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So in December it was time for a summer kruger trip, my 1st time camping in december and it was also a boys trip, with myself, my dad, my uncle (returning for the 1st time in a decade) and my little cousin for his 1st time.

We couldnt wait for 3 nights at Croc Bridge and 2 nights at Lower Sabie. We had made some new additions to the camping stock, namely a challenger namib trailer and a tento co dinning shelter for a gazebo, I had also purchased a new camera so I was really excited for this trip.

We had a good drive to Malelane gate and arrived between 9am and 10am. We were then going to take the s25 river road to CB. my little cousin was really excited to see animals and the 1st thing we spoted was a Bateleur on the ground.


We then made the turn onto the s114 and we found this Girrafe trying to hide from the sun


by this time my little cousin was really enjoying it and even the sight of an impala would have him bouncing up and down in the back. this Impala decided he wanted to have a staring contest


We came accross this brown snake eagle looking for a lunch time snack

Thanks guys

@ RayK well then you better grab some and stay tuned for the rest of the show.....

So we arrived at CB and checked in, my little cousin had to sprint to a loo because he was basically bursting By this time it was near midday and boy was it hot.....I find that when camping you need to have a little luck when arriving, your site is dictated by whom is leaving that day. We got a site next to the fence but it seemed to be the only site with out shade We have a natural Instincts turbo tent so atleast pitching it wasnt a hard job, once the tent was up we put the gazebo up and enjoyed a little break before doing some fine tunning on the tent.

While this was happening my little cousin says guys come look I think its a baby Rhino, se we all made our way to the fence to see.........a warthog, which set the tone for our Jokes for the rest of the trip.

After cooling down and making our tent more homely we set off for a drive up the s28, On the tar towards the s28 we found a "Baby Baby Rhino" saying his prayers



We Got onto the s28 and starte ddriving at a lesurely pace, my Uncle suddenly say LION!!! I hit the brakes and there were 2 Lionesses stalking a loan Impala male, the lionesses dissapeared further down the dry river bed, we sat there for atleast half an hour, hoping to see if they returned alas the impi moved off and we didnt see the Lions, and we didnt get any pics but alas day1 lions

We headed up to macs waterhole seeing general game along the way, we also sat at the waterhole for a bit but there wasnt much action.We returned down the s28 hoping to see the lionesses again but we didnt. we took the little dirt road to the view above the gezantobi(sp) dam which was completely empty to my shock Although there was no water there was a huge herd of impis in the dam bed and they were joined by a few male Kudu



This guy had something against the plants in the dam bed


Anyway we headed back to camp after an awesome 1st day, for Dinner we enjoyed a lovely venison potjie and pap

Early Morning Drive Day 1

So im the kind of person who has to be number 1 at the gate before it opens, so I awake at 4 and get my uncle and cousin up, I leave my dad because he doesnt really enjoy being up super early and he did all the driving the day before. We will do a short hour or so drive up the h4-2 return to camp collect my dad and then head off to Mlondozi for breakfast.

After every one is up we make it to the gate at about 4:10 and are 1st We wait patiently for 4:30 expecting to see more cars behind us, 4:30 comes and the gates open and we were the only cars waiting what a bonus

We travel slowly up the tar seeing a few sleeping impis and wildebeest, when then see something ahead in the road, of course every one starts to guess what it is .....When we get closer we we are all filled with great excitement
This is what we saw

It had been a really long time since I had seen a really nice lion sighting like this

We sat with them for about 25minutes all alone until they decided to move off into the bush not to be seen again

Extremely happy with what we had seen already and about 2,5kms down the road me met up with these boys


These boys definitely looked alot thiner than the 1st pair and were a lot more skittish, perhaps they were nomads
We couldnt believe our luck 4 male Lions in the road in 50 minutes, we sat with these guiys for a shorter time and then returned to camp before the traffic jam became to big.Stay tuned to for the 2nd part of our morning drive

Day 1 morning continued

So we returned to camp to collect my dad, breakfast supplies and of course make my dad jealous with the lion stories Every one was aboard and we were of to mlondozi for a good old fry up
We came accross this breeding heard of Ellies enjoying some water

further up the road we spotted this big boy telling us who has right of way

The drive up to LS was very enjoyable with lots of general game and beautiful green scenery, we crossed the sabie on the low level bridge an took a picture towards LS


We came accross these 2 beauties


We also found this rather sad looking steenbokkie

We enjoyed a very good breakfast at a very quiet Mlondozi, I was shocked at how little water was in the dam, after breakfst we enjoyed watchine eliies, hippos and other game play in the mud

Day 1 Continued
After watching the Animals play in the mud, we all jumped into the car and started the trip back to CB, it was rather hot se we decided to make a pit stop at lower sabie to grab a coldrink and refill the cooler box with some ice.
We went out to the deck and spotted some of the local bird residents.


We then started our slow jouney back down the h4-2 back to CB, it was rather warm an all the game seemed to be hiding in the bush, we did come accross this martial looking for a lunch time snack.


We decided that the best way to beat the heat at camp was to have a nap, i setled down on my stretcher for a nice nap, while i was sleeping the sun moved rendering our silver solar sheet useless and i woke up feeling like I had been in a microwave, the only way to remedy this was a cold shower

After the shower I headed off to the shop for a slush puppy, while we were there we got to watch a ranger remove a boomslang that had been found in the little nursery, after cooling down we headed off for a short afternoon drive.....

