Vay Kay...

 So, as you already know, Jake and I took our annual trip to Kruger again during the June/July school holidays.  It was awesome from beginning to end!  We started off with an early morning breakfast at the airport lounge, which was delicious!

We opted for a direct flight to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport, which is in Nelspruit, about 40 minutes outside Kruger.  There are great shops in Nelspruit, so we did a quick shop and headed for the bush!

Our little rental.  For the first time, we felt small in a Polo.  It's great for squeezing through the gaps, but I'm sure we missed a lot because we were too low down...

Before I go any further, these photos are a combination of mine and Jake's, from both our phones and cameras.  I'll try credit him when I can...

 Cell phones are fun on holiday and Jake managed to snap some happy holiday pics of the two of us, which was special.  He's got a new editor on his phone, so switched a whole bunch of our pics to black and white.  I love this picture taken at a look out point.. 

 The view in the opposite direction...

 My amazing kid, even if I do say so myself.  He's lovely...

  This is looking up the Sabie River from Skukuza.  Skukuza is the biggest camp in Kruger, the headquarters, if you like.  That little electric fence is all that keeps the wild out...

 There was a lot of water around this year, which is unusual for mid-year, which is the dry season in Kruger.  As a result, there was water away from main viewing points for animals and the grasses were longer.  All that means, is it's more difficult to find animals and we didn't see nearly as much as we have previously...

 A busy bumble bee...

 Jake at a look out point.  Hi Jake :o)

 Lunch at Afsaal - Jake dreams about these chicken mayo roosterkoek...

 The view from the bird hide at Lake Panic.  Photo by Jake...

An African Jacana looking for snacks in the water.  This is one of Jake's photos.  Love this bird's huge feet that it uses to balance on the water plants...

 A great big croc, like the one that tried to eat my child at Mana Pools (I still go cold at the thought).  Photo by Jake...

 Hungry hippos... I love hearing them grunting from my bed at night...

 Vultures on a giraffe carcass.  They're really nasty to each other, that one with his wings up is biting his friend below...

 They're seriously massive and super strong birds.  Look at those wings.  Photo by Jake...

 The next day, the vultures had vanished and the hyenas were there, arguing over the last bits of skin.  Photo by Jake...

 A hyena in the road at sunrise...

Sunrise over the Sabie River...

 Young warthogs foraging...

 And a bigger one covered in mud.  Photo by Jake...

 Jake is really good at taking photos of baboons.  I think he relates to them; maybe sees himself in their eyes...

 We "discovered" the Skukuza museum and a graveyard for the working dogs who've lost their lives in Kruger...

 These animals must've lived extraordinary lives.  For those who can't understand it, Milo's stone reads that she survived 8 snakes and a crocodile, but not the leopard.  Poor little thing...

I think what I love most about Kruger is the surprises that await you around the corner.  Don't get me wrong, you can drive for hours (sometimes even days) and not see much at all, but then you come across something so beautiful, you just have to switch off your engine and enjoy it.  Like this hyena that was sleeping in the road and just wouldn't move to let us past.  Photo credit to Jake...

 And then there were two of them.  Look, if I'm honest, there was plenty of space to get past, but why??

 And there were little ones and it was grooming time.  Another of Jake's snaps...

 This is not a white rhino footprint in the early morning sunshine.  There are no rhinos in Kruger, or anywhere else in South Africa.  Nor pangolins.  Poaching is revolting and I wish nothing but ill on all poachers.  Our holiday ended on a very sad note this year.  We did a morning walk and our guides took us to explore the vultures lurking in the trees.  It turned out to be a freshly poached rhino.  I still want to cry when I think about it.  We hate poachers in our house with a ferocity that's quite frightening...

 Little dwarf mongooses (I googled it, mongooses and mongeese are both acceptable plurals).  Jake's photo...

 A little breeding herd of elephants.  They have a matriarch, who looks after the herd and kicks the boys out when they get too big. Males are only allowed to join them for breeding purposes.  Herds are all related.  We love ellies.  Jake's photo...

 I love this pic - the little ellie looks so happy...

Such gentle giants.  And they're so quiet...

Baby ellies are the best!  And oh my they are too cute with their out of control trunks!!  Jake's photo...

 This is a young waterbuck.  They have a white ring around their bums, like they've been sitting on the toilet for too long.  And look at their little heart shaped noses.  Another of Jake's pics...

 A happy little klipspringer enjoying some sunshine.  Doesn't he look like he's smiling?  Jake's shot...

Hahaha - another of Jake's buddies!  Jake's photo...

