On Safari With Mark From 3 February 2014

3 February 2014

Route: Numbi tar - Napi boulders - Nkambeni camp

General animals seen: Kudu, impala, waterbuck, warthog, zebra and dwarf - slender mongoose

During the afternoon drive we found great sightings of Rhino right next to the road. 4 buffalo bulls grazing on the side of the road approximately 100m from Numbi tar on Napi.

Approximately 500m from tourism control we had a female elephant with her calf eating grass around a Marola tree. Very relaxed and guests got great photos of the two.

 

4 February 2014

Route: Numbi tar - Napi - Doispan - Albaseni - Nkambeni

General animal sightings: waterbuck, kudu, impala, klipspringer, common duiker, hippos, zebra, blue wildebeest and rhino

We got to see elephant bulls next to the road on napi with distant visuals of herds near transport dam access road.

2 male lions and 2 lioness 500m past neyamundwa dam. As this was a distant visual we decided to wait around for late afternoon and see if they would get up and come closer to the road. Eventually, the lions did get up and walked out onto the road approximately 5m from our open vehicle. 1 lioness proceeded to roar right next to us.

A good end to a great day in Africa.

We wait and see what the bush has to offer for tomorrow.

 

5 February 2014

Route: Numbi tar - Napi - Transport dam - Napi - Nkambeni

General animals seen: kudu, impala, blue wildebeest, zebra, bush buck, steenbok, vervet monkeys, chackma baboons, waterbuck and hippos

We had above average sightings of rhinos today with the largest Crash being 6 together.

Throughout the day we had elephant sightings with a massive bull in musth walking down napi towards the junction of Numbi tar. We gave him his space and after a while he walked off towards shabeni koppies.

A herd (200) buffalo lazing at the waterhole in the heat of the day.

Early morning drive we were called by a colleague to let us know about a leopard on transport dam access road and we headed down to it. Not a great sighting as all we got was rosettes in the bush due to the long grass on the side of the road.

Further to this the day rapidly increased with heat and the animal sightings deteriorated.

We returned to camp, where the guests could relax before going on their sundown drive to find a up close and personal leopard (which everybody would love to see).

 

6 February 2014

Route: Albaseni - Doispan - S65 - Napi - Nkambeni camp

General animals sightings: giraffe, zebra, waterbuck, impala, warthog, blue wildebeest, vervet monkeys, chackma baboons, rhino and hippos

We had some wonderful sightings of elephants today, with one on doispan standing in the road approximately 5m from the vehicle. Fantastic to be able to sit and appreciate the magnitude of Africa's largest land mammal.

While we were heading down to skukuza, a collage of mine informed me that there was a report of a male leopard near the junction of Napi and S65. I decided to head that way as both my clients had not seen a wild leopard before.

On reaching Napi we turned right towards transport dam and approximately 100m down the road, this massive male leopard popped out of the tall grass right next to the vehicle and proceeded to walk past our vehicle.

We turned the car around and drove behind him for a good 500m where he moved off into the tall grass and left us with great photos and memories.

All clients returned to camp with a sense of achievement in seen animals they came to Africa to see.

 

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R232.2 Million Grant Received By Peace Parks Foundation

R232.2 million grant received by Peace Parks Foundation from the Dutch and Swedish Postcode Lotteries to combat rhino poaching in southern Africa

South Africa’s Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Minister Edna Molewa has lauded the R232.2 million grant made to the Peace Parks Foundation by the Dutch and Swedish Postcode Lotteries. The Dutch Postcode Lottery donated R217 million of the ...total donation, with R15.2 million being contributed by the Swedish Postcode Lottery, towards the fight against rhino poaching.

Minister Molewa said: “This is the largest single contribution made by the private sector to combat rhino poaching and wildlife crime. We welcome this public-private partnership to help ensure the survival of the species.” The South African government and its public entities, South African National Parks (SANParks) and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (Ezemvelo), are working closely with Peace Parks Foundation to develop a multi-pronged approach to combat rhino poaching and wildlife crime.

The majority of this funding will be spent on enhancing the existing efforts to protect rhino in South Africa, which hosts 83% of the continent’s wild rhino population. All other southern African rhino range states have been consulted during the development of this project and they will form an integral part of the strategies designed to save the species. The main focus will be the devaluation of the horns of live rhino, through a combination of methods, including the physical devaluation and contamination of the horn, as well as the use of tracking and monitoring technology.

This special project has been designed to augment the procedures implemented by SANParks in the Kruger National Park and the Mozambican government in Limpopo National Park, both integral to the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. In particular, the emphasis will be on intelligence gathering and on technology applications such as conservation drones and other specialist equipment. It will also include training and capacity building, as well as incentives and rewards for rangers, communities and members of the public who support the conservation of rhino.

