Kruger Park Trip – 2009

July – August

Preparation:-

Destination:-

Kruger Park, South Africa

The Gear:
This time we have opted for simplicity. Many times we travel to a Safari destination with too much gear. Sometimes you have to make do and let the creative juices flow. So this time we’ve gone with a comprehensive but limited amount of gear to make sure we capture the moments and capture the close ups that we’ve always enjoyed.

We have our staple diet of Canon 500/4′s with 1D Mark 3′s which give us about 650mm of standard coverage and with the 1.4x teleconverter it becomes a pretty powerful and light alternative to a 600/4, for example. Experience has proved that we also need alternative body and lens for those many instances where the action comes up really close and personal, without warning. For these circumstances we’ve chosen the 1Ds Mark 3 and 5D Mark 2, both full frame bodies, with a 100-400/5.6-6.3 IS on one and a 70-200/2.8 IS on the other.

The “In camp” lenses are the 24-105/4 and the 24-70/2.8. We use these for the candid pictures around the “brai” and landscapes etc.

We carry all this around in two “Kiboko” Bags purchased from Andy Biggs Safari’s bag manufacturing unit (www.guragear.com). Also in the bags are a Flash, two 1.4x teleconverters and two 2x teleconverters.  Sounds like a bucket load, and it is. My arms will be a little longer for sure but the end of the trip. The Kiboko bags are standard size for carry on which make them perfect. Andy’s looking to put wheels on them and this would make them nothing short of perfect in the camera bag arena for this much gear. I also use the backpacking straps when I am lugging around the big guns. Makes life easier!!

Along with chargers for the 1D’s and 5D, we have a MacBook Air, 2 x Colorspace Data storage units (Each at 500GB) and a BGAN Satellite system for a daily Blog update. The BGAN is wireless and will make using it so easy!! We have a 1000W power inverter for charging the cameras and accessories on the road. On a “Self drive” Safari, most of the day is spend in the car, so it’s sensible to charge as you go. We’ll load the pictures onto both Colorspace devices daily and on one of them I’ll check them with “Adobe Lightroom 2” (Which is our digital workflow of choice) to pick a shot and post it with a short blurb from the days events.

There’s some miscellaneous cables and things, like the Canon G9 for snapping in the airport and in the plane. But in general this is a light load.  Oh yeah, there’s a Gitzo Tripod too. We agonised over this, but decided we wanted more landscapes and night shots. Lets see if this works!!!

We omitted the Kirk Window mount and the Wimberley head this time. Major weight savings. I’ll use a bean bag in the front seat this time, similar to what we’ve been practicing in Australia for the last 4 months. All spurious lenses like Macros and wider angles are left at home, as are spare flashes, flash extenders etc. We’ve probably saved a complete bag of stuff this time.

The Trip:
With Kruger park, it really pays to book well in advance. The usual trick (According to our friend Janine who is the expert and who does it for us) is to pick a routing and set of lodges you’d like to stay at and the Kruger booking team will come back with a booking proposal that may or may not include your wishes. There’s some back and forth action and an agreement is made. This is then given a booking number and you’re ready to go.

Driving around Kruger, a 4WD is not required, so any type of car suffices and this can help with the budget. Fully decked out units are expensive! This time we’ve chosen a Toyota Hilux, with the others choosing the Hyundai Tucson. We like the height of the 4WD’s and the extra Room we have when getting into shooting position. Our modus when shooting is one person in the back seat and one in the front. This means we can shoot side to side easily. And unless the subject is high in a tree, the driver can get as many shots as the passenger

Day Zero – BKK-JHB to Orpen.

