On Safari With Robbie 6 - 7 May 2015

6 May 2015

Joe and Joyce arrived in Kruger from Texas USA and were off on their sundowner drive which was rather quiet!

7 May 2015

Today was a different kettle of fish as our first sighting still in darkness was a Elephant bull demolishing an old Marula tree on camp road right next to us!

Along our journeys today we came across no less than 7 W.Rhino sightings, 3 Buffalo sightings, a male leopard with an Impala kill in a magnificent Marula tree ! , 4 lioness chilling out on some rocks in the Sabie river and numerous Elephant sightings of which one is our highlight!

Close to Skukuza we located an Elephant herd coming down to drink .... All 70 of them!!!!! On the road they stopped with youngsters everywhere and excessively protective Mom mock charging us! Elder bulls tail ended and showed off their huge size being exposed on the tar road! It was a dream sighting for J and J!!!!

After a tour of the museum and a nourishing burger on the deck overlooking the Sabie we headed back where we had a great sighting of  ground Hornbill hunting really close to the road with lots of success!!!

Kudu, Giraffe, Impala, Bushbuck, Waterbuck, Hippo, Tree squirrel, Croc and Zebra were also seen!

On Safari With Karen 7 May 2015

7 May 2015

The last activity of this safari was a bushwalk. The guests set off early morning on an overcast day with two armed guides. On their walk they saw many tracks and signs of animals and even followed the tracks of an unseen leopard. They also encountered an impala and saw a large troop of baboons.

Then it was time to say goodbye to the Kruger as all four guests are travelling home today. I hope Leonora, Diara, Promit and Janna had an amazing time. It was great having the four of you in safari and safe travels back home!

On Safari With Karen 6 May 2015

6 May 2015

This morning we set off for another game drive. We were lucky to get a brilliant rhino sighting where a bull chased two girls. He first showed up in the middle of the road showing off all his brilliance. But after posing, he got more interested in the two girls close by. He started to get close to them but they were not interested at all in his advance’s. The moment he would come within 5 meters of them they would take a run for it. While we were watching in silence the rhinos forgot we were there and then suddenly stumbled upon the car. It gave them quite a fright and stuck between a rock and a hard place we had a stalemate for a while. But then the bull advanced again an off the two girls went. The bull snorted at us as if we had chased them away from him.

Just around the corner though we got the fright of our lives. In the middle of the road, sunning to get warm laid a Mozambican spitting cobra! And it was a massive one. It got quite a fright from our appearance too and it instantly reared in full defense mode: a third of its body was up in the air and it flattened its neck and opened its mouth wide at us. It didn't spit, but we went in full reverse to give it some space. It then slowly went off in the grass. As one of the guests is terrified of snakes we waited a while to give it time to slither away and then passed safely.

Other interesting sightings: a giraffe with two babies and she was munching on some very big fruit, an elephant up close and a herd of elephants we heard eating in the bush but could not see, zebras, waterbucks, grey common duikers, kudus, vervet monkeys, buffalo bulls, a hippo, woolly-necked storks, crocodile, dwarf mongooses, klipspringers, saddle billed stork, rhinos meeting and greeting, vervet monkeys, lots more white rhinos in small groups and impalas.

On Safari With Karen 5 May 2015

5 May 2015

Last night two of the guests went on a sundowner. Apart from a lovely sunset with some Amarula, they also saw a hyena, a buffalo, scrub hares and some elephants close to the gate.

Then this morning we left on our first morning safari. It was still a bit chilly when we encountered our first animals of today: a white rhino mother and her baby. She was a bit wary so she decided to take flight and we left her in peace.

One of our highlights was a visit to Transport Dam. Here we saw many different animals: a crocodile sunning himself, showing exactly all the tips and tricks at his disposal to have the optimum body temperature, blacksmith lapwings, a fish eagle, three (!) secretary birds (a rare sighting), two sadle-billed storks (also a rare sighting), lots of waterbucks, Egyptian geese and hippos.

The afternoon was all about the leopard cubs we saw. When we started our afternoon game drive we had gotten a tip from a fellow guide and we drove straight to the location where he had seen them last. And lucky us, they were still up in a tree. We saw two cubs of the mother that had three last October hanging out. One was a bit more sleepy then the other as she didn't move much. But its brother or sister was a little more active.

First she would climb down the tree and disappear out of sight. Then a little later she would climb back up and started to play with her brother or sister. But she didn't budge so both of them went to snooze for a bit. A little while later though she got restless again and once again got up and moved to play with her brother or sister. Again no such luck, but being awake she decides to jump some branches and lie down in full view for everyone to see. It gave some great photo opportunities for all.

Other animals seen: plenty of impalas, kudus including a nice kudu bull, Cape glossy starling, tree agama, side-striped skink, small herd of buffalos, giraffes, glimpse of a lion, crested barbet, leopard tortoise, steenbok, bateleurs, martial eagle, tree squirrels, a pair of common grey duikers, warthogs, zebras, lilac breasted rollers and plenty of elephants.

On Safari With Curtis 5 May 2015

5 May 2015

Our last morning on this particular tour and we set off early again in the hope of a last few memorable sightings.

The most memorable of the sightings was our rhino sighting. We had seen one yesterday but from a long distance away and everyone was eager to see this enigmatic creature close up before we left the park.

We were in luck as on the final stretch of the drive we found a white rhino grazing away. He was about thirty meters away but we waited patiently as he moved closer to us and we were rewarded as he ended up just a few meters from the osv giving us great photo opportunities.

Our second highlight was our trip up the top of Matekenyane view point where the guests enjoyed a stunning view and appreciate just how huge the park is.

It also gave all the guests the chance to enjoy some group photos, although the synchronized jumping needs working on guys.

Other sights today included three lionesses,  elephants, buffalo, kudu, zebra, impala, warthog, waterbuck, giraffe, hippo, crocodile and leopard tortoise.

Birds included saddle billed stork, African fish eagle, white breasted cormorants, pied kingfisher, African jacanas, white backed vultures and plenty more.

So it's goodbye to Anita, Archie, Christina and Priya. It's been great having you guys on tour and has been very memorable over the last four days.