Day 9 - Punda Maria

 

We did our usual early morning get up and walked past the visitors Center to the Flycatcher Trail. As we were about to take the trail we met up with a group of lads who were doing a Big Day and had chosen to cover an area of the Kruger round Punda Maria. They had already seen a fair number of birds and they were off to add to this number. It was a nice walk round the back of the camp, over a hill and back at the bottom of the camp. We had several birds along the trail, including Black-headed Oriole and Yellow-bellied Greenbull and Terrestrial Brownbull among others.The highlights being Bearded Scrub Robin, White-browed Scrub Robin and Yellow-breasted Apalis which gave good views. We walked down through the camping area and found a lovely hide overlooking a pool with Zebra, Buffalo and lots of Doves coming and going before we walked back to the restaurant, having to ask for directions, past the swimming pool and up the steps to the restaurant for breakfast. 

We packed the car for the day as we had decided to stay here for the last day, and set off round the Mahonie Loop. This took a lot of the day but did give lots of sightings. We spent quite a bit of time at a small pool with a flock of small birds, including several Cinnamon-breasted buntings and Yellow-throated Petronia plus a group of female Whydahs, with a small group of butterflies. We also passed a large tree that had been split and knocked over by an angry elephant, we later learnt.

As we had an evening drive aty 5.00pm we decided we didn't have time to go far but we drove back along the H13-2 to the S60 to look specifically for Arnot's Chat. As we drove slowly along, the Big Day lads came along. We stopped for a quick chat and they gave us insrtuctions for the Chat, along the next road so we turned round and returned to the H13-1, turned left and drove a short way up to a trackway in the bush. We stopped here and listened out, using a tape but no results. Luckily, the boys drove up behind us and said 'Right place, wrong side' so we turned round and parked behind them. They put a tape on and in a very short time there were several Arnot's Chats in the bushes, not very easy to see but with a bit of perseverance we all got good views before dashing back to camp for our Evening drive out. 

We met up with Minnie again and climbed up into the truck. The decision was made to try for the Pennant-winged Nightjars, even though they hadn't been seen for a few days and there was a message on the blackboard to say so. We set off and realised we were going roiund the Mahonie trail again. We stopped for a few birds, one of which was called as a ***, but not so sure. We then took a side trail, through some bumpy tracks and round a stream bed before stopping on the trail and getting out to wait and see how lucky we would be. Minnie stood guard with her rifle in the event of any trouble. 

We weren't very hopeful but suddenly a Nightjar appeared with long, trailing wings, looking like a child's kite. Then another and another appeared, in all we had 5 males and one or two females flying round in the gathering gloom. Magic!

We then retraced out steps to the trail again and continued round, stopping at the busted tree to disentangle a largish branch which had got caught in the steps at the back. The steps were rather bent but we managed to get down at the end of the evening. We had lovely views of nightjars on the road and an owl which flew to a dead tree and sat on top giving good views through the binoculars. 

After we got back to the tar we went a little way down until we found Square-tailed Nightjars on the road. We then returned to camp and went to the restaurant for our meal, which we had ordered earlier in the day. There was a bit of a delay but we got our pizzas and drinks and went back to the room to eat it sitting outside at the table. 

Day 8 - Shingwedzi to Punda Maria

 

Day 7 - Thursday 30th Nov - Shingwedzi

 

We had our cup of tea on the patio watching the Tree Squirrels and Red-billed Hornbills investigating the Brai and surrounds for any scraps they could find. One of the Hornbills took a fancy to the Microwave door and spent a lot of timme flying up to it and tapping the door. 

We set off for an early drive around some of the tracksfirst taking the road out to the bridge and then coming back to the S134 gravel road. There were a few Impala along the road and we stopped at some of the pools still in the river bed. One of them had several crocodiles floating on th surface and resting on the bank. At the junction with the H1-6 there was a group of Double-banded Sandgrouse that were feeding in the leaflitter. There were also several Blue Waxbills. We had a quick look from the bridge but there wasn't much so we turned back and took the S134 which went round the camp in a big circle. Half way round we took the spur out to the Mashagadzi waterhole and historic site. Along the way we had brilliant views of Southern Ground Hornbill as well as Firefinches and a Black Flycatcher.

