Amber Sky Creations

Crocodile Bridge, August 2013 – part 2

Posted on August 30, 2013April 21, 2020 by wilma

The third morning brought with it thick mist that restricted the view to 10 meters or so, and infused the bush that the magical quiet so unique to misty mornings in the African bush.

As the sun started to burn through the mist, we made our way to the Hippo pools, where we met Daniel, the ranger in charge of looking after tourists in this spot for the last 18 years! Incredibly, he has been cycling the 10km through the bush from Crocodile bridge to Hippo pools every morning, and back again at night, every day for 18 years, and even though he has had some rather nerve-wracking experiences, he has never had to use his gun. He escorted us into the river bed, where we spent a few minutes drinking in the beauty and photographing the hippos. We will definitely go back to hippo pools whenever we stay in the region!

After hippo pools, we idled slowly up the H4-2 towards Lower Sabie. Shortly after re-joining the tar road, we found a little pearl-spotted owlet. After giving us the run-around for a few minutes, it finally settled on a dry Acacia-tree and allowed us to take a few shots.

The bridge at Lower Sabie was as fabulous as ever, but unfortunately the light was no longer conducive to good photography. That failed to make the experience of simply being in this very beautiful are in the Kruger Park any less enjoyable.

After hanging around Lower Sabie and the Sunset dam for a while, we made our way back to the Ntandanyathi hide, where we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the silence and photograph any visiting birds, while the resident Crested Barbet tried his utmost best to get us to share our mini-cheddars with him!

On our way back to the camp, we had one last sighting – two beautiful Kudu bulls.

Having made the decision not to rush the packing of the car, we got out of camp on our way to Malelane gate rather late on our last morning. This turned out to be the best thing that we could possibly have done, since we had hardly tuned off the tar road and onto the S25, than we met a stunning specimen of a Black Rhino, walking (uncharacteristically) in the open, right next to the road. There could be no better end to our brief trip that the opportunity to photograph one of these magnificent, and badly threatened animals, up close, in the open, and in sweet light.

We found out a few weeks after the trip that the sores on its sides were not, as we had guessed, battle scars, but rather skin lesions caused by the filaria parasite. This parasite is passed on from one Rhino the next when visiting communal dung heaps, and as a result almost every black rhino will sport these large, inflamed and often septic sores on their sides. (More information)

Crocodile Bridge, August 2013

Posted on August 30, 2013April 21, 2020 by wilma

Trip Gallery

So, after two years spent exploring the north of the park, we found ourselves longing to see the South again. So, with our eyes filled with visions of the awesome big-5 sightings that the southern regions are famous for, and with considerible trepidation that we will spend too much time stuck in some of the infamous Kruger traffic jams, we booked 4 nights in Crocodile bridge.

Having pre-arranged for late entry, we arrived at the gate after 7pm, having lost over an hour to roadworks on the N4. We drove across the low bridge over the crocodile river in pitch dark – an experience that was over much too soon – and were met at the gate with a friendly smile. A few minutes later we were escorted to our bungalow, where we were finally able to relax and have dinner on the balcony with the sound of the water rushing over the weir in the background.

Having the check in the following morning, we missed the best light, but still had a lot of fun, driving down a surprisingly quiet dirt road, checking off all the usual Kruger suspects. Impala, Giraffe, Zerba, Warthog, Elephant, Hornbills – both red and yellow-billed, Lilac Breasted Rollers, Fork-tailed Drongos, Magpie Shrikes, etc, etc, and best of all – wonder of wonders! – several different groups of White Rhino! Seeing these magnificent creatures have become even more special in recent years, because one cannot get the nagging thought out of your head that some day soon there may not be any Rhinos left…

We spent some time relaxing in the …. hide, and as we left, we were rewarded with our first great photo opportunity – a herd of Zerba with red-billed oxpeckers everywhere! The little birds with the bright red bills and yellow eye-rings are photogenic in general, but when contrasted with the graphic black and white of the Zebra, the scene was simple irresistible.

With the basic portraits done, I decided to get playful and experiment a little with different levels and depth-of-field.

Unfortunately, the Ntandanyathi hide is just too far from Crocodile bridge for us to completely relax, and all too soon we had to leave. We did, however, have time to pause and take some shots of a flock of Helmeted Guinea fowl settling down for the night.

The second day dawned with think clouds blocking the sun, but we decided to head out anyway, and make what we could of the rather poor light. Our first goal was Biyamiti Weir. Although the weir itself didn’t offer any great rewards, we did come across a family of dwarf mongoose on our way there.

From there, we went on to Afsaal, where we had a delicious breakfast of Kudu word, pap and gravy. Highly recommended! With our tummies full, we made our way down to Renoster Pan on the H3, we – surprise! – we were met by three beautiful White Rhinos, and a handful of buffalo.

With the persistent cloud cover continuing to thicken, we pressed on to Mpondo dam, where we were rewarded with, well, not much really – only a few small waders pecking around in the shallows out of reach of even our long lenses, and an African Jacana. At least we were rewarded with a nice sighting of a black-headed Oriole on the way.

Our final sighting for the day, was well worth waiting for – an African Civet, jogging along the H4-2, a few meters from into the grass. Sadly, the light was too low to get any pictures worth keeping.

Shingwedzi, December 2012, Continued again

Posted on January 16, 2013April 21, 2020 by wilma

Like all good things, our trip to Shingwedzi also had to come to an end. The end that was in store for us this time, however, was one of the best we’ve ever had.

