On safari With Robbie From 14 September 2016

14 September 2016

Today I took the same group of people from Netherlands and we ventured up North and were rewarded with some incredible Elephant, Buffalo and Tsessebe sightings!

However the sighting of the day came in the form of two Fish Eagles who were repetitively attacked by a younger Fish Eagle in what was a display of incredible low flying skills in combination with balance!

The keen photographers took some beautiful shots!

We wish them well on their journeys and look forward to their return safari up north soon!!

15 September 2016

Todays day trip into Kruger from Phalaborwa was thoroughly enjoyable mainly due to a Dutch group who to say the least are wildlife fanatics!!

Shots taken ranging from Hornbills to Elephants were the order of the day!!

A rather comical sighting indeed was a Giraffe Bull chasing a frightened Spotted Hyena down the road near Mopani Camp!

However undoubtedly the majestic Martial Eagle spotted on Phalaborwa tar took the cake for the day!

On Safari With Gert 14 September 2016

14 September 2016

This morning we left camp early to see what the last morning has in store. We found a few mixed species feeding parties, with African Firefinch, Green-winged Pytilia and Yellow-breasted Apalis to add to the list.

We also had a pair of Little Bee-eaters posing nicely for a few pictures!

Our last stop at a waterhole yielded a beautiful pair of African Fish-Eagle sitting close together on the bank. At a smaller pan separate from the main waterhole a beautiful Saddle-billed Stork was preening itself in the morning sun. Behind it, I noticed a movement and realized that there were 2 young male lions crouched on the edge of the pan, carefully watching 4 Buffalo bulls on the other side of the pan!

The wind, however, was working against the Lions and the Buffalo became aware of their presence. The 2 lions then got up and the Buffalo ran off long enough for the Lions to have a drink. As they started moving away, 4 other lions; 2 adult and 2 young females got up out of the grass and they slowly moved away and eventually out of sight, a brilliant experience to cap a great 5 days on Safari!

On Safari With Kara 14 September 2016

14 September 2016

Today we started off our safari early to catch the gate when it opens up. 

Safaris definitely are not only about the big and beautiful creatures but the small and unique animals play such a big role in the ecosystem.

We were able to sit with some dwarf mongooses waking up and starting to emerge from their resting places in termite mounds.

When we stopped for a breakfast picnic we learned about a Female Natal Franklin and her 5 babies how protective they are and how similar human and animals are even though we are sometimes far removed.

Later we were pleasantly surprised by Rhinos walking in the road towards a pan after a hundred meters or so of playing follow the leader with rhinos swerved off the road and we headed to the pan where there were 1 male and 3 female lions sleeping unaware of the rhinos heading their way. Waiting patiently to the ciaos to arise. Soon the rhinos came drinking without even realizing the lions were there. Lions not daring to move. One sneezed and the rhinos charged in and chased them. 

The morning drive ended off with a proper zebra crossing, more or less 10 zebras running across the road.  After that I dropped of my guests and we both hit the road on our way back after a memorable safari.

On Safari With Kara From 12 September 2016

12 September 2016

I collected Francesco and Nuria from White river and headed to Numbi where we started our first game drive. As we drove through the gate we spotted two teenage bull elephants enjoying the shade.

Along the way we were surprised by a female giraffe and young making their way towards the road for us to view them really well. The favorite animal of Nuria as well.

After that the day was followed by allot of rhinos which is quite special with the species drastically decreasing, dazzles of zebras and families of warthogs.

13 September 2016

Started of right after breakfast. Again we were greeted by elephants at the gate while entering. While following a dirt road we noticed impalas alarm calling. We looked with binocular and saw a leopard that just got caught stalking the impalas. He then casually walked off and gave up on the hunt. No use trying if they know he is there.

Stopped for lunch at Afsaal picnic spot. Afterwards we got quite a few rhinos sleeping and kudus eating in the shade.

It was a cool and windy day. That helped finding a lot of bird sightings one of which was a Verreaux's eagle owl on a nest and Wahlbergs eagles.

On Safari With Gert 12 September 2016

12 September 2016

We started our morning with a very lucrative birding walk around camp, during which we added many species to the list and also got some very good picture opportunities of amongst others Grey-headed Bush-Shrike, Natal Spurfowl and Red-capped Robin-chat.

We then loaded luggage and headed of on our drive. We found a few nice birds of prey including Gabar Goshawk and the majestic Martial Eagle; soaring over some rocky outcrops in search of a snack.

It then turned cloudy and started cooling down, just enough to bring out the predators!

We were extremely lucky to come across a pride of 12 lions in an open area close to a small waterhole. There were a few playful sub-adults in the pride. A few old Buffalo bulls were grazing nearby and one wondered off closer to the water. The Lions watched it intently, as the Buffalo seemed unaware of their presence as the wind was in their favor. As he got close enough, some of the youngsters couldn't contain their excitement and started the chase! The entire pride joined in and for a moment they gained ground on the Buffalo and it looked like they would get it, however, the bull managed to stay ahead of them and eventually escaped with a very close call! No luck for the Lions, but a spectacular sighting indeed!

We could not have ended our day on a higher note than when a large male Leopard came out and slowly crossed the road in front of us and continued into the bush, stopping off now and then to scent-mark along the way! A brilliant day of birding and game viewing!