Day 6 - Wednesday 29th Nov Letaba to Shingwedzi

 

Day 5 Tuesday 28th Satara to Letaba

Early Morning Drive from Satara

 We got up around 4 am and joined the early morning game drive before breakfast 

Drive from Satara to Timbavatti Picnic Spot

We then packed up the car and drove out along the H7 and S40 to Timbavatti Picnic stop. 

Drive from Timbuvatti Picnic Spot to Letaba

We then headed up the S39, following the dry Timbavatti river stopping at the hide at Ratelpan and the waterholes of ***  And Palm Springs, which were all very dry. We then joined the H1-4 before heading along the H8 to Olifants, then returning to the H5 and heading for Letaba. 

Our early drive started in the dark but the sky soon became lighter as the sun rose. We didn't see a great deal but shortly after sunrise we did find a male lion resting on the road. He eventually got up and started walking leisurely along the road before we headed off and left him to his rest.

Further along the road we came across a group of Hyenas which pottered along the road and ran around the bushes before heading off further into the bush. Further along the road were a couple of Giraffe and we had great views of a Black-bellied Bustard preening. Later we saw a Woolly-necked Stork in a narrow water pool.

As the truck negotiated through some bumpy tracks the driver called the one bird I was really hoping to see, a Southern Ground Hornbill which was climbing around in a tree. The truck didn't stop but we managed to get good views and hopefully, we would see more. It seemed much shorter than three hours before we were heading back to camp, stopping for a Blue Wildebeest, or Gnu, and being greeted by the ever present Woodland Kingfisher back at camp.

The drive to the Timbavatti Picnic 

Day 4 Monday 27th Skukuza to Satara

 We had an early walk round, with xxx woodpecker, bee eater, xxxx before walking back to the Station Restaurant for breakfast. We sat out on the deck scanning for birds, then walked back to the bungalows and packed the car. As we hadn’t looked around the camp we drove round to the other side and parked up and looked around. Brenda and I went into the shop while Alan and David walked over to the viewing area. We came out of the shop and met up, scanning the river area. There were several Agama and lizard species along the pathway and a very confiding Glossy Starling that didn’t seem to mind how close it got to us. We’d had an ice cream before we headed out and along the H11 and S42 to Lake Panic. We parked in the car park and walked along the gated, fenced walkway to the hide which over looked a largish lake with Hippopotomus floating about in the middle and several Crocodiles dotted about. There were a couple of different dragonfly species perching in the reeds and along the edge we had ….. A ..buck cautiously came down a track to drink and there were weaver nests in some of the bushes. Careful scanning revealed Thick-knees under a bush and we were shown a Water Monitor on the opposite bank. There was a Fish Eagle that flew around and then settled in a tree

We set off for quite a long drive to Satara Camp. We had intended to take a different route but found ourselves on the road back to the bridge. The Goliath Herons were still there but no sign of the Finfoot. We followed the H12 and H1-2 towards Satara, making various stops along the way. We took a short gravel loop to the Oliphants waterhole, but there was nothing there, we aslo stopped at some rocks with a plaque dedicated to people of note and the Kruger Tablets, another lot of rocks with a dedication to Paul Kruger who founded the Sabie Game reserve before it became the Kruger National Park. We had a scan around but didn't see much so carried on. 

We had a break at the Tshokwane Picnic Site for a comfort break and to stretch our legs but it was closed so we didnt get a drink or any food. There was a troop of Baboons and we had **** before moving on. We stopped at the Kumanadam to watch a herd of elephants which had crossed the road and wlaked down to the lake and then spent time washing, drinking and splashing about. Brilliant. 

As it was getting a bit late we pressed on to Satara Camp, stopping briefly for a Black- bellied Bustard, booking in just before the 6.30 cut off. We found our bungalows, settled in and then walked to the restaurant for some supper. We had a choice of sitting under the roof, with lights, or outside with solar lamps. We sat outside, which was nice, except the lights kept switching off. After eating we had a look round for the Scops Owl that is said to live in the trees by the restaurant. Our waiter had said that it hadn't been around for a while but we were lucky and found it sitting on a branch. It didn't seem to mind the lights so we managed to get some pictures.

