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Some of Nhongo Safaris Fleet of Open Safari Vehicles

The photo shows some of our fleet of Open Safari Vehicles used while on safari in the Kruger National and Hwange National Parks. These ve...

Friday 7 November 2014

On safari With Karen From 3 November 2014

3 November 2014

A new tour started yesterday and after a quick check-in at Nkambeni Safari Camp the guests went on their first game drive. This was the sundowner game drive. They were taken down to Mashawu Dam for their sundowner drinks, which is a lovely dam full of hippos. But before they got there they had also enjoyed sightings of elephants close by the vehicle, zebras, impala, kudu and waterbuck. So much so they almost missed the sunset! Then again, the clouds were kind of obscuring the prettiness of the sunset. On the way back they also had a great sighting of a hyena. All in all, this first drive was thoroughly enjoyed!

4 November 2014

Then this morning we set off after breakfast. It wasn't cold as yet, but the clouds were looking as if they were going to spit on us (which they did a little bit later on the drive). We drove up Numbi tar and then Napi. It all started quiet and then suddenly, the animals started appearing. First we got a small herd of female and young male kudus all lying down. Then a couple of waterbuck grazing and a lone impala running from ... Well we didn't see anything running after it so we assume a ghost.

Then we had a lot of fun when the guys on the truck thought they saw a rhino. Us girls were scouting around with and without binoculars, but we did see no such thing. Then out from behind a bush comes... a warthog. With a bit of imagination it looks like a small rhino, but no. However, after some more kilometers we spotted our first real white rhino, and there were more to follow. We also saw a few elephants bulls and some buffalo bulls not far from our first white rhino bull. As if there had been a general bull meeting.

We also saw a family of vervet monkeys, with a tiny little baby being protected by all. And a hyena babysitter with what looked like at least three different aged litters to babysit. The youngest of the lot got the most freedom and was happily joining in a game of tag as well as 'bite the ear' or 'bite the tail'. Unfortunately for one pup though, the 'bite the tail' game was rather popular and it was his tail they were using.

Before we got to Skukuza for our break we saw some zebras in the distance, ground hornbills off the ground and in a tree, white-fronted bee eaters, and a dung beetle rolling a big dung ball. It wasn't our only dung beetle encounter as one being tired of flying hitched a ride in the car. Careful not to squash him (or altogether touch him) a frenzy emerged in the back of the truck as this little bugger kept walking around between the rows of seats from the front to the back. Until Allan was the bravest of them all and picked him up and tossed him in the grass.

During break time at Skukuza we took a look at a large hippo that was lying in the river, but nicely visible. When it was time to continue our drive we followed up on a tip about lions down the H3. We did see some buffalo on the way, but the lions at Kwaggapan were lying flat as the grass somewhere in the distance unseen. However we were rewarded for our trip down south as we spotted a leopard walking through the grass. Well, mostly just its white tuft of the tail that was sticking out. Anticipating its movements we drove past and waited at an open area, where we could see a bit more of it. Dreamily we said it should jump in the tree for a better view. We were in luck, as the one tree in line with our perfect vision, about 25m from the road, suddenly had a leopard it in. It posed for us and some other cars for about 5min. And that was it, show time over. She jumped down and while we followed the white tuft of the tail, that's all we got to see of her after the show.

So far no lion luck though, but we had gotten another tip while the leopard walked away. So we set off again, seeing our first giraffes of this trip and had a great sighting of some elephants feeding close to the road. A youngster was with the family but kept hiding behind a termite mount. There were definitely more elephants around as we herd grass being pulled, branches broken, but all unseen. But alas, also the second tip didn't pay off. Here we had a sighting of 5 kudu bulls though. Not as great as the leopard, but still impressive.

Third time is a charm they say and we were hoping to prove it right. Upon our third possible lion tip, we already thought we would see something different again, but this time it was indeed lions. We didn't spot as many as they said there were, but still, we got lions! That even completed our big five for today, so we felt really chuffed. And even on the way back to Skukuza we saw more lions! And that wasn't the only sighting: leopard tortoise, wildebeests, yellow - billed hornbills, steenboks and a very big leopard tortoise. Not to mention the vervet monkeys raiding the parking lot at Skukuza itself.

