On Safari With Mark 17/18 June 2015

17 June 2015

I collected our guests in Nelspruit and headed down to Kruger. As time was limited we did a short game drive around the area finding fabulous general game: Impala, kudu, warthog, common duiker, steenbok, vervet monkeys and hippos.

18 June 2015

This was another kettle of fish - to much to report, however the highlights must be the female leopard stalking Impala literally 5m from our car. In the end she was spotted and the Impala moved off and so did she.

Following highlight was when we spotted 8 lions at a waterhole that had just caught a buffalo, while feeding on it the one massive male got up and moved around the gwari bushes and proceeded to mate with a female. In all the time in Kruger I have never seen that. Usually very little is eaten in the mating period.

Other animals: giraffe, kudu, waterbuck, Nyla's, bushbuck, steenbok, duikers, blue wildebeest, zebra, warthog, spotted hyena, elephant, rhinos, a herd of 600 buffalo, mating honey badgers, mating Kori bustards.

Fantastic trip so far.

Two Foreign Nationals Sentenced For Rhino Poaching

Today, the Acting National Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Major General Yoliswa Siyotula, applauded the Organised Crime Unit of the Hawks in Mpumalanga for securing two convictions against two rhino poachers.

Yesterday, the White River Periodical Court handed down an eight-year sentence to Alvao Fagustino Sifundza from Mozambique for rhino poaching. Sifundza, aged 31, was arrested in the Tshokwane area of the Kruger National Park on 12 April 2014 after a chase by the park's field rangers. His accomplice fled. He was found in possession of a high caliber hunting rifle, rounds of ammunition, a silencer, an axe and a number of items of clothing. Yesterday, the court sentenced him as follows: One year’s imprisonment for trespassing, five years’ imprisonment for the possession of unlicensed firearms and two years’ imprisonment for the unlawful possession of ammunition. The court further said that the sentence on the trespassing and unlawful possession of ammunition would run concurrently with the sentence of the possession of unlicensed firearms. Sifundza was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.

In another case of rhino poaching in the Nelspruit Regional court on Monday this week, a Vietnamese national, Ngoc Cuong Pham, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and fined R1 million for dealing in and for being in possession of a rhino horn. Ngoc was also sentenced to another five years for racketeering, of which three years were suspended for five years. He was arrested with his 13 accomplices in Bedfordview in May 2012 after they were found to be in possession of a rhino horn. The case against the other accused has been postponed to 4 November 2014 for a trial date.

General Siyotula said: "We have a responsibility to protect our wildlife from people such as Sifundza and Ngoc, and to warn other poachers out there that we mean business."

Issued by:
South African Police Service

On Safari With Mark From 8 September 2014

8 September 2014

Route : Skukuza airport - tshokwane tar - high level - Elloff - napi – Pretoriuskop

General game sightings: impala, warthog, bushbuck, kudu, waterbuck, steenbok, giraffe, common duiker, chackma baboons, vervet monkeys, hippos, crocodiles, rhinos, elephant and buffalo's.

Highlights: So far we haven't been lucky with cats but as this is a 7 day safari we not to worried at the moment. We have had great sightings of elephant, rhino and herds of buffalo crossing the road or a couple of meters from the road. Guests are happy and want to see everything time and time again.

We wait to see what tomorrow holds and cross our fingers for those elusive cats.

9 September 2014

Route : Pretoriuskop -circle road - Napi - Skukuza - Elloff – Skukuza

General game sightings: lots of impala, warthog, bushbuck, kudu, waterbuck, steenbok, giraffe, common duiker, chackma baboons, vervet monkeys, hippos, crocodiles, Zebra, rhinos, elephant and buffalo's.

10 September 2014

Route: Skukuza- Elloff - lower sabi - Elloff - Skukuza - S65 - napi - Skukuza

General animals: impala, warterbuck, kudu, giraffe, nyala, bushbuck, warthog, chackma baboons, vervet monkeys, hippos, crocodiles, rhino, elephant and buffalo's

Highlights: today was a mind blowing day to see lions. We had a total of 24 lions spotted in 6 different locations all along Elloff.

