New experience – Guided Bush Walk
Before I came on the trip I had made up my mind to go on a guided bush walk. I have always wanted to do this, but somehow never actually got to do it. There was a couple from Paris that also did the walk, and along with our two guides (Pilot and Lucky) we left camp at 04h30. It was a very overcast morning, and after the heat of the pervious two days I was rather relieved.
Pilot told us that we could not take to long in getting to our walking point, so we would not stop for general game, but we would stop for special sightings “like wild dogs”.
Minutes after leaving the camp we came across a few hyenas walking along the road. And then a jackpot. 17 Wild Dogs on the road. Our guide kept his word and stopped for this special sighting “like wild dogs”.
It was still very dark, and I only had my cell phone, but it was an incredible sighting. 
We reached the starting point of our walk not far from Mathkenyane. After a safety briefing, we were off. The first few minutes of our walk had the best soundtrack in the world – somewhere in front of us a lion was roaring constantly. We were hoping to find the big cat, but even though we did get closer to the sound of him roaring, we did not find him before we had to turn for our loop. It was an incredible sound, but the thought of running into him on foot gave me goosebumps.
We soon came across a termite mound. It was fascinating to see the little termites at work. 
I held my hand above the opening and was surprised to find how hot the air above the opening was.
As the roar of the lion faded away, the birds took over. As we walked we could here Woodland Kingfishers, Black-crowned Tchagras, Go-away birds and Rattling Cisticolas. I added more birds to my trip list when we saw a Little Bee-eater and I spotted Knob-billed Ducks flying overhead.
We turned into a little river bed and found signs of elephant. One or more had been digging for water in the sand.
Not long after that we came across a lone elephant. Although the wind was not quite in our favour, he did not seem to be bothered by our presence.
I saw some antelope tracks in the sand, and I asked Pilot if they belonged to different animals.
He confirmed that they actually belonged to the same species – they were Impala tracks and you could see the difference in size between a baby shoe and a mommy shoe. Very cool.
We stopped for a “breakfast break” somewhere in the dry river bed. Lucky opened his back-pack and revealed biltong, crackers. cheese and juice. It was a lovely surprise. We chatted for a bit. Pilot asked if I was enjoying the walk. I said it still felt somewhat “illegal” to be walking on foot, but it was fabulous.
Then we heard a strange “hooting” sound. I had never heard it before, and was dumbfounded when Pilot advised that it was in fact the contact call of wild dogs.
It was such a cool sound. He said we may run into them as they were calling from the direction we would be going. We did find them a little later. There were three or four, but obviously they saw us long before we saw them, and after a brief view, they disappeared. But it was incredibly cool to see them on foot.
As we continued our walk, we found some remains of animals. The first was a part of a White Rhino’s jaw, and then a giraffe bone.
At a little pan we were able to see a Foam Nest Frog nest up close, as well as the nest of Community Nest Spiders.
While we stopped and chatted about the Wild Dog sighting, I noticed some other small things in the area. There were a few Morning Glory and Blue Commelina flowers around.
I also loved these fat thorns. I spotted a small Millipede.
We finished our walk with one of the Big Five and one of the Little Five.
As if by magic we arrived back at the exact spot where we left the vehicle. It had been a fabulous morning, and I thoroughly enjoyed my very first Bush Walk.
When I got back to camp I made a flask of coffee and prepared for my morning drive. I wanted to drive up to Leeupan, but as I got to the T-junction I saw a congregation of cars to the right. That could only mean one thing. Cat. I was just in time to see a beautiful leopard come down from a tree. 
He crossed the road between the cars. I managed to make my way past the cars and saw him as he moved through the long grass.
It seemed as if a herd of Impalas had caught his attention, and as he disappeared I moved forward to see if I could get a view of him potentially stalking the impala. I stopped next to an OSV, and the driver mentioned that there was another leopard on the other side of the road. WHAT?
I thought the 2 leopards 1km apart the previous day was cool, but these 2 were about 300m apart at most. The first leopard was still invisible and as I re-positioned to be in a position to keep him in view and see the first leopard should he hunt the impalas, he got up and moved. And then he was barely visible.
I headed on towards the H1-2. A handsome Kudu bull was feeding next to the road while a little leopard tortoise was crossing it.
I heard birds calling in a tree. I stopped to see what they were, and found the sighting of the trip.
