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| Baboons and Babies |
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| Hyena Pup in the road |
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Lion Cub crossing the road |
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...
Thursday 14 November 2013
Wednesday 13 November 2013
On Safari With Dean From 9 November 2013
9 November 2013
Picked up guests at Johannesburg International Airport, and made our way through to Nelspruit, were we changed over vehicles and made our last part if the journey to the Numbi Gate.
We made our way down to the Nkambeni Tented Camp were guests enjoyed lunch after which we left camp on a game drive going down the Numbi Gate tar onto the Napi Road around the Napi Boulders loop and then back to the camp, arriving just before 06h00.
Animals seen were kudu, impala, buffalo and rhino.
10 November 2013
Today it was out at 06h00, we took a drive down the Albasini road onto Doispane and up watergat getting good sightings of giraffe, impala, kudu and a distant sighting of a male lion.
We turned onto the Napi Road and then down the H3 onto the S112 as we had heard of lions in the area. We managed to find four male lions lying on the top of the rock when a call came through that the rat of the pride was on the road around the corner. We got there and got two females lying next to the road and all eight cubs coming out of the bush to cross the road. A great sighting was enjoyed.
We made our way up Stevenson Hamilton road getting a good sighting of elephant.
We made our way to Skukuza for a break.
After the break, we went down the S114 and onto the S21 to get more lions, upon returning to the S114, we came across another sighting of cubs lying on the rock. After this we made our way down to Elloff street to the low water bridge in order to see some crocodile and then it was back to Skukuza lunch.
Great rhino sightings were also experienced.
After lunch it was back to camp for a forty minute rest before guests left on the afternoon / evening safari.
11 November 2013
After delivering guests who finishing their safari to Nelspruit so they could return to Johannesburg, we proceeded to Numbi Gate with the new guests to start their safari.
We took a drive down the Numbi gate tar getting great sightings of impala, waterbuck and buffalo, before turning onto the Napi Road in the direction of Skukuza.
Great sightings of impala, kudu, waterbuck, buffalo, rhino and lion were experienced today before we reached the H3 junction.
We made our way down the H3 to Quagga pan getting more good sightings of buffalo.
As it was a colder afternoon on the open safari vehicle, we made our way to the camp of Skukuza for an early afternoon, before setting out early tomorrow morning to see what we can find.
Keep watching for more!!
Picked up guests at Johannesburg International Airport, and made our way through to Nelspruit, were we changed over vehicles and made our last part if the journey to the Numbi Gate.
We made our way down to the Nkambeni Tented Camp were guests enjoyed lunch after which we left camp on a game drive going down the Numbi Gate tar onto the Napi Road around the Napi Boulders loop and then back to the camp, arriving just before 06h00.
Animals seen were kudu, impala, buffalo and rhino.
10 November 2013
Today it was out at 06h00, we took a drive down the Albasini road onto Doispane and up watergat getting good sightings of giraffe, impala, kudu and a distant sighting of a male lion.
We turned onto the Napi Road and then down the H3 onto the S112 as we had heard of lions in the area. We managed to find four male lions lying on the top of the rock when a call came through that the rat of the pride was on the road around the corner. We got there and got two females lying next to the road and all eight cubs coming out of the bush to cross the road. A great sighting was enjoyed.
We made our way up Stevenson Hamilton road getting a good sighting of elephant.
We made our way to Skukuza for a break.
After the break, we went down the S114 and onto the S21 to get more lions, upon returning to the S114, we came across another sighting of cubs lying on the rock. After this we made our way down to Elloff street to the low water bridge in order to see some crocodile and then it was back to Skukuza lunch.
Great rhino sightings were also experienced.
After lunch it was back to camp for a forty minute rest before guests left on the afternoon / evening safari.
11 November 2013
After delivering guests who finishing their safari to Nelspruit so they could return to Johannesburg, we proceeded to Numbi Gate with the new guests to start their safari.
We took a drive down the Numbi gate tar getting great sightings of impala, waterbuck and buffalo, before turning onto the Napi Road in the direction of Skukuza.
Great sightings of impala, kudu, waterbuck, buffalo, rhino and lion were experienced today before we reached the H3 junction.
We made our way down the H3 to Quagga pan getting more good sightings of buffalo.
As it was a colder afternoon on the open safari vehicle, we made our way to the camp of Skukuza for an early afternoon, before setting out early tomorrow morning to see what we can find.
Keep watching for more!!
Tuesday 12 November 2013
Kruger’s Lion Unaffected By Bovine TB
By Lauren Smit
Concern has been rising for some time over the prevalence and impact of bovine tuberculosis (BTb) on Kruger’s buffalo and more recently, lion populations. Yet, recent research findings fly in the face of speculation that BTb is ravishing the park’s iconic lion. In fact, in this world-renowned protected area, the population have been stable for roughly 30 years.
Thought to have been introduced into the park via co-grazing between cattle and buffalo in the far south near Crocodile River during the 1960’s, BTb wasn’t actually detected in lion until the 1990’s.
This chronic disease has been travelling north ever since its introduction to the park and has been found in a range of species, including; lion, leopard, cheetah, kudu and baboon, although buffalo are the primary host. SANParks’ disease ecologist Danny Govender said that buffalo play the primary roll in disease transmission.
Lion mainly come into contact with BTb via the kills they make, and the disease has been known to manifest itself not only in the lungs but also in the gastro-intestinal system. Eerosol, gastro-intestinal and bites and scratches are all viable routes for BTb infection.
