14 May 2013
Route: Napi - Napi boulders - Napi - back to Nkambeni
Not much happening out there. Very little general game seen. 1 very nice elephant bull on the road just before Napi boulders entrance. Good photo's taken by the guests. Many different sightings of rhino's throughout the drive with the largest crash of 7 together.
15 May 2013
Route: Napi - S65 - Tshokwane tar - Doispan - Albaseni - Nkambeni road
First animal seen was a large rhino bull lying sleeping 5m off the road. Napi was rather quiet this morning with only Kudu, warthog, impala, giraffe and waterbuck seen all the way along to the S65. A college informed me of wild dog 3.1km from napi on S65. We got to the sighting just for them to move right into the road and all 13 lie down 5m from our open safari vehicle. Fantastic photos taken. Received another call for a leopard at transport dam but no luck. While down there we had a brilliant sighting of a female hippo with a calf in the shallow water. This calf couldn't of been older than a couple of days. After stopping at skakuza, we drove up to marola exit and on the way got 2 lioness and 1 male lying in the river bed. Also very nice to sit and watch this for a while. Good general birding during the drive, with secretary bird, and southern ground hornbills been some of the species seen. No elephant or buffalo spotted on our trip until we got closer to camp where we at least got a small herd of elephant just before concluding the game drive for the day.
Guests are out on a sundown drive this afternoon and so we'll pick up with them again in the morning.
16 May 2013
Route: Albaseni - Doispan - S65 - Napi - S114 - little jock - H3 - Napi
At numbi gate we got a buffalo bull just lying enjoying the morning sun. Great hippo's at mestal dam. Just before mestal we got a small herd of elephant approx 50m off the road. Many different sightings of general game on Doispan - giraffe, kudu, impala, diulkers, warthog and zebra. Got a call regarding a pride of lions lying on the rock 8.3km down the S65 we took a drive and found the male, 2 female and 4 cubs. I know they part of the pride of 13 in total. Sure they were all there, just couldn't see them. We then heard about a male leopard lying on a termite mound approx 4kms from transport access road on the napi. On our way there Dean and Frank informed me that they have a leopard on the road and we got good visuals of that. We went down to the second leopard and also had good visuals of that. It moved of the termite mound and lay in the shade of a tree. After skakuza we went down the S114 not much seen on the road just a couple of elephant , and general game. After lunch we headed up the H3 and at the S113 junction we found 4 cheetah lying under the shade of a gwari bush. Spent some time with them and then headed on towards camp. Distant visuals of herds of elephants near shithave dam and further to this it was rather quiet.
Verity and Dean Cherry had an African dream in 1999 and started Nhongo Safaris® to eliminate the logistical challenges of international visitors on safari. We provide a once in a lifetime experience for wildlife enthusiast that demand quality overnight safaris in South Africa and most particularly the Kruger National Park. We want to enrich our visitors’ experience by providing Luxury Safari Packages or African Safari Holidays and maintain our position as leader in Kruger Park Safaris.
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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 17 May 2013
Thursday 16 May 2013
Rhino Poaching Update
Rhino Poaching Update: Four people were arrested for poaching in the Kruger National Park during the past week as the total number of rhino killed for their horns increased to 313 nationally.
