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Great read and pics!
Your sunset is just WOW!!!

I have heard about Shine. How wonderful to hear that she/he is still doing well

Thank you. Ditto with Naomi c

Your Sunset certainly was exquisite. Looking forward to more.

Dream Weaver

Welcome. I like your Tr and pics. Sunset = magnificent

Great TR name

(About the photographs in this report:
Of the two of us Chacma is, by far, the better photographer. He took most of the pictures using his pricey Pentax. I took some with my pocket Panasonic and iPad. I also took a few with the generously lent Pentax. To those who care about such things; I take full responsibility for any dodgy shots that you may encounter on our travels.)

Greetings and many thanks, Grantmissy, Hilda, Trrp-trrrrrrrr, naomi c, Meandering Mouse, Tawny and Philip1

The next morning, on the path between our cottage and the car, we stepped around a black and tan beetle that appeared to be making a meal of a large dead songololo.


We were headed for Shibavatsengele, where we planned to have our morning coffee and rusks. When we reached Mooiplaas waterhole, this puffed up Kori Bustard was strutting about, looking pompous and full of its own importance.


Further along the S50, too far to photograph, a white backed vulture was perched in a tree with its wings spread wide as if it were drying them in the breeze.

At Nshawu number three, we found a huge herd of buffalo had gathered. It seemed to stretch to beyond the horizon. Some of them were rolling in the mud. They were flicking chunks of it into the air from the tips of their sharp, curved horns. Others were gamboling about, the way much smaller animals do, chasing each other in mock charges and causing mini stampedes.


Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

That, as I delightedly discovered earlier this year, is a complete and correct sentence. As Stephen Fry explained, on a BBC podcast; ‘buffalo’ is a verb in American English that means ‘confuse’. Also, there is a town in the USA called Buffalo. So, knowing that, we can read the sentence again and make sense of it:
Buffalo buffalo (= buffalo from the town called Buffalo) [that] Buffalo buffalo buffalo (= that the buffalo from the town called Buffalo confuse) buffalo Buffalo buffalo (are confusing buffalo from the town called Buffalo).

All very confusing!

Finally find the time to catch up Dream Weaver

Thanks for a stunning report and the explanation of the word "Buffalo" is fantastic

I think that beetle is still busy eating Dream Weaver!

Beautiful picture of the puffed up Kori Bustard!

Stunning photo of the Kori Bustard
Wow, really a lot of Buff's

Super of the bug having a scrumptious meal..... for them that is.

Great Buff pics, and Kori and interesting explanation on the Buffs

Thanks for sharing

Hello again and thank you for the encouraging comments.

Meandering Mouse – Shine is a she. Like her distant cousin, Rudolph, she has a very shiny nose.

Pumbaa – Welcome on board, and you are welcome!

Hilda – Maybe it was a case of eyes that were bigger than their owner’s tummy.

Philip1 – It was a gorgeous looking bird and a great big herd.

Trrp-trrrrrrrr – There is just no accounting for taste is there?


We left Nshawu number three to the moos and moans of the buffalo and the creaks and groans of the windmill.

Continuing up the S50, past the turnoff to the Tropic of Capricorn Loop, we saw some impala, guinea fowl and these zebras.


One of the zebras then turned and it looks as if it may well have been trying to say something to us in body language


A bit further on, we found a sign showing the way to Shibavantsengele Lookout. Following the sign’s advice, we turned onto a stony road that climbed high onto the shoulder of the Lebombos. There, the road levelled out into a wide gravel area, beyond which it became a no entry track that wound on upwards and out of sight. The ground was barren looking and thickly strewn with pale pink rocks and stones. Below the hill, back the way we had come, was a view of the plain that stretched far into the distance. There were no signs to say that people were permitted to get out of their vehicles. We sat in our car and sipped our coffee and dunked our rusks. And as we sat there, a distant line of elephants steadily threaded their way across the plain.

Love your Zebra pictures Dream Weaver!

Wonderful bustard jst the right moment.

Lovely to see you back on track.

Hilda - Thank you. They are photogenic animals aren't they?

Meandering Mouse - Thank you. It was time to return to work after the holiday and I had to take a side track to the office.

Everybody - Also, I am not as prepared as I would like to be. Pictures (that I keep forgetting to resize!) and odd jottings are all over the place.

So, I apologise for the delays. I have realised that if I ever do another trip report, I will need to take the time to get myself better sorted before embarking on it.

You have got yourselves a learner driver on this one!

It was still early, so we decided to go on to Nyawutsi Hide.

We passed Grootvlei Dam where five turtles were making good use of a drowned tree


And a lonely looking stork stood at the water’s edge


When we got to Nyawutsi we discovered that the makers of our map had been tinkering with the truth about the toilet situation.

It was plain to see that there were no toilets there


Although the map had plainly promised there would be

Thanks for the warning. I will be stomping around in that area at the end of December.