Day 3 Sunday 26th Lower Sabie to Skukuza

Following several reports of Cheetah near Crocodile Bridge and some advice from our driver last night, we decided to drive straight to Crocodile Bridge on the tar, then work our way back, before driving on to Skukuza.

We checked out the tree by our bungalows before heading south, keeping an eye out for anything lurking in the bushes. The advice was to drive slowly, keeping a lookout on the left, just before the S28 for any signs. The report this morning was from along the S28 so we headed along it for a while, in hope of seeing something, before turning round and heading back to Crocodile Bridge. 

We bought some Mango juice drinks and something to eat, used the facilities and then started the drive along the H4-2 before taking the S82 gravel road back to Lower Sabie.

We took a left turn just before the bridge to a large look out point but there wasn’t much to see so we returned to the tar road, stopping for a giraffe that was browsing on a tree by the road.

We trvelled along the tar until the S82 where we had a few stops along the way, mainly for more Giraffe, one herd were nervous of crossing so we backed up 100 yds and then they crossed in front of us and carried on into the bush. 

Just after Lower Sabie we came to the Sunset Dam, which is a big area of water with muddy margins. There was a Yellow-billed Stork plus Three-banded Plover pottering along the edge, there was a herd of hippopotomus lazing in the water and various birds around the edge. A little way into the water was a dead tree with lots of weaver nests on it, as we watched as an African Harrier-hawk landed on a branch and started kicking the nests around the tree.

We then set off towards Skukuza along a tar road. There were quite a few detours around places where water had washed the road away and we checked out many of the laybyes, but there was little to be seen and the river was very low. We stopped at the Bridge over the Sabie river on the H12, which David had been told was a good place for Finfoot. There were two young Goliath Herons on a rocky island plus a pair of African Fish Eagles. As we scanned round a hippopotomus appeared and walked into a pool just below us. Alan suddenly said he though he had a Finfoot so we backed up to a better position and there was a Finfoot on a rock, preening. We watched it for a while before it decided to slip into the water and swam around, getting into the reeds and being more difficult to see. 

We turned around and continued on to Skukuza, stopping at a layby where there were a couple of cars stopped, there were pair of lions in the area below the pullin with a recent Warthog kill. We managed to get reasonable views but no photographs as the lions hefted the warthog up and moved a little further into the bushes. 

We drove on to Skukuza where we checked in, sorted out a missing paymeny and settled into our bungalows.

Skukuza is a large camp with several restaurant areas but we walked back up to the nearest, called the Kruger Station, the remnants of the Selati Line and situated on the same spot as the first 'Feast' for visitors when the park first opened. It was hot under the roof but we were offered a table in the carriage which was air conditioned. The staff were very friendly and the food was good. As we walked we met a lady with a torch who showed us a bushbuck which was feeding among the bushes. 

We walked back to our bungalow and then did a short walk round but didn't find anything, before turning in. 

Day 2 Sat 25th Nov - Lower Sabie

We were awake early despite the 2 hour difference and out to look round by 5.30. There was a fruiting fig tree just outside our rooms and we spent a little time checking out the birds conming and going. They were mainly Blue Starlings but we also saw ****. we chatted to one of the other inmates before setting off for Crocodile Bridge. 

We decided to do the S28 dirt road to Crocodile Bridge as this seemed to have the most sightings on the app and was mentioned regularly. It took us a while as there was so much to look at - our first elephants, giraffe, warthogs and lots of Impala to get used to. There were also lots of birds including *****. One of the elephants was lounging against a tree in the shade and there was a group of elephants on the other side of the river, which then decided to cross over and make their way up across the road and further into the bush.

A little further along we saw a Warthog rooting around under a bush, completely oblivious, as were most of the animals, to our car about 50 yards away. A Golden-breasted Bunting was hopping round on the ground and a herd of Impala and Giraffe were browsing on the road side bushes and we had our first sight of Oxpeckers working their way up and down the animals.  

We crossed a ford with some water on one side and saw a small herd of impala and giraffe with Oxpeckers, one of the giraffes seemed to be covered in small growths but it didn’t seem to be causing it any distress. One of the giraffe came to the water’s edge and did the bent legs routine to get a drink. 

