SANParks.org Forums

Really like the sparrowlark, thanks for continuing to share your journey with us.
Looking forward to the king...

John

Love the little uns.. the wee bairns of the veld as for that Martial... now that is regal.

Kaapsedraai,

Just loving viewing all the little ones....the action shot of the Zebra baba kicking Mom is stunning.

Gorgeous of the birdie as well as the Martial they are super special.

ME TOO!!

What a cute lot of babies Kaapsedraai! You were so lucky to find such a variety of them! The baby Blue Wildebeest are adorable! Great shot of that cheeky little Zebbie kicking his mom! The cutest I have ever seen, and she doesn't even look disturbed by it, instead as if she wants to say "well done little one"!!

Then you also saw those baby Tsessebes! I cannot recall that I have ever seen a baby Tsessebe before!

Awesome picture of the Chestnut-backed Sparrow Lark! And that gorgeous Martial Eagle! Absolutely fantastic!

Thank you so much for sharing!

Sheenaugh-Lee - thank you. Those birds are biiggg. We were at Mopani when Moholoholo did an expo and they brought in one of the big guys - wow they are really something when you get close to them.

john n poppy - appreciate comments - the sparrowlark was nearly overlooked, but glad I spotted it. Just comes to show.

Meandering Mouse - we were fortunate to have quite a number of great sightings of the birds of prey.

Trrp-trrrrrrrr - thank you and I will share some more in next posting.

Cape of Storms - seems I got you all interested. ...coming up next... (enjoyed the rain last night?)

hilda - it is a pleasure in sharing these sightings . Yes, the zebbie-mother did not mind. SO was so excited when she got this shot. All the babies - wonder who will survive and will see during the next trip.

A bit of rain is always a good good thing!! And us Capeis wouldn't be the same without it!! Enjoyed the Stormers winning last night even more though!!'

What a sighting you had at Tihongonyeni waterhole, Animal get together.

That pore tsetsebe didn’t stand a chance.

Each elephant picture is awesome , there are some tall fellows there.

Great young antelope pictures, But I guess that zebra is a teenager considering his behavior .

Really enjoying this TR, can’t wait for more.

Elephants, kori, black-bellied bustard, jackals, zebras and wildebeests of I nearly for got the tsessebes - That is indeed typical Tropic of Capricorn - Always a fantastic drive to see them all

Thanks Kaaspedraai and of course for the chestnut-backed sparrowhawk - Better to look twice when spotting a "common" looking bird - I learned that lesson also already

Cape of Storms -

t-bal - appreciate your comments . It is lovely to see how the different animal types interact...and the respect they have for one another although some could appear to be bullish.

Pumbaa - thank you . Yes had quite a bit of sightings at the waterhole. I guess, one can give advice, but it is a different thing to pick up these lessons oneself.

This brings us to the end of day 10 of 16. Our time had come to and end at Mopani and the next camp is Punda Maria.
Early the next morning we were ready to take the road further north and first had to enjoy the beautiful sunrise again.


As we exited the gate, we heard some faded lion-like roars, but thought at first that it is our imagination. Then as we drove closer to the intersection with H1-6, we noticed some cars. This could only mean that the 'king' is closeby.
At first we heard some roars coming from the bush on our righthand-side, but then again some on the lefthand side as well. As we got closer, we saw some visitors were trying to spot the lion roaring on the right, but they were too deep in the bush.

As we had to negotiate our way through this roadblock, we eventually got a glimpse of the one on the left - a female lion. We moved on to the intersection and turned left when we got a better view. Seems the pride was split in two by the car activity the morning at gate opening, hence the two groups calling one another. Here is the female moving through the bush trying to cross the road and meet up with the others.


If one starts a day with a great sighting just outside a gate, then one tends to think the day will be a brilliant one . We were on the H1-6 travelling to Punda Maria, but firstly planned to stop at Shingwedzi for breakfast and then slowly onto Punda Maria. The first section of road runs parallel to the Tsendze river with beautiful trees next to it and producing great bird sightings.

We spotted this fish eagle busy munching away and the calling others and munching again.



Further up the road, we spotted more birds of prey such as this Tawny eagle and...


...juvenile Brown snake-eagle.


The road also presented us with some colour - Southern carmine bee-eater


So we were heading north slowly enjoying the beauty of the park and anything that moves. On this note we left Mopani - what a brilliant time we have had. I guess a trip to Kruger will no be the same if Mopani is not included and a definate next time - a one-nighter in Shipandani-hide.

We are off to the north: Babalala, Punda Maria, Mahonie loop, Klopperfontein, Pafuri and Crooks Corner...to be continued.

Beautiful Lion and Fish Eagle pics Kaapsedraai, Got to say I hate it when people are so involved with wanting to see the sighting they dont realise that the poor animals get freaked out at the prospect and things like the split happens and the animal doesnt know which way to go shame poor lion

Incredible fish eagle behaviour stunning It must have been goose bumpy to hear the call.

Kaapsedraai,

Magnificent sunrise as only the bush can deliver.

Stunning sighting of the Lions so early in the morning, love the golden light on her.

Superb pics of the Fish Eagle absolutely awesome.

Thanks for sharing

Beautiful sunrise Kaapsedraai! And what a great picture of that beautiful Lioness!

You saw quite a lot of gorgeous Raptors plus a very pretty Carmine Bee-eater on your way to Shingwedzi.