of ellies and about 50 metres in front of me at one stage a bat eared fox ran across the road giving me a short 5 second view.

At the letaba causeway i saw a fish eagle on the banks with a freshly caught breakfast, it was a fairly big catch, maybe 20 inches long and i must of missed it by minutes which was a shame. I have often seen this but only once have i seen the actual taking of a fish which was a magnificent sight. If i remember correctly i was sitting in a bird hide outside shingwedzi and was watching the bird sitting in the treetops on the opposite banks of the river when it swooped down and took a fish about 12 inches long directly in front of me at a distance of just 25 metres, the sight is etched in my mind forever!

There were a few other birds around the pools in the river and i sat for a while to take in the magnificence of it all, a sight that never loses its grandeur no matter how many times i see it.

Further south i took my time checking out all the river loops over the Ngwenyeni river, truly beautiful, one of the nicest around and i would say it is probably the image of African river terrain that most people around the world would have in their minds. Certainly my favourite type of country side. There was not too much around except a few buffalo, buck and a medium sized moniter lizard on one of the river banks.

By this time the skies seemed to be clearing and the blue skies were filled with ‘;powder puff’ clouds dotted around, but the wind was still gusting a bit.

I reached phalaborwa just before 10.00 am and spent a couple of hours getting my to do list accomplished before having a big wimpy farmhouse breakfast and getting up to date with all the sports results of the weekend.

Hey hey…England took the Ashes back in style!!

Phalaborwa is a small mining town right on the edge of the park and indeed was the very first place that i entered the park back in late 1981. At that time i used to take sales teams around all of the mining towns and power station communities around South Africa and Phalaborwa was always one of my favourites. More often than not we used to camp out in the bush about 50 klicks away in a place called Hippo pools at Mica, but apart from the beauty and the bush experience the sale were nearly always very good as most of the community never had the opportunity to purchase anything out of the ordinary and i am quite sure they used to enjoy having ‘outsiders’ to talk to for a change in their lives.

Although it is still a very small town it certainly has a lot more bustle about it these days. Back then it had one hotel, a drive in, a few roadhouses and very little else, now it has countless lodges, several restaurants and the entrance to the park has become like a border crossing!

I am very glad that i knew it back then when it was just a small oasis surrounded by pristine bush. The golf course was there in those days, and although i never played personally i heard many stories of rounds of golf being disrupted by elephants, lions and all sorts…i doubt it is still the same.

I was back in the park by 12.15 and the first thing i realised was the silence…we live in such noise and have gotten so used to it that we just don’t realise.

By now the clouds had moved down and the sky was quite grey with the winds still gusting, but i still took my time as i followed the course of the Ngwenyeni north. There are some excellent areas for viewing animals down by the river and other waterholes along the way such as Nandzana, i could smell the presence of animals but saw nothing.

I did see quite a few rollers though which was nice including one that swooped down on an unsuspecting bug of some sort as i approached…a sighted kill to chalk up i suppose!!

On a bridge over the Ngwenyeni i was able to look down on a large herd of breeding el;lies that were spread out for 50 metres back up the river bed and along the banks in the riverine bush which a lovely sight.

Once again at the Letaba crossing i could not resist stopping to take it all in, truly splendid as the great river bed curves to the north on my right hand side.

At 2.25, just before Tsale water hole, i had the unusual sighting of a hyaena, quite strange because of the time of day. She came up out of a dry river bed on my left, crossed the road and sniffed about before moving off into denser bush.
Further on i came across another breeding herd of ellies that were dispersed about the ‘forest’ to my left, although still elephants it is great how different surroundings make the viewings so variable.

I arrived back at tzendze at 3.20 and although feeling a bit tired immediately got on with my chores…washing up etc and was back out at 4.30 to a sunset drive. It was still windy and cloudy but i was hoping to get the chance of some nice sunset shots with all the clouds around. I did, but not the one i am looking for.

I did not see much although i did come across a big tusker with one tusk probably exceeding 2 metres in length, the other being about 12 inches shorter as it was broken close to the point.

Back at camp i lit a fire but the fact it is was too dangerous with the wind blowing burning embers into the dry bush around me so i extinguished it, had a supper out of tins and went to bed before 8pm hoping the wind would be gone by tomorrow.

