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.......Back at Shimuwini we took a walk through the camp.

A funny "flat-share"


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Enjoying the shade…


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#10 at Shimuwini


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At the hide


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A Brown-hooded Kingfisher on the fence

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Playing with Mum…


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Shine
The old Lady still looking good!


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View towards the hide


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Elli coming down to the water late afternoon


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Oh we love Shimuwini….
In the evening we had a Vegetable Curry (here it is in the making, Coconut Cream and rice still missing …)


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Then we sat outside enjoying the sounds of the bush and this really perfect setting…

Oh it is Pumbaa
Someone on FB said about Shine:

Shine came from bungalow to bunglow like a good hostess to make sure all was okay with all 'her' guests.

What an apt description
I somehow like the idea.....

11.05.

Our last full day in the Park….
We planned to drive up to Mopani for breakfast returning via Letaba to Shimuwini.
The morning started overcast and as we had reached the main road it even started to drizzle.

On the tar road we had to stop for another Francolin Mum with chicks crossing the road…


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We stopped at Shipandani, but only a couple of Blacksmith Plovers were around.


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By the time we had finished breakfast at Monpani the sun was back again and temperatures were rising.
In a tree close to the shop we found this quite impressive Chameleon.


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Mopani Lilly Pond just outside the restaurant complex


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And of course Impala Lilies


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We left Monpani and stopped at Mooiplaas Waterhole
He we found some Warthogs happily lying in the mud.


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Then suddenly jumping up and dash off, I don’t know why, maybe it was just joy of living…


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The landscape was beautiful and there were so many Zebras around…


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It must have been close to one of the Shawu Waterholes that we spotted a Saddle-billed Stork


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Further south, already back to the main road some Tsessebes with a young one.


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And some Ellis enjoying a drink…


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And a Secretary hunting


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From the Letaba bridge we observed two Hadedas looking for food and a Blacksmith Plover closely following them, see what he can possibly snatch from under their “noses”…


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Close to Letaba we spotted this lovely scene.
A huge Herd of Ellis was already on their way back from the river into the bush and this little one with his/her Mum were following them.
I can imagine constantly talking to Mum…. Why do we have to leave?! Why is it dangerous to be close to the Crocs?! I want to be in the water for longer?! When are we coming back ?! How long do we have to walk ?!.... And so on….


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After a short stop at Letaba we were on the road again.
And spotted a Dwarf Mongoose on a termite mound, this year we have not been to Lucky with our Mongoose sightings…


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From the low water bridge over the Letaba we saw this fairly large Croc.


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Most of our stuff was already packed and so we enjoyed another lovely walk through the camp.

The ever so entertaining Squirrels


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View over the river close to sunset


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We enjoyed our last evening in the bush


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Just after we had finished our dinner we heard something at the fence, having a closer look with the torch we spotted some Buffalos at the fence.


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Of course we were sad that we would be leaving the next morning and yet we still had some hours to spend in the park before leaving for the airport…..

12.05.

Well the last morning …..
I think I do not have to tell you how we felt

We enjoyed another cup of coffee with view over the river, said good-bye to Shine and finally left Shumuwini to slowly drive towards Phalaborwa gate and a little later the Airport.

Again it was a bit overcast, shortly before we reached the main road a we spotted a Francolin with her chicks digging in the river bed.


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Later we found a small pile of Squirrels on a tree stump…


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And a little one close by


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Closer to Phalaborwa we spotted some Vultures in the sky and a Bateleur on the ground feeding on something, while a Tawny Eagle was sitting in a tree observing the Vultures.
I couldn’t really make out what it was that had been killed…


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We had breakfast at Masorini and enjoyed the Birds there.


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Had a closer look at the plants, like this Asclepia here.


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And watched an Elli passing the picnic spot not even 30 metres away from us, we stood there awestruck and I simply forgot to take a photo…

Than it was finally time to leave the Park.
We once again had a wonderful time, great sightings, discovered a new camp for us and enjoyed every second.
Now we just have to wait for the next time when we can start counting again….