After a spot of lunch it was time to head back to camp as it started to get really hot. We drove down Napi again seeing a very small leopard tortoise, a secretary bird, a dung beetle that had got himself a girlfriend on the ball, a herd of buffalos, more giraffes in the distance and a large group of reedbucks.

The last stretch on Numbi tar gave us some more elephants, waterbuck, zebras and a last new animal: dwarf mongoose. Upon return it was time for a dive in the pool at the lodge and a drink in the bar to celebrate this excellent safari day!

5 November 2014

This morning we set off again after a hearty breakfast for our morning safari. The weather forecasted was much better than yesterday and this morning we left with our sunglasses already on our noses! We were greeted by some impalas and waterbucks hanging out on camp road, before we spotted two young bull elephants hanging out together. These guys came closer and closer to the road and two buffalo bulls that were relaxing a little further on. In the end the buffalos decided to get out of the way of those two boisterous males.

We then turned onto Fayi Loop where we had a great sighting of a herd of elephants. At first they were a bit far into the bush, but good things come to those who wait. Slowly they came closer and closer and then they all stood on the side of the road. As they had some little ones, the mothers waited for the protection of the aunties as well before they crossed. As one big elephant group they crossed in front and a few stragglers behind us. Then they completely disappeared into the bush, completely out of sight.

A little further on there were even more elephants. We followed at the pace of one of them walking in the middle of the road, who brought us to another heard of elephants. Some had crossed, others seemed to go the other way. Some elephants weren't happy the car split the herd and let us know by the elephant speak which sounds like a big tummy rumble. So we parked out of the way, as they might get crazy ideas. There was one tiny little elephant that was trying to figure out what that ting in front of its face was for. An hilarious sight, as it couldn't really use its trunk yet at all.

In between the taller trees we then encountered some lovely giraffes. Some got a fright and ran away, others were curious to see what was happening. Then two decided to cross in front of us. Not a bad deal, but their modeling coach really needs to work with them. As the first one crossed, he looked our way but stopped in the middle of the road for not even a second to take a good picture. The second one didn't even stop at all and looked the other way!! Tsssss.

Down the loop we also found a steenbok couple, a dark chanting goshawk, two Dung-beetles having a race in "roll the ball" almost having a head on collision with a car, a juvenile bateleur, a common grey duiker (our new animal of this tour), a warthog with two piglets, more waterbuck, a gracious kudu bull, vervet monkeys, helmeted guineafowls making a racket and a big herd of buffalos. While watching the buffalos they suddenly started running. The buffalo stampede ran across a drainage line where then they resumed grazing as if nothing happened. We waited around for quite some time to see if something scared them was maybe a lion, but nothing showed up. All we could see in the distance they were running from was a kudu bull hanging out with some impalas.

But our best sighting this morning was another herd of elephants. They came from the dense bush just as we stopped at a little drainage line. The waterhole was just in front of us and slowly but steadily this herd of elephants moved towards it, chasing out two reedbucks. Well, if I saw this big herd coming towards me, I would make a run for it! But we actually stayed put next to the waterhole and the entire herd lined up to have a drink from it. The little ones well protected in their midst, they all drank until they had their fill. Then the matriarch called that it was time to move and off they went. They formed a line and crossed the road behind off into the field.

Meanwhile Allan and Claire were enjoying their bushwalk. They enjoyed the silence of the bush and learning all about the tracks and signs that animals leave behind. They also came across animals like a leopard tortoise, impalas, and a warthog in a hiding hole.

After a quick relaxing break, unfortunately it was time for Allan and Claire as well as Chloe and Bruce to leave our safari as they continued on their travels. I hope you had a wonderful time on this safari.

In the afternoon we set off again for an afternoon drive with Eulee and Nick, while newcomers Max and Laura were taken on their sundowner safari. First the afternoon drive, where we took a drive all the way down to Napi Boulders and back. It started of with a sighting of zebras, and then a 100m on another group of zebras. A couple of hundred meters later there was a group with zebras and giraffes. It must have been a zebra afternoon, because during the drive we passed several more lots. And while we are comparing it to the morning, where we saw lots of elephants, this entire afternoon drive we saw only 1 and he was far in the distance too.

