Day Twelve - Skukuza to Wakkerstroom

Departed Skukuza camp at 6:30am for our last morning in Kruger. Animal activity was pretty quiet this morning because of the low temperature. Our mammal sightings included a lone hyena huddled in the grass, looking rather eerie in the mist and bathed in golden morning light.

Our new mammal for the day was Dwarf Mongoose, a whole family of them soaking up the sun on top of their den.

We got breakfast at Pretorius Kop, the original Kruger camp, getting our meals from Wimpy's, a franchise not unlike Denny's which served us W shaped hash browns.

Late morning saw us bidding farewell to Kruger via Numbi Gate. What can I say? Visiting this park was an absolutely incredible and unforgettable experience and anyone who has considered safari should do it. We saw thousands of animals, over 100 species, ranging from massive herds of buffalo and elephant, to cheetah, a pair of Kori Bustard (the world's heaviest bird), and a flock of thousands of Red-billed Quelea, the most prolific bird on earth.

We spotted four of the big five (we still have two more chances for leopard) and the only other big game we missed was African Hunting Dog.

Farewell from Kruger (Photo Credit: Travel Buddy)

We headed south over the northern extent of the Drakensberg mountains, through developing cities and farmland.

For lunch we stopped at a roadside restaurant. We ordered our meals and sat around chatting, but of course birders never really switch off to their surrounds and a Southern Fiscal was spotted. This was a bird I had seen in Cape Town but was new for the tour. Everyone grabbed their binoculars and swung around just as the waiter arrived with our meals. He had literally drawn breath to distribute the meals and was left standing there rather bewildered as the table was suddenly empty. Pretty funny.

After lunch we continued on, this was a long travelling day, stopping for a quick look at a wetland where we picked up a few new species like African Swamphen and Yellow-billed Duck.

On to Wakkerstroom where we checked into our accommodation. It's super posh, Travel Buddy and I have the manor house all to ourselves. It's a bluestone with high timber ceilings. We have our own rooms with big beds and open fires.

A delicious pub feed for dinner and I have to say that South African cooking is good. Tastier than what you get in Australia for sure, they really know how to jazz up veggies and how to grill a steak. Yum!

Big Sis

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