It was almost 08h30 and I headed towards the gate. Two cars were parked next to each other, one coming in my direction. I wondered if they saw anything interesting. The guy coming towards me waved at me to stop. He asked if I was going to the gate. When I confirmed he advised that I may as well turn around. Apparently, there was protest action on the road outside the Park and it would be impossible to drive home that way. This was not good news. He said they were going to drive south and leave via Phalaborwa gate. I also had the option to leave via Pafuri Gate.
In the end I decided to head south and leave via Phalaborwa gate. Soon after I turned around, I saw an adult and juvenile Bateleur not far from each other.
On the way to the Dzundzwini loop turn off I saw a Bateleur in the road that was promptly chased off by a stunning pale form Tawny Eagle.
I added another bird to my trip list when a Common Buttonquail ran across the road.
It was going to be a long day, so I set my cruise control just under 50km/hr and headed south. If you had to take a detour, driving through Kruger was not the worst thing. When I got to Babalala picnic spot, I saw the people who told me about the protest action turn off there. I thought of stopping as well for a quick body break, but decided to push on and rather stop at Shingwedzi.
Not stopping at Babalala turned out to be a brilliant decision as even a few minutes can be the difference between seeing something amazing or missing it. A little while after Babalala two vehicles were parked in the road. As I slowly approached, I saw the reason – two cheetahs were walking in the road. They walked in front of the vehicle on the right and sat down on the side of the road. I was able to position and take three photos before they got up and moved away quite quickly.
I was delighted! I got to see the cheetahs I’d heard about after all! I watched them as they moved away from the road. You can see just how tall the grass is.
Within minutes they were invisible. Any vehicle that arrived at the sighting 5 minutes after I did would not see what I had been looking at. I drove away with a big smile on my face. The protest action turned out to not be such a bad thing after all, and the Park was kind to me on this extended trip home.
When I made the decision to drive south, I also decided that I would not stop for anything unless it was right next to the road. As I drove, I saw some zebras, a couple of Blue wildebeest and the odd elephant, but none of them were really close to the road.
I did stop for this giraffe that promptly stuck out its tongue at me.
I could not drive past these ostriches without stopping.
I made a quick stop at Shingwedzi. As I was leaving I spotted some Marabou Storks in the river bed.
They were joined by a lone elephant.
Between Shingwedzi and Mopani I spotted the odd Lilac-breasted Roller or Bateleur. There were also a few impalas and grey elephant-shaped bodies between the trees. Taking this photo is compulsory for anyone crossing the line.
The Mopani Baobab is one of the most iconic landmarks in that part of the Park.
A short stop at Mopani meant I could see this beautiful view.
As I was about to drive past the turn off to the Shipandani hide I checked the time and decided I could spare a few minutes for a quick look if anything is happening at the causeway. It was very quiet, and I only saw this giant crocodile on the riverbank. 
As I was about to turn around, I saw a little raptor fly into the bushes next to the road. The white rump was quite obvious, and I continued on to see if I could spot the Gabar Goshawk. He posed for a couple of photos before continuing his hunt.
I drove to the hide to make a u-turn and found a herd of elephants right outside the hide.
I paused briefly for a few seconds at the causeway and added another bird to my trip list when I saw movement between the reeds and noticed the Black Crake. A small herd of Blue Wildebeest were relaxing just before the tar road.
I stopped for this very photogenic Zebra just before the turnoff to the H14.
It is just more than 50km from the turn off onto the H14 to the Phalaborwa gate. I saw a few hippos in the distance when I paused on the Letaba River Bridge. A few giraffes played hide and seek between the trees. But other than a couple of Rollers, Magpie Shrikes and this Double-banded Sandgrouse, I did not see a anything else the entire distance of the H14.
I love this view of Shikumbu koppie.
Five and a half hours after turning around at Punda Maria I had completed the +- 200km to the Phalaborwa gate. I filled up the car and headed home. The road was decent both from a road condition and traffic perspective. I thought this spectacular sunset as I crossed into Gauteng was the perfect end to what had been another epic Kruger Adventure.