This holiday I organised
over 9 months previously and
literally could not wait for
the holiday. As with all good
things in life, the holiday
came slowly and disappeared
quickly.
Letaba is awesome. It
really is. It easily pips our
best camp which was
Berg-en-Dal. I hate to say
this, but my camera gave up
the ghost on the 3rd day
before I took photos of the
camp site and our set up. I
was really disappointed!
The trip started at 03h00
on Wednesday the 26th April.
The family and I took the Wed
and Friday off for a long
weekend. I love driving at
night if I am not tired. The
traffic is nothing like during
the day. All the trucks are
normally on the side of the
road nearby tollgates and
sleeping. Anyway, we arrived
at Lydenberg at 06h00 on the
dot. We pulled in at the Excl
for some petrol and cup of
coffee. From there it was on
up through Ohrigstad, Mica
and arrival at Palaborwa at
08h30. It was a lovely drive
but boy, the road between
Lydenberg and Mica is in a
terrible state with many pot
holes! From there, it was a
stop at the Wimpy for some
takeaways and then into the
park. Funny how it always
seems like returning home when
I enter Kruger.
We reached the Camp and set
up with the holiday truly
beginning.
Below are some photos of
some of the game.
Unfortunately not as many as I
wanted due to the digital
camera packing up. I did take
some film photos which I
ironically took for back up,
however, I did not finish the
spool and will have them
developed one day. When that
happens, I will put them here.
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On the way in there is
this dam which was very
peaceful. On one of the
evenings, I took a drive
on my own and stayed here
for about an hour
listening to the sounds of
the area.
Mind blowing. Your ears
ring from the silence. |
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As we entered, one of our
first sightings was this
eagle about 15km's before
Letaba on the Palaborwa
road. |

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A little bit further on,
we came across these Zebra
and solitary Wildebeest.
Look at the Zebras
flank just in front of its
rear leg. Looks like a
Lion nearly got this one.
Lucky Zebra... |



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This is the bridge over
the Letaba river, just
north of Letaba. You are
allowed out between two
yellow lines marked on the
bridge.
The photo of the
Elephant was taken from
the bridge looking East
This is broader photo
of the river looking East
This is a photo looking
West from the bridge at
some Waterbuck drinking
from the river. |


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Some of the life in the
camp. The buck at the top
was near the front fence
while the Glossy starling
and Barbet were regular
visitors to the camp site |



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We took the Northern route
to the Engelhardt dam. In
one of the lay-bys, we
came across these paradise
fly catchers. We sat there
for nearly a half hour
watching them. |
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At the same spot as the
birds above, this
Waterbuck appeared from
round the corner and was
quite startled. He also
sat there for a minute or
two contemplating us. |

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This is the Engelhardt
Dam. The concentration of
Hippos in this dam is
fantastic and you can
always hear them grunting. |


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On the route back from
Engelhard dam, we came
across this bunch of
Zebra. The mother and baby
in the two lower photos
were gorgeous. |
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This is a photo of a
sunrise taken while on the
river route between Letaba
and Oliphants. |
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Closer to Oliphants, on
the river itself, you can
get out at this viewpoint.
On the hill in the
distance on the right is
the Oliphants camp itself.
Again, another fantastic
site. |




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From the same look out as
above, we watched this
Elephant go for a bath. He
was right down in front of
us and a wonderful sight
to watch. |


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At Olifants, we watched
this herd of Elephants
cross the river. The
elderly Elephants took
great care in getting
their smaller ones across
the river. Look at the
middle picture carefully
and you will see some of
the babies holding onto
the leaders tails |
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On the main road out of
Olifants, you come to the
main Letaba - Satara road.
You take a left and then
an immediate right and you
head for 1km up a hill
which again gives you a
commanding view out over
the Olifants river. This
picture to the right is
from that viewpoint and
does not do the actual
sight justice.
At this point you can
get out of your car. |
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On one of our routes, we
herd what sounded like a
bird and we hunted this
tree high and low to see
what bird it was. You will
not believe it, but this
little squirrel was
chirping away in the tree. |
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