Day 161: Phalaborwa Safari Park – Balule Satelite Camp (Kruger NP)

We had a lot of lightning and thunder during the night, but hardly any rain.

And so the day begins with cooler weather and overcast skies.

We have some great animal sightings today: lots of elephants and giraffes, impalas and waterbacks of course. Crocodiles and hippos by the river in the distance. Zebras from near and far. Eagles (Fish Eagle, African Hawk Eagle, Brown Snkae Eagle), a bateleur, a vulture (hooded volture?). Magpie shrikes with their long tail feathers. A snake, more dead than alive (olive grass snake). And finally, a sleeping spotted hyena. It must have been devouring the remains of the lions' meal. Unfortunately, we didn't see the lions again; they've moved on.

In Olifants, we have a late lunch, or rather an early dinner, with a view of the river, the antelopes, the hippos...

We chat for a while with our table neighbors (Ronny, a South African native, and Siska, a Dutch native) – they're almost the same age as us and have many similar thoughts. It's fun.

And we're lucky that there's a spot available for us at Balule Camp, and we can swap Letaba (a huge spot) for this nice little one. It's more atmospheric and saves us over 30 km of driving distance tomorrow.

A wonderful day!

By the way: Today is a full moon, rising bold and dark red, the so-called blood moon. And the total lunar eclipse is very beautiful to observe.