First it was 5 lioness with 9 cubs approximately 5m off the road. They just lay enjoying the fresh morning sun.

Then we had a lioness walk out onto the road followed by 2 black manned males. We turned the car around and followed them for approximately 2kms while they walked next to our car. They were so close I could of put my hand out and touched their backs.

Then we had a lioness on the rocks at lubyelubey and stopped off for breakfast.

Once we drove back towards skukuza we had another lioness walk past us on the shoulder of the tar followed by two sub-adult lions in a easterly direction.

Turning onto gwatamiri causeway we found a mating couple approximately 100m down the gravel road

Just past alpha exit we found our last male lion (black manned) lying approximately 2m off the tar aswell and this at approximately 12:15pm.

Guests got fantastic photos and couldn't ask for lions closer or they would have to be inside our vehicle.

The afternoon drive was very quiet with only general animals spotted

Now to find the leopard that has Nancy and Bill's name on it and waiting for them to arrive.

More coming soon!!

Babies Of Kruger By Dean

Baboons and Babies

Hyena Pup in the road

Lion Cub crossing the road

World Rhino Day March

Visit our Facebook page to view a little boy receive a standing ovation for his speech on Rhino Poaching https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nhongo-Safaris/43657075115?ref=hl#!/pages/Nhongo-Safaris/43657075115

 

 

Photos by: South African National Parks

 

 

 

 

Alzu Petroport

Alzu Petroport a stop we like to take all our guests to.. It has 6 rhino's that have had their horns removed and are watched 24/7, 50 Buffalo, Zebra, Ostrich, Emu, Springbuck and other antelope.

Rhino's, Ostrich, Eland

Rhino's

Baffalo & Rhinos



 

Safari Feedback from Francesca Rivi

Safari feedback from Francesca Rivi

"Thanks a lot to Mark and to everyone at the Kruger for the amazing time we had!! We got to see the big five and many more in just 3 days safari.. Has been absolutely fantastic!!!
Thanks so much Mark!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Safari with Mark

17 May 2013

Route: Albaseni - Doispan - Napi - Nkambeni road - Fiya loop - back to camp

Animals seen:

1 female cheetah at cheetah pan walking parallel with the road( very relaxed as there was no other cars with us to bother it). Zebra, warthog, waterbuck, kudu, giraffe, bushbuck, steenbok, klipspringer, rhino, buffalo, many herds of elephant.

No sightings of Lions or leopards due to the drastic change in weather (very cold)

On camp road we had 2 female elephant, 1 sub adult and a very young baby
elephant. Brilliant sighting as the youngster discovers vegetation around it. (Ripping tree's and breaking plants everywhere it walked).

18 May 2013

Route: Napi - Tshokwane tar - Marola loop - Doispan - Albaseni - Nkambeni

Quiet day, with very few sightings of animals close to the road. Distant visuals of elephant, rhino and buffalo. Got a call from a college regarding mating lions and responded to it. 600m down marola loop we found the mating lions and spent some time with them.

After a late lunch we headed up doispan with great sightings of Kudu,buffalo, elephant, waterbuck, impala, steenbok, diukers, klipspringer's, warthog, giraffe, bushbuck, white back vultures and many various eagle's. 1kms from Albaseni junction we had 9 lions walk out in front of us and walked over road heading towards river road.

19 May 2013

Route: Napi - H3 - afsaal - Voortrekker - Albaseni - Doispan - Albaseni - Nkambeni camp

Animals seen today on the drive were:

Rhino, elephant, buffalo, kudu, giraffe, waterbuck, steenbok, diukers, hippo's, impala, zebra and warthog

Highlights of the day:

A herd (5) of sable antelope just past shithave, bull and cows all looking very healthy.
While on Napi, 7 wild dog came running past our open vehicle appr 300m past the boulders entrance. 1 of them was carrying a head of a male steenbok.

20 May 2013

Not much to report today as mark leaves the park with guests.

Keep watching for more updates!