  

We made our way to Crocodile Bridge, stopping at the Ntandanyathi hide where we saw an Open-billed stork in a tree and black crake, woodland kingfisher, striped swallows and spotted flycatcher.

Finally made Crocodile Bridge for a late lunch. We had a potter around but day visitors weren’t allowed into the camp and it was very hot so we ate our sandwiches, had an ice cream, checked out the bats, photographed a very colourful Agama and started our return to Lower Sabie. 🙂

We headed back along tar, stopping for our first lions, a couple of females lounging in the shade of a tree, not easy to photograph but a lovely sighting. 

We took the S130 then the S137 across to Dukes pool and back to the S28 before heading back to camp for an early supper before our night drive. 

We had an early dinner and then met up with the driver and set off on our drive. The truck was quite full and had two spotlights fitted to the frame with a wide beam and there was a high powered torch given to one passenger on each side, with directions how to use them.  Our first sighting was of eye shine in the grassy area near the camp which revealed a Genet, possibly the animal we had seen from the perimeter last night. Our next sighting was of two Honey Badgers, which scattered into the bushes giving reasonable but short views and no photographs. As we drove along there was herds of Impala dotted about. Further on we had more eyeshine, in some bushes a little distant from the road. They seemed to be moving along the branches and they were identified as Greater Bushbabies. Two targets in one night! One stop was for Scrub Hares which hopped around and another stop for eye shine found two Pearl-spotted Owlets in a bush 

The three hour drive seemed to go really quickly and we were soon back at the car park. As the truck drove off, I realised I didn’t have my water bottle with me. A search around the car and car park was fruitless, so we drove back to the bungalows and turned in.

Kruger National Park - 24th November - 3rd December 2023 Day 1

 We had previously looked to visit Kruger as part of the Flock to Marion but Covid, changes in route and boat meant that it wasn't feasible so we decided to do a 10 day trip self-driving.

We booked all the accommodation online through Sanparks and booked a 7-seater car with Hertz Car Rentals from Johanesburg airport.

The trip to Heathrow was reasonably straightforward, we checked in, went through security and we were on our way. We had a 6 hour flight to Cairo then an 8 hour flight to Johannesburg with around 2hr 30 wait over, which gave time to get a drink and stretch the legs with no hassle.

We arrived in Johannesburg and left the plane around 7.45 and it took a while to get the luggage and then find and sort out the car hire so it was later than we expected before we were on our way. Getting out of the airport was quite stressful as the signs weren't helpful but we were soon on the right road.

We headed west along the N12 then the N4, which was a toll road. The scenery was interesting and we managed to see a few birds as we went. We had two stops, one at for a burger, where we saw our first Swallows and and one at Millys at Machadorp for a comfort stop and to stretch our legs. It was a lovely stop with a lake and a 'hide' to sit and watch the birds. The temperature was very hot but this didnt seem to affect the wildlife. There was colony of Cattle Egrets and **** plus Swallows flying around which we eventually identified as Wire-tailed and ****  as well as a Great Kingfisher. there were Yellow Bishops in the reeds and fish and dragonflys around the water's edge.

The time seemed to go quickly and there were lots of roadworks and slow moving lorries that held us up. We managed to take the northern loop which was specatacular scenery but a little slower. As we approached Komatiport to turn left towards Kruger,  there was a huge build up of lorries parked on the side of the road which, we later learned, were parked up to enter Mozambique but the paperwork etc meant it could take weeks for them to get in. 

We realised we would we would get to Crocodile Bridge Gate OK but we would be a bit late for getting into Lower Sabie. The girl at the gate said she gave us permission to be driving after 6.30 and we were to GO! and not stop for lions. The drive was an hour, depending how you drive, but we made it in half an hour. The gatekeeper at Lower Sabie told us we were late but as it was our first night she just waved us through. We checked in at Reception, and weren't the last as a couple followed us in. They had planned to go to Malelane Gate but were sent to Crocodile Bridge as the time was too short. We were given our map of the camp and shown how to get there. We manage to interpret the directions and found our first bungalow accommodation. 

