On Safari With Robbie 21 May 2015

21 May 2015

Our highlight of a rather quiet short drive was 7 bull Elephants of different sizes crossing the road in single file right in front of us and then feeding nearby!

Other species seen were Slender mongoose, Kudu, Warthog, Impala, Klipspringer, Steenbok, Wildebeest and Giraffe.

We wish Stacey, lidia, Rebecca and Amos safe travels and a return visit to Kruger sometime soon!!!

On Safari With Robbie 19 - 20 May 2015

19 May 2015

Starting our safari on a sundowner drive, our 4 guests had some great Buffalo sightings!!!

20 May 2015

Todays highlight was the numerous Elephant and Buffalo herds we saw in different beautiful locations!!

More so was the stunning Nyala bull we saw very close to us for over 20 minutes!!!!

However the sighting of the day was the rare and majestic Crowned eagle which we observed for a while!!!! Very seldom seen, this was a top sighting for all!!!!

On Safari With Mark 18 - 20 May 2015

18 May 2015

Today we decided to go down to lower sabi for breakfast and this can be a very beautiful drive early Morning.

What an experience as we were driving along we came across a pride of lions (Young and Old). All lying around with bellies fat from a buffalo they had taken down.

The highlight for the afternoon drive was listening to the wind in the bush and identifying 21 bird species just stationary. One of the highlights of the safari is just to enjoy the magical sounds of the bush.

Other sights include: Impala, warthog, vervet, bushbuck, nyala, kudu, waterbuck, slender, dwarf and banded mongoose. Giraffe, hippos , crocs, rhinos, buffalo and elephant.

19 May 2015

Today we left camp as one of the first on the road and this paid off as we found 2 honey badgers scratching and digging. Eventually after a short while, what ever was in the hole, was pulled out and devoured by 2 very excited honey badgers. No sooner had the finished their meal it was off into the push on their little chirpy jog.

The following highlight must be the "rutting" taking place. Impala males are challenging each other around almost every corner and each time they get vocal we have a good chuckle as the males keep the ladies under close watch.

Other animals: warthog, steenbok, klipspringer, zebra, waterbuck, rhino, elephant, kudu, lions, leopard, wild dogs and many different bird species.

20 May 2015

Today we visited the most southern section of the park we can visit, achieving the "north to south" title.

On the way south we found 2 male lion, bellies full and lying sleeping. After showing other cars it was off to the Malelane gate where Bill and Nancy got great photos of hippos and crocs at the most soybean section.

This means at both the North TIP we photographed Crocs and the most Southern TIP we did the same.

One other highlight was to spot and show Bill the tiger fish in our rivers as he has a very large passion for fly fishing.

Other seen: Impala, kudu, blue wildebeest, giraffe, waterbuck, zebra, warthog, common duiker, steenbok, buffalo, rhinos and elephant.

On Safari With Curtis 18 -20 May 2015

18 May 2015

Today heralded the start of a new tour and after meeting up we headed down to the park entering Phabeni gate and making our way to Skukuza.

Despite the heat we racked a number of very nice sightings. One of these was at a watering hole where we found a lot of impala around the waters edge, a number of hippo including one who decided to have a much closer look, a huge crocodile sunbathing and then we were joined by two big bull elephants who came down to take a long drink. The beauty of a dam is you can spend ages just watching all the differing goings on and this is what we did as we spent forty minutes just sitting enjoying all the surroundings.

Our second highlight was a journey of about twenty giraffes. At the start they were hidden well by all the trees and as we waited for them to come into the open, we amused ourselves with a trio of zebra, mum and fluffy calf and maybe dad. We positioned ourselves in a nice shady spot and again sat patiently. Before long the three zebra crossed the road followed by about five of the giraffe. It seemed as if the giraffe were going to disappear but then all of a sudden they turned and started to walk straight up to the car giving us a great sighting.

During the rest of the afternoon we also saw cape buffalo, vervet monkey, kudu, warthog, dwarf mongoose, steenbok and hyena.

Just a few of the birds included cape glossy starlings, yellow-billed hornbills, white breasted cormorants, blacksmith lapwings, African fish eagle, egyptian geese, magpie shrikes and tawny eagle.

19 May 2015

We started out from camp nice and early on a rather chilly morning. Although the start of the drive was fairly quiet we soon started notching up some good sightings.

