A bit of jet setting

Some of the smaller visitors to the campsite in Pretoriouskop included a mob of about 30 dwarf mongoose, who make up for their lack of size by sticking together and looking out for one another through continuous communication.  Nevertheless it is amazing that something as small and defenseless as this survives the rigours of Africa.

The main tree species in this area is the aptly named silver cluster leaf Terminalia sericea which form a very elegant backdrop and quite extensive forests.

The nearby and rather unfortunately named Shitlhave Dam is a magnet for elephant and these youngsters were enjoying a romp even though is was a wintry day.

Apologies, through the windscreen shots are never good but it is rare indeed for a slender mongoose to sit still long enough for any sort of picture. The primary identification feature is the black tip to the tail.

An early drive found a mom spotted hyena, several aunts and a brace of newborns basking in the sunshine outside their den......

......and a couple of old boys engaged in a friendly greeting - absolutely no rough stuff what,what.

So what do you do all day when you've been forced into retirement, pretty much what I do - very little and just wait for the local pride to finish you off.  There's an idea!

Still haven't found out why coqui francolin go into stealth mode when crossing an open area such as a road.  They positively creep along when surely the best strategy would be to get across as quickly as possible.

The southern area of Kruger around Berg-en-dal (Hill and dale) is one of the few hilly parts of the reserve, but the highest point in this picture is Legogote, which is outside the reserve and about 20 km from White River.

Not quite sure how, but this old girl seems to have made a bit of a hash putting her bra on.

Always a pleasure to see a graceful kudu and this superb bull was picking up fruit fallen from a torch-wood tree Balanites maughami, and delicately nibbling the husks off.

This misshapen mass is a closer view of the aforementioned Legogote hiding in the mid-day mist

A sudden rush of blood to the head saw me galloping overseas for a quick visit to family and a few friends.  Airports fascinate me so the couple of hours spent at OR Tambo before take-off were no hardship.  The UFO in the sky is the reflection of a light in the window, in case you were wondering.

An absolute novelty was flying over Africa during the day, here looking down at the coast somewhere close to Addis Abbaba - apologies for the dirty window pane but they wouldn't let me out to clean it.

Approaching the Arabian peninsula the dust haze was very apparent shortly before sunset.

First stop was Dubai for three nights with my dearest Sally in her magnificent apartment, blissfully air-conditioned to offset the 44 degree heat.  That dust haze is particularly noticeable from the third floor roof area.

She has fairly recently moved into this very eco-friendly complex which feature gardens the queen would be proud of and climate-controlled domes under which residents can rent small plots of to grow their own vegetables and herbs.

A multitude of date palms produce huge bunches of dates which are carefully bagged to prevent them dropping on the ground and harvested and sold when ripe.

I also got to meet Cheandro who's got to be the biggest pet anyone could own, really enjoys a roll on the small patch of grass near his stable and follows Sally around like a dog.

England swings so they say and after 10 years in Wimbledon my son, Shay and his lovely lady Lauren were keen to show me around. However a quick visit to Basingstoke to catch up with Karen, a friend I hadn't seen for 30 years was first on the cards. I spent a night in a very swish hotel which was close to a common so had a chance to have a wander between showers and what do you know - real poppies.......

........a song thrush, who was more interested in breakfast than singing...

......and a rather smart wood pigeon.

Back in London, I was royally spoiled with some home concocted delights and more cooked breakfasts than I've had in the last 5 years.  A couple of highlights were a visit to Barnes wildlife sanctuary, a stunning surprise in the heart of the city.  It featured a pair of European "ag shames" or otters, which are critically endangered and much smaller than our local variety......

.... some exotics including the weirdly named smew with a footballer's hairstyle.....

....the quite astounding wood duck of north America............

............and red-breasted geese among others.

However large wetland areas are a magnet for dozens of local species as well, including their rather smart lapwings.  The nice thing about Britain is that they only have one of each species generally.

Finally visits to the Natural History Museum to see the Wildlife of the Year photographic exhibition and the Science Museum housed in this spectacular building rounded off a whirlwind but fascinating trip.  Many thanks to all who enriched it so wondrously.

Kruger......again

From Timbavati it was off to a a stunning flat in Ngwenya which overlooked the Crocodile River and ellies by the dozen feeding peacefully below.