All About Lions

*Lions are the dominant members of the food chain, but it remains a mystery why they kill all other members of the carnivore family as well as several less-competitive species such as baboons, monitie lizards and crocodiles. The logical answer is that this removes potential competitors, but its hard to imagine how a mongoose could compete with a lion or provide a fit meal. Leopards differ from lions in this regard, eating whatever they kill.

*The boisterous rough and tumble of lion cubs not only teaches hunting behaviour, but also develops social skills. lions are uniquely social among all cats, living in prides without dominance hierarchies.

*Cubs and lionesses feed primarily on Zebra, wildebeest and buffalo.

*Male lions eat more buffalo than females do. Their size accounts for their increased hunting success.

*Thanks to their strategy of hunting in a group, lions can kill prey much larger than themselves. Species such as wildebeest are vulnerable to attack by lionsand thus highly preferred. Lionesses co-ordinate group hunts of prey that can run fast and are medium to large in size. Once the prey is detected, it is encircled. Each lioness waits to either rush at or chase down the quarry. Cubs and subadults ait eagerly. When they hear the knock-down they rush to assist and join the feast.

*As they spend most of their time patrolling their territories, typically as a coalition of to, males have had to learn other hunting skills. Male lions in Kruger are successful hunters in their own right, largely killing buffalo, impala and warthog, but not with the same co-ordinated skill as the lionesses.

*Males are not above scavenging from the pride kills of wildebeest, zebra, kudu and waterbuck. When these kills are large adults (above 150kg) males feed with the pride, sometimes pushing the lionesses off the kill but tolerating the cubs.

*When the kill is smaller, one male will pick it up and steal it for himself.

*Lions tend to hunt adult giraffe in terrain where they might slip and fall when chased. This includes mud near the water's edge, rocky areas or the steep banks of rivers.

On Safari With Dean And Mark Starting the 5th January 2013

5^th January 2013:  Our first safari for 2013!  Guests were collected by Dean from the Town Lodge close to the Airport and transferred to Neslpruit to meet up with Mark.  Guests entered the park through Numbi Gate and made their way to Skukuza for lunch.  En-route down Napi a small herd of Buffalo were sighted just before  the Voortrekker link on Napi, two elephant bulls on the road just past boulders entrance and a couple of White Rhino along the way to Skukuza.  There were no cat sightings at all for the entire day.  After lunch we made our way back to Nkambeni for check in with just general game sightings.

6^th January 2013:  We departed Nkambeni after breakfast and stayed in the general area, as Verity was bringing in more guests at 12h00pm.  Once again the day was relatively quiet with no cat sightings and none been reported for the whole day by any other vehicles.  We came across a herd of approximately 40 elephant on the River link road with a lot of individual bulls also seen.  Most of them were throwing sand or mud on themselves for protection as it was going to be a warm day.  We also came across a dazzle of Zebra with a very young foal.  On our way towards Nkambeni via Albasini we came across a female lions spoor but no lioness was found as the grass has grown immensely.  On the late afternoon drive 7 large male Kudus were seen.  We made our way back to camp after an exhausting hot day.

7^th January 2013:  We departed camp once again on the hunt for some cats, and Dean collected his guests in Johannesburg from the Radisson Blu hotel and made his way to the Kruger to join up with us.  We both had lunch at Pretoriuskop before departing on the afternoon drive with our perspective clients.  After lunch we took a drive down Napi where we got some dwarf mongooses, just before Shithave Dam we got seven Sable Antelope and awesome sight!, elephant , Impala, Kudu .  We returned to Nkambeni late afternoon .

8^th January 2013:  After breakfast, Mark and his group left down Napi and Dean followed with his guests.  Once again we came across the little dwarf mongooses on Napi as well as Impala and Zebra.  After a tea break at Skukuza we continued on towards the Historical site and came across a pack of 9 wild dogs, we carried onto the H2 as we had heard there were some lions two kilometres before Quagga Pan, we found the lions lying 10 metres off the road this made for a great days sighting.  We then journeyed back towards the Paul Kruger Gate road and onto Doispane where there were more elephants to be seen as well as a herd of 700 buffalo near Albasini  and then all was quiet as  we made our way to camp for a break while meeting up with Verity to deliver more guests.  The late afternoon drive was relatively quiet with sightings of general game before we made our way back to camp for the evening.