We did come across another herd of buffalos, that was resting in the shade of the trees, a tawny eagle being severely mobbed by two fork-tailed drongos, another tawny eagle sitting silently in a tree, a lovely white rhino bull and two warthogs. On Napi Boulders itself we came across a male lion doing what lions do best: lying. We almost drove past him as a flat lying lion looks just like the grass, but the flick of his tail caught our attention. Then we saw the blink of an eye and an ear wiggle, some more tail flicks and the top bit of the mane so we were sure it was a male lion. And we waited, and waited, and waited a bit more, but he was point blank refusing to lift his head. The most movement we got was when he rolled on his belly (funnily enough no one wanted to get out and give him a belly rub) and then slowly keeled over the other way. So all bits considered we have seen the entire lion...

On the way back from the Boulders on the tar we came across a tsessebe. A rare sighting (and believe it or not, my first ever sighting of a tsessebe in the Kruger NP!). Unfortunately the tsessebe did not want to stay around to celebrate as the moment he was spotted he actually moved off, retreating further and further into the trees. And we got to see a glimpse of a leopard. The people at the sighting thought they needed to inform us it just crossed the road, but we caught the tail end of it, so it still counts as seeing another leopard!

Meanwhile Max and Laura had a great time on their sundowner drive. Not only did they get to see the sunset, they were also treated to sightings of buffalos, elephants, a leopard and a honey badger and more! A great start of their safari!

More coming soon!!


Wednesday 5 November 2014

On Safari With Curtis From 30 October 2014

30 October 2014

The start of a new tour and after meet and greets we headed down Nelspruit to Numbi gate. After the formalities of checking in at the gate we headed down to our first rest camp which for tonight is Pretoriuskop. Along the way we found a couple of zebra deep in the bush and then an elephant even further in the bush. We then came to a much nicer, and closer, elephant sighting. A female herd with a couple of youngsters including a calf about a year old. We sat and watched as they moved closer to the vehicle and then crossed the road.

Once at Pk restcamp we checked and while one of our guests went on a sunset drive the rest of us went for a short drive around the area.

Immediately out of the gate we found impala and then elephants walking away from us before taking a loop around Shabeni. There we saw plenty of buffalo, vervets monkey and babboons as well as kudu. Just before re-entering the camp we found a group of banded mongoose scurrying across the road.

31 October 2014

An early start this morning saw us taking a loop around Shabeni to begin where we found plenty of impala and a large herd of buffalo with a solitary wildebeest hanging around with them. We also spotted vervets and baboon as well as two klipspringer.

Back on numbi we spotted a nice large giraffe walking around minding his own business. Turning on to Napi we found a couple more giraffe. On boulders we found a herd of sable but they moved off into the thick grass abruptly. We had a couple of elephants at a distance before we turned up at the hyena den where five hyenas were lazing around. Two of the guests also saw a couple of cubs before they disappeared back in to their den. The next section was fairly quiet apart from impala and kudu and even transport dam was subdued although we got a look at waterbuck. As we turned back onto Napi we spotted a leopard standing close to the road,  we followed her as she walked occasionally moving further into the grass and then coming back out. The leopard then crossed over the road before changing its mind and re-crossing back over. By this time a lot of vehicles had gathered around and she decided the best thing to do was climb up into a tree and chill. After having such a great sighting too ourselves for quite a while we decided to move off and let others have a look.

We headed down to the golf club for an extended breakfast and sat and watched as a few hippos moved along the dam to take a look at us. After breakie we took a drive around the river where we found Bushbuck, nyala, dwarf mongoose and steenbok before hearing about a possible lion sighting. Making our way to the lions we passed elephants and buffalo as well lots of impala.

At the sighting we found two female lionesses sleeping next to a watering hole.

Occasionally they popped their head to look around and have a stretch but not much else. Luckily they had chosen to lie down in a very clear area with nothing blocking our view of them.

After leaving the sighting we headed back to Skukuza for lunch along elloff which was extremely quiet. With the exception of hippo on high level bridge and a couple in the river we saw not much else before lunch.