The latest arrests in the Kruger National Park bring to 98 the number of people arrested for rhino poaching and the smuggling of rhino horn since the beginning of the year. The Kruger National Park lost 13 rhino in the past week, increasing the number of rhino poached since January 1 to 229. In the North West province a total of 25 rhino have been poached, while 24 have been poached in Limpopo, 20 in KwaZulu-Natal and 15 in Mpumalanga. SANParks said two poachers were arrested, and a third fled, during a shootout near Pretoriuskop on Tuesday. In a SAPS driven operation supported by Kruger National Park rangers, one of the alleged poachers was wounded in a shootout with rangers. A .458 hunting rifle, silencer, ammunition, axe and knife were recovered. Investigations into the incident are continuing. KwaZulu-Natal police said three alleged poachers appeared briefly in the Ubombo Magistrate’s court on Monday on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition after they were caught near Jozini Dam with the weapons suspected to be used in rhino poaching. The police are still investigating whether the suspects are linked to other cases of poaching in the area. South Africans are urged to report incidents of poaching and tip-offs to the anonymous tip-off line at 0800 205 005, 08600 10111 or Crime-Line at 32211.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS
The latest arrests in the Kruger National Park bring to 98 the number of people arrested for rhino poaching and the smuggling of rhino horn since the beginning of the year. The Kruger National Park lost 13 rhino in the past week, increasing the number of rhino poached since January 1 to 229. In the North West province a total of 25 rhino have been poached, while 24 have been poached in Limpopo, 20 in KwaZulu-Natal and 15 in Mpumalanga. SANParks said two poachers were arrested, and a third fled, during a shootout near Pretoriuskop on Tuesday. In a SAPS driven operation supported by Kruger National Park rangers, one of the alleged poachers was wounded in a shootout with rangers. A .458 hunting rifle, silencer, ammunition, axe and knife were recovered. Investigations into the incident are continuing. KwaZulu-Natal police said three alleged poachers appeared briefly in the Ubombo Magistrate’s court on Monday on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition after they were caught near Jozini Dam with the weapons suspected to be used in rhino poaching. The police are still investigating whether the suspects are linked to other cases of poaching in the area. South Africans are urged to report incidents of poaching and tip-offs to the anonymous tip-off line at 0800 205 005, 08600 10111 or Crime-Line at 32211.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS
Wednesday 15 May 2013
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Leopard Leap By Chad Cocking
The Kruger National Park is full of wonderful surprises as Chad Cocking found out on his visit to the park in 2008. Chad had the unbelievable luck of witnessing a leopard and her cub as they crossed the Sabie River.
Chad recounts: "I went to Kruger not to see big cats, but rather just to enjoy the big herds of general game and varied landscapes that I never get to see in the Timbavati.
"One day we approached a bridge crossing the Sabie River (at the confluence of the Sand River) and saw four or five cars parked watching something to the east. Expecting it to be elephants or hippos, we tentatively pulled up alongside the railing where we saw a leopard lying on a rock island in the middle of the river. The leopard was clearly not alone – continuously calling for her cub. A few minutes passed before the young cub of about four months emerged from the reeds on a larger island to the north. The problem was that the mother and cub were now separated by about four to five metres of rather fast flowing water without a land-bridge to cross, and the only way to get across was to swim... We sat and watched with bated breath as the cub slowly plucked up the courage to jump into the water and swim across! With all its effort, the cub leapt into the water, but its little legs only carried it a short distance, leaving it to swim a fair way to get to the rocky island on which the mom was waiting. We were all quite relieved when the cub made it across to its mom – albeit looking more like a drowned rat now than a leopard cub! Our relief was short lived as mom promptly led the cub to the edge of the rock island and sprang a couple of metres across another torrent of water to the safety of the southern bank, but again, it was just too far for the little cub to make in one go. For the second time in a matter of minutes, the little leopard plunged itself into the river and thankfully managed to swim safely to the shoreline where it joined up with mom before they left the area."
"This scene left us all grinning at a far more wonderful leopard sighting in the Kruger than I could have imagined (made even more impressive by the fact that mom had only one eye!)."
About the photographer:
Chad Cocking is a passionate wildlife photographer and field guide. He has six years' working experience at the Motswari Private Game Reserve in Greater Kruger. His passion for photography has increased over the years, as has the size of his camera!
Wild Card Blog
Chad recounts: "I went to Kruger not to see big cats, but rather just to enjoy the big herds of general game and varied landscapes that I never get to see in the Timbavati.
