Lower Sabie Campground 12/13 November

The morning we were to leave for Lower Sabie, we all awakened at 0415 to take a last morning drive with Nelda and Richard.  They are both bird experts and pointed out some in places I would never have expected, but added a number of new ones to my list.  The real find was about 0630 when we were all getting hungry.  We came upon a group of about eight lions resting on the side of the road, apparently post a large feast of impala or another antelope.  A few of the younger ones were lying there with their feet in the air like kittens.   Quite exciting to see and they seemed quite photogenic and willing to pose for our pictures.

After breakfast, we started the slow trip to Lower Sabie where we would spend the next two nights.  As we headed south, the terrain became quite different.  It was much flatter with lower trees for the herbivores and lots of dry grass.  Giraffes love to eat in the tops of these trees.  The green grass was just on the roadside where we saw a lot of impalas grazing.  New animal sightings included ostriches, warthogs including a mother with three babies – quite interesting to listen to her calling to them, and some white rhinos.  They are really black and are differentiated from the rare black rhino by their square jaw.  For a break, we stopped at Tshokwane for lunch.  A kudu sandwich was on the menu but not something my vegetarian self would think of eating, especially after observing the magnificent animal in the wild.

Down the road, there were a few places designated on bridges where we were allowed to “alight” from our cars and observe any wildlife in the wetlands, which were mostly dry at this tiime of year.  If any animals did come onto the bridge, we would have plenty of time to return to our cars.

Upon our arrival at Lower Sabie, I took my spare to the petrol station  as needed fuel anyway.  The station was a one woman operation at that time, so she filled my tank and fixed my tire with a plug.  Cost was only 50 rand plus a tip – what a deal! The cottages here were duplexes with no cooking facility.  Hot water for tea or coffee was available in a separate building nearby.  Before dusk, Richard called us and told of another lion sighting.  We headed out and arrived in time to see a male just lying on the side of the road.  As more cars and a tour bus arrived, he stood up, ambled off the side of the road and marked his territory.  Later, we ate dinner at the restaurant overlooking the Lower Sabie River and listened to a lion roar (maybe the same one) as the moon came up over the river.

After a night rain and breakfast we took a loop drive toward Skukuza Campground hoping to see more animals on a cooler morning.  The countryside was much more barren and all the animals must have been in hiding as only saw a mongoose and skink.  Colorful birds to add to our repertoire were a woodlark and king fisher.

The campground had a pool, so after lunch headed over there and played in the water for an hour.  The weather had changed to hot and sunny so was fun to watch the 30-40 noisy weaver birds in the trees nearby as they worked on their round hanging nests and visited back and forth.  It was interesting to see how the nests were created from leaves and grass.

This was our last day in Kruger, so took one more tour following Richard and Nelda.  The most interesting site was a herd of about 50 African buffalo that was crossing the road.  Other animals were in abundance – rhinos, giraffes, warthogs, zebras and impalas.  One large bull elephant was right on the side of the road and I did not want to try and take his picture as they have been known to charge cars.  I will just keep him in my memory bank.

We had our last dinner in the wild before a rainy, stormy night.  We hoped to take a walking tour with a guide in the morning before leaving the park.

Out of the wildness of Kruger and on to the beginning of civilization.