All the Small Things
One of the best things about a place like Kruger is that it has everything on offer for all interests. And if you take the time to look closely, you will be delighted by many of the smaller things. As always, I went on creepy crawly hunts. I spent my first night at Satara. Once it was dark, I went on a walk around camp. In the area around the restaurant I found a couple of scorpions. Some of them were very big.
Except for a handful of scorpions and a couple of beetles, I was actually surprised at how few bugs I found. 
I did find a few creatures around the lights on the buildings. This moth and praying mantis were in the ladies bathrooms.
The gecko and little lizard were hunting around the lights near the restaurant as the buffet was vast!
While photographing the scorpions I met a couple from the USA. Later on, I ran into them again as they were trying to video something on the ground. It was this Solifuge – not my favourite bug, but such a fascinating creature! And he made all of us jump when he decided to move towards us at the lightning speed it is known for!
My excursions in Letaba was a lot more productive. There were scorpions all over the place. And they were big boys as well.
I was sitting on the patio of my Safari Tent, and when I shone my torch, I noticed scorpions in the corner posts of the patio. Luckily, they stayed where they were! But I did check my tent every night! As I was walking back to my tent after one of my walks, this large scorpion was sitting right in the middle of the path.
The scary thing was that it did not move at all when the flash went off or when I nudged it with a stick. This is why you should not walk around camp at night without shoes! When it decided to look for a hiding place, it was fascinating just how quickly it can move!
Two of my favourite creatures came to visit me – I did not even have to go looking for them! I left my water bottle on the table outside and when I came back, this adorable little jumping spider was sitting on the bottle.
I just love those huge eyes! This tiny little grasshopper nymph also visited.
I also saw its larger cousin.
I found this colourful Armoured Cricket inside the Ladies bathroom.
There were also some spiders around. These two posed for photos.
I probably would have missed this one on the trunk of the tree if the flashlight did not reflect off its eyes. It was perfectly camouflaged.
On the way to Mopani I found a chameleon crossing the road. Seeing a chameleon is always one of the highlights of any trip.
I only saw a handful of Leopard Tortoises during my trip. As always, they seem to come out onto the tar after rain.
The park had wonderful rain in recent weeks, and there were little flowers everywhere.
I think this bush is called terminalia prunioides? It had these beautiful dark red seed pods that looked like flowers.
On my last morning the plan was to drive straight on the tar road to the Phalaborwa gate. When I reached the turn off to the S69 I was in two minds whether to drive the loop but decided to do so as I have never driven this loop before. It was very quiet until I reached a small side road. In the middle of the road was a beautiful Boomslang. As I stopped to take photos, it lifted its head to look at me inquisitively.
Then it slithered away into the grass. Although the loop was very quiet for the rest of the drive as well, this sighting made it worth it!
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