South Africa Trip, Day 10: Camp Letaba, KNP

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Kimberly Writes: After several days of intense mammal observations, we focused on birds today, and Camp Letaba and the surrounding area did not disappoint. We saw more than 100 bird species today, and added several new species for the trip. 

The glorious male Paradise Flycatcher
Make sure you follow his tail streamer all the way down to the bottom of the photo!


In spite of her abbreviated tail, the female Paradise Flycatcher is a beauty, too!



This little gem is the lovely little Red-billed Firefinch!


Uh, I just could not get a decent photo of this little beauty! They were constantly in motion, and the light was pretty tough, too.  Look closely near the edge of the rose color on its side. Can you see the sprinkle of beautiful little white dots? I really thought those little white dots made the bird even more fetching! 




I'd really like to see the Firefinch and the Blue Waxbill side by side!


White-fronted Bee-eater

I was happy with my photo of the bee-eater, but didn't get good photos of the flycatcher or the firefinch. I'm sharing my craptastic shots anyway, just to give you an idea of how wonderful these birds were to watch!
We also made a few side trips today to observe hippopotamus.
Hippos are such bizarre creatures in every way! 

I told Kenn that I thought they looked like giant livers with faces!


They laze around in the water, grunting and snorting, and seem slow and 
lumbering when they do come on land. But looks can be deceiving, and they're actually capable of running up to 18 MPH! Hippos can be very aggressive when something 
gets between them and their water hole, and they are widely considered one of
 the most dangerous wild animals.

Tomorrow we pack up and head for the next camp: Punda Maria. It's a long drive, and we're hoping for some interesting encounters along the way!

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