Ezemvelo will be supported with similar interventions to conserve South Africa’s second largest rhino population, that of KwaZulu-Natal. In September 2012, Ezemvelo became the first state conservation agency in Africa to trial the treatment of rhino horn to deter the rampant poaching of this species. Thanks to this innovative step, not a single rhino has been lost in the reserves where the treatment was piloted.

The R217 million (€14.4 million) cheque was received from the Dutch Prime Minister, Mr Mark Rutte and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, on behalf of the Dutch Postcode Lottery, by Mr Mavuso Msimang, the government’s Rhino Issue Task Manager and Peace Parks Foundation board member, Dr David Mabunda, CEO of SANParks, Dr Bandile Mkhize, CEO of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, and Mr Werner Myburgh, CEO of Peace Parks Foundation.

Minister Molewa added that: “This very generous donation gives new hope to save our rhino. I believe this grant from the Dutch and Swedish Postcode Lotteries will be the catalyst to turn the tide on rhino poaching and wildlife crime.”

Commenting on the grant, Peace Parks Foundation CEO, Mr Werner Myburgh said: “Peace Parks Foundation was established in 1997 to assist the region’s governments in their development of transfrontier conservation areas. Our biggest supporter in this endeavour has been the Dutch Postcode Lottery and more recently the Swedish Postcode Lottery. We thank the lotteries and their players for this tremendous support to combat wildlife crime and we look forward to working with the southern African governments in ensuring the survival of the region’s rhino.”

Issued by:
The Department of Enviromental Affairs

Garmin Recently Joined Efforts With The SANParks Honorary Rangers

Garmin recently joined efforts with the SANParks Honorary Rangers to support conservation in our National Parks.

Garmin is the world's leading mobile navigation technology company and a global manufacturer of in-car GPS satellite navigation, portable navigation devices, handheld GPS units, and GPS products for the auto, mobile, marine, aviation, outdoor and fitness sectors.

Garmin donated 15 Dakota 20 GPS units to the Virtual Region of the SANParks Honorary Rangers. The Virtual Region, which is the Honorary Rangers unit functioning on the Internet, will distribute the GPS units to rangers working in parks across the country.

These GPS units are rugged and designed for outdoor use and will be utilised to support counter poaching and other conservation efforts in the parks.

For more information on Garmin GPS units visit: http://garmin.co.za/

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

On Safari With Karen From 31 January 2014

31 January 2014

Today was the first day of a 3-day safari. After a slow start to get to theKruger Park, we arrived at the gate around 3pm. We decided to go straight on a game drive and wait with check-in till we would return. This was a very good decision as within 500 meters we saw a rhino wallowing in the mud next to a watering hole. And to top off this great start, while watching the rhino we saw an elephant crossing in front of us at the same time. We hadn't even got to Numbi Reception yet and already saw 2 of the big 5! Now if it only would stop raining...

After getting our permit we continued our drive on Numbi road and soon spotted multiple zebra. Continuing on Napi we came across impalas, kudus, a kudu bull that when he spotted us hid in the thick bush, vervet monkeys, 5 more different rhino sightings (all white rhino) and had the pleasure of seeing an elephant relaxed eating his marulas right next tothe road.

All in all a very good start, we'll take the rain for granted!

 

1 February 2014

This morning is was an early wake-up to have some breakfast before the start of the game drive. The first couple of kilometres was booming with wildlife, spotting impalas, kudus and an elephant close to the road leaving our rest camp. But then we had a long stretch of no mammals.

However after driving on Napi for a while we came to the sighting of the day of 7 wild dogs on the side of the road halfway into our morning drive. Even though they were just sleeping, we very much enjoyed the sighting. Further on we came across a rhino and hyenas sleeping in the middle of the
road. One of the hyenas was suckling her 2 young and didn't seem to care at all that we were parked right next to her.

Before having a coffee break we continued on Napi spotting hippos,waterbuck, grey duiker, yellow billed kite, tawny eagle, bateleur, zebras,giraffe, a chameleon, lilac breasted and European rollers, woodlands kingfishers and more impalas and kudus.

After a break to stretch the legs, gear up the system with more coffee and getting a break in the clouds to get some sun, we continued our journey towards Lake Panic. At this nice and tranquil spot we saw two pied kingfisher fighting over a fish and dragon flies mate. There were lots of other water birds as well.

While travelling down to Pretoriuskop for our (belated) lunch break we saw steenbok, impalas, kudus, zebra, giraffe, another chameleon and more elephants as well as our first buffalos of this safari.