 We had a few very exciting moments in the wild this year.  We didn't see this lion until the last minute!  She nearly caught an impala right next to our car.  Again, these are Jake's photos...

 The poor impala did a proper zigzag side step to avoid being caught.  It was close!! 

 After the excitement of the near catch of the buck, we turned back and not 50m down the road, was a beautiful leopard!!  He's scent smelling here.  So, we stopped to watch the impala who were grunting their little alarm call next to the road.  They ran across in front of us and while we were watching them, the lion gave chase.  We suspect that they were actually performing because of the leopard and that the lion was just in the right place at the right time when they ran towards her...

 A bright green boomslang (tree snake) in an aloe at Lower Sabie rest camp.  Photo credit: Jake (I wasn't brave enough to get that close!)...

 I'm not sure which river this was, but it was so good to see so much water and flowing rivers.  And look at the great reflection Jake managed to capture...

 The Olifants River from a bridge.  You can see us in the shadow of the bridge towards the right of the photo.  Photo by Jake...

 Jake on the Olifants River bridge.  You're allowed out of your car here...
 
 Jake at the lookout point at Olifants rest camp...

 Jake and I with our favourite view in the world...

 Jake's feet and the view from our balcony at Olifants.  We spent 2 nights here...

  Scenery around Satara.  This is my favourite part of the park.  We usually see a lot of cats in this part of the park.  Photo by Jake...

 Jake making friends with the locals in the campsite while I make breakfast.  It's a yellow billed hornbill and you see them and their banana beaks all over the park.  I swear if Jake had food in his hand, this hornbill would have eaten it right out his hand...

 Phew, right in front of our car!!!!

 Jake bought himself a UV torch last year and he had fun looking for scorpions in the trees at night...  Great photo, Jake!  Reasons not to climb trees in the bush...

  This is a Paradise Flycatcher.  Jake loves them.  Photo by Jake...

 An African Skimmer by Jake.  This is an unusual visitor to Kruger and we saw it at Sunset Dam, near Lower Sabie rest camp...

 A spoonbill at Sunset Dam...

Sunset Dam is right outside Lower Sabie rest camp.  We've only ever spent one night at Lower Sabie, it's always fully booked.  This dam is the reason why!  It's awesome to be able to go sit and watch the game come down to drink and they have amazing big game sightings.  Lions, leopards, wild dogs...  So, it's our goal for next time, to stay at Lower Sabie...  By the way, did you see how many hippos are lying there...

  I told you he was good with baboons and monkeys.  Pic by Jake...

 Jake getting creative.  It might be a bit overcast, but the day time temperatures are gorgeous in Kruger...

 This is a red billed hornbill.  Also by Jake...

 Young hyenas - hard to believe they grow up to be so ugly.  They're so cute when they're young.  Photo by Jake...

The most southern baobab.  It's tradition to take a drive by and see how it's looking each year...

The baobab trunk.  They're such massive trees...

Zebs heading for the waterhole.  Jake's photo...

 Jake has this cool app on his phone that plays birds' calls.  I think this is a blacksmith lapwing.  They're very territorial, so this one's squawking back at us.  For reals, we've seen them dive-bombing eagles in the sky.  Jake's photo...

A flock of open-billed storks.  We've only ever seen them individually, so Jake was quite chuffed to see a whole flock.  Jake's photo...

 We did an amazing night drive (we actually did a few) near Satara and saw so many things - gennets, civits, a porcupine, 2 leopard (we saw one twice, so had 3 sightings!), lions that nearly made a kill - wow!  This is one of the lioness getting ready to chase some kudus.  They caught wind of her, so we thankfully missed the kill...

You always want to see a leopard in a tree.  We were this trip and saw at least 3 in trees.  This youngster was hiding away from hyenas...

She didn't like the torch lights, so it wasn't that easy to get a good shot of her...

This is a spotted gennet, which is actually related to a mongoose.  Pic by Jake..

Lions on the prowl.  Pic by Jake..

All those little white specks in the air around the lion, are flies...  they must be stinky!  These 3 crossed the road right in front of us.  Pic by Jake again...

We followed them and spent the rest of the afternoon watching them enjoy the sunshine...

A hyena relaxing in a muddy pond.  Photo by Jake...

 When she got out of the water, it turned out that she was very heavily pregnant.  Maybe she was hoping for a water birth.  Hyenas apparently have the most painful birthing out of all animals.  Their girl bits look like boy bits.  Ouch...

I love this photo of the zebras trying to get warm and sharing some love.  Jake's photo...

A young hyena warming up on the tar road...

A beautiful steenbok.  Just love those ears!  Jake's photo...

