Cats
Cheetah
I was driving on the H6 when I approached a parked car. I was just in time to get the back ends of what they were looking at.
There were five cheetahs walking away from the road. Even though I only got bum shots, it was still great to see them, and I could follow them with the binoculars as they were bouncing through the bushes. In 2016 I found a cheetah with five cubs on the H6. It made me wonder if these were the same five cubs? I remember thinking at the time how amazing the mum cheetah was to be able to raise 5 cubs. If these were the same cheetahs, I am even more impressed with mom, and with them!
Lions
My first lion sighting was on the Saturday morning while out on our (VERY) early morning birding drive with the Honorary Rangers. I think someone counted about 10 lions ghosting through the bushes – a couple of lionesses and some mid-sized cubs. They were close to the truck, but they were moving and in dark conditions taking photos was rather challenging.
Another birthday present early on my birthday was a pair of lions in the Letaba River.
I poured coffee, got out of the car and enjoyed the view.
Then the male started roaring. A strange but true fact about my life is that I have never heard a lion roar in real life. Despite the distance, it was still incredible and gave me goose bumps!
“Some days I wish I could go back in life, not to change anything, but to feel a few things twice.”
Conrad Cramer
It is such an appropriate quote for how I feel about my birthday morning in Kruger. It was one of those perfect experiences that will remain with me forever.
On my last night at Letaba I was having supper on a bench next to the river when lions started roaring again towards the east. It was spectacular!
My last lion sighting came on my last morning before leaving the Park. I wanted to make a quick stop at the Letaba River, and on the way, I was again just in time for a bum shot. A lioness was walking away from the road, quite far off. According to the other people at the sighting, there was a small pride but an elephant (that I could still see as well) had chased them off just before I got there.
African Wild Cat
When you stay at Satara you are almost guaranteed to run into the resident African Wild cat at the camp. As I was about to go on my creepy crawly walk, I spotted the cat next to my car. Unfortunately, I only managed one blurry photo. While driving on the H6 another one skipped across the road in front of my car, so quickly I almost thought I imagined it!
Coursers
Coursers are not always the easiest bids to find in Kruger. And with the long grass it was going to be even more difficult. But luck was on my side. On our Friday evening drive, we found a Bronze-winged Courser. It was only the second time I saw one of these birds in Kruger.
On Saturday morning we were driving on the S90 when our driver spotted a Temminck’s Courser. It was hidden behind a little bush, so it was amazing that he saw it at all. And then I received another birthday present. On the way back from Mopani I slowed down because I thought I saw something that turned out to be a leaf animal. Just as I was about to drive away, movement on the other side of the road caught my eye. It was a Temminck’s Courser!
Then I saw more movement. It turns out it was a small family group with about five adults. And there was also a youngster in the group.
This was another first for me as I have only seen Temminck’s Coursers three times before and I’ve never seen an immature one!
Crocodile
This is one of the reptiles you are guaranteed to see in Kruger. I only saw a few during this trip. This big one gave me a toothy grin at Nhlanganini dam.
Cuckoo
Summer equals visits from the Cuckoos. But we all know that these birds can be quite difficult to see! While staying at Satara I heard Diederik’s cuckoos everywhere, but it wasn’t until dusk that evening that I finally saw one. The Levaillant’s Cuckoos and Jacobin Cuckoos are much easier to spot, and I saw a few of these guys.
I also heard Klaas’ Cuckoos calling a number of times, and then we were fortunate to see one at Balule while on our morning birding drive.
I was able to add one more cuckoo to my list, but I will get to that a little later!
Chat
I was hoping to see the Mocking Cliff Chat at Olifants. While we were getting ready for our afternoon bird drive, the handsome male posed for us on the roof of the restaurant.
Next up: D is for …..