Bangkok (Day Zero minus two)
The trip to JHB was eventful to say the least. Our initial flight was canceled due to “technical” difficulties and at 3am, three hours after boarding, we were shunted to a Hotel for the rest of the night.  Not knowing the outcome of the technical issue, we were up after about four hours looking for answers. No answers came until around 11am stating we’d be picked up and delivered to the airport at 4pm for a 7:30 flight. The time came and the seven of us lucky enough to be in the hotel (We learned much later the fate of the economy class passengers who were shunted way across town, an hour on a bus to a hotel near the old Don Muang Airport. They are probably still there) jumped the shuttle to the Airport to try and check in or get through immigration. This was a hassle also and the staff finally showed  up, only to tell us the flight was again in doubt (technical error still not fixed) and that we should return to the hotel and await news. We stood our collective grounds and hassled them until we were endorsed through Dubai to Nairobi to JHB. This trip begun on Bangkok “Day Zero minus one” at 9pm. We were now off on a new A380 (“wow!!!”) to Dubai, a short stop and then to Nairobi and then finally Johannesburg, South Africa. Little of consequence happened on the trip apart from some stretched arms carrying the carry on bags from Terminal three to Terminal one in Dubai’s huge airport!

It’s day zero, we’re quickly through immigration and we are waiting for our bags, knowing nothing else could go wrong. Bag one is through quickly and we’re pumped. There’s a pause in the off loading and we wait patiently. We’re called about 15 minutes later.. “Nairobi bags finished, come over here!!”. Yes, you guessed it, our main bag had not arrived, It was in Dubai!! Well, we fill in the  forms, get our Dual Cab Hilux and join up with Ian, Janine and Struan and head for Hazyview where we are going to stay the night (should have been a day also!!)

The little lodge is awesome and we settle in for some well need sleep after the five hour drive. We had purchased some new clothes in JHB so were looking forward to the shower and rest after basically no sleep or rest for the last 48 hours. (Although two of the flights had not bad lay flat beds). We were finally here!! Beautiful skies, coolish yet pleasant and the Kruger National Park (KNP) is only 100kms away!!

Day One – Hazyview to Orpen Gate

We’re not in a hurry to get up and a good sleep is had. Breakfast of Toast and Vegemite (Imported from Australia) is well received, and a few cups of tea have us rearing to go. Orpen next stop. I must add here, that the country driving style of South Africa is akin to lunacy. We take it easy and navigate our way safely as chaos reigned around us.
Orpen gate has been shifted from the camp and is a wonderful design, Africa style, with thatched roof and wooden uprights. Really nice. There’s a day visitor area next door for breakfast and lunch for day visitors. We used this the next day to wait for our bags…

At this stage there’s just two vehicles in the safari. A third is arriving later today, but we decide to head out and see what there is on offer. We had a great afternoon photographing birds, buck and various other flora and fauna. It’s sooooo good to be in Kruger again! Our bag is due at 5:30 so we head in early to see if it  has arrived.

Alas, no, the bag is not here. But a flurry of phone calls assures us that it’ll be in camp at 10am. No t assured, we had back to the cabins for our first Brai (Barbeque) of the trip. A Meat fest it will be!! The Third group arrives and we all introduce, grab some beers and prepare to begin the journey (albeit without one bag) in ernest the next morning, sweet and early at 6:15am.

Day Two – Orpen Gate to Olifants Camp

6:20am, we gather and hit the road. Three car loads of keen safari goers. We plan to be back around 9am to wait for the bag, then head out to Olifants camp. A nice mornings viewing is had, with plenty of wildlife about, warming in the early sun. It’s cold out, and the animals will be enjoying the sun (with us) and readying for the day. It was a great morning.  We head back into camp.

Yes, you guessed it, there’s no bag!! We again call the baggage guy and he agrees to send it on to Olifants so we can leave and get going. Our clothes are getting a little gamey at this point, but we’re here to shoot photos and have fun, so off we go. Before we do, we have a hearty cooked breakfast at the day visitors area. They provide gas and facilities for a smallish fee, and clean up afterwards. Sated, we head out on the 100kms Journey through KNP to Olifants camp.

It’s an eventful afternoon. We get our first taste of Lion and Rhino, along with Buffalo, Elephant and scores of birds and buck. We’re in camp in time to check for our bag….. Alas, not here!! We call again and are informed it’s there. Between the walk to and fro form the reception to our Chalet it had arrived, well molested by customs, in Olifants reception!! A happy day!!

After a great feed, we head over to the view area overlooking the Olifants river. The KNP staff have a light setup that allows you to see way down there. Ollie and I have a Cigar and share a beer with Paul and Shari. We totter back to the Chalets and collapse into a blissful sleep!!! Sao has beaten me to it and is snoring (he he) peacefully when I get back.

