Sout Africa Part 5: Lower Sabie and Skukuza, Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park, Lower Sabi and Skukuza

4/10/16 Lower Sabie journal ramblings 

7pmish chillin at the #50s plaza with a braii fueled by ironwood after another spectacular day burned into our eyes. Holy shit, we covered so much ground today (140ks @50 by law), but it took us from 8am until 6pm. We went from our gloriuos perch atop the Olifants River cliffs through some really hot and dry country. We saw lots of mopani shrubland, viewed a pond with a a dead tree containing two different species of weaver nests, White-winged terns, a group of hippos, elephants drinking water, Egyptian geese, Vervet monkeys, Black-winged stilts, Dabchicks (Little grebes), and the whole shebang. Overwhelming. 

Between the turnoff Lower Sabie and Lower Sabie, we checked out two overlooks. We looked down on cacti-esque trees down onto really sparsely vegetated red and rocky soil. 

Leopard Tortoise moving at bird-nerd speed

African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and my fearless driver. Apparently that huge bone shield on their heads is called a "boss." It is sort of like chest hair emerging from a field shirt. Also, I think they look a lot like Arthur's friend Francine, but apparently she is an orangutan. Who knew. At any rate, her hairdo is very boss-like. 

White rhino 

Lion pride traffic jam and Broville units = science 

Blue wildabeests, Nothing-to-see-here giraffe and an Egret-topped rhino nap

Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchelli)

Fever trees (Vachellia xanthophloea) have greenish bark and are one of the few species where photosynthesis takes place in the bark. 

Greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) 

Red-billed hornbill 

And another Lilac-breasted roller 

4/11/16 Skukuza
I'm not getting enough writing time in. We arrived at Skukuza at 1:55pm today after a bumpy backroad meander from Lower Sabie. We saw Temminck's coursers whose very red heads matched the soil. It was hot! We ate tuna salad while watching White-fronted bee eaters fish in the water, Hamerkops take naps, Vervet monkeys groom, Pied kingfishers pounce on the water, and an amazing, but nameless (to me) tree gave us shade. 

5pm The golden sun just faded on the railroad bridge that I can see from our bungalow #84 with "no view." At least 12 hours of birding today. We went to whatever fancy pants steakhouse exists here for some delightfully cheap drinks and sunset. What a beautiful, but crazy scene. It was super ooey gooey great (that might be my champagne talking). And wifi. Blow your mind. Wifi. Crazy. Then, we went to the shop to get some kudu and wildebeest, and cooked some pasta, I showed Eliot how to use a old school (born before 1982) can opener, and we had a lovely meal. 

prime real estate 

ceaseless presence 

When they both finally arose from their bath, the had a butt war of epic proportions attempting to nudge each other out of the clay soak. 

Pin-tailed wydah 

Slightly warm 

4/12/16
Day 2 at Skukuza, last night in Kruger
Hot. Overwhelmed by animals and rapid-fire range shifts. Birding all day every day. Today we saw some kind of mongoose, five rhinos all of which we think were White rhinos. 
I have a lot to say about how nice it was to have no working phone, but I also went through hashtag withdrawal, so here are a few:
#beatingthebushesforbirds
#birdtrolling
#nobirdleftunseen
#tickinghoneymoon
#birdtillyoureyesbleed
#honeybirding
#pishingeverybush
#birdtillyourbrainmelts
#nowearentlookingatlions

Questions that we would google if we could: 
Why do some of the giraffes look like they have warts?
What's a group of giraffes called?
Are males darker? Just coincidence?
Do males and females hang out together?
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