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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 11 October 2013

On Safari With Dean From The Afternoon of 7 October 2013

7 October 2013

Afternoon Drive:

At 15h00 we left camp and made our way down the Numbi Gate tar getting more good sightings of buffalo and zebra. Carrying on with our route we got good rhino sightings as well as hippo, waterbuck, kudu, impala and elephant.

We decided to take a drive to Mentzel dam where we got a pod of hippo's playing in the water. While still on the sighting we got a radio call from Mark letting us know that he had found a den of hyena pups, so we decided to take a look. We back tracked until we found the den on the main road, taking photos as the four pups and two females played around in the cool afternoon.

After this we made our way back to camp for the evening.

8 October 2013

Today after packing all the bags for our return trip to Johannesburg, we made our way out on our final game drive, making a turn at Shithave dam and the boulders loop getting more sightings of sable, elephant and buffalo together with lots of the antelope species.

At about 09h00 we departed the park in order to get back earlier to Johannesburg so guests could get connecting flights to Cape Town.

Feedback from guests is that they enjoyed themselves and would love to return for another safari.


Keep watching for the next update!

Cara Cara Mountain Biking Event Supports Anti-Poaching In Kruger National Park

The annual Cara Cara MTB (mountain biking) race was presented on 7 September 2013 at Ruby River Resort in the Groblersdal area near Loskop Dam.

The 7th anniversary of this race attracted 323 mountain bike cyclists who participated in respective categories of 10 km, 35 km, 70 km as well as a trail run over 10 km.

The Cara Cara MTB event refers to the red-fleshed navel oranges which are common to the area and can be distinguished by their rosy pinkish to deep red flesh, locally known as blood oranges. These medium sized navels have an exceptionally sweet flavour, are low in acid and were discovered at the Hacienda de Cara Cara in Venezuela in 1976 as a cross between varieties.

The organizers of the event are two Groblersdal residents who are passionate about their community; Andrew Collett and Ruperd Venter. Each year, the proceeds of the event are contributed to a meritorious case or individual who are in need.

The plight of our rhinos is currently a highly controversial matter and it was decided to contribute the proceeds of this event to SANParks Honorary Rangers of the Highveld Region in their support to the anti-poaching project in Kruger National Park.

The route of the race had a fair mix of long rolling hills through the picturesque Loskop Valley and the beautiful Ruby River Resort was an ideal venue for this family event. The cyclists were thrilled to contribute some of their energy and sweat in support of the war against rhino poaching and thereby contributing to our precious natural heritage.

For more information:
http://www.sanparksvolunteers.org/

By:
 SANParks Honorary Rangers

Thursday 10 October 2013

On Safari With Dean From 6 October 2013

6 October 2013

We left Johannesburg after picking up guests at the Sandton Garden Court, Sandton Southern Sun and African Moon. We travelled through to the Kruger National Park and onto Nkambeni Safari Camp, where guests could have a rest and some lunch before leaving on their game drive.

We left camp at 15h00 and made our way down the Numbi gate tar, getting three sightings of buffalo herds as well as zebra, wildebeest and impala. We drove onto Napi Road and got great sightings of sable, buffalo, elephant, waterbuck and kudu. We then back tracked to Shabeni Koppies as a leopard had been spotted there the day before, but all we found was kudu, impala, baboon and buffalo there.

Rhino sightings were also experienced thought the afternoon.

We made our way back to camp arriving with only five minutes to spare.

7 October 2013

Today it was out early making our way down the Numbi gate tar getting more good sightings of buffalo, elephant, kudu and hyena. We turned onto the Napi road and made our way down to skukuza for a break.

Animals encountered on the route was another good sighting of sable antelope, rhino, elephant, buffalo, kudu, impala, giraffe and wildebeest.

After a tea break, we made our way onto Elloff street and took a drive along the river getting impala, kudu, buffalo and impala, before getting a call of a lion sighting on the Tshokwane tar.. We made our way in that direction. We turned onto the Tshokwane tar going down to the lion sighting and came across a leopard kill hanging in the tree. The impala had been killed that morning, but no leopard was found.

We made our way on getting to the lion sighting which had somewhat deteriorated to a point that the lions were hard to see lying on the opposite side of the sand river. After a while and after everybody had had a glimpse of the lions, we made our way back to Nkambeni Tented Camp for a lunch break and rest before going out again in the afternoon.

Keep watching For more!!

Wednesday 9 October 2013

Skukuza Airport To Close For Maintenance Purposes

Please note that the Skukuza Airport will close for maintenance purposes from 4 November 2013 to 13 December 2013. There will be no flights allowed into the airport during this time.

Alternative airports that can be used include Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport and Phalaborwa Airport.


Our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Issued by:
South African National Parks

Tuesday 8 October 2013

50 Years of Conservation Acknowledged

The South African National Parks Honorary Rangers was recently awarded a prestigious national conservation award by WESSA for its contribution to conservation in our National Parks.
The award was motivated as follows: “For their amazing voluntary contribution towards the conservation of all of our National Parks. For over 50 years these men and women have given freely of their time, expertise and resources to ensure the integrity and endurance of our Parks system.”

Accepting the award National Executive Committee Chairman Mr. Janssen Davies said; “I was delighted to receive this award on behalf of the 1 300 volunteer SANParks Honorary Rangers. Our members have worked with great dedication and commitment to conservation and SANParks and the National Parks system over the last 50 years.”

The Honorary Rangers has 33 regions all over South Africa from Cape Agulhas in the South to Thohoyandou in the North. They work in all 21 of our National Parks to assist the parks and promote nature conservation and public education. They provide ordinary South Africans from all walks of life the opportunity to help promote and conserve our natural heritage.

Members of the public are encouraged to join the organisation and can get more information on their website at http://www.sanparksvolunteers.org/

Issued by:
SANParks Honorary Rangers