Day Three – Olifants

Our second “Full day” in the Kruger. As usual we’re up at 05:31 and at the gate around 06:21. The mornings seem to be getting lighter. On the 1st of August, the Gates will close later at 6pm! (18:00) rather than the current, rather pedestrian 5:30pm. We need more time to get the elusive animals!!

Our typical modus operandi is to head out on the morning drive with a breakfast destination in mind. This dictates our route and we change it daily. This mornings breakfast is at Letaba Camp. This camp has the Elephant Museum with many examples of the huge tusks from some of Krugers’ legendary “Tuskers”. We’ve done it a few times, so we breeze through it after another hearty breakfast. The rest of the crew is heading back to camp and we’re thinking about heading up to some other places to check them out.

From Letaba we head north and almost to the Mozambique border. There’s a breakfast / day camp there and we’d heard there might be Wild Dog there. So Sao and I head out for what was to be a “rest of the day” excursion and a six hour trawl around all sorts of roads and tracks in and around Letaba and Olifants. We scored some great shots and generally had a pleasant afternoon.

The night ended, as usual, with a Brai and some great food cooked and prepared by Ollie and Janine. Sleep is getting deeper as we kick in to our full on 16 hour days.

Day Four – Olifants

This morning we decide to take a shorter route and end up back at Olifants and the Chalet for breakfast. Some of the newbies are showing signs of “Kruger ass”, where sitting all day in the car…. well, you get the idea. Sao and I are seasoned campaigners in the car driving stakes having trained in Western Australia for three months before hitting Africa. But, of course, a quick drive in the morning turns out to be three hours. It’s amazing how many distractions one can have in a mornings drive. The drive is quiet, but fruitful and we come away with some keepers. All is not lost!!

After a great cooked breakfast and a rusk, we’re off into the park again to check out some likely places. We’ve a three hour drive picked out and the rest of the crew rests of checks out the amaing Olifants Camp.

As usual, the drive is an entertaining one. We interact with Elephant, watch one chase a Concrete Truck down the tarmac and we see lots of birds and other fauna. Did I say it was quiet??? Yeah… Right! We’re back in about two and a half hours as we have to see to our laundry (remember those clothes we wore for three days) and to get a snack refill for the Hilux. While back at the cabins we see four lion being hassled by a herd of elephant and they then cross the river to get away. It’s the first time we’ve seen lion swimming or wading. Quite a treat. The elephant make great silhouette on the river too. Majestic and awe inspiring. Now for the afternoon!!

I’m back now from the afternoons drive. We had headed out on a productive loop up past the Bulule  Caravan camp. There are some Hyena there with babies and lots of Kudu and Eagle! A lady on one of the Oliphants Bridges told us about some Leopard, but that came to nothing as we followed her instructions to the sighting. Oh well, that’s Safari life!

We’re averaging around 14GB of data a day. The 500GB Colorspace is coming in handy. I have posted two images to the Blog and will do another one after dinner. What a day!!

Back tomorrow!

Day Five – Olifants to Mopani Camp

This morning started as usual at 5:31. It seems to be a bit lighter in the mornings and we’re chomping at the bit to get out. It’s been quite an interesting trip so far. This morning we are heading out to a Breakfast spot called Makhadzi. It’s just short of the Mozambique border. A very nice little spot it is too. We have a quiet drive up, spotting a few things here and there.

After a light breakfast we head back out on the road to Mopani. About 40 minutes into the trip we spot an animal ducking into the bushes. Sao thinks Lion, as do I and we went to investigate. Low and behold it’s a Leopard!! And we are alone and it’s walking along next to the road!! At this point I am trying to drive, photograph and radio the others about the find. This drives me into a mental stop and I have to calm down a little, prompted by Sao in the back seat. We track this beauty for about 40 minutes and the cars start arriving causing the classic “Jam” that ensues when ever a decent sighting is in progress. I’d like to say the shots were great, but they are just OK. I am happy though!!
After all that excitement we head out to Mopani Camp and settle in to our accomodations for the next three days. A Nice chalet at the top area of the camp. Lots of birds and a mongoose to greet us. It’s warmer here, quite pleasant in fact!