23.08.09After another great sleep i was woken up before 5am by jackals barking somewhere not too far away. Feeling good i decided to get up and enjoy the pre dawn. It was still very dark which makes for great viewing of the stars and that is exactly what i did. I really must get around to familiarising myself with our solar system so i know which constellations i am looking at, all i know currently is the southern cross. So much for me to learn, and quite honestly that is great as it keeps everything all the more exciting.

All the owls started going off again around 5.30, the Giant eagle owl, scops and pearl spotted as well as the jackals and hyaenas every now and then.

The morning felt great, and i had that wondefull feeling of good it is to be alive resounding within.

At the gate at 5.50 i found another landy already there and chatted with a couple from hoedspruit who were very pleasant.

Heading south i took the phalaborwa road again heading south towards the Letaba river and by 6.20 i came across my first leopard sighting of this trip which i was very chuffed about as i was beginning to think i might not see one this time around.

In the Kaleka riverbed it was just 25 metres or so from me.

Unfortunately it was only a brief sighting as it looked like she had just had a drink of water in a small pool in the otherwise dry riverbed, and within 30 seconds she had disappeared into the bush, but it did not matter too much, i was just grateful for the glimpse of her.

There really is a lot of luck involved with game viewing, especially the cats. I have travelled some roads in the past where i have almost gotten blasé at the sight of lions yet other times travelling the same areas and routes i have not seen one at all.

The river beds and rocky outcrops seemed even prettier at this time of day and the sunrise was absolutely beautiful as there were a few clouds about as well a blanket of cloud higher up that the sunrise soon disappeared into.

A few klicks further on i was also lucky enough to have two large rhino step out of the bush in front of me to cross my path. I startled them though and they turned and ran back into the undergrowth. As i drew level with the spot where they had appeared i saw an open space a few metres on and fortunately was able to see them again staring back at me where they had stopped. However, being the shy creatures that they are went off into the bush again as i tried to get my camera on them.

I crawled along taking over two hours to cover just twenty klicks. I did not see too much else particularly exciting over and above various buck, giraffes and a couple of elephant but the surrounding country was so pretty it more than made up for it. The colours were amazing in the morning light and i vowed to get a decent lens for scenic landscape shots.

I took a couple of pics of a little female steenbok and the background is a beautiful burnt orange which should come out magnificently against the little steenboks hide.

Reaching the just after 9am Letaba i crossed over the causeway and parked up on the far side where the water was for breakfast. It was beautiful and scanned the whole panorama with my handy cam.

I really must get around to editing the many hours of film that i now have and uploading some of the better stuff.

I turned back towards Tzendze after that and had a relatively quiet drive back although i did see a group of ten giraffes at a waterhole surrounded by lala palms which was a nice picture.

I spent four hours back in camp which was lovely, apart from another nice omelette, shower, snooze and general chores i had a nice walk around and enjoyed a good variety of birds, it was a Sunday and a ‘Sunday’ was what i was in the mood for.

I went out again soon after 3pm and took the Nshawu track for a lazy crawl when after a few klicks i realised that not only did i need petrol but i also had to recharge my computer and try again to get a connection to the internet for mails and upload some of my scribbling.

However i was quite pleased that i had forgotten and not gone straight to Mopani because as i picked up a little speed to get there in good time i noticed a couple of ostriches about thirty metres to my left walking towards me. I pulled up and reversed so i was slightly behind a couple of bushes in an attempt to get a couple of shots of them as they approached me and as they went p[ast on there way to the river bed. At the pace they were moving, grazing every few steps it was apparent they were going to take a good ten minutes at least so i reached for my notebook to make some notes. They were still about 20 metres off at this point. Well talk about sharp eyes, the female saw my movement and started running away followed closely by the male. It was actually quite a sight and let me tell you those birds can really move fast, enhanced all the more by the dust they kicked up.
I have had a close encounter with an ostrich before, not in Kruger but at the elephant sanctuary near Hartebeestpoort while i was walking…but thats a story for my bush diary which i will eventually get around to writing about.

At Mopani i sat in the lounge on the fish eagle terrace and for the first time in almost a week got a great connection and was able to upload three days of notes as well as collect my mail as i was finishing up.

