On Safari With Dean From 19 May 2014

First off we would like to welcome Michelle and Justin Leegsma who are on their sixth safari with us. It is always a pleasure seeing this couple every year.

 

19 May 2014

We picked up Michelle and Justin at the Balalika hotel in Sandton and made our way out of Johannesburg to Nelspruit were we changed into one of the open safari vehicles and then made our way onto the Phabeni gate of the Kruger National Park. After gate check in procedures we made our way down getting good sightings of buffalo, impala, rhino, zebra and wildebeest. Upon arriving at skukuza, everybody checked in and enjoyed some good drinks on the deck, before having dinner.

 

20 May 2014

This morning we left camp at 06h00 and made our way down the Napi road and then onto the H3 to quagga pan looking for some of the cat species, with it been a bit quite we proceeded for about another five kilometres before turning back and making our way in the direction of the Skukuza golf club for breakfast. After enjoying a good breakfast we made our way up the Tshokwane tar to the picnic spot getting good sightings of elephant, numerous vultures as well as kudu, impala, zebra and wildebeest. After leaving the Tshokwane picnic spot, we got to hear of lions lying near the road north of maritime dam, we made our way in this direction and were not disappointed as we arrived in the final stages of three lions trying to take down a zebra, unfortunately they did not get it right and the zebra and lions made off in different directions. We got to hear of more lions further up the road, lying in the river line, and so we decided to go and find them. After a short ten minute drive, we arrived at the sighting with one male and four females lying sleeping. After a good sighting spent in the river line, we made our way back to the tar road when a message came in that cheetah had been spotted where we had passed earlier, we made our way back in that direction and found them walking from the river line towards the road. The two mature females crossed the road in front of the vehicle with one of the cubs coming across as well and another cub crossing further down the road. After this great sighting, we made our way onto Satara getting more impala, wildebeest, buffalo, elephant and baboon. A great meal was enjoyed at the mug and bean, before retiring to bed.

 

21 May 2014

Today it was out early again and we made our way down the notorious S100, this proved to be a quite morning with sightings of impala, kudu, wildebeest, buffalo, zebra and black backed jackal. We turned onto the H6 and were contacted by the Singita Lebombo lodge rangers, who informed us of a giraffe kill on the main Tshokwane - Satara road, we made our way in the direction and a while later stopped next to three lionesses eating a huge male giraffe. We enjoyed the sighting immensely, before turning around and making our way to camp for a late breakfast. After an enjoyable breakfast, we took a drive in the direction of Olifants camp, but with all the patch burning taking place this was abandoned on the opposite side of the Olifants river, and we returned back to camp for an early afternoon. Animals seen were impala, numerous vultures, elephant, wildebeest, baboon, hyena and black backed jackal.

 

22 May 2014

This morning it was out again at six o clock, in order to make our way back down south in order to meet more guests coming in on safari. We made our way back down to the Giraffe kill and were not disappointed again as we got to have a great sighting of three young females eating on the giraffe. As we moved away from the sighting, we encountered more lions lying about fifty meters from the carcass, after watching them for a while, we moved on and then about a hundred meters further down the road, we found more lions, this time two young males that had eaten themselves so full that they could not move.

 

After enjoying the sighting, we made our way further southwards encountering good sightings of buffalo, elephant, impala, zebra and kudu. We made our way down to Skukuza for a break, before travelling onto Numbi Gate to meet some new guests from Canada that were arriving on safari.

After the guests arrival, we made our way to Nkambeni Safari Lodge to check in, and enjoy lunch before departing on an afternoon game drive. The afternoon game drive took us up the Napi Road to Shithave Dam and then down the Voortrekker Road and then up to Manungu and Pretoriuskop kopies, ending at Mentsel Dam. Animals seen in the afternoon were elephant, rhino, impala,kudu and wildebeest. We returned to Nkambeni Safari Camp for a well-deserved dinner, before retiring to bed for a good rest.

