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Hello mites

We just returned from a lovely trip to South Africa on Monday. I'm sitting with my laptop on the couch and sorting out more than 2400 photo's with a cup of Ricoffy to keep me awake. I'm still a bit tired and getting use to the autumn weather here in Holland.

We arrange for the kids to have an extra week leave from school so we could visit our family and kruger for at least 2 weeks.

Our family reunion in kruger was great. We saw many YR's and had some exiting and nerve wrecking sightings.

I will tell you all about it later

Hi Marijke, and welcome back. I've been waiting anxiously for this tr to begin. So sorry we missed out on the family reunion due to Arno's matric exams. But I've been thinking about you the whole time you were in Kruger and the weekend when the rest of the family were there, was the hardest of it all. Me, sitting in Jhb and the rest of my family in Lower Sabie. Please don't wait to long before you start with the stories...

We took the day flight from Amsterdam to Johannesburg on the 14th of October. The temperatures were 10˚C when we left and arriving at Johannesburg late that night we already felt a huge difference in temperature.

Roan and Eric ready for boarding


We spend the weekend in Pretoria with family and drove off to Kruger early Monday morning.

We looked forward to this kruger trip for a long time. We planned a family weekend in lower sabie with ‘almost’ our whole family (most of them forum members). The only one missing was PetraJ. Her son wrote his matric exams and had his matric dance that weekend.

Sonni and ELKOS are the 2 oldest sisters. PetraJ is the middle one, Geocor is the second youngest of the 5 of us and I’m roaneric, the baby of the family. Then there is gerharddb and PARDUS1029. They are my nephews and sonni’s boys. And my parents were there too. They are not forum members as they do not have internet access, but believe me, they know about it. We girls talk about the forum all the time.

Our schedule looked like this:

18 / 19 October Shimuwini
20 October Letaba
21 October Orpen with ELKOS
22/23/24 October Lower Sabie with the rest of the family
25/26 October Berg en Dal

Driving the highway from Pretoria towards Phalaborwa is a dream. We had little traffic and we all loved the scenery. We arrived at Phalaborwa at 13:00 and quickly stopped to get some fresh fruit and vegetables for the staff at Shimuwini. After our last trip to Shimuwini, Portia (the manager) and I became friends and she told me a few weeks ago they don’t get much fresh fruit and veggies often. So we bought as much as we could fit in the car and headed off to the gate.

It’s was actually a very funny sight. We each held boxes of banana’s/apples and oranges on our laps, with huge bags of potato’s, pumpkins and avocado’s beneath the children’s feet. We even fitted a few watermelons and papayas in between them on the back seat.

We entered the gate at about 14:00 and headed straight towards Shimuwini. After about 30 minutes the whole car smelled like bananas and sitting a bit uncomfortable, we decided to drive the maximum speed of 50km per hour. We took the tar road towards Mopani and the first animals we saw was zebra's. They are just beautiful and it’s a delight to enter kruger and seeing them again. We also saw elephants, kudu’s, waterbucks and impala's and I admired them as we drove pass them.

After a while we arrived at Shimuwini, and got cottage number 6. Portia went to Mopani for the day and said she'll come and greet us as soon as she gets back. We unloaded the car and had a wonderful bush welcome. Elephants and impala’s were roaming across the river and little ‘Shine’ welcomed us right in front of our cottage.

Eric and Shine




What a wonderful feeling to be back in Kruger again. The bird sounds made us feel like were in heaven and the beautiful green lawns with the river view is a sight for sore eyes.

The kids made friends with the neighbours kids and had a blast. We were amazed how quickly our youngest one started talking in Afrikaans. He tried his best and even with his heavy Dutch accent the kids understood each other perfectly.



Just before dinner Portia came by with a few local residents and they were very pleased with the fruit and veggies. It was so nice seeing Portia again.

We had a delicious braai and went to bed early, only to be woken a few times that night with the sounds of roaring lions. Wow, I’m getting Goosebumps all over again.

Thanks billyf and petra

Shimuwini is one of my favourite camps. Here a little video I made from the bird hide. Just to show you the view.

My name is Roan. I am 10 years old.

My mom is helping me a bit to translate in english. I speak dutch and a littel bit english.
My mom said I can also write on her trip report and show my photos.

My mom lent me her old camera and I liked it. I made many photos. maybe i can keep it

i like making photos. my mom says i wil be a great photographer one day.

My mom are teaching me how to put the photos on here.

The first 1 is of me at Shimuwini. The 2 photo is of a big bird in a tree. The 3 and 4 photo is a elefant. The last photo is a bird i saw in the camp.

good morning

thank you for the complements.
I have a birdbook at home. the names are in afrikaans. its a bruinkopvisvanger in afrikaans.

I will show some more photos tonight. I have to go to school now. bay

Thanks again for all your comments on our TR.

Roan amazes me. I can't believe how good his English is getting. He only started with English lessons at school this year.

This last instalment he did all by himself this morning. I just had to show him how the spelling check works. He felt so proud of himself this morning. I think I'm going to have hard time keeping him away from my laptop from now on.