Some distance after Babalala, on the way to Punda Maria gate, we saw some Vultures sitting in the trees. As we approached the spot, we saw more and more vultures, and realized that we were about to stumble upon a kill quite close to the road. It turned out that the kill was right next to the road, and the vultures were fighting over the scraps on both sides of the road. We spent over an hour photographing the commotion!

Shingwedzi, December 2012 – continued

Posted on January 16, 2013April 21, 2020 by wilma

We quickly realised that we won’t get many sightings of large game around the camp, due to the extreme drought. The only real opportunities close to the camp were the water-birds that frequented the remaining pools in the river-bed, and the resident troop of baboons.

We drove up the the S52 towards Red Rocks, checking on a water-hole where we had photographed Buffalo and Elephants on a previous trip, but all that was left of the water-hole was a tine pool of green, stagnant water. The veld towards Red Rocks was bone-dry and the only sightings on the entire S52 was a family of wart-hogs and a single troop of baboons. So after that one trip, we decided to rather spend out time between the Shingwedzi causeway, driving up to the wet area towards Babalala, and hunting for small birds and trying to tick off as many species as we could. This included one day where we spent most of the day sitting under the large trees on the confluence look, just looking for new species and ticking them off! The “birding” is something that is very new to us, but something we intend to pursue more in future.

Due to the drought, bird-sightings outnumbered large animal sighting by far, but we still got to spend several very entertaining hours with the resident baboon troop.

And chasing after the dragon flies that seemed to be everywhere!

On the 27th, we decided to drive up the S56 (Shingwedzi river road, and all the way to Mopanie. We started off at a leisurely pace, checking every little loop and river viewpoint along the way. At one of these viewpoints, we stumbled upon a very picturesque pool among some rocks in the river bed, hosting a staggering variety of birds. From where we were parked, we could see different heroin and egret species – a goliath heron, a grey heroin, a black-headed heron, a green-backed heron and a great egret. We could also see saddle-billed, open-billed and yellow-billed storks, bee-eaters, red-billed buffalo weavers, Pied Kingfishers, Francolins and, to crown it all, a fish-eagle! Needless to say, we spent more than an hour at that spot.

Our next stop was Grootvlei dam. And what an experience we had there! A herd of about a dozen bull-elephants, playing, wrestling and generally lolling about in the middle of the dam! Without a second thought, we broke our rule of never shooting in bad light, and started clicking away, trying to capture this amazing sighting.

Shingwedzi, December 2012

Posted on January 16, 2013April 21, 2020 by wilma

Trip Gallery

After our first visit to Shingwedzi in April, we decided to go back in summer. We had two reasons:

Direction of light: In winter, the sun, very frustratingly, rose and set over the river. That meant that we were never able to photograph animals in the river bed from the road running alongside it. In summer, the sun shifted enough to bathe the river bed in sweet light both in the morning and the afternoon.

Birdlife: The Shingwedzi area is known for its diverse bird life. However, many species are migratory, and were absent in early winter.

So we decided to brace ourselves for the heat and booked a bungalow for 23-31 December.

We headed for the Punda Maria gate via Giyani. Driving through rural Limpopo is an experience that is always guaranteed to make you feel like a tourist in your own country.

Donkey next to the road in rural Limpopo

Punda Maria gate was a welcome site as always – We were there! The reception, housed in charming thatched rondavels modeled on huts built by the local Tsonga people, was cool and the staff was friendly. We checked in quickly and was on our way to Shingwedzi, with a quick stop-over at Punda Maria camp, to stock up on fuel, cool drinks and ice-cream to ward off the searing heat. Entering through Punda Maria camp’s rustic gate, we vowed to go back for another stay in the Kruger’s northern-most camp. Not only does Punda Maria camp have a lovely atmosphere, but it is also close to some of our favorite photo-spots: The Mahonie loop, which never fails to deliver something interesting and the little unnamed dam on the H13-1, which seems to be frequented by large herds of Buffalo and Elephant on an almost daily basis. Beyond that, it is also the only Sanparks camp that is withing comfortable driving distance of the incredibly picturesque Pafuri region and Frank Mabasa’s stunning Pafuri picnic site.

But all that is for a future trip, for now, we set off down the H13-1 to Shingwedzi. As we drove, we were more and more distressed about the extreme drought was saw around us. The Mopane trees were green as always, but the ground underneath them was parched, and there was barely a blade of grass in sight. The little unnamed dam we considered our own, was almost completely dry. Of course, there was barely an animal in sight, apart from a few Njala feeding on the Mopanes.

Bizarrely, as we neared Babalala picnic site, the parched land suddenly got extremely wet. Standing water turned the grassland on either side of the road into swamps, and there were elephants as far as the eye could see. It looked like a piece of paradise! About 20km before we reached Shingwedzi, the water dried up as suddenly as it started. A few pools in the Shingwedzi river bed was all the remained of the rain that had fallen a few weeks before our trip. These pools, however, would provide us with excellent photo-opportunities.

We arrived at Shingwedzi around 3:30, and 15 minutes later were unloading our gear at unit 30, just in time for a leasurly drive up the river road. The sightings were few and far between, but we spent some time watching a herd of impala with several tiny lambs and a troop of baboon. Finally, we were rewarded with a sighting of the rare but beautiful Sharpe’s Grysbok.