Croc shock!…Stunning Crocodile River sightings from Ngwenya…

One mean looking croc!

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Last night’s sunset from Ngwenya Restaurant’s veranda overlooking the river.

At times, I almost don’t know where to begin to tell you about our past 24 hours, which is exactly what we share on most days. Sure, we may describe sightings and events that may have transpired on other days, but overall, our goal is to divulge the most recent.

Elephants were making their way toward the sparse water in the Crocodile River.

So, today, as I share the events of yesterday, I can’t help but smile over how Mother Nature (i.e., safari luck) continues to come our way wherever we may be in this utopia of wildlife, scenery, and nature.

What a breathtaking scene as they crossed the dry riverbed!

For example, last night’s photo of the sunset at Ngwenya was genuinely breathtaking. So quickly, it vanishes into the horizon for darkness to fall and a single sentence spoken to each other or our friends, and we’ve missed the entire event.

Moms, the matriarch, and several youngsters, including a tiny baby, made their way to the water.

It also was the case when yesterday, we decided to leave the house for Ngwenya at 1630 hours (4:30 pm) instead of our usual almost 5:00 pm. Had we lingered for 30 minutes, we have missed most of today’s photos. I suppose it’s all about timing and sheer coincidence.  

They kicked up a lot of dust as they made their way over the dry riverbed.

It’s certainly has nothing to do with any skill or innate perception on our part, except for the fact that we’re aware that sightings are better at certain times of day than others.

This baby couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old.

With only six days until Tom and Lois depart to return to the US and only three months and 25 days until we leave South Africa for Kenya (if a visa extension is provided), I’ve begun to feel a sense of loss over our eventual departure.  

When we leave on February 20th, should all go as hoped, we’ll be returning to South Africa on December 2, 2020, a mere one year, nine months, and 12 days, arriving in Capetown by cruise where we’ll spend a few days and then head directly back to Marloth Park.

The mature elephants indeed protect the little ones.

But, so much can change between now and then. The park could be different with less wildlife, and changes could transpire that we can’t even conceive of at this point.  


Life is unpredictable. So much is beyond our control. Merely fantasizing about how we’d like it to be and what it subsequently “will be” can be but a figment of our imagination. The world is rapidly changing. We are all evolving as we age, and no one can predict a few years from now.

Finally, they approached an area with easier access to the river.

In our “perfect world,” we’d still be traveling as we are. We’ll have been to many more places, seen many more wonders, and perhaps even finding ourselves loving other sites as much as we’ve loved it here.

We shall see. Neither of us is caught up in any dreadful type of expectations. We roll with it as we go and strive to do our best to make our ongoing dreams come to fruition. There will never be a time that we’ll stop dreaming.

From quite a distance, we spotted a female lion.

Today, we had another exceptional experience when the four of us took quite a drive to see an authentic African village, outstanding musical production, and learns about the culture. We’ll be sharing that story and photos tomorrow.

Please check back.  We have so much more.

Have a pleasant and peaceful evening.

Photo from one year ago today, October 26, 2017:

In Kauai, Hawaii, our dear friend Louise wrote to tell us this bird we spotted in the yard in Costa Rica was a Fiery-billed Aracari. What am a fantastic bird!  For more photos, please click here.

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