Mavimet's Weblog

I left the Olifants gate around 6:30 this morning for a leisurely drive to Satara and then Orpen to check in for Tamboti.

The first sighting was a Vulture, but it was still too early to get a decent picture, so I have no idea what kind of vulture it was.  Then it was Impalas, and I took a picture of one of the young males, with just spikes where his antlers will be.  I like the little spike guys.  🙂

Soon after that was a little Steenbok.  The rest of the sightings while driving were Black Backed Jackal (this one was not camera shy), Giraffes, Yellow Bill Hornbills, Crocodiles, Zebras Crested Francolin, Elephants, Rhinos, Ostrich, Scops Owl, Wildebeest, Fork-tailed Drongo, more Vultures, Warthogs, Waterbuck, Lilac-breasted Rollers, Blacksmith Lapwings, Southern Ground Hornbill family, Kudu, Egyptian Geese, Fork-tailed Drongo and Helmeted Guineafowl.

I checked into Tamboti and have tent #27.  All the tents face the riverbed, which is pretty much dry except for a piece just in front of my tent and the tents on either side of me.  She said that this little spot formed after the floods and it has not been a river since then.  We will have to see what happens when the rains come this summer.

There isn’t a key for this tent, but at least there is a latch to lock it from the inside.

I am sitting on my deck with a beautiful breeze, watching my private waterhole and wondering why I would ever want to go anywhere else.  Of course, this is winter now and wen summer comes, I may not be able to take the heat.  On the other hand, when it is summer and +40C here, it could be -40C at home.

A Tree Squirrel and a Crested Barbet just paid me a visit on my deck.  There is another bird flying nearby that I have been unable to get a picture of and I can’t tell what it is.  There are wasps living in the door to my tent, but it doesn’t look like they can get inside it from there. A small flock of African Green Pigeons flew past while I was sitting on the deck also.

The first visitors to my waterhole were a troop of Baboons.  🙂  A pair of Hooded Vultures landed on a tree nearby, a Red-billed Francolin (I think) wandered past my deck and a Dwarf Mongoose climbed up beside my tent to say ‘hi’.  The rest of his family were outside the fence and he soon joined them.  A Grey-go-away Bird is perched on a tree just outside the fence also.  A little bird that looks like a wren got active just as it was starting to get dark.  I see there is a Grey-backed Camaroptera (Bleating Warbler) that is common in this area and it looked like that.  The Vultures went down to the water for a drink and I got a few more pictures of them.  One Egyptian Goose landed in my waterhole and I was waiting for  the usual noise – but after a few minutes, he/she just flew away again.

The bird sounds are amazing. I have no idea what most of them are, but there is a huge variety.  I was hoping to see a kitty come to the waterhole for a drink before dark, but none came.

I wish I had been able to get a picture when he came right up and onto my deck and looked at me.

Continued here.

Click here to start at the beginning of the trip instead of reading backwards.  🙂