There were a couple i had to answer briefly so i only left well after 5pm and took a slow drive back to camp checking out one of the short river loops on the way. Whilst there i noticed what looked like a small breeding herd off to my left and there was one young ‘teenage’male amongst them who took umbrage at my presence and let me know it in no uncertain terms. As i moved off he kind of shepherded me along trumpeting and continually turning towards me in a threatening manner. I knew i was safe but all the same it does get the adrenalin going!

21.08.09
Jeez it was cold last night, i had a dodgy nights sleep. I slept for 5 hours or so then woke at absolutely cold through, and after that i just could not get warm, and with hyaenas going off all round i could not get off again.

I got up before 6 to get dressed for warmth and have some hot coffee, but it was only well past 6 that i started to come right.

Not exactly feeling like a bundle of beans only headed out just after 7am and did the Nshawu river again, but i came back in soon after 9am and decided it would be a good morning to enjoy my camp.

Even chores like washing, fixing things and sweeping out the kitchen area of my tent are a pleasure in an environment like this. Accompanied by hornhills, babblers, golden squirrels everything is a pleasure.

After a nice bacon and mushroom omelette and 50 winks i headed out again around 3pm for a sunset drive south to the tzendze loop, a beautiful sand road that winds itself alongside the tzendze river bed.

I saw many things including two herds of breeding elephants. The second largest one consisting of approximately 40 elephants nearly got me into trouble.

I had pulled into a ‘cutout’ that looked directly over and down onto the river to find two ellies eating their way up the bank, as i stopped they were just a few metres from me, so high up the bank that the top of their heads were about level with the wheels of my landy. I could see they were perturbed by this and a bit agitated…one of them showed me his displeasure immediately by turning round and sticking his rear quarters up at my face!!

I moved out and on up the track 30 metres or so when i saw that they were in fact part of a much larger herd. It was hard to tell as they were largely dispersed throughout the Mopani bush to my right, but it was clear there were many, at least 30, maybe 60.
I sat for about 15 minutes watching quietly and getting a few shots. During this time the two i had seen came up the bank behind me and ambled across into the Mopani, as did a couple of others i had not seen.

After a while i started up and crawled forward again, it was getting on a bit and i could not hang around for too long. As i passed the main herd i noticed one of the bigger ones had snapped a tree that had a trunk at least 20 inches in diameter!!…the break was about 15 feet high and the lower tree trunk was snapped in such a way that the white wood flesh looked like an upturned spear, standing immediately in front of it was a very big ellie, maybe the matron, whoce shoulders stood just a few feet lower than the ‘spearhead’. It was quite a sight so i stopped to get a picture.

As i stopped another 5 fairly big ellies came up over the ridge of the riverbank just 10 metres to my right. I was blocking their progress and was very concerned it might cause trouble.

As it turned out these ones seemed quite calm and chilled but nevertheless i started up straight away and moved on altogether . Although i would of probably been ok in the cab people have and do get killed in these situations.

A short while down the road i came across a thorn tree that had been pushed over by elephants at some stage and had carried on growing almost parallel to the ground. It was absolutely covered with large spiders nests, each nest roughly 8 inches in diameter! Three golden squirrels were perched on a broken branch about a metre off the ground basking in the sunlight looking quite stunning as the setting sun reflected off them.

Once i had finished the loop i headed north back to camp again looking forward to having supper with Ross and Eve at their camp.Eve told me a couple of her stories from the 60′s in london and St tropez, absolutely hilarious, i reckon she must of been the original wild child back in those days!!

We had another lovely evening and once again, sitting round the fire under a blanket of stars the conversation flowed freely about all sorts of things from African adventure to the world at large and the origins of man and our purpose in this life.

20.08.09Just after 10 am now and sitting up in the lounge of the fish eagle deck overlooking the pioneer dam, very sumptuous with stunning views over much of the dam.

It was a bit windy last night and i was woken a couple of times, but only momentarily. All the same i intend getting back to camp when i have finished here and having a little snooze before preparing the potjie for supper tonight.

Ross walked by last night as i was lighting my fire and sat having a beer with me discussing future trips amongst other things, a nice surprise and good to have a bit of company for a while. I am looking forward to having them both visit this evening for supper. After he left i had a nice sardine and egg salad before sitting enjoying the fire burn down and the noises of the bush including a scops owl nearby.