"One day we approached a bridge crossing the Sabie River (at the confluence of the Sand River) and saw four or five cars parked watching something to the east. Expecting it to be elephants or hippos, we tentatively pulled up alongside the railing where we saw a leopard lying on a rock island in the middle of the river. The leopard was clearly not alone – continuously calling for her cub. A few minutes passed before the young cub of about four months emerged from the reeds on a larger island to the north. The problem was that the mother and cub were now separated by about four to five metres of rather fast flowing water without a land-bridge to cross, and the only way to get across was to swim... We sat and watched with bated breath as the cub slowly plucked up the courage to jump into the water and swim across! With all its effort, the cub leapt into the water, but its little legs only carried it a short distance, leaving it to swim a fair way to get to the rocky island on which the mom was waiting. We were all quite relieved when the cub made it across to its mom – albeit looking more like a drowned rat now than a leopard cub! Our relief was short lived as mom promptly led the cub to the edge of the rock island and sprang a couple of metres across another torrent of water to the safety of the southern bank, but again, it was just too far for the little cub to make in one go. For the second time in a matter of minutes, the little leopard plunged itself into the river and thankfully managed to swim safely to the shoreline where it joined up with mom before they left the area."
"This scene left us all grinning at a far more wonderful leopard sighting in the Kruger than I could have imagined (made even more impressive by the fact that mom had only one eye!)."
About the photographer:
Chad Cocking is a passionate wildlife photographer and field guide. He has six years' working experience at the Motswari Private Game Reserve in Greater Kruger. His passion for photography has increased over the years, as has the size of his camera!
Wild Card Blog
Rhino Poaching News
#RhinoNews 14/5. In a SAPS Intel driven operation supported by Rangers, 2 suspected #rhinopoachers were arrested in #Pretoriuskop - 1 of the suspects was wounded when he tried to shoot at Rangers during the incident - a .458 hunting rifle with silencer, ammo, axe and knife were recovered with the suspects - a third suspect managed to escape arrest. Investigations are underway.
Tuesday 14 May 2013
On Safari With Dean Starting 8 May 2013
8 May 2013
We Left Johannesburg and entered the Kruger National Park through Numbi gate we went to Pretoriuskop for lunch and then took a drive down Napi road –H3 - Quagga pan - Nkambeni safari camp.
Animals seen were elephant, rhino, buffalo, impala, giraffe and kudu.
9 May 2013
Route: Nkambeni tented camp - Napi road - Skukuza for a break.
Animals seen were elephant, buffalo, rhino, kudu, impala and stenbuck.
After our break we took a drive down the H3 as there had been lions seen close to Quagga pan, but none were found by us. We then made our way to Doispane as there had been a leopard spotted about a kilometer from Watergat, but he also made a getaway before we got there. After this, we made our way to camp for lunch and the guests went out on their night safari.
10 May 2013
Route: Nkambeni tented safari camp - Numbi gate tar - Napi road - H3 - Napi road - Skukuza for a drink and toilet stop.
Animals seen were rhino, elephant, buffalo, impala, kudu, warthog, two males and two female lions walking with full stomachs down the H3. We managed to follow them for about two kilometers, before they went off the road and into a culvert to sleep. About 5.2 kilometers on the Napi road we came across three hyena trying to catch a warthog who also managed to get into a culvert were the hyena's could not get into.
After our stop at Skukuza we went up Tshokwane tar and across the high water bridge and then back on Elloff street.
Animals seen were elephant, buffalo, crocodile and rhino.
We decided to go down Doispane before going in for lunch as we were looking for a leopard. We drove down Doispane about 2.8 km's past Watergat and came on two leopard cubs playing on the rock. Mommy was not there, but after a hour of watching these little guy's it was considered a good leopard sighting.
We went to Skukuza for lunch and then made our way back to camp on Napi road, getting more elephant and buffalo.
11 May 2013
Today there was no drive due to the clients going on their bush walk. We then left the park and headed back to Johannesburg.
12 May 2013
Dean heads back to the Kruger.
Route driven was Numbi gate – Pretoriuskop – Napi - Watergate junction - Camp.
Animals seen were ten sightings of elephant, four sightings of rhino, three sightings of good kudu bulls, stenbuck, impala and warthog.
