After I left the family of baboons, the dirt road started to run alongside the Sabie River. There were multiple pullouts, and with every stop I was able to get new glimpses of the diverse wildlife the river attracted.
The first animal I noticed at the water’s edge was a Saddle-Billed Stork. I was well more than 100m away from the river, and needed every bit of my 500mm lens to pull the bird in. I had never seen such a strange bird, with magnificent plumage, and a yellow, rectangular saddle across its beak. It is apparently endangered in South Africa, so I consider myself lucky to have spotted it. You can see the Sabie was not exactly a torrent.
I snapped a photo at this spot with my iPhone 7, for the sole purpose of providing a GPS location for my Nikon shots. A don’t remember when I first started doing that, taking a quick snap with my phone, but it’s been immensely helpful in trying to recreate my path as I wander around locations. Here’s what the Sabie looked like at this pullout – you can spot the Saddle-Billed storks (2 of them), if you squint really hard, in the middle left of the frame.
At the same location (off the frame to the right) I spotted a hippo, walking along the bank, happily munching on grass.
The day was almost to a close, and I had to get into Skukuza before nightfall. I pulled off the dirt road that parallels the Sabie (Salitje Road) to make a left turn across the bridge towards my hut for the night, thinking that I wouldn’t see much more wildlife on the short 25 km drive over to the camp. Of course, animals await on every turn in Kruger! In this case, it was a pair of giraffes. It was a bit cloudy, so the colors aren’t fantastic; still very nice.
After crossing over the Sabie it was a straight shot to Skukuza, along Skukuza-Lower Sabie Rd. There are several side dirt roads, and I couldn’t tell you where I saw this beautiful Vervet monkey, enjoying some fruit.
To give you a sense of how quickly animals appear, the Vervet monkey above was spotted 20 minutes after the giraffe pair. Then 2 minutes later, this elephant.
And 3 minutes later, this grouping of giraffes and zebra.
The zebra on the left I particularly enjoyed, as I didn’t see any other zebra during my time in Kruger with such a pronounced mohawk, or such dark striping. It’s that front part of her mane that is striking, with a swept forward look similar to an old Trojan helmet.
And with that last glimpse of South African wildlife, I settled into Skukuza village, where I had a tremendous steak dinner while overlooking the Sabie. Perfect end to a perfect day.