The new experience of many babies continued.
I found the source of the noise – a nest with four Southern White-crowned shrikes! It was one of the cutest sightings I have ever seen.
Every time an adult came within sight of the little ones, their little mouths opened in expectation.
I spent some time with them until the adults disappeared. I marked the spot so I could come back to these cute little ones.
On the low water bridge over the Sand river a Pied Kingfisher was hunting.
There were some elephants in the Sand River. My favourite thing to see.
A little further there was another herd of elephants right next to the road. It was another of those magical moments where I got to spend time with relaxed elephants very close to me.
As big as elephants are, there is something incredibly tender about them. 
I absolutely loved this time I spent with these elephants. It was perfection.
The rest of the drive to Leeupan was fairly quiet. I saw a huge elephant bull and a tiny Steenbokkie. There were also a Bateleur and Tawny Eagle soaring in the sky above.
I loved this tree.
When I reached a rocky outcrop I saw some cars next to the road. They were all looking at the trio of little creatures I had been hoping to see in the area.
Klipspringers have been surprisingly scarce during my last few trips to Kruger, and I was very happy to see these three.
Leeupan was also quiet. There were some impalas and a lone Blue Wildebeest. Above the pan I saw another Bateleur. A brown Raptor landed in a nearby tree. The stove-pipe legs confirmed the ID as a Lesser Spotted Eagle, a new Kruger bird for me.
I headed back to Skukuza and found some colour down the road. First a Red-faced Mousebird.
Then there was an African Green Pigeon. I just love their yellow leg warmers.
I drove back to Skukuza via the H12 and H4-1.
This Steenbokkie was along the H12. I stopped at one of the little loops along the Sabie River. I saw a bird flying into the canopy of one of the large trees. It turned out to be a Common Cuckoo.
Just before Skukuza I saw a stunning young Martial Eagle in a tee.
When I arrived back at my tent I heard the teasing call of the Gorgeous Bushshrike. This time I was determined to find this elusive bird. I followed the sound of his call in my car. When I thought I’d located him, I got out, and tried to find him. I would see movement deep in a bush before he disappeared into another bush. It was up and down for quite a while as he teased me with very brief sightings every few minutes. I followed him to an empty camping spot. I parked my car next to a very thick bush. Again he eluded me. I was about to give up when I decided to give it one more try, and out I got. And that is when he gave me the smallest reward for my effort – a handful of less than great photos.
They weren’t the best photos, but I was so happy to have finally found him and be able to get just a few pics.
After my hard work to find this beautiful bird, I needed lunch.
And that brought me to another new experience – lunch at the Selati Train Restaurant.
I had a fruit salad and a cold beverage at one of the tables on the deck. I loved the view down the walkway with the vegetation on the side.
After lunch I walked to the end of the platform. After all the years of not being in use, the new restaurant and train looked really great.
I wanted to check in on the Southern White-crowned Shrikes but before I went that way I popped in to Lake Panic again.
The young Green-backed Herons were around as usual. Their colours and the light worked well this afternoon.
The Squacco heron in breeding plumage was still there while another one was flying from log to log.
This Pied Kingfisher posed so nicely on the log.
On the way back to the tar road I came across two Steenbokkies, the first time I was able to get both male and female in one picture.
On the tar road I found more of these entertaining creatures.
It was feeding time at the Southern White-crowned Shrike nest. The little orange mouthes were so incredibly cute.
I felt sorry for the 2 adults that had to feed these demanding youngsters.
But then I realised the mom and dad had helpers.
In the end I counted 6 adult birds feeding the 4 babies. I managed to get 5 of them into one frame.
Seeing these 4 little birds in the nest was definitely the highlight of the trip. As I sat there and watched this little family, I was overwhelmed by emotion. I was so grateful to be in this wonderful Park that I love so much, and experience these incredible moments. It is moments like these that make me come back again and again.
There were a lot of clouds gathering in the south, and I wanted to get back to camp for a braai before the rain arrived. On the way back I found this Striped Kingfisher.
I had not seen many Blue Waxbills so far on the trip, so when I saw a few in a bush next to the road I had to stop and enjoy them.
The last sighting of the day was an African Hawk Eagle.
I did not beat the rain to camp. Instead of a braai I made some sandwiches and watched the rain fall.