The Bungalows were self contained with a fridge, hot plate and Kettle. Plus en-suite shower and toilet. The beds were very comfortable. We settled in, had a quick look round and then headed to the restaurant for dinner. 

Day 7 - 15th Around Longyearbyen - police station, shop and Airport.

 Day 7. Tuesday.

Although it was a late start we weren’t last as Sean came in 10 minutes later. We had the usual buffet  breakfast, got a taxi to the police station and found it shut. A quick phone call and someone came to the door and let us in. David went through the form with a very nice policeman then we waited while he put it all on his computer and produced an official report for David to sign and take a copy for the insurers. This took a little time and we spent it looking through the Zeiss dialyse telescope they had looking out across the fjord. As we left David noticed a clump of Arctic harebells by the police station wall. We walked down the road to another geocache, but we couldn’t find it anywhere. 

We started walking back to town so David could buy a new pair of bins then decided to get a taxi as the road went a long way round before heading back into town. The taxi picked us up and dropped us outside the sports shop we had visited yesterday and David explained the problem and bought a new pair, given that the price was minus 20% at least. We arranged for the taxi driver to return, pick us up and take us back up the hill, which he did. We then shot into our rooms and hastily packed our bags, checked out of the CMCs and then waited for the bus to take us to the airport. Jake found some close Ptarmigan but we didn’t have time to go and see them. 

The bus arrived, we loaded our cases and got on. The make shift strap I used to make up for the broken handle seemed to work quite well. The bus took an interesting route, picking up people as it went before heading to the airport where we sorted out our checkin, printed the baggage labels, put the cases through the system and then David, Sean and Jake went out for half an hour. Brenda and Alan went through security and I followed. A quick lunch of pizza, hotdog and coke and then we were called to the plane. 

The flight to Oslo involves a stop at Tromso to get off the plane with all gear, collect hold luggage, take it back through checkin, go back through security and then reboard the plane. As we were settling back into our seats, David had a minor panic as he couldn’t find his passport, a thorough search of pockets, coat and bag didn’t find it. A query from David as to was I sitting on it revealed his passport, quite safe. The rest of flight was uneventful until we landed at Oslo for our onward flight to Heathrow. 

Day 6 14th August - Disembarcation and Around Longyearbyen.

Day 6 Monday

Got up around 6.15 finished packing the overnight things, shut the case and put it outside where Jake took it upstairs for disembarcation. We went upstairs to watch the boat dock, have a light breakfast of ham and cheese sandwich and tea and watch Longyearbyen get closer.. By 8 o’clock we were docked and began to disembark. We walked down the gangplank, collected out luggage and caught the bus back to The Coal Miner’s Cabins where we checked in, collected our keys and settled in. Jake and Sean’s room wasn’t ready so we waited for it to be cleaned and scrounged a second breakfast. Eventually we were all sorted, ordered a taxi and headed down to the polar bear sign. We managed to find the magnetic geocache and then walked back along the road towards the town and the bird hide. We checked out the pools along the way with the usual Arctic Terns still feeding chicks, Barnacle geese, some with quite large young and a few Purple Sandpipers and Dunlin. The bird hide is a very comfortable blue building looking out over the Adventfjord. It has benches outside, and seats and comfy sofas inside, also a sightings book. It was very pleasant in the sun. Jake found a Brent Goose among the Barnacles, the only one we saw and David watched a Phalarope drop onto a pool along the way. We walked through the industrial estate until we found a place with better views of the Grey Phalarope among the many parked skidoos with lots of ‘summer maintenance’ going on. There were also some purpose built snow machinery, parked up waiting for the snow. We slowly made our way towards the metal polar bear statue that I had visited on our first day, while David and I checked out a couple of plants he’d found. The decision was taken to go into town to find some lunch before heading to the airports pits. We found the Huskies, a tea/coffee/chocolate place with two or three friendly huskies. We ordered our drinks and had a snack, then chose to go on into town to check out the shops. One was advertising Swarovski and Zeiss, tax free so we went in to have a look. David  chose to have a look at the small Swarovski scope but decided not to buy. We went in and looked in a few souvenirs shops before Brenda and I took a taxi back to the CMCs for dinner while the others walked back up. David saw us to the taxi but the others had gone so he walked up alone. We all met up in the dining room, except for David who came in later. We ordered dinner and chatted about our day before going out down the road for a geocache. David realised his bins were missing so we did a search round our table and through the outer lobby with no sign. Brenda and I walked down to bridge as the others retraced David’s steps but no sign. After a little searching we found the cache and a pen so signed it, logged it and replaced it. We walked back to our rooms and bed. David phoned the police to report his loss and was told to come to the police station at 9.00 the next morning to fill in a form and get a police incident number for the insurance. The light night and lack of blackout made it difficult to sleep, after the total blackout of the boat, eventually I put a pillow over my head, wrapped my arm around and dropped off. I didn’t wake up till 8.00! 

