(click any picture to get enlargement)
For our visit to a Game Reserve, we wanted
a place next to Kruger Park, so that we would see animals
in their natural
habitat. I searched the
internet and found a park called Timbavati, which is adjacent to Kruger Park and
has decent road access. Within the
park I booked a decent lodge called
Inkwazi.
From Blyde Canyon we had to travel a bit further than expected, but luckily the roads were in decent shape.
As we came to the lodge we saw the neat
fencing.
Was this buffalo skull a
warning? Luckily not!
The lodge was nice &
we had a large chalet.
The common area was
comfortably set up, but
there was no pool :(
The meals were prepared
by the chefs at Lori &
Dave's catering service.
The only animal to visit us
was this warthog, but we
didn't invite him to dinner.
The lodge had a few
other special visitors, some were very pretty
like this gigantic moth.
The spiders were ugly! 
The scorpions were scary
and seemed to like Lori.
Jay found a harmless
millipede to play with.
We are ready for a
game drive experience!
The Timbavati Park is interlaced with dirt roads.
Scattered trees & bushes made viewing easy.
The giraffes were graceful as they searched the tree-tops for fresh leave.
to lunch ... by letting it clean off some insects.
A herd of Buffalo
showing us their butts!
This guy stopped to give us a good side shot.
A long tongue is required to get the nicest leaves.
Our vehicle with private Ranger and Tracker !
This lizard was about
3 feet long and can
get quite a bit bigger!
Curious Waterbucks.
from the dry end of the
park to the wetter side,
the Ranger mentioned
that most animals give birth around this time.
Since it rained over the
past few days, he said
that we would probably
see some babies among
the various herds.
Just as he finished his
sentence the Tracker
interrupted him and
pointer forward.
A female elephant ...
... and a brand new baby!
A large Impala herd then
crossed in front of us.
Another brand new baby.
This one had a very watchful parent!
The tracker got excited & pointed towards
the lower center of this picture ...
.. towards a lovely leopard!
This animal is one of the most beautiful and is relatively hard to sight.
But why does this guy look so fat and
lazy?
The remains of his meal (kudu) is under the tree.
A live Kudu ... also nice!
A dry river bed shows
the drought condition.
Elephants can find water even in the driest river.
This guy had the biggest tusks I have ever seen!
Thunderstorms are forming in the distance.
One threatens us but we are able to go around it.
Time for a drink break!
A broken dam wall.
Unfortunately no dams
are required at this time.
This pond is almost empty.
We saw movement in the water and were shocked to see very large catfish.
This large crocodile doesn't seem to mind the drought,
as it probably allows him easy access to food.
Anyone up for a swim?
Graceful stork on land.
In a tree the stork
looks kind of dorky!
Night was falling and
we had a nice sunset.
The next morning we saw a Weaver Bird busy ...
... making a house that he hopes a female will like.
The Longbilled Hornbill does have a big bill and is somewhat clumsy..
A very proud Hawk.
We saw a lot of birds but they didn't pose very well for me... so these pages don't have many bird pics.
A few that did pose.
We started down
a riverbed path.
At a rather large pond
we found some hippos.
We had a chance to walk around ... CAREFULLY!
A few elephants came down to enjoy the water.
This elephant went totally underwater; strange.
He was nice and clean when he got out though!
A giraffe with an old termite mound.
A new termite mound; they can get up to 6 feet tall!
The friendly warthog
says goodbye.
We had a good time at Inkwazi and saw a
lot of animals; the Rhino and Lion were
the only big animals that eluded us!
We had time for lunch (no, not millipedes!)
and then set out for another shopping tour
of the Blyde Canyon area... then back to Pretoria.
After getting our fill of viewing wild animals, we prepared for a long trip south.
Click here to see pictures from the trip to Cape Town via the 'Garden Route'