13 May 2013
Route: Nkambeni tented camp - Numbi gate tar - Napi road - H3 - Quagga pan - Napi road - Skukuza for a break.
Animals seen were elephant, rhino, impala, kudu, stenbuck, Klipspringer and Grey Duiker.
After our break at Skukuza, we made our way down the S114 getting a sighting of a leopard about 1.5 km's in a Marula tree. Guests battled to see him due to large amount of foliage. We carried on and turned onto the Ngwatemiri road and got four lionesses lying about thirty meters from the road. We made our way on and came across another five male lions about 2.3 km's further on. After having great sightings we made our way back to the s114 and then down the s112 and up the H3 and onto Napi road back to camp.
Animals seen were giraffe, impala, buffalo, elephant, warthog, Klipspringer and kudu.
More coming soon!!
We Left Johannesburg and entered the Kruger National Park through Numbi gate we went to Pretoriuskop for lunch and then took a drive down Napi road –H3 - Quagga pan - Nkambeni safari camp.
Animals seen were elephant, rhino, buffalo, impala, giraffe and kudu.
9 May 2013
Route: Nkambeni tented camp - Napi road - Skukuza for a break.
Animals seen were elephant, buffalo, rhino, kudu, impala and stenbuck.
After our break we took a drive down the H3 as there had been lions seen close to Quagga pan, but none were found by us. We then made our way to Doispane as there had been a leopard spotted about a kilometer from Watergat, but he also made a getaway before we got there. After this, we made our way to camp for lunch and the guests went out on their night safari.
10 May 2013
Route: Nkambeni tented safari camp - Numbi gate tar - Napi road - H3 - Napi road - Skukuza for a drink and toilet stop.
Animals seen were rhino, elephant, buffalo, impala, kudu, warthog, two males and two female lions walking with full stomachs down the H3. We managed to follow them for about two kilometers, before they went off the road and into a culvert to sleep. About 5.2 kilometers on the Napi road we came across three hyena trying to catch a warthog who also managed to get into a culvert were the hyena's could not get into.
After our stop at Skukuza we went up Tshokwane tar and across the high water bridge and then back on Elloff street.
Animals seen were elephant, buffalo, crocodile and rhino.
We decided to go down Doispane before going in for lunch as we were looking for a leopard. We drove down Doispane about 2.8 km's past Watergat and came on two leopard cubs playing on the rock. Mommy was not there, but after a hour of watching these little guy's it was considered a good leopard sighting.
We went to Skukuza for lunch and then made our way back to camp on Napi road, getting more elephant and buffalo.
11 May 2013
Today there was no drive due to the clients going on their bush walk. We then left the park and headed back to Johannesburg.
12 May 2013
Dean heads back to the Kruger.
Route driven was Numbi gate – Pretoriuskop – Napi - Watergate junction - Camp.
Animals seen were ten sightings of elephant, four sightings of rhino, three sightings of good kudu bulls, stenbuck, impala and warthog.
13 May 2013
Route: Nkambeni tented camp - Numbi gate tar - Napi road - H3 - Quagga pan - Napi road - Skukuza for a break.
Animals seen were elephant, rhino, impala, kudu, stenbuck, Klipspringer and Grey Duiker.
After our break at Skukuza, we made our way down the S114 getting a sighting of a leopard about 1.5 km's in a Marula tree. Guests battled to see him due to large amount of foliage. We carried on and turned onto the Ngwatemiri road and got four lionesses lying about thirty meters from the road. We made our way on and came across another five male lions about 2.3 km's further on. After having great sightings we made our way back to the s114 and then down the s112 and up the H3 and onto Napi road back to camp.
Animals seen were giraffe, impala, buffalo, elephant, warthog, Klipspringer and kudu.
More coming soon!!
Monday 13 May 2013
SANParks Changes Rates For Open Safari Vehicles
SANParks announces changes to rates for open safari vehicles. Follow the link for the full story http://www.sanparks.org/about/news/default.php?id=55519
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