Day 2

I was woken at 5:30 this morning by the sound of francolins. The sun was making its appearance and I couldn’t resist getting out of bed and sitting outside with a cup of coffee.
I took my first sip of coffee when I saw a beautiful fish eagle flying over the river. That was another goosebumps moment.

Philip and the kids got up and we eventually left camp at 8:00. We took the H14 in the direction of Mopani. This part of Kruger is very beautiful with all its baobab trees.



The road was not boring at all. We saw all kinds of wildlife, already struggling to get a good spot with lots of shades. At 8:00 it was already 29˚C. On our way we saw klipspringers, elephants, kudu’s giraffes, waterbucks, ostriches, njala’s and a beautiful fish eagle.





Just next to the Tsendse rustic camp turnoff we saw a car parked. The guy started waving at us to stop. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw a very well camouflaged leopard in the shades. It took a while for Eric to spot him. It was only when he lifted his head when we heard Eric saying… ‘oh there he is’



We entered the Mopani gate all exited. Roan begged us to stop at the sightings board. He wanted to be the first one to put the marker on it. We had a nice and cool milkshake and saw this big spider on the veranda of the restaurant.





We took all the little loops and gravel roads around Mopani but didn’t see much. The temperatures was 38 by 12:00. We decided to make our way back to camp and go for a swim. Great idea! The kids enjoyed it and so did we.

Just as we lit the fire, Portia and one of her friends came to visit and say goodbye. They made us the most beautiful presents to take home. Its mats made of riverbed reeds and finished off with Simba chips bags. It’s the best present I could ask for. It smells like Kruger, so every time I’ll get homesick, all I have to do is SNIFF.





When we sat down for dinner outside, we heard the lions roaring again. They were very close, but it was dark already, so there was no way we could spot them across the river. Well, it was yet another Goosebumps moment we will not forget.

hi

I am home and it is weekend

My mom said I must do homework first, but I want to show photo's first.

Photo number 1 is my mom and my little brother at shimuwini bird hide.



Photo number 2 is my leopard photo


Photo number 3 is my dad and little brother at Mopani


Photo number 4 is a bird in afrikaans called paradysvlieevanger? It was not easy to make a photo of him. He was flying all the time. But I got him


Enjoy
Roan

I forgot this photo. My dad and I walked to the bird hide late at night. We saw this bird.

Day 3

Shimuwini is one of those camps where you can’t wait to get out of bed and hurry to see if there’s something interesting to see on the riverbed. I sat outside (all by myself) listening to the snoring inside and birds outside. A lonely buffalo bull greeted me and I felt sorry for him, also being all by himself.

The squirrels kept me entertained and a few hadeda’s flew past, making a lot of noise. That was the alarm clock for Philip and he soon joined me on the veranda.
We packed our suitcases and left Shimuwini. We were booked in Letaba, but we decided to make a detour to Phalaborwa and get some more braai wood, fresh meats and fruit. We saw buffalos, impalas, kudu’s, zebras and giraffes on our way there.





We quickly stopped at the sable hide. This is a first time for us and we loved it. I think it would be exiting to overnight there. All alone. We saw some hippos, kudu’s, impalas and a fish eagle there.





After our shopping we bought some take away pies from king pie and stopped at Masorini for lunch. We bought some extra pies and drinks for the guards at masorini. They were all smiles and enjoyed it. It was very hot, so after lunch we headed straight for Letaba. We got bungalow number 63. This is such a lovely camp, with so many bushbucks roaming around. We had a stunning view of the river.





The kids wanted to go for a swim and I had some washing to do. There’s a nice pool and we cooled down as well. After that we visited the elephant hall. Eric loves museums and this one fascinated him.



We lit the fire and had a very nice bbq. The elephants were so close, we could hear them braking the branches.



We ate early and after dinner the kids and I went for a walk. We took our torches and I instructed them to always shine in front of them and look out for snakes. We took the pathway towards the restaurant and we walked in a line. Me in front, Roan behind me and Eric at the back. It was not even a minute later when Eric screamed out… MOM!!! SNAKE!!! Roan and I already passed it without seeing it. Eric froze about 30cm from it, lighting his torch on it.

I yelled for him to stand back. The snake moved forward, and we all stepped back. The kids were hiding behind me and luckily I had my camera for a quick photo. BAD IDEA!!! The moment I flashed my camera, the snake stopped, looked at us and raised his front part of his body a few centimetres from the ground.The snake was about 2 meters long and this threatening look terrified us. We ran!!!

On our way to the shop we warned people approaching us on the same path to look out for that snake. We came across a staff member and after showing him our picture, he was sure it was a black mamba. Well, whatever snake it was, it’s not something I want to cross paths with ever again. The kids share this experience with anyone they see. They found it very exiting.

hello

we were in letaba and I like the camp. there is a big swimming pool.

i like the elephant hall too. the teeth are very big.

there was a nice view from our house.

the elephants came very close and we almost walked on a snake my friends back home didn't believe me but I show them my moms photo.

first photo is my dad looking for elephants

I fount this frog in the kitchen

Thank you for reading me and my moms trip report

Day 4

I woke up this morning with a bit of sadness. We had to leave Letaba. So we packed our bags in silence, went to sit on the bench, drinking coffee, eating our ouma rusks and admiring all the wildlife roaming around on the dry riverbed for the last time. Roan spotted this njala close by.