After lunch we headed back along Napi which until klipspringer koppies was also quiet. Just past the koppies we found our second leopard of the day, this one lying up in a marula tree about thirty meters in. We watched until the tale tell signs that it was about to climb down and sure enough it did jump down. We thought that was it but we managed to keep it in view for about ten minutes more as it walked through the grass before disappearing. We then spotted three male elephant who had been playing in the mud. We passed the hyena again and this time managed to see the cubs a bit longer before they went back into the den. Other sighting include warthog, kudu, duiker and Waterbuck before getting back to the rest camp.

1 November 2014

This morning we woke to a cold dull overcast start to the day and as we left the gate we found our first animals virtually straight away in the shape of waterbuck, in fact for the first kilometer we had just waterbuck sightings. Along Napi we found elephant and buffalo. Shithave was quiet this morning with just the nostrils of the hippo seen. Carrying on we found three hyena standing just next to the road with a further three laying down close by, but the guests were more interested in the little cubs which were playing around before they darted back to the safety of the den. We then came across four large male elephants, one of which was slowly walking down  the road towards us. He eventually moved on to the grass and we parked up and watched as all four walked by us just a few meters from the road. We then found a couple of very nice rhino who were busy eating very close to the road. Just before we stopped for breakfast we found another hyena den with four adults hanging outside but no cubs to be seen here. After breakfast things turned quieter but we still passed by lots of kudu and impala as well as stopping for elephant. A trip round Shabeni and we found a small herd of male buffalo with two of them clashing horns quite aggressively trying to ascertain dominance as well as seeing baboons and Warthog.

Then it was time to move down to Nkambeni lodge which is our home for the next two nights.

2 November 2014

The morning started off much brighter today and we headed down Napi with the sun beating down. Unfortunately Napi was extremely quiet this morning and although we saw impala, kudu, zebra, buffalo and common duiker it wasn't the start we hoped for. We then came across a nice herd of giraffe and a couple of elephants before stopping for an early breakfast. Afterwards we set down along the river and things started to pick up as we at first found buffalo and then a couple of hippo out of the water. Plenty of impala and a few Bushbuck were out shone by the hundred or so elephants we saw down in the river. We also had a nice look at the African fish eagle as it quite violently called for its mate. Further along we also saw the southern ground hornbill walking along the road searching for a tasty morsel. We then found lions, five of them across the river lying down in the shade. They had no intention of moving and although too far for a good photo we had lots of time looking at them through the binoculars.

We then moved onto a dam where we found hippos basking in the ever shrinking watering hole and two warthogs.

At sunset dam more hippos, lots of crocs and yellow-billed stork along with zebra and giraffe.

I then heard about a leopard sighting just down the road but alas it had gone, however it did mean we ended finding a second lion sighting. This time four lions who were unsuccessfully trying to hunt buffalo. We watched as they edged closer only to be spotted and after twenty minutes of this game the buffalo had had enough and chased the lions into the bush. With the lions disappearing it was time for us to do the same and we went to lower sabie for lunch.

Afterwards, on the way home, we drove past a lot of the stuff we had already seen but we did get a nice baboon sighting close to the road and also a small group of elephants cross over the road in front of us as they headed down to the river.
Napi was also extremely quiet but we did have a close encounter with four bull elephants, nice giraffe, zebra, kudu, impala, steenbok, Waterbuck and common duiker before we got back to the lodge.

3 November 2014

The last day of this tour and as always a good hearty breakfast before we checked out and left the lodge to go on our last drive. Going the same route as yesterday our last morning turned out to be considerably busier than yesterday. Once on Numbi tar we found a small group buffalo before we passed waterbuck, impala, kudu and zebra in quick succession. We then found a herd of elephant who were heading into the bush so really we found a herd of elephant bums!! We turned onto Napi and came across the final few stragglers of a herd of buffalo who had crossed the road before we got there. We drove past the flat rocks and found only one of the hyenas outside the den this morning before we came to a missed lion sighting. Just as we turned up the second of two lions walked over the edge of the rocks, where they have been laying, not to be seen again.

