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1st Day (3hr) Was not bad Lots of gen game martial eagle, pearl spotted owlet, ellies, 2 buffs, and 2 LITS (the Lower Sabie family) Today was less productive but started off well with 3 w.rhinos. Then friendly big ellie blocking road for 30min. Unfortunately no sign of Duke.

We're at Satara now. Great day (Like every day in Kruger). Left Lower Sabie at 06:00. Started with big Osrtrich family with chick barely bigger than a pile of ellie dung followed by hyaena and 4 w.rhinos. Then our first Lion (f) at Matotni w.h.!
Spotted 3 mountain reedbuck on the S128. Stopped counting steenbok and warthogs. They're everywhere! Were too late to check S100. Are now waving at the webcam . Bye!

Today was quiet and hot. Again a white rhino and lots of buffalos (1 herd of 100-150 and several smaller groups). In the Timbavati river, close to Roodewaal, carcass of a hippo or ellie with lots of vultures. (whiteb., whiteh., hooded, lappet faced)
Late afternoon show was performed by a curious family of dwarf mongooses. One of our favourites, So funny!

Temperature is rising, numbers of sightings are falling. Took a long midday-break enjoying the great views at Olifants.
Very busy at Hlahleni river crossing on S90. Lots of impala, zebra, buffalo and elephant. Saw tailless ellie taking a mudbath. Other highlight was a sharpe's grysbok on S44. Many birds building nests, nesting or having kids. Spring has started

Day 6, 7, 8 & 9:
Cellphone coverage at Shingwedzi was very bad so I was unable to report last 3 days. We're now at Satara.
Last 3 days were hot with strong winds. Temperature reached 40 and dust devils were everywhere. Same with elephants, up in the north of the park all over the place. During the hottest hours of the day you'll find a few (or more) at every waterhole. Have spotted two potential big tuskers. So far we've only been charged once.
Saw 11 lions in Shingwedzi river, 6 females & 5 cubs. Other viewers produced a lot of noise but didn't stop them from sleeping for hours. Other sightings were rare, even impala's!, so we concentrated on birds and squirrels. Night drive with guide Juluka was great (but cold) : AWC, genets, elephants (again), nightjars, etc.
Last night the weather changed: rain, thunderstorms and lower temperatures. We were hoping this would make the animals more active but the opposite was the case. The park seemed to be empty. Only when we approached Letaba did we spot some impala and waterbuck. Lets hope our last 2 days will produce more action.

Thanks for wishing us luck Mark. It helped a lot. First hour was quiet except for a few lone ellie bulls, our hope was fading away. But south of Olifants our luck was turning. In less than an hour we had 6 hyaenas, 2 big male lions and a large herd of buffalos blocking the road. The S100 was very busy with gen. game, incl. 2 fighting waterbuck and a giant (verraux's) eagle owl. Close to Talamati we spotted a white rhino and we were hoping to complete the big 5 in 1 day. But the leopard did not show itself
Last Night we heard lions all night around camp. At 5:20 everybody was waiting at the gate to get out. The lions still could be heard only a few 100 metres from the fence. Unfortunately we could not see them nor could we come any closer by car. Maybe we'll see them later today. This morning we also saw spotted eagle owl ang whalberg's eagle. Forgot to mention a accident at Shingwedzi last monday. A staff member drove his car off the low level bridge into the Shingwedzi river and ended up on it's side in the water. Fortunatley there were no crocs around. Driver was wet but unhurt. Last message tomorrow

Mountain reedbucks
Rare sighting

Drove off the low water bridge... Pity Arie wasn't around to take pics!

Is there water in the Shig river at this time of the year??