One of the best was at a dam where we counted about forty crocodiles, most of them out of the water on the banks sunbathing with a few still relaxing in the shallow waters. We had all range of sizes from tiny two footers too quite a few who measured around the fifteen foot mark. If the sight of these monsters wouldn't stop you dipping a toe in the water the pod of hippos baring their teeth to each other just might!!!

Our second sighting was a brief glimpse of a leopard, we only saw it for about twenty seconds or so before it disappeared but any sighting of this reclusive animal should be savored and enjoyed and this sighting was no different.

Other animals seen today were lots of elephants, cape buffalo, baboon,  vervet monkey,  impala, zebra, giraffe, kudu, waterbuck, warthog, common duiker, steenbok, bushbuck, nyala, wild dogs and lots of dwarf mongoose families.

Birds included the marabou storks, yellow-billed stork, African jacanas, grey heron,  fork tailed drongos, grey go-away birds, southern ground hornbills and the African hoopoe.

This evening the guests went out on a sundowner drive with incredible success. On the drive they saw 2 lionesses, 3 leopards as well as elephant, buffalo, hippo, porcupine, civet, genet and of course scrub hare.

20 May 2015

Unfortunately the last day of this tour had arrived and so we went out in search of a last few memorable sightings.

Our first was a lovely herd of elephants which crossed the road, we saw two cross a couple of hundred meters in front and thought that was it but as we pulled up closer more started to appear. In total about twenty five elephants crossed over in front with lots of youngsters being shielded by the adults.

Our second highlight was rhino,  we hadn't seen any yet on this tour and so we were pinning our hopes on this morning  and finally we found them. The first sighting was two lying relaxing but we were then told about two more further down much closer to the road.

When we got there we found the pair close to each other about ten meters from the road. A couple of times it looked like they would come closer but then they would swing around and move away. After teasing us for ten minutes they finally moved right towards us moving onto the road, walking along the road and over on to the grass again. A perfect end to another great tour!!!

During the drive we also found kudu, waterbuck, giraffe, warthog, zebra, impala, bushbuck, hippo, vervets, crocodile and lots of baboons warming their bum as they sat on the tar roads.

Birds included lappet faced vultures, white backed vultures, African fish eagle, hamerkops and goliath heron.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Jan, Kathy, Cedric and Ron. It has been a great three days with you guys, lots of amazing sightings and great laughs. Travel safe guys and enjoy the gorillas.

On safari With Karen 18 May 2015

18 May 2015

With a breakfast on the go we started early this morning for what would be our last game drive of this safari. On this trip we saw four large families of baboons (one of them on the R40 down to Nelspruit!). The first one was soon after we left camp and the sun hadn't really risen yet, so the baboon’s sat huddled close together to keep warm. It was indeed a chilly morning! Our second family was already awake a bit more as they were slowly starting to forage. Mothers with babies holding on tight passed the car in search of food and youngsters quickly crossed the road eyeing us wearily.

But it was the third family that gave us a great sighting. Just like yesterday's troop of baboons in the end of the day, these guys were all happy and playing around, grooming each other and much more. Wherever we looked, baboons were entertaining us. One brave youngster was even being chased by an angry mob of vervet monkeys which he probably had disturbed while waking up. 7 vervet monkeys versus 1 young baboon, he quickly went another way!

Our second highlight was handed to us by a bushbuck (our new animal on this safari!). Usually they are quite skittish, but this one came bolting out of the bush in utter terror. So much so it didn't stop or flinch for our vehicle braking, something they usually are very wary of! That, we needed to investigate and we entered the next looping road that showed us the riverbed, which was about 20 meters in front of us. While driving down a common grey duiker came pelting out in opposite direction as well. Looking down at the riverbed we didn't have far to look to see what caused these animals to get lost: 4 hyenas were on the prowl. We had a good view of them when they started walking up the bank and one of them even coming very close to our vehicle! An awesome sighting!!

Other animals seen: we are still not bored of impalas, kudus, two more bushbucks that stood still long enough for photos, two giraffes hanging out with a bunch of zebras, a lone elephant and two lionesses.

And we could add some birds too: a tawny eagle chick on a nest and his/her mother or father, yellow-billed and red-billed hornbills, crested francolins (noisy little buggers!), a flock of chinspot batisses and pied wagtails.

Unfortunately it was our last day and we really had to leave the park. Matt and Luisa returned to Johannesburg where they would wait for their flight to Brasil to continue their honeymoon around the world!! I hope they will have just as much fun as we had on safari. Thanks for coming on safari and have a great time on you travels!