Another of Jake's photos.  I love the framing of this picture.  This hyena had brought back a piece of some thing's head to the den.  I won't share that pic... 

Hyenas also live in all-girl family groups.  The offspring of the matriarch hold more rank in the group then other older females.  Photo by Jake...

Our braai at Satara was a bit wonky, but it worked.  This is my proof that Jake did actually cook for me sometimes...

Satara has a problem with honey badgers in the camp.  Our bin was raided a couple of times.  One night we got up to watch and had not one, but three of them on our stoep for about 30 minutes!  They're super funny to watch, very protective of their food finds.  They're actually quite incredible animals - they have two layers of skin and can roll in their skin to get away from predators.  Once they bite, they don't let go...

A gorgeous lilac breasted roller by Jake...

 A young bateleur eagle, also by Jake.  Bateleurs are Jake's favourite birds...

A magnificent martial eagle.  Those eyes!

A lazy water monitor.  These guys get pretty big.  This one was over a meter long...

Buffalo are amongst the strongest and most temperamental animals.  They are pure muscle and horns.  These guys are also so very ugly, that they're beautiful...

A breeding pair of African Fish Eagles.  They have the most beautiful call, synonymous with the bush...

Cheetah, near Sunset Dam.  There were 4 of them, but I don't have a pic with all of them...

A blue wildebeest, or gnu, if you like.  There were apparently 15 lions hiding in the grass near this waterhole and the animals were all on high alert.  The lions were so well hidden, we only managed to see 4 of them...

Another hungry hippo...

A pied kingfisher, hovering while he looks for lunch in the waters below...

Young hippos fighting at Sunset Dam...

They were quite vicious, but looking at the photos, they're very young and they don't have big bottom teeth yet, so just practising...

A verreaux eagle owl.  Don't you just love his pink eye shadow?

Impala cows.  Love the M-print on their rear ends...

Lions sleeping in the sun in a dry river bed, alarmingly close to Tshokwane, one of our favourite picnic sites...

And cubs!  We saw lion cubs.  3 of them...  It was a very quick sighting, we arrived at a waterhole when they'd pretty much finished drinking, but how cute!  This guy was practising tackling his mom...

A thirsty little boy...

I wish they'd stayed for a little longer.  It's moments like this that keep us going back to the bush...

Very thirsty elephants...

This big eagle is a gymongene.  He's quite small by comparison to some of the other types of eagles.  He was quite far off, but he's caught himself a baby owl.  I'm not sure which type of owl, but Jake and I watched him try to kill the poor owl for over 15 minutes and then decided we couldn't watch any more and left.  The poor owl just wouldn't die and the eagle kept dragging it up the tree and bashing it's head.  The owl would quieten for a little and then it's little wings would flap and it's legs would kick...  nature is so cruel.  This sighting proved how little we actually want to witness an actual kill...

A leopard in the grass...  They're so difficult to spot when they're in the long grass.  They're just so well camouflaged...

Sunrise in the bush...

A teeny tiny baboon...

Another leopard in a tree.  This one had a kill.  It was also about 2km outside our camp at Satara and the traffic was dreadful!  We didn't stay to take perfect pictures, we just wanted to get out of the traffic jam...

A sad looking hyena...

This lioness was part of a super pride of lions.  We saw some of the pride, but moved on to follow this lovely lady, who looked like she was leading the group.  They ended up going to lie in the river bed, pretty far off and we could just make them out through the trees.  There were apparently 22 of them!

Yep another well hidden leopard...

And yep, he climbed a tree for us as well.  Spoilt weren't we??

A snoozing warthog...

A gorgeous male lion...

  He went and lay in the shade for most of the day.  We went back later and he was still there, but so difficult to see.  It made me realise that Jake and I must drive past so much!!

Jake and I spent 5 nights at Skukuza, 2 at Olifants and 5 at Satara.  It never feels like long enough!!  From Satara, we went to a private camp, Hoyo Hoyo for 2 nights and finished our holiday with one last night in Skukuza.  15 nights in total.  I know we're so spoilt to have this beautiful, wild place within our borders, but it's just too far away from Cape Town to go for the weekend.  How we wish we could!!  Anyway, it makes the time we have a real treasure.  We love having quality time with one another and there's no better place for that then the bush.  We do still dream of doing the Masai Mara and the Serengeti, but one day.  For now, Kruger feels like home from home!

I will share Hoyo Hoyo soon!

Sending love,

Sue xxx

PS.  I have done some slight editing on these photos, but not much.  I haven't cropped any yet, because I'm busy putting my photo book together and need the full size pictures for that.  I can zoom in on them for the photobook, but if I crop in an editor, the quality is reduced.