Moving on we found plenty more general game before we found a lone bull elephant crossing the road, he was obviously in a bad mood as we were about twenty meters from him and he still gave us a disgruntled shake of the head. Taking this as a sign we left him to chill and carried on. We were following a private car when suddenly it braked and reversed quickly, as we approached I spotted why the sudden maneuver, a leopard was sitting on the lower branch of a marula tree. This was the same female leopard we had seen just a couple of days ago and she was still very skittish around cars. Even being thirty meters away up in a tree she didn't feel comfortable and as the number of vehicles increased she decided she had had enough and jumped down from the tree and walked off into the bush.

Heading down watergat we found a tower of giraffe as well as impala, steenbok, kudu and baboons before we turned onto Doispane where we found more giraffe with three of them crossing the road in front of our vehicle. We headed down river road after being told about a sighting and we indeed found two female lions lying down on some rocks in the dry river bed. They were some way away so no great photos but with binoculars we could still see them clearly. Eventually one got up and moved down into the reeds while the other happily posed with head up. Eventually we moved off leaving the sighting to others while we headed back up doispane. Heading to the gate we came to across buffalo, elephant as well as zebra, wildebeest, kudu and impala before we found hippo at Nyamundwa dam and a brown snake eagle just after that.

Then it was time to leave the park and transfer back to Nelspruit to the shuttle which was to take the guest back to Johannesburg. Thank you James for joining us on this tour. Safe onward journey and enjoy reliving all those great sightings you have had over the last five days.

More coming soon!!



Tuesday 4 November 2014

On safari With Robbie From 23 October 2014

23 October 2014

Beginning our Safari at Pretoriouskop we had brilliant sightings of general game  (Zebra, Impala, Giraffe, Kudu and Waterbuck). We then proceeded onto camp where we enjoyed a relaxing evening.

24 October 2014

An early morning start this morning saw us heading on the long journey North up to Lataba. On route we came across superb sightings of rhino, elephant with calves, buffalo, 2 prides of lion and again brilliant general game.

25 October 2014

Today we went further North, destination the camp of Shingwedzi. (If anyone did, I thoroughly enjoyed being up this part of the world).

The drive was rather quiet but we did have some excellent sightings of elephant, buffalo as well as zebra and giraffe. We also came across a great sighting of a herd of 8 Tsessebe. Guests then proceeded on their night drive.

26 October 2014

Today’s morning drive was excellent for birding where 16 new sightings were added to our list including the trumpeter hornbill and the stunning African openbill.

In the afternoon taking the river back loop we had some magnificent elephant sightings including 3 different large herds coming down to drink in front of us as well as 5 magnificent tusker bulls posing superbly for photos in excellent light. Buffalo herds over 300 where in abundance as well quenching their thirst. After all this is what the North is all about.

27 October 2014

Today was surprisingly quiet around Satara, although we did manage to enjoy sightings of ostrich, Kori Bustards and secretary birds.

We got a beautiful male lion 40m off the road as well as general game sightings.

We than returned to camp for the evening ready for the next day.

28 October 2014

Today we saw brilliant general game and were treated to a black and white rhino sighting in one day which is extremely rare! At the black rhino sighting we managed to see this animal in its full might as we enjoyed the sighting from just 2m away.

Other sighting for the day include many elephants mud bathing and drinking as well as a brilliant raptor sighting of a nesting tawny eagle.

We then proceeded onto camp for the night where a rare nocturnal visitor the honey badger was patrolling around our bungalows.

29 October 2014 

Today in my opinion we had one of the best lion sightings of the year as we came across 6 male lions on a buffalo kill with us being the first vehicle there and not a blade of grass between us and the kill! The lions ate for an hour or so then proceeded to rest under a tree close by.

The rest of the day we saw two more lion sightings as well as a pack of wild dogs very close to the road. General game sightings were great considering the excessive temperature.

30 October 2014

Today is our final day so after breakfast we packed the vehicle and headed out for our final drive.

Sightings for this morning include a leopard, honey badgers, hyena and jackal.


We then proceeded out the Kruger gates onto Nelspruit for the transfer back to Johannesburg.