After a nice lunch at the local “Pie and Chips” joint, we head out again for our first sojourn down the “Tropic of Capricorn” loop. This is always a good viewing place in Kruger and it never fails to deliver. We’re greeted by plenty of Game, Elephants, Tseseebee and the likes. Zebra everywhere and lots of Kori Bustards in sight! It’s fun!

As the afternoon progressed we were at the end of the loop (almost) and Ollie is blocked by a herd of 200-400 Cape Buffalo. He radios this in  and we head off to meet up. One hundred metres before where Ollie is stopped is a little loop that goes down in amongst the Buffalo. This looks like fun and we head in. At the bottom we are surrounded by Buffalo! A Great experience. Ollie joins us and we take some snaps! Sao is shooting video and suddenly exclaims . . “Leo…. Leopard!!!” and there we are, two more!! They’ve been flushed by the herd of Buffalo and want out! We hand around and get some shots (OK only!) of the cats and Buffalo.

What a day!!

Day Six – Mopani Camp

This morning we’re invigorated by the experiences of yesterday. We know it’s hard to top it, but we also know there’s stuff to be seen.  We head out back up the Tropic of Capricorn loop. It’s a great morning, culminating with a breakfast back at the Chalets.

Post breakfast, Sao and I decide to head out and go for a little longer trek up another of the loops. We agree to meet Ollie and Co at 2:30 for another go at the Capricorn. It never fails to deliver. On the morning/Afternoon drive we’d seen Elephant and Buffalo bicker, Zebra fighting and a plethora of birds and other flora and fauna. Even in the bad light we had fun! Just being out in it is sometimes good enough! A 40 minute stint overlooking a waterhole was a highlight of the afternoon, but we finished strongly with some Bull Elephant throwing dust over themselves with the sun behind them! Magic!

Now it’s time to sit back, process a few images and get one up on the blog!

Until tomorrow!

Day Seven – Mopani Camp

5:31, up and at it. We’re off on a shorter loop down the bottom end of the Capricorn Loop. It’s quiet but we get some nice pictures. Being a shorter loop we are at the breakfast camp at 9:30 which means we can get another long drive in after breakfast. We eat at Mooiplaas day area and enjoy some Sausages, Bacon and Eggs. Fuel for the long drive ahead.

We head out for Shingwedzi camp some 55kms down a back road. In normal times this is a 30 minute drive. In the Kruger, it’s a three and a half hour trek stopping at all stops!! Worse than a Thai Train timetable! It’s a long hot drive, but productive with a lot of good viewing. We’re on a promise to catch Ollie at the later part of the day, but we still have time for a burger and a trip to red rocks to hunt lion!! Alas no Lion, but we have a nice Burger!

We meet Ollie at 3pm on the Capricorn loop and got a few nice pictures of a Jackal. 10 minutes later Ollie has spotted a Cheetah! Wow, this is not an occurrence that happens often!! We head down there and take a few snaps. It’s not the best sighting in the world, but it’s a Cheetah. One to cross off the list!!

Back at the Camp Paul, Shari and Andy have come back from their afternoons drive with a Lion spotting. Good hunting for all involved!!

Until tomorrow, we head into Satara camp about 100++ kms south of here. We’re expecting more lion and perhaps some Wild Dog down there!

Cross your fingers for us!

Day Eight – Mopani to Satara Camp

Todays drive is going to take us a good 100kms down south of where we are now.  We’re up as usual at 5:31 and ready for the day ahead. We’re heading down the tar sealed road to keep the timing not too bad for everyone. We’re going to decide on a breakfast stop when we are on the road.

The mornings viewing is very sparse and we hardly grab the camera at all. At Letaba camp (About 60kms in) we have a light breakfast and a look around the park. Lots of birds flying around and the weather is great. We have high hopes for the next leg to Satara.

We were not to be disappointed as we are 10 minutes into the drive and we come across several White Rhino just off the road and about five more a little further down the road. Magnificent!! Coming past Olifants we see a Clan of Hyena on some sort of pursuit or flee mission. Again, just wonderful.

