On Safari With Curtis From 27 May 2014

27 May 2014

The start of a new tour and after picking up my guests in Nelspruit we headed straight down to Kruger and Nkambeni tented safari lodge, our accommodation for the next few nights. No rest for the wicked however  because as soon as we had arrived and checked in to our rooms it was time for the guests to head out on their sunset drive.

 

The drive turned out to be a very good start to their safari as they saw a nice herd of about 50 buffalo as well as three elephants as well as general game. They also heard hippo but couldn't see them. On their arrival back to camp it was time for dinner in the boma with a nice hot fire to warm up in front of.

 

Tomorrow we hope to add to tonight's successful first drive.

 

 

28 May 2014

 

Leaving the lodge early morning we had only just got onto Numbi tar when we came across a herd of buffalo, possibly the herd that was seen on last night’s sunset drive, they were hidden quite well in the bush but we managed to see a few heads. As we carried on we came across a group of giraffe, two adults and three youngsters. Gradually the adults crossed over the road and the youngsters followed them. We turned onto Napi and found plenty of herds of impala and kudu as well as waterbuck in the distance.  For some distance the road went quiet and this gave us the opportunity to stop and look at some of our feathered friends such as the Yellow-billed hornbill, Red-billed hornbill, Grey-headed hornbill as well the cape glossy starlings and lilac breasted rollers. As we drove past transport dam we found a little traffic jam and found the hyenas outside their regular dens. 7 hyenas in total, 4 cubs and 3 adults and we were able to spend quite a bit of time watching them as the youngsters fought over the remains of their last meal even treating to the wonderful hyena sounds when they get excited.

We then drove down watergat and found a male cheetah sat under a tree. The visual wasn't good to start with but we waited and eventually he started to move towards the road,  if that wasn't good enough it turned out that he was accompanied by two other male cheetahs and after about ten minutes of following them they came out into the open and then crossed the road close to us. After such a great sighting we carried on and found more impala, kudu and waterbuck before turning onto the Doispane where we found a second hyena den this time with much younger cubs who were just getting rid of their black coats and obtaining the spots. We headed off to the golf club for coffee and spent our time watching the hippos coming out of the water, impala and lots of warthog around the ninth hole. After coffee we stopped off at the Lake panic hide where more hippos were seen as well as a crocodile, chameleon and plenty of water birds. We then took a short drive on the river doing a couple of loops where we saw more hippos out of the water as well as a beautiful Martial eagle and baboons. As we headed back to the lodge we saw vervet monkey's and a nice crash of white rhinos and a small family of elephants as well as white-backed vultures, a tawny eagle sat on the road and leopard tortoise.

 

 

29 May 2014

After such a good day yesterday we left early in the hope that we could match yesterday’s sightings. It didn't take long before we were looking at an elephant which was close to Numbi gate,  we then drove down Napi spotting plenty of herds of impala, waterbuck and kudu. After getting a tip off about a sighting we headed down and found a white rhino dozing near the water hole and then at the river bed found a huge family of baboons alongside impala and kudu. We spent quite a bit of time watching the interactions of the three species especially the playful younger baboons who chased a couple of the impala around. We then found what we had been looking for as we came upon a male lion with his head up. We watched for some time when he decided to stand and walk a few metres before collapsing back down. We also spotted a steenbok and klipspringer along the way.

We then made our way down to skukuza for a break before heading down the S114 towards renosterkoppies. We found impala and a lone wildebeest at the watering hole but a collection of cars caught our attention and we made our way there to find a lovely sighting of a male leopard lying up on the rocks. We were able to spend a good 15 minutes at the sighting before we decided to move on down the s112. As we headed down the H3 to Afsaal we found a large herd of elephants, at least 30 strong, which I hoped would cross over the road. Unfortunately they didn't and disappeared into the bush but not before we had followed them for ten minutes or so getting lots of great photos. The rest of the drive to Afsaal was fairly quiet but we did see a lovely African harrier hawk sat perched in the tree. After lunch we headed down Voortrekker which was very quiet for long periods however we did see more impala, kudu and a group of 5 giraffe as well as a brief glimpse of a slender mongoose scurrying across the road.