As it became hot we stretched our lunch and then decided to head to camp to have some rest before the sunset safari this evening. But the animals changed our plans. We had only driven to the gate of Pretoriuskop camp when we come across vervet monkeys eating the marulas that had fallen off the tree. Young and old dived in and it was a great sight. At the same spot the impalas were having their fill of leaves and grass and there was a late-born in the herd, which was still very tiny and wobbly on her legs. Just before we got back to camp there was another rhino very close to the road as well as an elephant just before the gates of our camp. Needless to say our break before the sunset drive was shortened!

With all the new animals of today it was another great day, but hopefully we have some luck tomorrow to spot one of the elusive cats!

 

2 February 2014

Last night's sunset drive was a success as the guests were able to see a nice coloured skies when the sun set while enjoying a shot of Amarula! On the drive they were very successful in spotting the same elephant and rhino on camp road as we had upon returning from our drive, but also encountered buffalo and lion!!

During dinner we were pleasantly surprised by a little folklore as a Shangaan dance group performed in front of us. Some of our number were even called forward and bravely learned the dance moves from the chief and danced for the rest of the guests.

This morning we set out bright and early again for our last game drive of this tour. It was not raining for a change, but very misty, so it was still wet. Soon into the drive we spotted our first new animal: a slender mongoose crossed the road in front of us. We were watching vervet monkeys huddle against the cold when the call came in that guide Curtis had found lions. We drove to the spot and were lucky to see those lions lounging around. Five young males were lying in the middle of the road or just next to it. We watched them until one by one they went off the road and into the bush.

We continued our drive to finding more elephants, before spotting 3 cheetahs having a relaxing start to their day! We stayed watching those cheetahs until it was time to return to the gate as the guests unfortunately had to leave the park to continue their holidays.

This last morning was the crown on our already fantastic 3-day safari, as we have been very lucky with sightings! Heather, Paul, Justin and Kate, it was great having you on this safari!

 

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On Safari With Curtis From 31 January 2014

31 January 2014

After picking up guests from Nelspruit we made our way down to Numbi gate and our accommodation at Nkambeni Tented lodge. After settling into our rooms we went out for our first safari.

Entering through Numbi gate we came across Zebra, Impala, Warthog and Kudu. We also had a lovely encounter with a small family group of Elephants right next to the road. After spotting them I parked the vehicle next to the road and the ellies casually made their way up close to us, stopping for a quick munch on the fallen marulas nearby. After about five minutes of eating and the occasional sniff the matriarch decided that's enough and wandered off into the bush quickly followed by the rest of the family.

 

1 February 2014

An early start today, up at 05:30 for breakfast before departing on safari at 06:00. As soon as we left our camp we came across a herd of Impala and a solitary male Elephant near Numbi gate. We made our way along Napi spotting Kudu and Impala before finding a pack of African Wild dog sitting by the road, with approximately 300 of these animals in the whole of South Africa it was a very nice sighting. Further along we found  Elephants, Impala, Zebra, Waterbuck, Hippo and Kudu as well a Hyena mother suckling her two cubs. We also spotted Dwarf Mongoose, Klipspringer, Yellow Billed Hornbills and plenty of rollers along the road before heading to Skukuza for a break.

After a stretch of the legs and some souvenir shopping we set off again spotting yet more Impala, Elephants, Giraffes, Warthog and Kudu. We also spotted a tiny little Leopard Tortoise crossing the road and a lovely bright green Chameleon trying to pass itself off as a leaf blowing in the wind.

Once back at camp the guests had a hour break to freshen up before setting off on their Sundowner safari.

 

2 February 2014

Last night’s Sunset drive was very rewarding. As well as the beautiful African sunset, enjoyed with a glass of Amarula, the sightings were just as good. Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo and Lion were all seen on the drive.

When they got back they were treated to some local Shangaan culture in the boma, with dancing and singing accompanying the food.

Another early start today as we set off looking for the Lion which was spotted on the night drive. It didn't take too long before we found him as well as four other Male lions, all lying either on the road or close by in the bushes. We stayed at this sighting for quite a while as the Lions in the road had no intention of moving for us humans (not that anyone was complaining about that!!!)

After finally passing the lions we were given a tip off by a member of the public about 3 cheetahs further down the road, and sure enough we found them shortly. A great start to the day continued as we spotted Impalas, Kudu, Hippo, Buffalo, Vervet monkey, Steenbok, Wildebeest, Warthog and Elephant before stopping at the golf club for a mid-morning break.

After our break we stopped off at Lake Panic to watch the array of water birds and dragonflies buzzing around the lake. As we headed back we came across more Elephants, Impala, Kudu and a large male Rhino.

I decided to give the guests a bit of a break during the heat of the day and so we left for our afternoon drive at the later than normal time of 16:00. Not that this stopped the sightings which included Impala, Kudu, Warthog, Giraffe and Elephants and Rhino right next to the vehicle.

 

Keep watching for more!