We arrive at Satara and move into our accommodations which are really really good. A Circular building with five bedrooms, a magnificent lounge and dining area and a private yard and viewing area for just the private guests. Quite different from the usual accommodations we’re used to. As I type, Ollie is at the fence looking at our lit waterhole on the other side. We’ve had Giraffe, Elephant and Cape Buffalo at it already. Ollie is eyeballing a Hyena that’s having a drink. What an evening!!

For the afternoon drive we are aware of the Rugby match starting at 5pm but we resolve to let good sightings rule the timing, Today is the first day that the gates are open until 6pm and that gives us more options later in the afternoon.  We head out to the S100 loop which is typically a great loop. The light will be nice over the other side once we get there.

There is game a plenty and we get directed to a Lion kill. They’ve taken a Zebra and are feeding on it. We count 8 lions at the scene. There’s a Saddle Bill Stork and plenty of Vultures around to keep us busy off the kill as the cars pile up. What fun!!

On the way back to the Camp we come across some more lion hiding in the bushes. Two sightings within an hour of each other!! Christmas has come early.

We’ll sit chatting now for a while with a cuppa and talk about the days proceedings.

Until tomorrow!!

Day Nine – Satara Camp

It’s 2:39 am and there are Hyena Wooo-ooo! Wooooo-ooo! -ing and it’s hard to sleep. We’re right on a water hole here and paying for it! We had planned to get up early and sit at the lit waterhole, but we decide to flag it and try and get some missing kip.

5:31 rolls around and we’re up and at it. It’s heavily overcast and the light is going to be awful today. We’re heading out to Ntswene day visitors area out the back of the S100. We’re not hopeful of much, but are surprised by a couple of Male Lion about half way there. We get a few nice shots and move on. There’s plenty of Game about as usual. Good sign!

A light breakfast is had and it begins to rain. We’re not expecting that! Other’s in the area duck for cover. There’s lots of birds around and the light is bad. Not worried we head out for the rest of the loop. We go past yesterdays kill and there’s nothing at all left, not any indication of anything. Amazing. The Lion, Hyena and Vultures have totally cleaned it up. About 7 kms on past that there are two male lion and four females. They are not in photogenic poses, but we snap a few anyways.

Lion every day!! How good is that?

In the afternoon we head out for a long drive. It’s fun and we interact with Elephant and see plenty of game. Later in the afternoon we see a White Rhino really close by. Amazing stuff! The Lion from this morning are still there and they are still laying around. Further round we see two more male lIon in a fleeting sighting.

The sunset is beautiful and we snap a few shots.

Another day in Kruger……..

Day Ten – Satara Camp

We’re back from the morning drive. It’s 1:39pm and we have  a few minutes. Ollie is off getting the car cleaned (pointlessly) and Janine is reading in the area outside. The “attendant” is cleaning and is buzzing around. Paul, Shari and Andy have left, today was their last morning in the Kruger. Sad to see them go. They are heading out Orpen gate. We have three nights in Lower Sabie and three nights in Berg en dal coming up to complete our 2009 sojourn into Africa. This is out longest safari yet. Still enjoying it immensely.

This morning we went down the Sweni loop. It’s a fairly long morning drive, but we’d heard there were lion down there and that there was a Giraffe kill on the road about six kilometres in. Hard to resist really. We said our goodbyes to Paul, Shari and Andy and headed out. Seems cold this morning and we’re well bundled up. Yesterdays bad weather was now behind us. Blue skies and a few clouds to accent the beautiful scenery.

It didn’t take long into the loop to find two Rhino in a large opening. They were strangely flighty and didn’t hang around running from us as soon as we broached the corner. Strange behaviour, usually they are placid and dull.

