January 11, Wednesday

January 11, Wednesday

All day safari.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

  This big guy was lumbering towards the jeep in the middle of the road and showed no signs of moving to the side.  Vusi reved up the engine so the elephant could hear it;  their eye sight is very bad so he probably could not see us.  At the sound of the engine, he lumbered off to the side of the road, then into the brush.

 Wildebeest family

 Zebra with impalas in the background

 Gorgeous scenery along the way

 Water running over the roadway

 Kudu !  Finally got a picture, although not frontal.  These guys are FAST.

 Tawny eagle

Saw many other birds but not able to get pictures:  Glossy Starling (striking blue bird),  Magpie Shrike (black & white with long tail),  Dryer bush / Grey go-away-bird = all grey, parrot like with high crest,  , 

 

White rhinos

   White vs Black Rhino: White is not white at all, it actually a mispronunciation of the word “wide”in Afrikaans = wide mouth to graze on grass. Black rhino has a narrow pointed mouth with a protruding lip to eat leaves.

 Cape buffalo

 Driving through water covered roads after the rain last night

 Hoorah, we made it !

 Zebra

 Jeep like the one I was in

  tiny baby scops owl

  Spottedbacked weaver = yellow bird with upside down nests

 Impalas, just fooling around

 Another road submerged.  It was dry when we passed in the morning

 Hyena, baby in background

 More giraffes

 Another big elephant.  Check out that big foot pad.

 Eagle nests in the dead tree, middle of the lake

 Elephants taking a swim in the river

 Mama and youth crossing the river

 Another Mama & baby.  This one is trying to nurse and mama won't comply.

 Big group of elephants, but check out the huge one in the back.  The dark one on the right is fairly big (tusks) yet the one at the back must be 2 or 3 feet taller.

 Wart hog crossing the road on its knees !   I can see why they would do it to graze, but this has got to hurt.

 Other one is running away with its tail up like a flag

  Ground-hornbill

I had just commented on the fact that we had not seen any monkeys, when I spotted these guys !

 

 Macaque monkeys

  Tiny baby just a few steps away from its Mama

 Another one up in a tree

 And last one we saw at around 4 pm, another leopard and again far away.  Left side of the dead tree, brown spot.   Another disappointing viewing of a leopard.

And we never did see a lion, but then Kruger Park is huge and we only covered the foot of the boot.

We stopped for lunch at one of the "fenced in areas".   It was named Skukusa, which means “pushed out” or expelled, which is what happened to the San bushmen who occupied this area before the white people arrived.  Very similar story to our North American Natives.

We saw some Amarula trees on the road just outside the hotel, but the fruit was still green (it is yellow when ripe).   I think I saw these at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. 

 Back at the lodge and I spot some Velvet Monkeys !

  Just hanging around

 Pictures of the lodge, second level balconies

 elevated walkways

 Outside hallways

 Last building was the one I occupied

 Pool area

 

Viewing areas

  Viewing area near the bar

Back at the lodge, I fell asleep before dinner and woke up at 8 pm. Dinner was served indoors tonight, just in case there is another storm.   There wasn't.

Early departure tomorrow ! ! !   We leave at 7:30 so I have to be up by 6:30 to go for breakfast.