A stroll around the extensive gardens turned up a species of millipede, new to me, handsomely striped with yellow.

Sun-downers on the deck were accompanied by a rather special sunset.

With the gate at Crocodile Bridge a 20 minute drive away, the vast reaches of Kruger beckoned and a late afternoon drive provided excellent views of black-backed jackal...........

.........and a pride of over-stuffed lions sleeping off their massive lunch.

On an early foray the following morning we stopped to ask what another carload of people were looking at and they pointed out this strange spectacle, a smallish python pretending to be a branch in the hope of attracting an unwary bird.

Maralyn's nephew works in Kruger and is doing a long term study of yellow-billed ox-peckers and is always happy to receive information regarding sightings.  Though normally associated with buffalo we found this chap working on a giraffe - note that the beak is not wholly yellow.

Most areas of the park have been blessed with rain, so the veld is looking really good and the animals likewise, are glowing with health from the bounty.

As I have a fascination with all things winged I was drawn to the Nelspruit Airshow and while most of the big guns from the circuit were absent there were large numbers of private aircraft such as this gaggle of Vans RV's

As it's not exactly blessed with a brilliant climb rate this old Antonov AN2 took off at least 20 minutes before.......

.........it dropped of a bunch of skydivers to open the show.  Last man down was this fellow trailing an enormous flag.

The old girl then hooked up with an assortment of others for a slow flyby in formation, then did a break just in front of the crowd line.

Next up a magnificently restored Boeing Stearman took off to do a solo display.

Nothing quite like the roar of rotary engines of Harvard T6's with veteran Scully Levine leading the pack.

The aforementioned private planes took off to form an extraordinary nine ship display............

......which then split into five and four man teams who each did their things, plus numerous others.  The whole thing was somewhat spoiled by an over-enthusiastic DJ pumping out incredibly loud music.

After a stint of house/pet sitting, I moved up to Hazyview to a site that had a lovely view but was too close to the R40 for comfort, so I escaped to the peaceful quiet of Pretoriouskop in Kruger.                           

As the grass is as high as the proverbial elephant's eye, game sightings were fairly rare but a family of giraffe allowed me the opportunity to show another difference between males and females, he has pattern baldness on his "horns".............

............while she, as befits a lady, has a full head of hair!

   

Came across several magnificent kudu bulls sporting full sets of horns.  Apparently they grow one full twist a year until they reach three and a half turns.  It is a rare, though unfortunate, occurrence that competing males sometime become inextricably entwined when fighting and both eventually die of thirst.

One thing that was very noticeable was how relaxed all the elephant were - obviously a result of the abundance of food resources.

An enormous conk does tend to give yellow-billed hornbills a down-in-the-mouth look but according to some recent research the beak acts as an air-conditioner allowing them an alternative cooling mechanism that is unique. They are also rather comical when a pair gets together for a chin-wag and bob and bow to one another while calling.

Dropped in to Skukuza for coffee and noticed droppings under the eaves of the shop and on looking up found these flying chihuahuas or epauleted fruit bats roosting.  The epaulets are the little white patches in front of the ears.

Bateleur eagles take 6 to 7 years and 4 moults to reach adulthood and this female is almost there.  Why is it a female?  The white primaries on the wings which in flight result in a much thinner black trailing edge than the males.

Here's Pretorious' kop (head) which leads me to believe that he had the same problem as I have!

Just to prove that you never stop learning, I watched this lady doing a staccato drum-beat on a hollow branch in some amazement as I'd always assumed it was only the males that indulged in this behavior.  Not so, the infallible Mr Robert's informed me, both sexes are aspirant Charlie Watts.  A few days later I was also astonished to learn that they are not the only species in SA to do this.  A cardinal woodpecker flew into a tree above me and proceeded to make a noise like a mini-jackhammer, something I've never before witnessed.

Try as I might there's just no way I can make this pile of rocks resemble it's name - Ship Mountain, but that is what the wagoneers of yore referred to it as - good old Sir Percy Fitzpatrick included - and by the way he wasn't knighted for his book about Jock.

A close-up reveals that's exactly what it is, a giant rockery and the bits that appear to be slathered in lime green paint, actually sport coats of lichen.