 

 

30 May 2014

 

It was the final day for one of my guests after so many great sightings over the last couple of days we still had unbelievably not seen any Zebras yet, with this in mind we set off early and found two separate sightings of common duikers which both scurried off into the bush. We drove along Albasini, stopping at mestel dam where we found the hippos popping their heads up occasionally and then carried on. The road was fairly quiet for the first half seeing just Impala, we then found a journey of giraffe just walking parallel to the road a few metres in the bush. After leaving them we then found what we were looking for, a group of about 10 zebras standing right out in the middle of the road. We had plenty of time to view them as they seemed a bit confused as to which way they wanted to go as they crossed the road a couple of times before deciding on the right hand side. We carried on and just a few hundred metres we found a beautiful male lion lying just a couple of metres from the road. I don't think he appreciated the attention as he got up and walked off further into the long grass, we were then beckoned by the car facing us that there were two more lions sitting further ahead. We moved forward and found them both lying in the grass. We waited a while and then the female got up with a second male in pursuit with the female leading him across the road and then the second male got up and followed them. We managed to get some great photos before they disappeared into the bush. We turned around and headed back down the way we came finding another larger herd of zebras and a lovely old male giraffe before having two male elephants crossing the road before we went to Petoriouskop for an ice cream. Afterwards we went round Faye loop finding a pod of hippos in the reed beds and a herd of buffalo before driving round the koppies finding impala, kudu and vervet monkeys before arriving at Numbi gate.

Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to Tonya who is heading down to Durban on the next part of her South African adventure. I know you enjoyed all the amazing sightings of the last few days and hope to see you back here one day.

This afternoon we went for a short drive along Albasini stopping off at mestel dam. The dam was a hive of activity as the hippos were out of the water and very vocal, we had a crocodile sitting on the dam wall, impalas grazing in the background while a giraffe walked towards them. We also had a small herd of buffalo lying nearby and we could see an elephant in the distance. We also had waterbuck and steenbok near the dam. Further along the road we found a couple of very noisy tree squirrels in the tree, kudu, vervet monkeys and impala however the highlight of the drive was a pack of wild dogs we found next to the road just on doispane. They started off hidden in the bush but given time they gradually appeared more relaxed and came out giving us the opportunity to view them better. Time was getting short and so we had to leave the dogs and drive back along Albasini and we found Zebras and five separate elephant sightings before we got back to the lodge.

 

31 May 2014

Today was the final day of the tour and after loading up the car with luggage we left Nkambeni tented safari lodge for the final time to have one final morning drive. Immediately we found a 'dagga' boy loitering in the drainage line on camp road and a second one further along on Numbi tar. As we drove down Napi the road was fairly quiet at times although we saw plenty of impala, kudu and a couple of elephants before we found a young hyena cub sitting outside it's den, we heard the familiar sound of more hyenas around but found none. As we were going to move on we informed off a lion sighting further along the road and made our way stopping for a white rhino along the way. When we got to the spot where the lions had been they had moved off, we turned around and searched for them but to no avail. We then turned back around and headed to Skukuza, as we turned around a corner we suddenly found 8 lions walking down the road, 7 females and a juvenile male. They decided to lie down on the road and we spent a good while talking with them before they strolled off into the bush. We then found another white rhino with a young calf before getting to Skukuza.

After our break we headed along river road where we found bushbuck, more kudu and impala, warthog and vervet monkeys. We even had one final look at a big bull elephant before we had to head out of phabeni and transfer to Kmia.

I know Cory and Will, Louise and Marcel have enjoyed the many amazing sightings we have over the last 5 days and will go back to Australia with so many greats photos and videos and more importantly great memories of their time in Kruger and I hope one day we will see you back here. It has been great fun and an absolute pleasure in your company.

 

More coming soon!