A few corners later and there are Vultures in the trees. There’s also a certain odour that permeates from the undergrowth. Sure sign of an old kill. Giraffe are typically good kills for Lion and the scavengers that feed around them. We turn a corner and there’s an unmistakeable outline of a ribcage and there’s about 40 Vultures all over the trees and about 12 Vultures squabbling over the huge feast that was still there. It seemed that Hyena had not been there yet as there was a good deal of food left in this one. The smell downwind was too much and we opted to sit upwind and take some pictures of the feasting and the roosting Vultures, waking and sunning themselves in the morning glow. We’re there about 10 minutes when the radio  crackles “Leopard Guys!!” and we see Ollie and Janine off down the road in pursuit. We’re right on their tail but it disappears into the foliage and two steps later it’s blended in totally. No hope of any pictures.

We continue on to our breakfast spot and sit down for a hearty feast. All that dead Giraffe has made us hungry!!

On the way back to camp we see more Rhino and some nice eagles. Bliss!!

More when we’re back from the afternoon drive up the S100!! This loop never fails to deliver.

1:52 pm…… time for a 30 minute snooze!

6:01, we’re back in the camp, Brai is burning and the CF cards are being downloaded. Beers and Savana Lights have been handed out. The waterhole light has come on and it’s starting to cool down. We’ve got Steaks, Boerewors and Butternut Pumpkins for dinner, with some Gem squash to finish the day off. We’re hoping the genet from a few days ago visits us agaion so we can photograph it.

Everyone’s super relaxed and looking forward to heading to Lower Sabie tomorrow. The afternoon drive was quiet, but we got some nice images.

Back tomorrow, we have a Brai full of hot food, a fridge full of beer and a waterhole to watch!! 8 Buffalo just headed out, so we wonder what will be next.

Byee..

Day Eleven – Satara to Lower Sabie.

This morning we headed off to the next part of the adventure. At Lower Sabie we’re staying in “Tent” accommodations. We decide to head down the tar seal to Tshokwane Breakfast area. It’s not too far and we might see some good stuff.

This morning turns out to be one where the birds save the day. We see Rhino and various other fauna including elephant and buffalo.

The afternoons drive is down to Crocodile Bridge to meet Janines parents that have rescued us with some fresh vegetables etc.

It’s a quiet drive back for the afternoon with some fleeting glimpses of Rhino and some birds again saving the afternoon.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings!

Day Twelve – Lower Sabie

Today’s a full day in Camp. For our morning drive we’re heading north up towards Olifants. There have been many good sightings up that way. We’re going up the tarmac and heading into the gravel loops and heading south again before breakfast up on the Hill at Mlondozi. What a fantastic spot!

We saw about 10 Rhino, some of them close to the road. Many birds, as usual. All in all, a good mornings hunt for the cameras.

At Mlondozi we meet up with Janine’s parents and have a nice breakfast.  A juvenile Fish Eagle flies over the camp and we get some nice shots. We then have a nice drive (suffering from a food coma) back to the camp.

Sao and I buzz around shooting some of the sunbirds and have a cold drink. We’re running low on cash and decide to try our luck with the ATM down at Skukuza, Krugers Head Office Camp. We have two sightings of Lion on the way down and suffer from the crowded roads and mad driving. Southern Kruger is quite different!

The ATM is a wash and after two attempts we are able to exchange some US dollars for Rand. Thank goodness!!

On the way back from Skukuza we take a quieter road and see a lot of nice Eagle and Elephant.

Another beautiful day in Kruger!!

What will tomorrow bring???

Day Thirteen – Lower Sabie

This morning we’re taking a loop over towards Skukuza camp. There’s a Breakfast day camp there famous for its buffalo pies. We head north out of Lower Sabie and up to a loop down a dirt road. It’s 6:12 and it’s a cold morning!

The drive is uneventful, sightings of game and birds, but nothing that really catches the eye photographically. We’re looking for something different (as usual. . .)

We’re getting close to the breakfast area around 8:30 and we’re feeling flat. No sightings and no real good stuff in the can! With this in mind, I am scanning the road ahead and to the side and a Leopard strolls out next to me. Feet on the brakes, on the radio “Leopard, Leopard Leopard”

We see two Leopard and they walk back across the road. Amazing!! Great breakfast conversation.

The afternoons drives were uneventful in the whole apart from two great sightings. One was a Crocodile eating another croc!! Cool stuff. The other was a herd of elephant, spooked on the river and rushing madly to get away, only to have a small calf stuck on the bank. The ensuing chaos and rescue mission was stuff that you can only dream of seeing.