Day 1 Afternoon Drive and Evening
After we had all cooled down as much as we could we climbed in the car ready to go on a short afternoon loop drive via the s25, even at that time of the day it was hot and game was scarce
we came accross this Daga boy cooling off, he also seemed to have a broken horn


This Ellie only had getting to the river on his mind as he crossed the road


There wasnt even much general game in the dense bush but that didnt bother us to much, we once again sat above the empty dam on the H4-2 listening to the bush, we returned to camp and spotted this vulture settling down for the evening.


We Got back to camp and prepared the Braai for dinner, while waiting for the charcoal to get to the right tempreture I did some more scorpion hunting with my little cuz, but again we found nothing
We were busy enjoying our steak and jacket potatoes when my cuz shouts scorpion, and between my dads legs runs the biggest scorpion I have ever seen


Every one lifted their feet and then my Uncle got the dust pan, me safely moved him off,we finally relaxed after all that adrenalin. Just as we were settling down he or another one was back Same storry again, dust pan, this time we took him a lot further away, now every one was getting ready for bed and off at the shower but another scorpion arrived, he was not having the dust pan this time, se we had to use the rake to carry him of and then give him a litle toss into the bush over the fence. after that every one got in to bed hoping not to meet the scorpion again . Gladly we never saw another one that night but it will always be remembered as the Attack of the Scorpions
PS does any one know what tye of scorpion it is?

Day 2 mornig drive

Every one woke up to be ath gate at 4:00am again, Im sure we were also all hoping not to find the scorpion again while stumbling to the car
We were 1st again while waiting we spotted a lesser bush baby jump accross the gate up the gate house and into the tree.

The gates opened and we were the only ones off again, we saw quite a few impala and zebra still tyring to wake up, we came accross 3 Rhino in the Road, they seemed to be having a bit of a disagreement, but sadly it was to dark for pics
We carried on and after an hour decided we should return back to camp, we were then stopped by another car, we were told there were 17 wild dog in the road about 8kms further, we decided to check it out, but in no great hurry because I have been ttold fish stories before
About 6,5kms up the road we found these guys

We followed them for a short while before they caught the scent of something and vanished off into the bush.

While returning to camp to collect our breakfast supplies for the trip to afsal we came across the not so beautiful critter

Day 2 continued
After returnig back to camp after our fantastic drive we enjoyed a nice cup of coffee and some oumas, then it was back in the car with the breakast supplies for breakfast at afsal.
We found this little guy while crossing a streamleading to the crocodile river.

Closer to afsal we found a huge heard of Buffs

This young lady was trying to figure out who these annoying people watching her were


We wnjoyed a nice relaxed breakfast and then headed back to CB for a lazy afternoon
On the way back this cute little fella crossed the road in front of us


This big bird was strutting his stuff on the ground for a change

Day 2 Afternoon
After another hot day spent lazing under the shade in the Camp we all Pilled in the car for an afternoon drive. We were going to go up the S28 in search of a cheetah. As we turn onto the S28 we are stopped by another car, the driver happily says that further on you will find 3 cheetah you cant miss them we were all really excited. We eventually arrive at the spot and start searching with Binos in hand, we eventually spotted them 3 of them lying about 250m away, sadly I got no pics of them

We stayed for a little while hoping they would move but alas we needed to move on, probably about 400m up the road my uncle says stop as he see's something about 100m away, the whole stop forward reverse sequence goes on untill we finnaly see a Lioness

Moving on we found this couple at macs waterhole

We spent quite a while there having a coldrink there
After that we carried on and found say horses ready for bed in their pajamas

And then this youngster waiting for mom to bring some food back

Day 3 Morning
The third day started off under clouds and a little bit of drizzle, regardless of the weather nothing can dampen our kruger spirit Every one is up and we all pile into the car but this time we have been beaten to the gate

So we are off to the s28 again , just as we leave camp we find these boys resting in the drizzle


The s28 really has been teaming with Lions and it didnt disappoint

After spending an hour with these ladies we had to return to camp as it was moving day and we were off to Lower Sabie, we packed everything into the trailer after breakfast and headed a little bit further north.

This little guy bid us farewell

This Majestic specimen was scanning the Sabie for a meal

After checking in behind some very difficult tourists who were demanding their money back because they missed there morning walk, i came very close to telling them to read the t&c's
After we set up camp the afternoon was spent at the pool cooling off before our sunset drive

Night 3

So after an extremely hot afternoon spent on the pool, my uncle, cousin and I were eagerly waiting for our sunset drive, my dad doesnt really care for sunset or night drives so he stayed behind.
There were only 9 of us on the drive but i was happy to see we still took the big truck and didnt have to squish into the 12 seater

Our guide was a gentlemen by the name of Piet and he was a very knowledgable guide
We started off with this Daga boy

and later on another daga boy


At one point we stopped and Piet got out the truck and collected a whole lot of little red fruits, he said they were sour plums and that they have something like 8 times more vitamin c than an orange, he then gave each of us one to try, being that I love sour things I really enjoyed the sour plum
Here are some sunsets from the truck

Here is one i have played with a bit


We also had lots and lots of Rhino's on the drive, ellies, a big puff adder, 2 male lions and my 1st side stripe Jackal