Punda Maria Day 2

Once again the fact that people are ‘sheep’ has been reinforced to me!  Now that school holidays are over in South Africa, Kruger has quietened down a bit.  However, the Punda Maria campground is relatively large (about 300 m by 200 m) with a toilet block and separate camp kitchen centrally at either end.  In my two days here I have watched people come and go, on both days everyone bar myself and one other lot of campers (different both days) have clustered around the first amenities block. About 15 caravans/campers all set up in a 50 m radius, leaving the other camp kitchen and amenities for my sole personal use.  I can’t complain about that!

Once again the Park amazed me today, I think you could spend a month here and see something new every day, although I only took 104 photos today.  It would have been more, however the main cultural heritage site in the area. Thulamela was closed for work.  It was actually a bit frustrating as there was no notice to this effect until you arrived there, which was a 50 km drive.  It didn’t really matter though as there was a lot of other stuff to see.

At one stage this morning I was totally surrounded by a herd of about 100 buffalo, but that deserves its own post, so you will have to wait.  I actually have internet connectivity here at Punda Maria, but like SanWild it is at the extreme edge of mobile phone coverage so it is very slow.  I may not be able to post these posts until I get back into a town.  By the way, I have decided that South African cask wine is pretty good, as while I am sitting here my glass seems to keep getting empty!

I have also decided that Vervet Monkeys are too smart and cheeky for their own good.  I had three incidents with them today.  I went to the toilet this morning and was away from my campsite for about 10 minutes (yes Mum and Ms Dig, only 10 minutes, as I didn’t take a book!), when I got back, a monkey had unlatched my esky, opened the lid, opened a plastic bag of apples and was happily sitting in my chair eating an apple.  He/she ran away up a tree when I approached, but then the annoying thing was it ate only half the apple and threw the rest away.  At lunch time I stopped at a designated picnic area (where you could get out of your car) and had lunch.  Once again, I had an apple in my hand and when I glanced to my left a monkey jumped on the table to my right grabbed the apple and took off up a tree.  Now, I am pretty situationally aware, and have fairly good reflexes, but there was no way I had time to react to this ‘assault’.  So far, the first three apples from this bag go to the monkeys.  About 1630 hr I arrived back at the campsite to find that the only tub I had left behind (I had taken my esky, food tub and cooking tub with me), had been opened and ‘ratted’ by the monkeys.  This tub was left behind because it contained no food!  Therefore my washing powder, pegs, plastic bags etc were all thrown out.  Even  a number of empty ‘tupperware’ type containers had been opened by the monkeys.  Nothing is safe!

A vervet monkey sitting on the back of my bakkie.  He was originally sitting on my bike but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo.

The open landscape in the northern end of the Park.

Another Baobab.

A close up of the Baobab above showing the damage that elephants do to the trunk.  Interestingly there are very few juvenile Baobabs which I attribute to the elephants.

Another Baobab.  I can't remember why I included this one?

An example of the denser vegetation and larger trees along one of the river corridors.

Baboons foraging out in the open.  The ground was basically bare but they seemed to be finding something to eat as they kept putting things in their mouths.

Crooks Corner where the borders of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique meet.  It was called Crooks Corner because it was the hangout of criminals, gun runners, ivory poachers and slavers.  If the authorities of one country approached, they would duck across the 'border' into one of the others.

I find it hard to accept how you can build huge power lines through the middle of a world heritage national park?

Just to give you an idea of how close the elephants come to the cars.