04/05/2026 Part 4 of our holiday in South Africa.

Back home in the Charente, the weather is dismal. The maximum temperature in the Charente today is 18⁰C, minimum 12⁰C. 23 km/h North/West winds. 90% chance of rain. It has been raining on and off most of the day, and the stone house feels very cold.

I am still trying to catch up in the garden, but the rain is now not helping as it is too wet to work outside, and the grass is growing too fast again. The mower has been in for repairs for over two weeks now, and we have not heard anything.  The strimmer is hard work over a big area.

I thought you might be interested to see some of the countryside we drove through when driving between Umkumbe Safari Lodge and Kruger National Park.

The local barbershop.  This one looks quite upmarket!

And yet another one, they must be busy!

You need to keep a careful watch of the road ahead, as cattle and goats are a big hazard.

Khula Supermarket- well fenced!

Mashona Supermarket.

Mtimba Primary School off to the left of the photo. Not the metal stalls selling goods!

Numbi Cross Supermarket....

And this appears to be the Numbi family supermarket!

and yet another supermarket, also a bit more upmarket.  Interesting countryside!

Returning to Kruger Park....

Common Dwarf Mongoose (Helogale parvula).

Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius capensis).  During the day, they are mostly submerged in the water as the sun burns them easily. They only come out of the water to graze at night, so this was a rare shot in the middle of the day.

Young elephants. African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta Africana).

Vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus).  They are also Primates as we are!

Tree Squirrel or Smith's Bush Squirrel (Paraxerus cepapi).

African Hoopoe (Upupa epops africana).

Giraffe (Giraffa Camelopardalis)...

As above. You can tell if a giraffe is male or female by looking at the horns. Both male and female giraffes have horns, but the tops of the horns on males are almost always bald, while females' horns are completely covered with hair.  My guess is that these are both females.

Southern red-billed hornbill (Tockus rufirostris) with its lunch, which might be a locust.

Elephants see above, youngsters having fun in the river...

As above.

More photos yet to go, but also I am still very busy trying to catch up here with both garden and house, besides the normal household chores and cooking.