I was up and about just after 5am, it was still a bit breezy at first but at around 5.30 it died completely and i sat having coffee listening to an eagle owl hooting close by and another one answering slightly further away…they seemed to having a good old chinwag! Then the scops olw started up again and almost seemed to be joining in…maybe he was telling them to be quiet as the scops owl is always around making his presence felt. The unbelievably a pearl spotted owl chimed in as well, so for about 15 minutes or so i was drinking coffee waiting for the sky to lighten whilst listening to a whole symphony of owl talk!!
Up at the gate by six i greeted Lydia, Rogers wife, who came to open up, very friendly people.

Heading north west i took the shongololo track up to Fraser rest, a lovely open area with some wonderful big trees dotted around. I did a bit of bush whacking but apart from one old bull buffalo with really long horns and some good bird sightings there was not much around. I had pretty much crawled up there and only reached the spot just before 8.00am but i intend to go back early again one morning and see if i cannot get there by 6.30 or thereabouts as i am sure it will prove to provide something special to see.

I sat there for a while though and had coffee, boiled eggs and rye bread whilst watching the birds and the bushline for any movement.

One lilac breasted roller perched in one of the big trees came gliding down towards me and [picked up some kind of insect just a few metres in front of me. That was nice as i watched him glide/fly in for a good thirty metres with the sun shining onto his bright colours.

It had been a fairly quiet journey up there , a few small antelope, Steenbok, duiker, female kudu and some impala but little else. However at one of the river crossings i saw a big pod of hippos, green heron and a few small aquatic birds.

Apart from checking out the bird hide on the far side of the dam from where i now sit i came straight here to Mopani, where i can see one very large crocodile bathing in the sun and a couple of pied kingfishers hunting for breakfast.
I was hoping i could get a connection so i could upload the last few days scribbling but no luck so far, one more try and if not i’ll try again tomorrow.

Back to camp with plenty to do, chores, cooking etc. By early afternoon i had the potjie bubbling in the camp kitchen and took a walk around looking to see if i could find the owls which i figured must be resting up somewhere close by for the day.
Lucky me, i found the Pearl spotted owl in the lower branches of a big leadwood tree and got some lovely shots as he looked down on me. No joy with the other two though.

After wrapping the potjie up in foil and stowing carefully out of reach of any hungry animals, i had a short nap before taking an outdoor shower and getting out for a sunset drive.

I did not want to go far as i intended getting back early to light the fire and make some pap. With that in mind i decided to trawl alongside the Nshawu to see if i could spot the cheetah with her three youngster. I am quite sure that they will not be travelling too far out of their territory, and with the reeds in the nshawu and fairly open savannah around it was perfect for them.
Not this time, but it was great fun ‘hunting’ for them, however, I did see their spoor crossing the track close to where i had seen them previously so i am doubly sure they are around. Whilst searching, i also came across lion faeces and spoor, and picked up some dried elephant dung and a couple of pieces of leadwood for the fire this evening.

So much for my plans to get back early. On leaving the Nshawu river i headed back to camp on the dirt track that heads west via the mooiplas watering hole and its wide open spaces. Arriving at about 5.15 i found a couple of elephants at the water where i stopped to take a few shots as the were kicking up dust and making a right old scene that was brilliantly illuminated by the sun as it started setting.

While i was there i noticed another 15 or so ellies coming out of the bushline to my right heading to the water. Gauging the distance i figured it was a photo opportunity not to be missed. The sun was dropping out of the sky rapidly by now and i was very hopeful that i could get a ‘silhouette’ shot of one or more of the ellies as the sun set in the background.

I kind of did, although not as perfect as i would of hoped for. I had to get out of the car and virtually lie on the ground to get low enough but it was still not as low as i needed to be. All the same, i am quite sure that i got some that i will be happy with.

The evening was great and thankfully the potjie came out ok and nothing was left by the time we had finished. We had the fire roaring for the whole time and the conversation never faltered. I thoroughly enjoyed their company and truly hope it is the beginning of a good friendship, albeit from afar. For now though i shall enjoy the moment as they have invited me to join them for supper tomorrow evening. It is certainly a wonderful change for me to have some company.

19.08.09It is 3.30 in the afternoon now and i am sitting about 15 metres above the confluence between the Nshawu and Tzendze rivers, a stunning spot with trees all around me and a view that looks out far over the far banks of the two rivers with clear spaces extending back for at least 40 metres to the bush line. There are some trees and bushes dotted around which makes it all the more attractive, a perfect place for any kind of sighting at all.