“In their lifetime, they’re not just infected once-off. They get multiple infections and also have different forms of infection. Even though they are feeding on a buffalo carcass, they are not just ingesting, they are breathing in,” said Govender.
In 2005 and 2006, SANParks large mammal ecologist, Dr Sam Ferreira and Tshwane University of Technology’s Prof Paul Funston used call-up stations (speakers which project the sound of a buffalo calf in distress for kilometres around) to estimate lion numbers, sex and age structure. Using this data, they evaluated the impacts of BTb on lion densities across the park and their respective survival rates.
Their findings completely contradicted pre-study estimates and have flown in the face of speculation that BTb is ravishing the lion population.
“There were only two locations where lion estimates were done before, one was in the central region of the park and the other at Lower Sabie,” said Ferreira.
“when we compiled all the data, we could actually illustrate that they have been stable for roughly 30 years.
“Its very hard for us to find any evidence that BTb is having an effect on them.”
Their results indicate that BTb was having no observed effect on the age at which females have their first cubs, the interval between births or on the litter size. These findings raised the question of why chronic introduced disease such as BTb can be present in the Kruger’ Lion and buffalo and yet not be devastating to either population.
As fate would have it, it has slow disease dynamics ( far slower than its host dynamics) meaning that by the time an infected animal has died, that individual has already performed its key role (such as breeding) in the herd or pride. So, while researchers are seeing impacts the individual level, Kruger’s lion and buffalo populations are apparently not being affected.
The robust lion population has been stable at around 1700 individuals for the past 30 years. This has helped minimise the effects of BTb. Small or already weakened groups would have fared much worse. An abundance of prey biomass and good environmental conditions have also cushioned the impact of the disease in the park’s southern lion prides.
However, if a drought or combination of other disease such as canine distemper or feline immune-deficiency virus (FIV) are added to the mix, a different reaction and more substantial impact might be observed.
In 2009 and 2010. SANParks started an extensive lion-capture and –collaring programme to monitor individuals and their life history.
At the conclusion of the study, these findings will reveal intimate statistics of about 30 prides in Kruger and any possible impact that diseases like BTb might have on them as time and environmental conditions progress.
Concern has been rising for some time over the prevalence and impact of bovine tuberculosis (BTb) on Kruger’s buffalo and more recently, lion populations. Yet, recent research findings fly in the face of speculation that BTb is ravishing the park’s iconic lion. In fact, in this world-renowned protected area, the population have been stable for roughly 30 years.
Thought to have been introduced into the park via co-grazing between cattle and buffalo in the far south near Crocodile River during the 1960’s, BTb wasn’t actually detected in lion until the 1990’s.
This chronic disease has been travelling north ever since its introduction to the park and has been found in a range of species, including; lion, leopard, cheetah, kudu and baboon, although buffalo are the primary host. SANParks’ disease ecologist Danny Govender said that buffalo play the primary roll in disease transmission.
Lion mainly come into contact with BTb via the kills they make, and the disease has been known to manifest itself not only in the lungs but also in the gastro-intestinal system. Eerosol, gastro-intestinal and bites and scratches are all viable routes for BTb infection.
“In their lifetime, they’re not just infected once-off. They get multiple infections and also have different forms of infection. Even though they are feeding on a buffalo carcass, they are not just ingesting, they are breathing in,” said Govender.
In 2005 and 2006, SANParks large mammal ecologist, Dr Sam Ferreira and Tshwane University of Technology’s Prof Paul Funston used call-up stations (speakers which project the sound of a buffalo calf in distress for kilometres around) to estimate lion numbers, sex and age structure. Using this data, they evaluated the impacts of BTb on lion densities across the park and their respective survival rates.
Their findings completely contradicted pre-study estimates and have flown in the face of speculation that BTb is ravishing the lion population.
“There were only two locations where lion estimates were done before, one was in the central region of the park and the other at Lower Sabie,” said Ferreira.
“when we compiled all the data, we could actually illustrate that they have been stable for roughly 30 years.
“Its very hard for us to find any evidence that BTb is having an effect on them.”
Their results indicate that BTb was having no observed effect on the age at which females have their first cubs, the interval between births or on the litter size. These findings raised the question of why chronic introduced disease such as BTb can be present in the Kruger’ Lion and buffalo and yet not be devastating to either population.
As fate would have it, it has slow disease dynamics ( far slower than its host dynamics) meaning that by the time an infected animal has died, that individual has already performed its key role (such as breeding) in the herd or pride. So, while researchers are seeing impacts the individual level, Kruger’s lion and buffalo populations are apparently not being affected.
The robust lion population has been stable at around 1700 individuals for the past 30 years. This has helped minimise the effects of BTb. Small or already weakened groups would have fared much worse. An abundance of prey biomass and good environmental conditions have also cushioned the impact of the disease in the park’s southern lion prides.
However, if a drought or combination of other disease such as canine distemper or feline immune-deficiency virus (FIV) are added to the mix, a different reaction and more substantial impact might be observed.
In 2009 and 2010. SANParks started an extensive lion-capture and –collaring programme to monitor individuals and their life history.
At the conclusion of the study, these findings will reveal intimate statistics of about 30 prides in Kruger and any possible impact that diseases like BTb might have on them as time and environmental conditions progress.
Monday 11 November 2013
Touching Lives - Rhino wars
Ruthless poachers have been mercilessly culling our endangered rhinos for the past few years. To combat this slaughter, the South African National Defence Force, the South African Police Service and South African National Parks have joined forces in Operation Rhino to catch and stop the poachers. See how your Tax is helping to protect our heritage. Follow the link to view the video https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nhongo-Safaris/43657075115
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