As we moved south of the Pafuri main road I was again amazed at the verity of habitats between the Levuvhu and Limpopo rivers.

We stopped at a small leaved rock fig and I was lucky enough to get a photo of a plated lizzard as he dove for his rock crevice



Stopping at the parking stop at the Lanner Gorge there was a pungent smell and Duncan showed us a Giant Carrion Flower.



The smell is actually created to attract flies into believing its rotten meat and thereby getting the flies to pollinate the plants.

Trust me this is truely a non pleasant smelling flower so dont pick one for you loved one...

As we walked to the view point I was spoiled by the view




I walked to a rock ledge wanting to look down into the gorge and then my hart skipped a beat!!

There on the Southern side of the Levuvhu river were two African Wild Dogs... :big_eyes: :big_eyes: :big_eyes:

The guides saw three wild dogs earlier the week that had them very excited as some has worked in the area for 5 years and has never seen Wild dogs.

The dogs were nervous of the water and they had good reason to be as the Levuvhu river is known for its high population of Nile Crocodiles.

About 75m upstream these two big crocs were in the water





I was looking for a Peregrine Falcon that was flying around the gorge and missed the male entering the water....

Swimming through the wides part of the river in the area



Then turned around looking at the female and waited for her...

Its an old bushveld law that you do not re cross a river where you have crossed earlier as a crocodile might have seen you cross and will lie and wait in ambush where you crossed.

Rangers in the Park who were allowed to have dogs also learned the dogs not to go swim in the rivers as they will get hit by a crocodile very quickly...

So it was with anticipation standing on the ledge watching the female wondering if a small bushveld tragedy is about to unfold...

We all were full smiles as she exited the water.

How amazing to see the interaction as they got together and greeted each other. One of the reasons that they are my favorite species.

As they moved away from the river north we now know there were 5 wild dogs in the area

I have shared the photos with the team at the Endangered Wildlife Trust and they suspect that these two Wild Dogs might be from packs either in Zimbabawe or even Botswana.

They are now working to try and confirm where these dogs originated from as the Kruger packs roam much further south in the park.

With the Limpopo bone dry at that stage they easily could have crossed at any places.

With the excitement of the Wild Dogs I almost forgot about the spectacular view of the gorge ...

For the afternoon drive I decided to stay in the camp.

The game viewers are just to cramp with all the guys and I wanted to spend time around camp taking photos of all the birds found around the camp.

I probably did not move more than 100m from my tent the whole afternoon...

This is probably the only camp in Kruger where the Vervet monkeys and the baboons are not a problem.

They are around camp. The baboons is relaxed when we walk out of camp and non try and steal food.

Some times I am not sure who was watching who...

Growing up on the Highveld around Dullstroom I loved the call of the Swainsons Spurfowl Males at sunset.

I was spoiled here in Makuleke as well at last light

The last morning walk I have asked if we could walk from camp to the Limpopo river.

The guides were not keen as it is a long walk and the riverine is very thick and with a group more than 4/5 people it becomes dangerous if you walk into some of the hair and scary's.

Luckily we were a group of 5 including the guide and back up guide.

Johna arranged for a pickup spot next to the Limpopo at roughly 10:00

We left camp on foot as soon as it was light enough to walk...





As soon as we walked into the Lala palm savanna it became clear why you dont want to walk into the thick stuff with bad light ...

Further into the Fever tree forest we found a few buffalo cows.

Look at the bad condition they were in.

This little guy decided to keep an eye on us while walking past.

Walking into the riverine thickets we found an elephant highway moving in between the Buffalo-thorns that they keep in trip resulting into a thicket instead of the normal trees.

We finally reached the two spoor track running next to the river after roughly 3 hours of super enjoyment walk...

We could not see through the thickets as we walk next to the Limpopo and then at some stage it opened enough to see the river and the 1st thing I said... "There is water!!!"

We moved onto the river bank and this is what we saw...



Water where 2 evenings before it was just bare sand.

Walking closer to the river I had a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater allow me close enough for a photo before departing to chase insects over the river.

For me this was a dream come true.

Walking into the Limpopo was something I always wanted to do.

I hope to photos gives you an idea of this amazing experience spending time next to the river that just started flowing again.

A couple of white-backed vultures circled overhead





We spent probably 30 min next to the river before we had to move to the pre arranged point of pick up.

The sun was brutal on the sand and once on the river bank under we quickly moved from shade spot to shade spot doen river.

At the pick up spot while we waited I took a few more photos.







I think I have said it before...

I love African rivers

I later heard that it rained heavily to the west of Musina that was enough to get the Limpopo flowing....

The afternoon drive was also focused around the Limpopo to give the rest of the group a view of the spectacle and to go see what water birds are moving along the river.

This is one of the pans that is normally filled with water, birds and hippo in a wet year...





The Limpopo is somewhere down there with Zimbabwe in the background



A little bee-eater

Next to the river..



A reminder that we were not the only ones enjoying the water...



We have unfortunately seen cattle with bells around the neck quite a few times in the concession

We returned to camp for the last night and all of a sudden it hit me that time really flies when you are having fun and I could not believe that our time has come to an end.

The next morning we had a light breakfast loaded all the gear on the trailer and open safari vehicles and we were on our way back to the Pafuri gate to each go their own way home.

I drove from Pafuri to Punda Maria and it was really really dry around Punda Maria with very little grazing left.

The last photo for this week ....

A summer visitor from Europe...



And then I smiled as I left the Punda Maria gate as I knew I will have to go back to Saudi desert I will like the European Roller return next summer....

Thank you for joining me on my Makuleke Adventure.

Gerhard,
these photos are awesome, what an experience. Loved the Mamba, I saw one on each of my two trips, usually crossing the road speedily behind our vehicle.
Everything I love about South Africa.
Cheers

Chris

Thank you for sharing . The photos and writng are wonderful. I feel like I was there with you. Brian

thanks for sharing. I am partial to the bird pics.

Beautiful photos, Gerhard. Thank you for sharing. I rarely look at this section of AR and was pleasantly surprised by these.

Gerhard, beautiful photos! What was the equipment you were using? Camera, lenses, etc.?

quote:

Originally posted by sandyhunter:
Beautiful photos, Gerhard. Thank you for sharing. I rarely look at this section of AR and was pleasantly surprised by these.

Thank you,

I have a new report that is due shortly

quote:

Originally posted by larrys:
Gerhard, beautiful photos! What was the equipment you were using? Camera, lenses, etc.?

Thank you Larry.

I used the Canon 70D and paired it with a Sigma 150-600 Sport lens.

A big setup to go walking into the thick stuff but worth the effort.