Day 5 -13th August 2023

 Day 5 Sunday.

A little later start around 7.00. I got up around 6.45, meeting Alan in the corridor, but decided to take another five minutes so missed an Ivory Gull that Alan saw, he did come down and shout but it was well gone by the time we got upstairs. After breakfast we sailed to Ny-London for the first landing of the day. This was an A to B walk and it was decided that I probably wouldn’t make it so I went back down to the shore. On the way I found a large patch of netted willow but no luck with the oyster plant. Boreal Jacob’s Ladder is only found around Islfjord, so no point in looking for that and no luck with the Oyster plant. 

After all the others had left we got in the boats and sailed round to the next bay where there was a lot of old engineering works. This was Ny-London, built by Mansford to use the marble mining business here. Unfortunately, the marble they quarried turned out to crumble as soon as they tried working with it. The house that was left has been kept and preserved and is used by the government for 8 weeks of the year. On the tour leaders first visit this spring it had been attacked by a polar bear who could smell the basic food left in the cabin. It ripped off bits of wood and doors, smashed the windows, chucked toilet rolls around but left the apples sitting on the table. The business eventually went bust so they couldn’t afford to retrieve much of the machinery so it was left to rot where it is. The engine was originally housed in a garage but that is long gone. Some of the houses were relocated to ny-Alesund and can be seen today.

Along the path there was quite a lot of bell Heather, unfortunately with the flowers over, but recognisable. As we were walking up the path I glanced round and running along the opposite bank was an Arctic Fox trotting along an obvious pathway. It walked up the slope, stopped and appeared to be eating something which Jonos suggested might be reindeer meat. He called the fox out and the first group over the ridge saw it but also spooked it and it trotted up the cliff and over the top. The last group also saw it as they were still on top as it came over the hill.

I returned to the boat and waited for the others, who missed the Fox before sailing across the fjord to our next landing on Ny-Alesund where we had a short walk and then time to our selves. This was the only landing with a proper dock so we just walked off. Our group moved off but we didn’t keep up so we diverted into the shop before spending a bit of time finding one of the most northerly Geocaches in the world. We pottered about looking at the plants and then diverted along a path but nothing much. We then followed a pipe line structure with Snow Buntings before making it to a gravel road with a pool, with views across the reserve to the sea. David noticed some birds on the pool, which turned out to be Juv Grey Phalaropes giving amazing views. 

There were Arctic Terns flying over, more Barnacle Geese, most with colour rings, and a group of seals on the beach. We saw Alan and Brenda and beckoned them over, dodging the wrath of Jonas. Brenda and I walked back to the road to find a loo and see if we could see Sean. The shop directed us to a white box back towards the ship, which we found quite easily. We started to walk back towards the shop as David, Jake and Alan were coming along. 

We met up and started walking back towards the ship when an Arctic fox was spotted in the distance. Shortly after the tern colony flew up and started alarming. A fox crossed the road in front of us and trotted down towards the old train. It found something to gnaw on and gave really good views before trotting onwards and disappearing under the derelict train. It did appear further away around the pool but then disappeared.

Sean was coming back from the boat as he thought he had lost his backpack. Alan took him quickly round to the phalarope pool as Sean remembered he had probably left his bag back by the table. We walked back to the boat, got on board before we set sail back towards Longyearbyen. Along the way we had minke whales and white-beaked dolphins. A cup of tea to toast the midnight sun. I went down to pack before turning in.