9^th January 2013:  After leaving Mark and his guests Dean took his four and started making his way straight to Skukuza and then Tshokwane and on to Satara.  General game was spotted as well as the usual sightings of Rhino, Elephant, Giraffe, Waterbuck.  After we all had a break at Skukuza it was onward towards the low water bridge toward Lower Sabi and to Tshokwane for lunch.  On the way we got a Martial Eagle busy enjoying lunch as he had caught a banded mongoose.  After lunch at Thokwane and bidding Mark a farewell as he was going on to Lower Sabi and Dean was going on to Satara, Dean got twelve lions resting near Nzamanzi Dam and at the Dam itself Buffalo, Elephant, Hippo and Crocodile.  Along the way there was a lot of general game.  Dean arrived at Satara at 15h00pm and clients decided they were exhausted with the temperature reaching 43 degrees and enjoyed the pool at Satara for the afternoon. Mark continued his journey down the H10, eloff, Napi and back to camp with sightings of Elephants, Sable and a Leopard up a Maroela tree near Quagga Pan, it was then back to camp for a ice cold beer!

10^th January 2013:  Dean left Satara early before the heat of the day and travelled the H100 and then onto the S41 and H6 before returning to Satara for breakfast, sightings were good with loads of Impala, Herds of Elephant and a Cheetah lying under a tree as well as a male Lion and cubs getting chased by two Bull Elephants .  After breakfast Dean took a drive to Olifants camp with sightings of general game , some White Storks, Vultures.  They returned to camp early as the heat was too much and guests were going on a Night Drive.  Mark also went out early as he had four guests departing back to Johannesburg and two more guests arriving at 12h00pm.  Sightings of elephants and one male Lion and two Lionesses near Renosterkoppies,  as well as Elephants having a swim in Nyamundwa Dam.  Most of the animals were looking for shade in the afternoon, but we will see what tomorrow brings and hopefully we will pickup a Lion or two.  Dean and his four guests were making their way from Satara back to Pretoriuskop for the night as all six guests return to Johannesburg tomorrow and new guests arrive!

We shall wait for the next report with the guests arriving tomorrow.

A Day With Nhongo Safaris

60+ Hyenas (2 Different Clans) come together - 19 December 2012 - Latest Sightings

Nature At Its Best

Baby Hyena

Leopard in a tree

Two blonde male lion brothers





 

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 27)( Page 1 ) His Duty

And Jock? But I never saw my dog again.  For a year or so he lived something of the old veld life, trekking and hunting; from time to time I heard of him from Ted and others: stories seemed to gather easily about him as they do about certain people, and many knew Jock and were glad to bring news of him.  The things they thought wonderful and admirable made pleasant news for them to tell and welcome news to me, and they were heard with contented pride, but without surprise, as "just like him": there was nothing more to be said. One day I received word from Ted that he was off to Scotland for a few months and had left Jock with another old friend, Tom Barnett--Tom, at whose store under the Big Fig Tree, Seedling lies buried; and although I was glad that he had been left with a good friend like Tom, who would care for him as well as any one could, the life there was not of the kind to suit him.  For a few months it would not matter; but I had no idea of letting him end his days as a watch-dog at a trader's store in the kaffir country.  Tom's trouble was with thieves; for the natives about there were not a good lot, and their dogs were worse.  When Jock saw or scented them, they had the poorest sort of luck or chance: he fought to kill, and not as town dogs fight; he had learnt his work in a hard school, and he never stopped or slackened until the work was done; so his fame soon spread and it brought Tom more peace than he had enjoyed for many a day.  Natives no longer wandered at will into the reed-enclosed yard; kaffir dogs ceased to sneak into the store and through the house, stealing everything they could get.  Jock took up his place at the door, and hungry mongrels watched him from a distance or sneaked up a little closer when from time to time he trotted round to the yard at the back of the building to see how things were going there. All that was well enough during the day; but the trouble occurred at night.  The kaffirs were too scared to risk being caught by him, but the dogs from the surrounding kraals prowled about after dark, scavenging and thieving where they could; and what angered Tom most of all was the killing of his fowls.  The yard at the back of the store was enclosed by a fence of close-packed reeds, and in the middle of the yard stood the fowl-house with a clear space of bare ground all round it.  On many occasions kaffir dogs had found their way through the reed fence and killed fowls perching about the yard, and several times they had burgled the fowl-house itself.  In spite of Jock's presence and reputation, this night robbing still continued, for while he slept peacefully in front of the store, the robbers would do their work at the back.  Poor old fellow!  They were many and he was one; they prowled night and day, and he had to sleep sometimes; they were watchful and he was deaf; so he had no chance at all unless he saw or scented them.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 25)( Page 2 ) Our Last Hunt