Down below me are two large pools of water in otherwise a dry riverbed. The pool to my left has a small crocodile plotted up( maybe 5 or 6 feet long and both pools have plenty of tracks around them so, like the crocodile i will sit out the rest of the afternoon and wait to see if anything comes down to drink.

The sun is still quite high and not a cloud in the sky as it has been all day today, probably one of the hottest days yet on this trip. The clouds cleared away yesterday which resulted in last night being very cold and murphys law being what it is, last night was one of those nights when i needed to get up to pee. At least it was not as dark as when i went to sleep with the stars giving a little light.

As it turned out it was perfect timing because i saw the second shooting star this trip and made my second wish, which was actually the same as the first wish…time will tell.

A while later, maybe around 3.30 am i was woken up again by something scavenging outside my tent. I lay listening for a while and was fairly sure i could hear two different animals and i am also fairly sure they were honey badgers.

It had been a busy night regarding animals altogether. When i had gone to sleep i could hear loads of elephants all aound and the constant loud cracks of branches being broken, and they were still at it later in the early hours. I think the loud cracking noises had contributed to my disturbed sleep too.

I’m thinking that i may of forgotten to mention the first star which was in fact one of the best shooting stars i have ever seen. It came in low slightly to my right at pretty much a 60 degree angle to the earth and seemed to go on forever before disappearing just above the tree line on the horizon. Quite brilliant.

It was a little before 3am and i had already been asleep for 6 hours so after that i i woke a couple of times but still had about 8 hours in total.

Up at 5.30, brewed some coffee and i was out at the stroke of 6am after greeting Roger the camp attendant at the gate…lovely guy.

I went south along the tzendze river before turning east alongside the Nshawu on the gravel track which i eventually followed all the way to the Lebombo hills over which lies Mozambique about 25 klicks away.

At the nwashu 1 water hole i got some lovely pictures of the sun rising behind the old windmill pump and am quite hopeful they come out well (i rarely check my pics as i take them).

At that point Ross and Eve came up behind me and we ended up sitting at Nwashu 3 further up the road chatting until about 8.45, they drinking their tea and me my coffee. Ovely people and i am looking forward to them coming to my little camp for supper tomorrow evening.

Whilst chatting a hyaena came over from the other side of the reedbed and walked around us checking the cars out. It was the second one i had seen there as prior to them catching up with me again i had been sitting on the roof checking out the whole vista.

Although not the busiest of mornings viewing wise i did see quite a bit of game along the way, including a group of 9 big tuskers.

On the way back the highlight of my morning occurred when as i came around a bend in the track right before me was a beautiful Bataleur in front of me just finishing off killing something on the ground, i must of just missed the ‘kill’. To be honest i am not sure what it was because as i turned my car to the left to get a decent angle on him with the camera he flew off with his prize tightly gripped in big talons, i think it was a dove but it could of been a small mammal. I pretty annoyed with myself for not getting a quick picture through the windscreen before trying to get the right angle, they say…i say.,..one lives and learns but it is a mistake i have made many times before and i kick myself everytime.

Almost immediately afterwards, i spotted a young martial eagle perched on top of a deadwood tree to my left, which i did manage to get a snap of before he too flew away low over the bush.

It was past 11am by this time so i headed on up to Mopani to get a couple of things, i was thinking of getting some game meat for tomorrows potjie but all i could find was one Nyala steak which will not be enough for three. I bought it anyway and am busy freezing it, but for tomorrow i will have to make do with my trusted old favourite…chicken wings, i suppose it is better to be safe and do something i do often as i will be cooking for guests.

A quick fruit juice on the Mopani deck overlooking the dam and then back to Tzende to do a couple of chores and freshen up for the afternoon.

On my way back i drove into a large herd of buffalo, at least 400, but they were well spread out and after taking a few pics i moved on before they had finished emerging from the bushes.

Back at Tzendze i had a lovely couple of hours pottering around, including taping up my coffee plunger, which after three good years has finally cracked, at least it did not shatter completely and with a bit of nursing will see me through the next couple of weeks. If not i’ll drink tea.

I had the most refreshing shower and caught a suntan whilst doing so!! Outside showers, under trees and with the sun beating down is a lovely experience that i recommend to anyone if they should get the opportunity. It is certainly something i shall be doing every day from now until i leave.

