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Hi Fellow Mites

I thought it would be great if we could share our most favourite moments in the KNP.
It's so tough to choose from the many I have had so thought I would share my first one through a photo

Is it common for 2 different birds of prey to share a kill?


6.Birds on a kill by Riaanf31, on Flickr

That is a wawawewa moment. Look at how the tawny is pulling the meat off!

One of my favourite moments in KNP is when you park the car, get the coffee and Ouma rusks ready for a good dunking and then watch in awe as the sun rises.

It is magic.

It is an intersting topic and thank you Surf Cindy for initiating this.

I really enjoyed your raptor photos - it must have been an enjoyable sightigting.

We travelled the S93 (gravel road from Letaba to Olifants) mid Dec'11 looking for the Von Wielligh's baobab. We spotted the tree, but got a bonus with these two giraffes walking towards the tree. Although there were a lot of trees around, this giraffe only wanted to taste the baobab leaves (not sure if there something to be read in this). Although not a wow sighting, but it was really a special moment for me.



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Next Kruger trip is in Dec'12,
but visit to Addo and Wildernis is 2 weeks away

Dont know about sharing, but we saw a tawny steal a Bataleur's lunch!!

It was the strangest thing, these 2 birds just sat happily next to each other having a good munch. I thought there would have at least been some sort of fight or protection of the meal.

Thanks Kaapsedraai and Crested Val for sharing your moments. As I mentioned yesterday, I have so many so thought I would share another one to help me with my 97 sleeps countdown till my next visit!

We were driving along the Skukuza-Lower Sabie road, this road can sometimes be manically busy with traffic but for some unknown reason it was awfully quiet, even spooky like. I suddenly saw a movement of black and red in the bush and yelled "STOP" to my SO as I had a sneaky suspicion it was a ground hornbill (one of my favourite birds especially as it is endangered). As I was clicking away on my camera , I saw a second head pop up and down in the bushes. It had something in its beak and it was thrashing it about. The first hornbill was getting itself into a frenzy, dancing around and sqwaking like nobody's business.
We watched and waited....this was going to be good and I really wanted to see what the second hornbill had. We waited and waited and finally both hornbills emerged out the bush with..... a scrub hare
We sat for ages and watched as the these two beautiful birds tore and ripped the little hare apart (I did feel a little sorry for the hare) but had to recognise what a wonderful moment it was and how amazing nature is


7.Ground hornbill by rcferreiras, on Flickr

Great topic SurfCindy

Our magical moment is not ready to be posted yet as I am not far enough into my current trip report.

Meantime I will share a special moment from our first trip to KNP. We had just left Satara at gate opening time and came upon this magnificent boy.

Probably something many of you have seen but we were newbies at the time and it was just so special. Is it
any wonder we became hooked.



IMG_3494 by thesandmans2012, on Flickr

Thank you Flying Cheetah.

Another special moment was this sleeping elephant on the S50 near Mopani. He was standing with his head resting against tree motionless for quite some time.

Thanks Kaapsedraai for sharing your lovely moment and photo.

On our last visit to Kruger....

Sadly it was the last day of our 2 week trip through Kruger. I could not believe how time could pass so quickly. We were a bit nervous about spending 2 weeks in the Park as previously we had spent maximum of one week at a time, and friends and family kept telling us we would get bored. (How wrong they were, I mean who coud get bored in Kruger)
As we had a flight to catch that evening, we knew we had to get an early start as we had a loooonnng drive from Olifants to OR Tambo but we could not resist one more drive . We decided to drive down to Satara and then out Orpen gate. After packing up the car, we departed our camp and left the beautiful view of the Olifants river behind, until next time. Just before reaching Satara we came across these three little guys...TRIPLE TROUBLE! Mum was on the side (and not nearly as cute as these 3) so did not get a pic.
I know Hyaenas have quite a bad reputation, but I personally find them fascinating. Their complex nature is so intriguing. Besides how could you NOT like these 3 cuties. After watching them play and chewing sticks we realised we had been there for 90 minutes and had a slight moment of panic. I would love to spend more time in Kruger but we had a flight to catch and you never know what challenges the traffic might present, so sadly we left.


Picture 1194 by rcferreiras, on Flickr


Picture 1187 by rcferreiras, on Flickr


Picture 1182 by rcferreiras, on Flickr

Hi again SurfCindy

Love those gorgeous little faces, we also find them fascinating.

We had a lot of fabulous hyaena sightings this trip too, just posted some pics of them playing in the road, our first sighting of the trip.

Know only too well that feeling of having to leave to get to the airport, I am always on the lookout for that final sighting while SO is panicking about possible traffic jams or roadworks along the way. And yes two weeks is the minimum time we would want to have in the park, the further you have to travel, the longer you need to stay to make it worthwhile.

Another magical moment in Kruger where the sky is on "fire" and everything turns orange....it's an African Sunset



Picture 877 by rcferreiras, on Flickr

A trip to Kruger would just not be a worthwhile trip without a visit to Sunset Dam.......such diversity, lovely scenery, wonderful memories and many special moments!


Picture 378 by rcferreiras, on Flickr


14.Family by rcferreiras, on Flickr


Picture 173 by rcferreiras, on Flickr


Picture 344 by rcferreiras, on Flickr

Thanks everyone for the lovely comments and moments

Today, I thought I would share the BIG 5 .....


DSC03309 by rcferreiras, on Flickr


DSC02910 by rcferreiras, on Flickr


DSC03132 by rcferreiras, on Flickr


Kruger Park-Jan 2007 022 by rcferreiras, on Flickr


Picture 591 by rcferreiras, on Flickr

Always a treat to see the BIG 5 but lets get the week end started with a quiz.

What is the little 5 and who has seen any of them??? (pictures to be as proof if possible please )

Hi Riaanf31,

If I am not mistaken ......

Ant LION
BUFFALO Weaver
RHINO Beetle
LEOPARD Tortoise
ELEPHANT Shrew.

Sorry, I don't have any photos of them tho'.

Great topic SurfCindy. I have SOOOOO many magical moments in KNP. Where do I begin????