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Bouf and John entered at Croc bridge and headed along the S25 to Byamiti, we met this yellow ribbon on the S26 and guess who it was they had had to make a detour because of this on the causeway
We spent a great couple of hours with them yesterday at Byamiti
So pleased they are having great sightings

Got this one last night:

She left KNP and is on her way to KTP. I expect more messages in a day or two.

Bouf seems to have lost and found her phone.

Sorry its a bit late

We arrive at Crocodile Bridge at lunch time, having made good time from Heidelberg. The hired Toyota Hilux that we were offered in place of the Nissan X-trail that we had actually booked proved it’s self to be a competent high-speed cruiser and, thanks to a diesel engine, relatively fuel efficient. We had a minor scare at Nelspruit when, in spite of clear and emphatic request for diesel, the pump operative managed to deliver 1.5L of unleaded petrol before we where able to stop him. It was rather embarrassing, yelling at fuel attendant but at least the vociferous alarm call prevented him from pumping a damaging volume of petrol into the tank of our virtually new 4x4.
At Crocodile Bridge, we sent texts to Wendy and Freda, informing them that we were in the park. Unfortunately, Wendy’s itinerary meant that there was virtually no chance of us meeting up. However, Freda and SO were staying at Croc Bridge and there was a good chance of us seeing one another in the next day or two.
Our first two nights were at Biyamiti and we set off at a comfortable pace along the Croc Bridge road. We had good early sightings of elephant and general game. The bush was green thanks to recent rain but not yet thick enough to spoil our game viewing. Our plans for an early arrival at Biyamiti were wrecked when we came across a grading vehicle at the river crossing nearest the camp which had half crashed off the causeway and was blocking the road, totally immobilised . A sheepish looking driver was surveying the wreck with the body language of someone who was going to be in deep trouble later.
We concluded that the obstruction wasn’t going to be cleared any time soon and turned around and proceeded to Biyamiti the long way round, thankful that we had plenty of time to spare. On our journey, we met up with Freda and SO. In spite of the fact that we had never met in person before, we instantly knew who it was, thanks to the yellow ribbon on their Landy Defender. After an initial introduction and lengthy chat from our vehicles, we arranged to meet up at Biyamiti the following day.
The highlights of the trip to camp, were an eye level view of a crocodile at the Biyamiti weir and the sighting of very young elephant about 2km form the camp. Unfortunately (for us), the young ellie was being well protected by the family and we were unable to take any photos before we were “requested to move on” by mother and other herd members.

Looking forward to this report!

Bouf, we went across the same bridge on a night drive from Biyamiti in early December, and Benjy really enjoyed telling us the story of the stuck Caterpillar.

@ Restio, it was quite an odd sight, did Benji say how it had happened
15th Oct Biyamiti
We set the alarm early enough to be at the camp gate by 05:30. We were second in line to some impatient Saffies who got ever more agitated every minute that ticked past 05:30 when no attendant came to open that gate. After sounding their horn a couple of times and walking up an down the track that leads to the staff quarters, they read the sign on the camp gate which advised that the gate should be opened and closed by guests within the standard gate opening hours!
We headed west out of Biyamiti, planning to breakfast at either Afsaal, Pertorioskop or Berg-En-Dal. Our first major sighting of the day was five white rhino in the Crocodile River bed; it was great to see so many rhino together in a group. When we first visited the park together, some 18 years ago, this number of rhino would probably have represented a significant proportion of the entire park’s population; now we can see them together as a “herd”.
We stopped at Afsaal and debated whether to breakfast there or move on to Berg-En-Dal and decided on the latter, based on the fact that it was still early, and as we were heading north the following day, it would be our last opportunity to visit B-E-D. As it turned, out, this was an inspired decision as we had a great leopard sighting a few km outside the camp. Our initial reaction to seeing a scrum of cars was that it must be a lion sighting but we were thrilled to see a leopard lying in a tree only 50m or so from the road. It was the best prolonged leopard sighting that we had ever had; good light for photography and the cat quite active in the tree. It eventually jumped out of the tree and crossed the road right in front of us. We then headed on to B-E-D for a late breakfast and returned to Biyamiti in time to meet up with Freda and SO.
We spent an enjoyable afternoon with F&M sitting outside our chalet, chatting and watching ellies walking past the camp in the dry river bed. Just as they were planning to depart, a family group with two very young calves appeared and we all rushed down to the fence for a great sighting and another really special photographic opportunity.
As the herd disappeared into the distance, we said our goodbyes to F&M and prepared ourselves for a sunset drive. The sightings on the drive were limited but did include a civet and pearl spotted owl so definitely a worthwhile trip. Also, we recognised our guide, Benjy as being the same guy who took us out to our bush braiii from Orpen with Kroc and SO on our last park visit two years previously.