Shimuweni to Olifants, five

Continuing on our journey, we turned off the H14 and on to the H1-6.

 

A couple of Dagga Boys moooving into the scrub.

 

 

Turned into Mooiplaas picnic area for lunch.

 

The kitchen area

 

The ladies' loo.

How you fit loos into a round rondawel

The thatched roof from inside.

 

Carpark - there are no fences.

The covered picnic area with lookout.

 

 

 

The view while we ate !

Shimuweni to Olifants, four

We left Shimuweni before 10am, out the gate and onto badly corrugated roads.  Our first sighting was this well camouflaged Korhaan.

 Animal tracks in dry bush.  Another cloud covered day.
 

Very soon after the gate these two fat Wild Dogs were seen resting in the shade next to the road.

 

 

 

After a while they got up and left.

Turned on to the sealed H14 and travelled north-east towards Mopani Camp area.
While crossing a small river we saw this Hamerkop fishing.

And this other smaller bird also looking for food in the shallow water.

The small bird walked towards the Hamerkop .......

 

 

Then the Hamerkop continued his peaceful fishing.

 

Shimuweni to Olifants, three

Meanwhile back at Shimuweni Cottages D and T were watching the sun rise.  We had not seen the sun for a few days.  Unfortunately we did only see the sun for a short time before the cloud cover was too much.

 

 

 

 

Crested Barbet

 

Crocodile getting out of the water, looking from the tail end.

 

Egyptian Geese are territorial and object to other birds in their area.

When waiting for the walkers to return D and T walked up to the office and gate.  Signs - there are only 15 cottages, all in a row along the river bank. 

 

 

 

 

This helicopter flying along the river was a bit of a surprise ! 

 

But was displaying SA Park Logo, not some luxury game viewer

 

This acacia has long pods and called a shambok (whip) pod tree

 

 If you want to make a phone call you need to know your tree species !

 

Shimuweni to Olifants, two

AR matched her foot with her spirit animal spoor !!

 

Shongololo curled up

 After investigating the stream the group followed animal tracks in the dry Mopani Scrub.

C spotted this 'unusual' piece of bone.

 A Shongololo was spotted drinking from a small puddle.

After a couple of hours they drove back to camp on a fire track.

 

These are what they saw on their morning walk

• Communal Spiders
• Bushmen Lanterns
• Nyala
• Huge Shongololo

Meanwhile back at camp .....