SA Diversity Tour (31/1-4/02/2014) Day 16 to 20

Lower Sabie

Both Lower Sabie and Crocodile Bridge Rest Camps are very small and popular so it is advisable to make bookings if you want to stay there, especially when camping. I have stayed at each of these many times and the game viewing in these areas is brilliant and wonderful for photography.

On our first morning at Lower Sabie we came across a Tawny Eagle which had caught a snake which looked to be about 5’ (1.5m) in length. When we first saw him, he had obviously skinned it and was eating the meat surrounding the bones. 

I did not take many pictures while there as I wanted Gaelyn to get as many as she could because she was on holiday and I would always get another chance at them. On the main road to Skakuza one morning, I did however come across this beautiful Carman Bee-eater which I could not resist. There is one bank in the river where I know they make holes to nest in and stopped by to watch their activity.

Crocodail Bridge

Around Crocodile Bridge you can see almost every species of animal found in the park so one morning we decided to head for the Hippo Pool to see what we could find. During our stay in KNP, we saw at least one pride of lions every day but our mission was still to find a leopard. The water in the river  was very high with only one hippo seen in the distance.

In a shallow cave above the water, there is a sample of rock art but over the years, this has eroded and pieces have broken off the cliff leaving only this image for us to see.

However, the rock formations are worth looking at as there are some stunning places where higher water levels have wash away the soft sandstone. We had EXTREMELY good luck on leaving the pools as we found a leopard just busy climbing out of a tree!! No time for any pictures but Gaelyn managed to get three which were unfortunately lost a few days later when her computer was stolen.

Due to the extremely hot midday temperatures sometimes felt at this time of year, we always took a break during the hottest hours and this gave us time to catch up with processing pictures to post.

Crocodile Bridge is situated near the small town of Komatiepoort and was an ideal opportunity to do some shopping and stop for a good breakfast at the Wimpy there.

A fantastic sighting for me was to find this Long-crested Eagle sitting on a telephone pole. They are not often seen and almost never so close that I could capture an image with my miserable 300mm lens so I was pleased to get half decent shots.

Then, after two glorious and exciting weeks in the Park, it was time to head on down the road.......

List of animals seen – too many to mention all but a few are: Lion, Leopard, Kudu, Crocodile, Hippo, Elephant, Black and White Rhino, Buffalo, Hyaena, Rock and Water Monitor, Wilddog, Hyrax (Dassie), 4 species of mongoose, etc. plus at least 100 species of birds.