More tomorrow on the road to Berg En Dal camp

Cheers

Day 14 – Lower Sabie – Berg-en-dal

(I didn’t post this yesterday as I ate something that disagreed with me. Perhaps an ice cream! We’ve driven up to the Renoster pan, north of Berg-En-Dal and have gotten the laptop out to type up the notes. I usually do this at night, but it’s been a long 15 days and I may be too tired tonight!)

We headed out at 6am to our last camp for this adventure, Berg-en-dal. This camp has been getting a lot of Wild Dog sightings and we are hopeful but not expectant. It’s all in the timing.

We head down the S82 gravel road and then down the H1-4 main tar sealed road to Crocodile Bridge for Breakfast. We see a lot of General game a some Rhino on the way down. This trip is certainly a Rhino-fest as far as sightings are concerned. There must be more Rhino!!

After breakfast we head down the S25 Gravel for the long haul across to Berg-en-dal. There’s lots of general game a a few Rhino, but again we are cat-less in our sighting endeavours. We take all the back roads to Berg-En-Dal and get there around 1pm. It’s a long hot drive and not much in the can photographically. We see an interesting African Wattled Lapwing doing a song and dance on a mound, but apart from that and a few other nice birds, it’s quiet.

We check into our accommodations and get ready to head out on the afternoons drive. We take the back-roads again to where we are sitting now as I type and we’re lamenting the days lack of sightings when Sao says “Rhino!!” A mother and baby step out of no where and the mother drinks as the baby chases a small plover around. Priceless action.

We head back to the camp and check out the water hole close by. Amazingly there are four Rhino there, two mums with babies.

Again, a lot of Rhino (10 in all today) so not such a bad day after all.

Day 15 – Berg-En-Dal Camp

This morning we hit the gate early to head out to the Water hole about three kilometres from camp. There’s been a plethora of sightings there so we want to check it out early. It’s abandoned, apart from some rubber-neckers (Us). We then head on back down the S110 loop to the main road.

From the main road we take the S121 Timfenini Loop down towards the Malelene Gate. On this Road we spot a leopard scratching himself. We get a few shots before he takes ten steps and disappears completely. Amazing!

Not much more action on the trip back to the camp for breakfast, but we’ve sure been woken up. In the next drive segment we’re heading to Afsal after stopping at Renosterpan to view the water hole and to type a few notes…. Not much excitement on the way here, but was pleasant none the less.

OK, will continue this when the afternoon drive completes…..

We’re at the Water-hole behind Berg-En-Dal. A Fleet of Bee Eaters is buzzing about and there’s cars coming and going.  A herd of Buffalo are coming in for a drink soon. We’re just here waiting for something to happen. It’s 5:10pm and the light in this gully has gone off. Still, if a Lion shows up, we may photograph it. Ollie’s arrived with Janine and Struan and they are over the other side of the parking area shooting the feisty Bee Eaters.

I am sitting here and I just heard a clip clop clip clop sound, a Rhino runs behind the car and into the water hole. Wow! He’s drinking and enjoying…..

OMG!!  A Leopard has just walked into the picture. He’s being seen off by the Rhino!!

all action here!!!

The Leopard is gone, the light is gone, we’re gone!! 15 minutes to drive the track back to camp!!!

Last day tomorrow!!

Day 16 – Berg-En-Dal Camp.

5:31 and the alarm sings it’s gentle tones of encouragement to get us out of bed. It’s the last day in Kruger and we’re all tired from the constant long hours and long drives. We’re out by the gate at 6:07 and off up to last nights site of triumph, the water hole…..

It’s quiet at the Matjulu waterhole and we decide to head up the back loop and across the S110 to the S114 and on to the S118 back onto the main tar road up to Renosterpan Rhino Pan) and up to a Breakfast spot called Asfal. It’s all very quiet apart from the usual game. Elephant, Kudu and Impala, with a sprinkling of Buffalo and a Hyena running down the main road.

As we get closer to Asfal we get a radio message “Leopard on the left coming up”. There’s a massive traffic jam, but it’s obvious from the general makeup of the crowd that there’s not a definitive sighting in progress.

