Nov 26 - More Kruger discoveries during game park safaris at PA Training

In addition to large animals on the drives, we often stopped to look at birds, insects and reptiles. We saw a cobra snake rise up in middle of the road right in front of our vehicle one day. It looked just like it does on television with that flat head rising up and hissing at us. We stopped and it slithered into the bush. Wow. We also saw a crocodile on the bank of the waterhole. A bird practically sat on his head and he did nothing. We waited, but he never tried to get the bird that was walking all around him.

We also saw some amazing birds, including several types of eagles and buzzards, the brown eagle being one we spotted several times. I still can't find the name of the bird that during mating season goes straight up in the air, delivers this shreek and then rolls itself into a ball and falls until it almost hits the ground and the spreads its wings and flies. Does anyone know what this bird is called?

We saw beautifully colored birds in blues, yellows, pinks, etc...very pretty. We saw large birds, including ostrich, secretary birds, herons and other birds that looked for pray on the ground. In addition to all the birds, there were insects like the dung beetle who rolled the elephant dung into a ball and laid eggs in the ball of dung and then buried it in a safe place so the eggs could hatch more little dung beetles. Watching them roll the dung balls trying to find a place to bury them was pretty funny. How do you think of an insect like that?




These birds are large with those funny red additions that look like turkeys. I have no idea what they are called!

These beautiful aqua blue birds are plentiful in the bush and quite a contrast to the brown, gray and beige of most of the bush. They are called Cape Glossy Starlings, but found their way into Kruger.







While we were patting ourselves on the back about seeing the BIG FIVE game (most dangerous), consisting of the elephant, lion, rhinoceros, buffalo and leopard some clever people came up with the little five.

Ant Lion

The Big Five Lion - The Little Five Ant Lion is an odd yet familiar feature of the bush, digging conical depressions in dry, soft sand with which to trap its prey – ants. In advanced stages this larvae-like creature has wings and sometimes resembles a dragonfly, although it's not well-adapted for flight.

Leopard Tortoise

The Big Five Leopard -The Little Five Leopard Tortoise (which we saw often in the bush) is a striking feature of the bush landscape, getting its name from its black and yellow spotted shell. The animal is one of the largest breeds of tortoise in this part of the world; a mature leopard tortoise can weigh over 23 kilograms, with a shell circumference of up to one metre. The males are larger than the females. Younger tortoises have dark brown patterns, while adult shells take on shades of yellow with somewhat smaller spots. Leopard tortoises live in savannah and grassland areas, close to water

Rhinoceros Beetle

The Big Five Rhinoceros - The Little Five rhinoceros beetle is one of the largest beetles in southern Africa, with horns on its head much like those of its larger namesake. Both males and females are horned, but only the males are known for aggressive behavior, using the horns to fight rivals. The horns are also used to dig, climb and mate. 

Cape Buffalo

The Big Five Cape Buffalo - The Little Five Red-billed Buffalo Weavers are social birds that build their nests in the forked branches of tall trees. They nest in open colonies and are a rather noisy and busy lot. The weavers' nests can be recognized by their rather bedraggled state, made from coarse grasses and with untidy twig structures. The nests are larger than normal and can sometime house a whole colony of weaver birds. The red billed weaver birds would weave these elaborate nests in the trees, some would look like balls and others would cover the whole tree and look more like a thatched roof.

Shrew

The Big Five Elephant - The Little Five Elephant Shrew is a tiny insect that lives in arid lowlands, rocky outcrops and Savannah grasslands, getting its name from its elongated snout. Elephant shrews are found all over South Africa, and only grow to a length of 250 mm, with an average weight of 60 grams. They feed on insects, fruit, seeds and nuts. They in turn are food for snakes and raptors, making them extremely shy and wary. The chances of spotting them are slim indeed, so if you manage to see an elephant shrew before an actual elephant, you can count your safari a real success!

Wild Dogs

We saw Wild Dogs and found that they are a highly social species that live in packs. Normally only the alpha male and female breed and other pack members help to raise the pups. The packs inhabit large areas in the Kruger National Park. The Wild Dog is South Africa’s most endangered large carnivore. Wild Dogs are considered to be extinct in 23 countries in Africa. In natural areas the lion is the Wild Dog’s main enemy and competitor.

On left is some kind of hornbill bird. On right is a type of raptor.

Dung Beetle

This is the infamous Dung Beetle rolling his ball of dung.

This Crocodile stays close to the water and thinks no one can see him if he doesn't move. Little sneaky fellows. Is there any animal or reptile that Africa doesn't have?

Kudu

This is two male Kudu eating off the bush. The female does not have horns and instead of being gray is a tan color; however they both have the stripes that look like someone poured something over their backs. They are very large animals.

Jackal

This little guy is a jackal.

These two guys are Baboons. They often are by the side of the road. The have long coarse hair and are pretty ugly up close. They are good size and I hear they are pretty mean, though we didn't see much of them in Kruger. We saw more on our trip from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth and East London.

The cape Buffalo was getting a little mad, I think because we kept watching him or he was just trying to show us who is boss...no problem. We certainly would not have messed with him, especially when even the guide was kind of leery of them.

I took this photo just as a very large rhino and her baby appeared next to this zebra where they peacefully grazed together. See baby rhino on left.

This is Elder Murdock on top of a termite hill. There were lots of them in the bush and by the side of the road. They are as hard as concrete. Elephants sometime use them to scratch their backs and may penetrate their hard exterior, but nothing but elephants have been able to do so.

Monitor Lizard

This is a monitor lizard that we saw while driving through the park. I think we saw a total of three of them.

The Cinquinis trying to seek shelter from the storm in which our vehicle got drenched. Charles is smiling. The storm doesn't bother him a bit.

I enjoyed watching this herd of elephants. I loved the way the mothers took care of the young. They were very protective, as evidenced by the Matriarch chasing the lions away the first day we were in Kruger. The lions knew they were not well matched with that very large elephant, so they got up and left. 







I also liked knowing that a white rhino keeps her young in front of her, because she has her head down munching on grass and can keep her eye on her little one, so any dangers from behind will have to go through her. A black rhino keeps her young in back of her, because she eats from bushes and paves the way for the little one to follow through the bushes.They are interesting creatures and we enjoyed getting to know all of them a bit better. 

Impala

There were also many DLA (Deer-like animals). It seemed that we saw so many of them that we eventually didn't pay them much attention, but there are some beautiful creatures in the wild. This bad boy is a Kudu male seen close up. Look at those ears! They are quite large and magnifiscent!

Impala

We saw a lot of impalas. This one is a male and not too sure about us being so close. He is not as big as a Kudu, but still pretty amazing in his own right. The females are smaller with no horns.

Water Buck

We also saw a water buck that has the ring around its tail. One of our guides said he got it from sitting on a white man's toilet...hardy, har, har. They are also very pretty animals, but quite skittish.






The Stembuck below is the national animal of South Africa. They look like little baby deer, but the guide assured us they are full grown and do not get any bigger. They are also loners, do not run in herds and do not stay with mates, but they are very cute, don't you think?

Stem Buck

I'm going to end here with this cute little Stembuck. I have hundreds more photos, but these are a good representation of what we experienced in the wild. Once again I marvel at the beauty of nature and the beasts of Africa. I often thought while on these game drives and seeing all these amazing animals that Heavenly Father is really creative. He must have had lots of fun putting the animal and insect kingdom together. I can't wait to have my children come and see what we saw. They will be as thrilled as we are...How fun is that to be able to show them this beautiful place called Africa?