The Fourth Leg - Birding Days (1-10 Nov)

Tony and I were in a rush to get away from Nwanedi Game Reserve, and left early on 31st Oct, to travel in to Musina for some shopping - the usual stuff, fresh fruit, veges, wine, beer ........I think we ended up in the wrong end of Musina, we are not part of the demographic the Super Spar supermarket caters to.  So we got our stuff done in a big hurry (it was month end) and set course for our next destination - Pafuri River Camp which is 2 kms from the Pafuri gate to Kruger National Park.  

We turned up without a reservation on a very hot Friday afternoon, and were

accommodated by Koos and Hannetjie without a problem.  Most of their guests use the tented tree houses, and not camping, so space was not an issue.  What a spot this turned out to be - almost completely off the grid - no electricity, no cell phone signal unless you climbed up to Signal Hill.  And what a difference to our previous experience.  

For guests, there is a lapa available - and the bar and shaded swimming pool - temperatures peaked here in January at over 50 degrees C, so you really need a shaded pool and bar !

We got our camping spot in a secluded part of the property, with very own shower (gas) and loo (flush), set up camp and were ready to relax in this very rustic but perfect venue.

The Bathroom

The Bedroom

And the kitchen

Blue Waxbill

Violet-backed Starling

And now I have to admit that we did nothing very much in this beautiful spot - it was too damn hot.  We sat in our camp chairs and looked at birds. When it was very, very hot, we went to the bar, and looked at birds.  And when it got a bit cooler, we walked around the property and looked at birds. 

Collared Sunbird

Just in case you are wondering, I have not become an expert bird photographer overnight - I have lifted most (not all, but most) of the bird pictures from the internet  

After a couple of lazy days at Pafuri River Camp, it was time to move on to the meat of our trip - Kruger National Park !  We entered KNP in the northern end, at the Pafuri Gate and travelled to the Pafuri Picnic site - a magnet for birders. The picnic site is located on the banks of the Luvhuvhu River, and there are loads of enormous old trees which are home to a huge variety of birds.  This is also where we were greeted by a family of ellies having a little paddle in the river while chewing on an obviously tasty dead tree - the mud adds that extra relish !


At the picnic site, there were also a LOT of birders breakfasting heartily, with all their bird watching gear - the value of which could easily have paid for the upgrades to JZ's Inkandla home, and with money to spare for a couple of extra wives.  (Did you know that one of JZ's recent a matrimonial acquisitions is an ex-IBM employee ? )


But I digress - back to the animals and birds - how lovely is this mommy Nyala and her baby ?  This is when I knew we were in for an awesome journey through the park - lots of animals and beautiful birds. 








Eventually we managed to tear ourselves away from the picnic site, to travel to our first rest camp, Punda Maria - the name of his camp has an interesting provenance and is also one of the older and more traditional rest camps in Kruger.  

A recent addition to this rest camp is a hide with a flood-lit waterhole, which is a favourite sundowner spot for campers.  One evening Tony and I spent a LONG time in the hide, without seeing anything, and Tony was definitely getting restless.  Finally we were the only people left - when an African Civet sped past in front of us !  Wow - we left feeling very lucky to have seen this shy nocturnal animal !  As we started walking back to our tent, we heard some very BIG splashing noises and rushed back - to find 100's of Cape (African) Buffalo going for a floodlit skinny dip.  Don't you think that they look like cows with questionable hair dos ?  

Too soon it was time for a change of scenery, and we headed south to Shingwedzi Rest Camp, still firmly on the birding scene.  This rest camp was flooded in January 2013 when the Shingwedzi river burst its banks, and major rebuilding and renovations have taken place, so the camp was looking spick and span when we got there.  The camp site sported a resident Yellow-billed Kite which glided overhead all day, looking for scavenging opportunities.  On the less mundane side, we had sightings of a number of firsts for me - the highlight being the gorily named Cut-throat Finch. 

  
The Broad-billed Roller and Grey-headed Bushshrike also featured - again, so many birds that I had never seen!

Shingwedzi was also the scene of our first lion sighting of the trip.  The first few nights after we arrived, we could hear the roar of the lions as we went to sleep.  One morning, we realised that the lions had had a successful hunt. Two male lions had killed an adult buffalo on the sandy banks of the Shingwedzi river, and having breakfast by the time we arrived. 

The lions ate their fill, and left to sleep the rest of the day in the shade.  Then the next lot moved in - the crocodiles and vultures.  Have a look at the picture where one of the crocs has crawled right inside the carcass of the unfortunate buffalo !  Two days later, driving past the same spot, there was no trace at all of the buffalo - not a bone in sight.





 
And to end this birding episode, with our final bird identification challenge.  We found this bird and were unable to identify it - this time of the year there are lots of red herrings (mixing my metaphors now) - there are migrant birds, birds in the breeding feathers, and also a lot of immature or juvenile birds around.  So I pondered on this picture for some time before identifying it as a Western Osprey - an uncommon migrant, it says in the gospel according to Roberts.  



I am going to publish this post now, and return soon with the animal episode.  There has been a long break since the last post - I will refer you to the marvellous service provider who decided that I had used enough data for the month of November, and unless I coughed up exhorbitant amounts of cash, I would have to wait until December to continue the story of our travels.  (More details on request - I need to VENT !)