LA DOLCE FAR NIENTE

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La dolce far niente.  The sweetness of doing nothing! (Thanks Gerard)

An Italian saying and way of life that pretty much sums up the magic of living here in the Kudu Private Nature Reserve. 

This week started out on a really good note when a walk up to the view site overlooking the gorge and waterfall caused me to disturb this magnificent Verreauxs' Eagle perched on the cliffside just below me. Fortunately he  decided to hike up on the thermals and do a pass before disappearing out of view, giving me a chance to grab a couple of shots.

Each day begins with a huge troop of Chachma Baboons that trundle down to the terrace at sunup (and again at sundown) ... huge males and loads of mamas with youngsters that spend all of their time either feeding at their mother's breasts or playing together like naughty children in the low-hung branches of the trees - pushing, shoving, jumping and running everywhere.

Today we had to make a trip into town, and on our return took a turn through the Boomplaats area of the Reserve, and were rewarded with a whole host of amazing sightings. Fist of all two pairs of Giraffe held us up for quite some time as they did their mating dances in the middle of the road before finally wandering off.

Thereafter we saw three separate groups of Blue Wildebeest, one accompanied by a few Zebra. There were a number of groups of Impala (the Macdonalds of the bush, with the 'M' on the behinds - and you find one on virtually every corner), as also quite a few Nyala and Kudu, along with one very skittish Eland that only stopped for a second so that I could get in a shot.

A large tortoise crossed our path, as did a number of birds (the list is growing fast), and we arrived home to the daily family visit by a large group of Warthog.

La dolce far niente.  The sweetness of doing nothing indeed! 

Enjoy the pictures.

VERREAUXS' EAGLE DOING A FLYPAST

CHECKING ME OUT

A FAMILY OF WARTHOG THAT VISIT OUR TERRACE DAILY

A BABOON YOUNGSTER SUCKLING (DOZENS VISIT DAILY - MORNING AND EVENING)

A GROUP OF KUDU COWS

A COUPLE OF LARGE MALE GIRAFFES THAT HELD US UP FOR QUITE SOME TIME ON THE ROAD DOING A MATING DANCE OF SORTS

DOING THEIR DANCE (APPARENTLY QUITE NORMAL FOR MALES DURING MATING SEASON)

TWO REALLY GOOD LOOKING GUYS

ANOTHER LARGE MALE DOING THE DANCE WITH A SMALLER FEMALE (I THINK HE WAS A PAEDOPHILE)

HIM AND HER CHECKING US OUT

YOU CAN SEE WHAT I MEAN ABOUT HIM!

THIS LITTLE GUY CROSSED OUR PATH

A MAGNIFICENT SABLE BULL THAT POSED FOR ME IN THE ROAD

THIS MALE IMPALA SPENT QUITE A BIT OF TIME DOING HIS TERRITORIAL ROAR ON THE TERRACE YESTERDAY

ONE OF THE NYALA BULLS THAT VISIT DAILY

MAMA WARTHOG CHECKING ME OUT

A VERY SKITTISH ELAND THAT STOPPED BRIEFLY FOR ME TO GET A SHOT

ONE OF THREE GROUPS OF BLUE WILDEBEEST THAT WE PASSED THIS AFTERNOON

 

MAGNIFICENT LANDSCAPES & SURROUNDS

In the relatively short time we have been resident here at No.13 River Lodge in Kudu Private Nature Reserve (just over three weeks), we have had the opportunity to be witness to some magnificent landscapes, waterfalls, river and rock views, and some amazing gorges that catch the eye at every turn ... and yet I don't think that we have seen much more than about 5% of what this beautiful nature reserve has to offer. 

The animals and birds that visit the area where we stay on a daily basis provide a thrill that we look out for every day, a thrill that I don't think will ever diminish in any way, and which offer so many opportunities to witness their many and various varieties of behaviour - patterns that any amount of photographs won't ever begin to describe.

Two of the long-standing residents on the River Lodge terrace, Pieter Marais and Mike Parken, have become friends, and have thus far provided us with a wealth of information about KPNR, with the promise of a whole lot more to come. Both are very much into the history of of the Reserve, from both an indigenous peoples point of view, as well as from a Boer War point of view, and have identified a number of sites that are significant in both respects which they have promised to show us going forward.

In addition to the photographs show here I have managed to grab a quite extensive number of animal shots without the need to move from our verandah which I will be posting here shortly, so please subscribe to the page to avoid missing any postings.

 

Here and there along the gorges are little waterfalls finding their way down to the river

The river is a long way down from the many lookout points

Just one of the many Gorge views as one drives down to River Lodge

One of the many dams along the river

Trees are budding everywhere

Another waterfall

Tranquility beyond description

The rocks along the river have been worn to smooth by millennia of water treatment

A look back up the river from where we live

One of Jaap's Pools

A view across the landscape shortly before the descent to River Lodge begins

More Buds

Another glimpse at the landscape on the way down

A distant shot of one of the waterfalls

Known as Elephant Rock - worn smooth in parts from constant rubbing

Another view into the distance on the way down

Guess what? (More buds)

More waterfalls

A fallen tree across the rocks

Looking up one of the many gorges

A couple of Impala enjoying an afternoon at the pool

BECOMING FAMILIAR WITH OUR NEW SURROUNDS

Today is the start of our third week at 13 River Lodge in Kudu Private Nature Reserve, and each day has been a revelation. Most of the days have been beautifully warm, but by 5pm each day it begins to get pretty cold ... but no matter, we make a plan to keep warm.

Each day too brings us new visitors in the form of a variety of wildlife, with the Nyala being the most frequent to date. We have a large Spotted Genet (thanks for pointing my error out John - I was watching a video with a Civit while I was writing and managed to confuse myself), that has visited on two occasions (and again this evening), and quite a few Warthog families that come trundling down at various times of the day. So far we have only spotted one Sable Antelope down here, but have seen large groups on the road down from the gate. 

There are birds galore, and our neighbour, Mike, has spotted and identified a huge number of Raptors during his 5 year stay here - and after just two weeks my list is already close to 30 bird species without even trying.

There are three Zebra that regularly visit along with a big troop of Chachma Baboons and lots of Vervet monkeys. We did spot a herd of Wildebeest up near the Gate on Saturday when we returned from spending the day with Pat's sister and her friends at their timeshare in Hazyview, along with a few Kudu on the drive down to the cottage.

The 5km drive down from the gate offers a whole host of vistas and we estimate that we drop down approximately 500 metres in elevation between there and here, with the river and waterfall being another 60 or so metres below the viewpoint at the bottom of our "garden" where the swimming pool and Llapa are.

All in all a genuine little piece of Heaven - we simply couldn't be happier!