I had on several occasions interrupted fights between angry rivals: once two splendid koodoo bulls were at it; a second time it was two sables, and the vicious and incredibly swift sweep of the scimitar horns still lives in memory, along with the wonderful nimbleness of the other fellow who dodged it; and another time they were blue wildebeeste; but some interruption had occurred each time, and I had no more than a glimpse of what might have been a rare scene to witness. I was determined not to spoil it this time: no doubt it was a fight, and probably they were fencing and circling for an opening, as there was no bump of heads or clash of horns and no tearing scramble of feet to indicate the real struggle.  I crept on through the rocks and found before me a tangle of thorns and dead wood, impossible to pass through in silence; it was better to work back again and try the other side of the rocks.  The way was clearer there, and I crept up to a rock four or five feet high, feeling certain from the sound that the fight would be in full view a few yards beyond.  With the rifle ready I raised myself slowly until my eyes were over the top of the rock.  Some twenty yards off, in an open flat of down-trodden grass, I saw a sable cow: she was standing with feet firmly and widely planted, looking fiercely in front of her, ducking her head in threatening manner every few seconds, and giving angry snorts; and behind, and huddled up against her, was her scared bewildered little red-brown calf. It seems stupid not to have guessed what it all meant; yet the fact is that for the few remaining seconds I was simply puzzled and fascinated by the behaviour of the two sables.  Then in the corner of my eye I saw, away on my right, another red-brown thing come into the open: it was Jock, casting about with nose to ground for my trail which he had over-run at the point where I had turned back near the deadwood on the other side of the rocks. What happened then was a matter of a second or two.  As I turned to look at him he raised his head, bristled up all over, and made one jump forward; then a long low yellowish thing moved in the unbeaten grass in front of the sable cow, raised its head sharply, and looked full into my eyes; and before I could move a finger it shot away in one streak-like bound.  A wild shot at the lioness, as I jumped up full height; a shout at Jock to come back; a scramble of black and brown on my left; and it was all over: I was standing in the open ground, breathless with excitement, and Jock, a few yards off, with hind legs crouched ready for a dash, looking back at me for leave to go! The spoor told the tale; there was the outer circle made by the lioness in the grass, broken in places where she had feinted to rush in and stopped before the lowered horns; and inside this there was the smaller circle, a tangle of trampled grass and spoor, where the brave mother had stood between her young and death. Any attempt to follow the lioness after that would have been waste of time.  We struck off in a new direction, and in crossing a stretch of level ground where the thorn-trees were well scattered and the grass fairly short my eye caught a movement in front that brought me to instant standstill.  It was as if the stem of a young thorn-tree had suddenly waved itself and settled back again, and it meant that some long horned buck, perhaps a koodoo or a sable bull, was lying down and had swung his head; and it meant also that he was comfortably settled, quite unconscious of danger.  I marked and watched the spot, or rather, the line, for the glimpse was too brief to tell more than the direction; but there was no other move.  The air was almost still, with just a faint drift from him to us, and I examined every stick and branch, every stump and ant-heap, every bush and tussock, without stirring a foot. But I could make out nothing: I could trace no outline and see no patch of colour, dark or light, to betray him. It was an incident very characteristic of Bushveld hunting.  There I stood minute after minute--not risking a move, which would be certain to reveal me--staring and searching for some big animal lying half asleep within eighty yards of me on ground that you would not call good cover for a rabbit.  We were in the sunlight: he lay somewhere beyond, where a few scattered thorn-trees threw dabs of shade, marbling with dappled shade and light the already mottled surface of earth and grass.  I was hopelessly beaten, but Jock could see him well enough; he crouched beside me with ears cocked, and his eyes, all ablaze, were fixed intently on the spot, except for an occasional swift look up to me to see what on earth was wrong and why the shot did not come; his hind legs were tucked under him and he was trembling with excitement.  Only those will realise it who have been through the tantalising humiliating experience.  There was nothing to be done but wait, leaving the buck to make the first move.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 24)( Page 6 ) The Last Trek