Well it is now 4.30 and i can feel things starting to cool a little. A male Nyala with a limp has recently walked across my view on the far bank so hopefully it is a good sign for my viewing.

Time for a nice cold beer methinks!

18.08.09Time to move on. I awoke at 5.30 but i had already decided i was not going to rush at all, i figured i would take my time decamping and enjoy the process rather than worry about getting out game viewing.

So i sat till about 6.30 having coffee and generally appreciating my surroundings before i started to pack up. At about 7am the lions started roaring again which was nice, they sounded like they were maybe a klick or so away in the general direction i would be going but i never saw them.

By 8.00 i was all done so i had a last coffee in the bird hide, showered, and left the camp just before 9am.

I did not hang about, and apart from a brief stop at Babbalala i went straight through and arrived at Mopani lodge just before noon. A pleasant but uneventful drive with nothing out of the ordinary occurring although i did see quite a bit of game on the way down.

After checking in for Tzendze i went straight there which is about 10 klicks south of Mopani. Wonderful place, totally secluded, no electricity, nothing except basic ablutions built of natural materials, outside showers and situated in the middle of nowhere. Just bush.

I had a lovely well shaded spot designated to me and will take a couple of pics later to show.

I spent time building my little camp, occasionally accompanied by the sound of the fish eagle calling somewhere close, a sound, which to me is as nice as hearing the lions roar. By 2.30 i was finished and suddenly realised i was more than ravenous as i had only eaten a couple of apples all day.

Not having the inclination or energy to rustle anything up i went back to Mopani and sat on the terrace overlooking the dam for a quick chicken pie and chips. It did the job but i will not be rushing back for second helpings!, and as i left i bought some droewors to snack with a beer while i recce’d a few spots i knew to see how much water was about.

Driving up to mooiplas i could see it was bone dry so i headed off to the Nshawu river where, although pretty dry there was some water trickling and obviously will be a lot more amongst the reeds.

At one point i saw a red hartebeest antelope but it was quite far off in the reeds, but nice to see anyway.

Before long, maybe around 4pm i came across three cheetahs, a mother and three youngsters, maybe a year-year and a half old that were clearly out on the hunt learning from mum. For the first half hour or more they were sitting down about 35-40 metres away so i could not see them so well but after a while they started prowling the reed beds following mums lead. Not good photo material as they were too far away but great to watch them through the binoculars as they walked through the reeds in a line, the youngsters mimicking mum in every way.

Whilst there, i came across a very nice couple from England who i chatted to. It turned out that Ross was formerly a professional football player with Crystal Palace and Watford, and was in fact with Watford in the heady days of Elton John and Graham Taylor (who became England manager) when they came second to Liverpool in Division 1 ( premier league as it is known today). We are staying in the same camp so i saw them again later and have arranged to have supper together in a couple of nights. I am looking forward to chatting to his wife Eve who struck me as being on a very similar wavelength to myself, they both did. I suspect they have some great stories to tell.

Anyway, i left them with the cheetahs at about 5.15 and started slowly for camp via what is known as Nshawu 1 water hole.
It turned out to be great 30 minutes or so. First of all i came across a breeding herd of ellies, ten strong with a couple that were only about 6 months old, i8 did not stop as i have seen so many later and i am glad because as i arrived at Nshawu1 i came across a stunning black rhino with huge horns, the big front one must of been close to a metre long!! It was just coming back from a drink so i was able to track him for fifty metres or so before he crossed the track in front of me and i got a few shots..
Time was marching on now and i was moving a bit too fast when something bolted to my left. Fortunately i was able to reverse in time to get a quick view of a beautiful side striped jackal which are not at all common. Fully grown, he was quite stunning with a big bushy tail.

I headed north west again back to camp as the sun was setting behind the Mopani koppie, although the sun had already disappeared it was a beautiful sunset with exquisite pastel colours reflecting on the underside of the clouds and leaving a golden pinkish aura surrounding the koppie.

It is now 8.30 pm and the darkest night so far, pitch black in fact, i swear, my landy is parked less than two metres in front of me and were it not for the candle burning i would not be able to see it!!. Should be interesting walking to the camp ‘kitchen’ in the morning to get water for my coffee!!

Right now though i am finished and looking forward to a good nights sleep .