Some Thoughts at the End of Summer

The warmest part of summer in the South African Lowveld is during December to February (inclusive). These months are also the time for most of the rainfall. It has been raining a lot and many very severe thunderstorms. We don’t have the long rainy season as in the tropical parts of the world, but it has been very hot and humid. The mid-day temperature is usually around +35, which is not too bad if it wasn’t for the high humidity.

Now, at the end of March, it’s usually in the upper 20’s, but of course MUCH warmer in the sun!

The summer here compared to the average Swedish summer has a lot of differences but also many similarities: The cloudiness , the rain and the thunderstorms are very much the same, but the temperature here is on average 20 degrees warmer. And we also don’t have the long daylight hours. In fact the winter here is more similar to an excellent Swedish summer: Almost every day we have sunshine from a clear blue sky, no rain, no thunder. Just a bit cold in the early morning hours, but a few hours after sunrise it’s usually around +25.

Yesterday we spent a few hours at the Riverside Mall, and had a nice lunch at the Mediterranean. I had a nice plate of sushi and sashimi. Absolutely delicious!

Some Animal Pictures from KNP

During a 3 day trip in the KNP I usually take 200-500 photos. This time it was about 300. I have seen the "Big Five" several times. This time four of them, missing the leopard.



This picture shows one of the smallest elephant babies that I have seen! Very playful and extremely cute with its short trunk.











I saw 7 rhinos during the first day. They are quite impressive!













I saw a lot of beautiful birds, some of which I haven't seen before. However this African Fish Eagle overlooking the Sabie River is a very nice bird that I have seen many times.





















Portrait of a crocodile in the Sunset Pool, just outside Lower Sabie Restcamp.










This Goose Hawk was posing for me on a gravel road.













When you see a lot of vultures like this, there is usually some predators having a feast nearby. I couldn't see it, so I just took some pictures of the waiting guests.











This beautiful bird is a Carmine Bee-eater. They are summer visitors in South Africa.













A Purple Heron posing for me!






















These are Klipspringers, one of my favorite antelope. They are actually walking on their toe-nails and are always on top of some rocks. We have a few of them just outside our home in the Nelspruit Nature Reserve as well.










This is the quite common Purple Roller, with its wonderful colors. It does not have the lilac breast found in the Lilac Breasted Roller.


There are 100's of my KNP pictures at:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/560986454EnJrWA

Back in the KNP

I'm sitting in Satara Rest Camp, lovely place! First trip to the Park this year. Last year I made 6 trips. Weather was nice, not too hot, just 26 degrees and a bit overcast. Entered the Park at Malelane Gate, and just after 6-7 km there were three male lions around a dead buffalo. Big pile-up of cars of course! Just a few kilometers farther to the north I spotted a group of six rhinos!
Saw most of the usual animals. Another rhino appeared just 5 km south of Satara. Crossing the road. They are BIG!
Will post some pictures when back home.
Now I will have a nice Rump Steak braai and some nice SA red wine!