It was past noon that day when everything grew still; the birds and insects hushed their sound; the dry leaves did not give a whisper. There was the warning in the air that one knows but cannot explain; and it struck me and the boys together that it was time to spread and tie down the buck-sails which we had not unfolded for months. While we were busy at this there came an unheralded flash and crash; then a few drops as big as florins; and then the flood-gates were opened and the reservoir of the long months of drought was turned loose on us. Crouching under the waggon where I had crept to lash down the sail, I looked out at the deluge, hesitating whether to make a dash for my tent-waggon or remain there. All along the surface of the earth there lay for a minute or so a two-feet screen of mingled dust and splash: long spikes of rain drove down and dashed into spray, each bursting its little column of dust from the powdery earth.  There was an indescribable and unforgettable progression in sounds and smells and sights--a growth and change--rapid yet steady, inevitable, breathless, overwhelming.  Little enough could one realise in those first few minutes and in the few square yards around; yet there are details, unnoticed at the time, which come back quite vividly when the bewildering rush is over, and there are impressions which it is not possible to forget. There were the sounds and the smells and the sights!  The sounds that began with the sudden crash of thunder; the dead silence that followed it; the first great drops that fell with such pats on the dust; then more and faster--yet still so big and separate as to make one look round to see where they fell; the sound on the waggon-sai --at first as of bouncing marbles, then the `devil's tattoo,' and then the roar! And outside there was the muffled puff and patter in the dust; the rustle as the drops struck dead leaves and grass and sticks; the blend of many notes that made one great sound, always growing, changing and moving on--full of weird significance--until there came the steady swish and hiss of water upon water, when the earth had ceased to stand up against the rain and was swamped.  But even that did not last; for then the fallen rain raised its voice against the rest, and little sounds of trickling scurrying waters came to tone the ceaseless hiss, and grew and grew until from every side the chorus of rushing tumbling waters filled the air with the steady roar of the flood. And the smells!  The smell of the baked drought-bound earth; the faint clearing and purifying by the first few drops; the mingled dust and damp; the rinsed air; the clean sense of water, water everywhere; and in the end the bracing sensation in nostrils and head, of, not wind exactly, but of swirling air thrust out to make room for the falling rain; and, when all was over, the sense of glorious clarified air and scoured earth--the smell of a new-washed world! And the things that one saw went with the rest, marking the stages of the storm's short vivid life.  The first puffs of dust, where drops struck like bullets; the cloud that rose to meet them; the drops themselves that streaked slanting down like a flight of steel ramrods; the dust dissolved in a dado of splash.  I had seen the yellow-brown ground change colour; in a few seconds it was damp; then mud; then all asheen.  A minute more, and busy little trickles started everywhere-- tiny things a few inches long; and while one watched them they joined and merged, hurrying on with twist and turn, but ever onward to a given point--to meet like the veins in a leaf.  Each tuft of grass became a fountain-head: each space between, a little rivulet: swelling rapidly, racing away with its burden of leaf and twig and dust and foam until in a few minutes all were lost in one sheet of moving water.