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What a great episode Mel. Just so sorry about the poor snake
Now the grunting wartbuck is something new
Great kiekies

Lovely klippies, very relaxed.

The last time I checked, Bavaria was still a part of Germany.

That morning walk at BnD with MG sounds absolutely terrifying and exciting at the same time!

I just love reading your installments! They are so lively and vivid that each
word actually pours out the pleasure you felt on the trip. Which makes it
very entertaining to read as I get the feeling I was there alll the way.

Great giraffe interaction!

Tell me about kudus that don't want to show their horns...

Lady Waterbuck is pretty, so no surprise the gents started fighting over her.

Absolutely adore the klippies! They are such cute antelopes.

Hey Mel, great photos of the dark chanting goshawk, and the klipspringers are stunning!

Lovely DCG. You should be so lucky to see the waterbuck fighting over the young lady. Nice klippies too.

I am totally about the klippspringer sighting and also the waterbucks and the dark chanting goshawk are stunning too.

Thanks Mel

Nice Kudus, Waterbuck and wonderful Klipspringers.....

Hello friends

Thank you so much Melrockson, hilda, VicRob, lion queen, Meandering Mouse, Heksie, saraf, Lionspoon, PJL, chirinda, Pumbaa and vinkie for your wonderful support

Life has been so busy lately, but finally I can get back out on the road, re-living our Kruger memories

Berg-en-Dal Day 1: afternoon drive

Finally made it to Skukuza and saw Karin and Stef's gold Nissan in the parking lot.
We hoped we might find them and have some afternoon tea together

First though, we went to the shop to buy meat for the braai.
We found some cheese Russians and a boer wors, plus tomatoes, cucumber and fetta for a yummy salad

Unfortunately we didn't find Karin, Stef and Maxi at Skukuza, so Dad and I decided to head back in the direction of BnD via the S114.

We had only just got out of Skukuza camp when Dad slammed on the brakes
Oh no, another dead snake!! I think it is a stripe-bellied sand snake (Psammophis sp.).


As well as the big cats I really really really wanted to see lots of snakes while I was in Africa.
Unfortunately I was only seeing dead ones

Thankfully the next animals we saw were alive and well
We got our Impala Pic of the Day


Next up was a lovely bunch of kudu crossing the S114


Then we spotted some baboons in the bushes


Even a kudu was curious as to what the dark shapes in the shadows were


And finally I got a photo of a baby baboon!!


I also got my best pic of a steenbok that afternoon


Saw some lovely zebra



I tried to get this bee-eater in flight


And can anyone help with the ID of this raptor


Driving along in a bit of a dream and somehow we ended up on the H-5!!
By the time we realised this we knew that we would be pushing it to make the BnD gates by closing time

Couldn’t stop for any photos so I tried for this one through the dusty windscreen as we were nearing camp


We arrived just as the gate man was swinging the first half of the gate shut.
5.59pm and we were safely back in camp with the gates closing behind us. Phew!!!!

That evening....

Back at the bungalow Dad and I had quick showers and raced over to meet Karin, Stef and Maxi for our braai

Again it was a fabulous evening with our wonderful new friends
The Black Labels flowed freely as we all chatted about our day

At one point Dad and I were sitting at the table talking to Stef while Karin was inside tending to Maxi.
All of a sudden Stef's eyes went big at something he had seen behind us
It was a civet, so close I could have reached out and touched it!!

My camera was charging next door, so I grabbed Karin's camera and tried to get some pics.
Meanwhile Stef was yelling to Karin to come quickly. She grabbed a torch and together we followed the civet between several bungalows.
How thrilling

I haven't seen any of the pics yet, but I'm hoping Karin will post them on her TR

After all that excitement, we sat down to enjoy another delicious braai
Thank you so much for doing all the cooking Stef

But again, the time went way too fast
It was nearly 11pm and we had to get up for our morning drive at 4.30am!!

Somehow we were talked into some schnapps before we left
After the previous evening you think we would have learned our lesson

We could have sat there all night enjoying the Bavarian hospitality, but reluctantly we headed nextdoor to get some sleep......

Oh no! Not another dead snake! Great shots of the Impalas and Kudus Melph68!

Awesome picture of the Kudu with the Baboons! And what a cute little baby Baboon!

Love your smiling Steenbokkie too, and the Zebras are always stunning!

Clever shot of the car in front of you with the clouds looking like the road is carrying on into the sunlight!

Very unlucky with the dead snakes why don't people look at the roads whilst driving. I religiously have a 30/70 view of driving in the Kruger to ensure I don't drive over any pedestrians and it has worked
Lovely steenbokkie and the baby bobjan is soooo cute
Just great reading that you guys are kuiering so lekker with forumites! Still have to experience it, I kuier with mites outside the parks! This forum has brought me so many great friends
That civet sighting is fantastic and I can't wait to see the kiekies
The birdie is a juvenile fish eagle

Hi Mel!

Just LOVE the picture of the kudu checking out the baboon... how cute!!!
I also LOVE the baby baboon - they are so cute but ugly at the same time hehe

Oh dear - so sad about the snake again... you really have been unlucky when it comes to these

Another wonderful instalment Mel - I'm loving every minute of it!

Fantastic steenbook shot - not so easy to take cause they always hide away ....must have been great with the civet