We took the H1-5 and saw lots of elephants. We stopped at Olifants camp for a while. The last few times we were there, they have been renovating. And now it’s done. IT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL. There is a few new decks and the view from there is just STUNNING.



This is the view from the restaurant


It was very hot today, the temperatures rose to 42˚C, so we just bought some ice cream, sat a bit watching the view and took a quick photo off the kids with the little elephant statue. We took a photo of the kids every year we’ve passed Olifants. All these photos are hanging in our living room. It’s nice to see the kids grow.





and 2010



We stopped to look at some elephants when someone pulled up next to us and shown us the lions on the other side. They were Very far, under a tree. Yeah, our first 2 lions. With the binocular we could see them perfectly, but Eric couldn’t really see them. So we drove on. Hoping to see more lions the next few days.

We decided to skip Satara this time, and take the Timbavati road towards Orpen, our next destination. Just a few kilometres on that road someone stopped us and told us to go to Ratelpan waterhole and look for the lions. Good choice So we headed there first. These lions were much loser to the road, but not great for a picture. We counted at least 4. While watching the lions, we also saw some buffalo across the waterhole and some Yellow-billed storks.





It was about 12:00 when we reached Timbavati picnic spot. Roan picked out the table closes to our car and I quickly made some sandwiches for lunch. We didn’t have something to drink, so I gave Roan money to buy us some cold drinks from the guards. He came back with no change and told me he bought 2 soda’s for the guards as well. He felt sorry for them working in that heat all day.
Good boy.

There were a few families with children and they were all admiring the bush buck at the picnic site. Roan and Eric finally came to sit down for lunch. While we were eating my heart almost stopped.

I saw a bush buck running down the hill and HIGH SPEED. It puzzled me, because I never seen bush bucks running that fast.

As I was thinking that, I saw something right behind him, making impressive moves to avoid bushes and rocks. The bush buck ran passed us and I totally panicked when I saw a predator chasing him. My first thoughts was LEOPARD. I jumped up, almost choking in my bread, and grabbed the kids.

At the same time the guards shouted " LION " and they both jumped up and ran towards the lioness. This all happened in a matter of seconds. The lioness stopped so fast, that a dust cloud appeared. She looked at us for a few seconds, and then turned around and disappeared into the bushes as if nothing happened.

It was dead quiet on the picnic site. When she was gone, everyone came together and couldn't stop talking about it. I was almost hysterical and just wanted to get the kids into the car and get out of there as fast as I can. Philip stayed calmed and loved the excitement. It all happened so fast and everyone was so shocked that no one took a photo

I took this Photo minutes before it happened.



All exited and quickly after that we continued our journey. At leeubron we saw a car parked kind of unusually. When we approached him we saw what they were looking at. 7 lions. Wow, we saw 14 lions in one day, not to bad.

We arrived at Orpen and as usual, the kids were in the pool in no time. This is a totally different experience. The pool was next to the gate with a view on the webcam and waterhole. We had guest cottage number 15, right next to the fence and after unpacking and swimming we sat on the veranda, enjoying the view. Elephants came for a drink and I can not describe the feeling, being so close and seeing them splashing around.



At 16:30 the first of our family arrived. My second oldest sister ELKOS and her husband came to stay with us for the night. It was lovely seeing them again and we had a wonderful braai.



We sat on the veranda till passed 22:00 seeing all kinds of animals coming for a drink. We saw elephants, kudu,s, hyenas, buffalo's, and impala's. Just before we went to bed, we saw a little jackal. A perfect way to end the day.





I have to apologise for my bad film making. My new camera also have a HD film option and I tried it out this holiday. I only realised when I got home, that I should have used a tripod, especially when I zoomed in. Almost all my video's turned out to be a bit shaking. Well, at least it's something

Hoi

In de ochtend zag ik een njala. Ik heb een foto gemaakt.



Ik wil even vertellen over de leeuw die geen zin had ons op te eten. we zagen een hert die tussen ons door ging rennen met een leeuw erachter aan maar gelukkig stopte hij op zo`n 20 meter afstand en toen liep hij weg. Hij schrok van al die mensen zecht mijn vader. Mijn moeder deed heel raar. Ze greep ons aan de armen en zei, 'in de auto, in de auto" Maar toen zagen we dat de leeuw weg ging en bleven we daar nog even. Het was wel heel erg spannend en mijn vrienden vind het ook een mooi verhaal.

Orpen had een mooi zwembad. Je kon de olifanten en dieren zien water drinken tijdens het zwemmen. Heel gaaf.





Mam, wil jij dit ff vertalen alstublieft. Ik vind het een beetje te moeilijk in engels vandaag.