What's THAT in my photo??

We are doing a day trip into Kruger National Park.  At one of the river crossings, we stopped so I could take a photo of the hippo lazing in the water close to the ford.

As I was happily snapping, a second hippo broke the surface with a loud roar.  I squealed and nearly dropped the camera!  Scott and Sean almost died laughing.  In the photo above, you can see the ring where the second hippo disappeared.

What we all failed to notice was the HUGE crocodile floating just near our car (see bottom left hand corner)!!

The Slowveld

The area of Mpumalanga in which Marloth Park is situated, is known as the Lowveld.  Our days here are schedule free.  We rise with the sun, laze at the Krans spotting game, stroll the river road and eat and drink on no particular timetable.

It is a contrast to the posh game lodges that march to a strict schedule of game drives and mealtimes ensuring the armies of behind the scenes support teams have beds made, then turned down, lanterns lit, meals laid out and so forth, in oiled clockwork.  

The area is nicknamed The Slowveld and it is a very nice way to spend time!

It's a hippo's life

In the river below The Krans there lives a hippopotamus.  He is there most days and we are starting to see the pattern of his life.

He wanders down from the trees in the early morning and will either wander around snacking on reeds of head straight to the river.  He will sit in the shallows for hours, his twitching ears the only things distinguishing him from a rock.

On tiring of the shallows, he slips into deep water and disappears.  Only the current on top of the water betrays his presence.  Every now and then, his nostrils will break the surface with a watery snort!

Our walking field guides

Who needs a published field guide to Southern Africa's birds and animals when you have Elizabeth and James?  Their ability to both spot and identify the region's birds and animals is uncanny.  They can tell the difference between a bushbuck and a duiker from a flash of red through the undergrowth.

Not only can they correctly identify critter, they do so using their full names.  We don't see just lizards, we see blue-tailed skinks, Birchell zebras or Hartmans when I was unaware they came in several flavours and are schooled in the difference between vervet and samango monkeys. 

They are particularly impressive with birds including identifying their calls.  Blue waxbills, grey go-away birds and white fronted bee eaters are spotted, identified and pointed out - often, however, in loud, excited voices that cause a flutter of wings as the subject flees!

Returning 'home' to Marloth

Leaving beautiful Sodwana Bay was made a little easier by overcast skies and pending rain.

Piling into the Condor, we bumped over gravel roads until Jolozi where we hit the 'relief' of the paved road.  Once over the border and despite being one of the main thoroughfares through Swaziland, the potholes could hide a giraffe!

We passed through Swazi villages with children neatly dressed in their winter uniforms, walking home from school along the side of the road, smiling, waving and dancing.  Further north we drove through the Hlane Game Sanctary.  Driving along a 'highway' spotting game was a novelty!  This was a place we could actually expect to see a giraffe in a pothole!

Leaving the park, we drove through miles and miles of Royal canefields.  A more wealthy part of Swaziland with cinder block houses and a slashed road reserve.

Across the border at Mananga and in an hour we were pulling into Marloth Park greeted by giraffe, zebras, wildebeest, warthogs and impala.  A great day exploring Africa and a very satisfying four stamps in our passports!

Guess who's coming to dinner? (or who pooed on the counter)

We were warned about the vervet monkeys (those cute ones with the bubblegum blue balls) - be sure to keep the cabin doors closed as the mischievous critters will raid the fruit bowl before you notice.

Coming in from the beach, we were horrified to find monkey poo in the middle of the kitchen counter.   James assured us it was not him so the culprit must have snuck in while we were herding everyone out the door.  Our marshmellow supply was sadly diminished.

Having not actually witnessed the trespass, it was still hard to comprehend - until...

James, Nicola and I are pottering in the kitchen and I looked up to see a monkey sitting at the table happily 'playing' with James' Lego!

iSimangaliso Wetland Park - KwaZulu-Natal

This is the land of miracle and wonder - Paul Simon

 ... UNESCO World Heritage listed iSimangaliso Wetland Park spans from the Mozambique border south to Cape Lucia about 280km.  It includes a marine park out ~10km which boasts the best diving in Africa and Top 10 in the world.   It means miracle and wonder and here we just thought Paul Simon was a great lyricist! 

We are staying at Sodwana Bay, about 100km south of the Mozambique border.  Miles of sand, sand dunes and pounding surf.  hardly a soul on the beach.  A red-capped lighthouse sits atop the dunes keeping the waters safe.  This is the beach at its most magnificent. The pounding surf and high vegetated dunes reminds me of Rainbow Beach.

We are staying in a log cabin nestled in the dunes and crawl into bed with the surf pounding in our ears.  Watch out for hippos, crocodiles and great white sharks!  Here, the great white is cheekily added to the Big 5 to make the Big 6!  Personally, I'd prefer to play in the surf than go shark spotting, although, perhaps, they are one and the same! 

The cabin is part of the KZN Parks system. As with Hluhluwe, our accommodations are serviced daily - and crockery is logo-ed with the parks logo.  Frightfully civilized!