Ollie points out where he last saw it. Sao and I head up the road a little to change the angle and see if there’s a better spot to see it. As we peruse the area, I see the Leopard sit up. I radio Ollie who’s also seen it. It’s a fair way away and it’s clearly checking out some warthog not far away. This could be good. We get some long distance snapshots and wait for more action.

The cars are piling up around us and most of them cannot see the Leopard, who’s natural camouflage is  amazing and unless you know where yo look, you’d never pick it out from the surrounds. We wait and he takes two steps and disappears. Two steps….. We wait longer hoping he’ll track closer to the hogs. No such luck. We head to breakfast with yet another Leopard Story!

After a nice Bacon, Sausage and Egg brekky at Afsal, we head slowly down the tar seal, look for the Leopard (there is still a mini jam there) and spot a Rhino further down the way that’s mooching around in the grass.

We’re back at the cabins while a young chap gives the car a spruce up (15 days of dirt and grime) and we relax a little.

I’ll return late this afternoon with the final piece of the “in Park” portion  from Kruger Park, 2009………, and I’ll do a summary tomorrow while sitting in Nairobi.

Well, nothing much happened. This was out quietest day by far!!

The summary will follow tomorrow…..

Until Nairobi!

At home, reflecting.

I am sitting down now, rested, a little, from the long trip to Bangkok (We fly to Australia tonight) and I am reflecting on the longest Safari we’ve done so far. As usual, the people we went with made all the difference to a good trip. We sat through hours of driving, many meals and walks through camp shops (for ice creams mainly) and sat around the burning brai at night with a few light ales together in perfect harmony. The good thing about this sort of trip is the ability to trabvel with friends, but not be in each others pockets.  Trust me, there are times after 11 hours in a hot car, on gravel roads, that you get a bit scratchy. It’s always good to have friends and a bit of humpour chucked around to keep it light and fun. Never Safari with a drama queen!! Hell would be nicer!! he he

In total we saw eight (8) Leopard, all of them would be deemed “good” sightings. We didn’t see one of Ollies, but that was a timing issue.  We lost count of the Rhino sightings and in the northern and central parts of the park Lion were a plenty. As we hit Lower Sabie and Berg-En-Dal sightings dropped off considerably, but we still had plenty of great interactions with the animals as we watched them in their natural states.

We changed up our photography a lot (as is seen in the pictures) by using smaller lenses and doing more “contextual” shots. Not sure if this was a great success, but we feel it’s part of our ongoing development as photographers. Certainly we’re not photoshop Gurus and the pictures we post are spot on representations of what we saw and not pop art or digitally altered with more than levels, a little cropping and sharpening. National Geographic they are not, and we don’t try to be, really.  Anyone can come into Kruger and take these pictures if they drive slowly enough (read this the many many people that blasted past us), are patient (one instance a Lion crossed the road and the people were saying how lucky they were, and drove off. Seeing the terrain and the attitude of the Lion, we decided to go down the road to a turn in and wait. I suspected they’d come that way, and I suspected more than one Lion. Bingo!! Two lions, a great sighting and the people that drove off were high fiving a Lions backside as a sighting.) and who get out in time for the good light. Many of our pictures are forced to be in bad light (overcast, or see a Leopard at 5:35pm), but we’re always out at 6am and back at 6pm and make sure that we’re there when the light is….. So many people are up and out at 10am, see nothing, get bored, and come in at 3pm saying they saw nothing. There’s lessons there!

Ollie and Janine were the organisiational gurus of the meals and logistics. We have a full spreadsheet of the logisitics as prepared by Ollie in advance (he does it every time) and this is available for anyone that wants to see how we plan things (we??). Many thanks to them again. They are a big cog in the success chain of this and our previous trips with them.

As for gear, we used it all, apart from the tripod. Never got around to it. I won’t take it again! (Unless it’s on a Biggs type Safari where we get out of the vehicles for sundowners etc).

Great success!

The photos are here on 1ds.com for the daily shoot and on pbase.com/lecter for the galleries.

Enjoy

Signing off Kruger 2009..

Rob