 

 

23 May 2014

 

After enjoying an early breakfast we left camp and made our way down the Napi Road, getting good sightings of impala and kudu. We turned onto the Boulders loop and got eight wild dogs making their way up the loop to Napi Road. After turning around, we followed them for a while until they moved off the road and into the bush. We continued down the boulder loop which turned out to be quite, and then returned to Napi Road. The drive through to Skukuza was relatively quiet with a few sightings of impala, elephant, wildebeest and kudu. After a good break, it was off to Lower Sabie getting good sightings of hippo in the Sabie River, giraffe, impala, warthog, kudu and buffalo. Upon reaching Sunset Dam, we came upon a dead hippo floating in the dam with up to twelve crocodiles eating on it at times. This was a really enjoyed sighting with us spending almost half an hour there watching this unfold in front of us. We made our way to the camp of Lower Sabie for lunch and then it was back on the road in the direction of Skukuza camp and then onto Nkambeni Safari Lodge arriving back at about four thirty. Animals seen on the return journey were hippo, elephant, buffalo, rhino, impala, kudu, wildebeest, zebra, warthog and giraffe.

 

 

24 May 2014

 

Today was another early morning with Justin and Michelle being on there last drive before leaving us and returning to Toronto Canada, we made a turn at shithave dam, boulders loop and also went down a few kilometres on the Voortrekker road. The morning turned out to be quite, with just sighting of general game, before returning them to the Numbi Gate for their return transfer with Verity to Johannesburg International Airport. After Justin and Michelle had left for Johannesburg, we carried on with a game drive around circle road, getting elephant, rhino, impala and kudu. We made our way back to camp for lunch, after a good break, we left on an afternoon game drive getting good sightings of general game as well as a nice sighting of an elephant bull in Musth that gave us a bit of an eye while crossing the road.

 

 

25 May 2014

 

Today saw us packing the vehicle and enjoying an early breakfast before departing on Duncan and Vincent’s last game drive. We made our way down Napi Road, before turning onto the H3 down to Quagga Pan. Again it was a quite morning with only a very quick sighting of two male lions close to Shithave Dam. After reaching Quagga Pan, we turned around and made our way to the gate of the Kruger National Park for the return journey to Johannesburg. Upon returning to Johannesburg, Duncan and Vincent were dropped off at Sunrock Guesthouse. Feedback from the clients were that they enjoyed there safari, and would be returning with the girlfriends and family in the future.

 

 

 

More coming soon!!

 

Rhino DNA Initiative Comes To A Halt

A desperate call is made for R100 000 for repairs to the generic analyser machine of the RhODIS. RhODIS is the unique South African developed rhino DNA profiling system, which provides prosecutors scientific evidence to link recovered evidence presented in a court case, to an individual incident. This method has already been used to successfully convict and sentence numerous rhino poachers.  The RhODIS database is situated at the veterinary genetics laboratory at the University of Pretoria’s Onderstepoort campus. The database contains DNA from over 6 000 rhino from both our national parks, provincially managed and private reserves with new samples being added daily. The aim is to have all the rhino in our country registered on the database to ensure no poacher can slip through unpunished. The genetic analyser machine is the key piece of equipment giving the final DNA profile. The DNA work has been hampered by the fact that the laboratory only has one such machine, limiting the number of cases it can process.  The current machine has, however, stopped working. This has stopped the progress on all current rhino DNA work. Due to the huge pressure on the resources of the RhODIS project, in getting all the rhino registered as well as coping with the pressure from forensic cases, the veterinary generics laboratory  need to increase their throughput of DNA samples from 16/day to 40/day. The scientific equipment which is pivotal to the project is extremely costly. A further R2.5 million is also called for to secure a second generic analyser.  This initiative is run by the SANParks honorary rangers, who can guarantee that 100% of the funds generated will be channelled towards repairing and procuring the generic analysers. No money will be used for administration. 

Kruger National Park Photos



Blackbacked Jackal



Male lion



Close - up of a female lion



Kruger Park Safari with Michelle and Justin Leegsma 16 - 22 September 2010

Michelle and Justin safari left from Johannesburg's Life Hotel in Kempton Park, and as they have been on safari with us twice before, they knew the pickup time and the duration of the trip to Nelspruit. We drove through to Nelspruit where we changed over from our transfer vehicle to our open safari vehicle and then carried on with our final stretch to the Numbi Gate of the Kruger National Park. We checked through the gate and made our way down to the camp of Pretoriuskop where we would stay for three nights, before moving to another camp. The first afternoons game drive delivered good sightings of elephant, rhino and buffalo, all members of the big 5, as well as some good sightings of Impala, and Kudu and some baboons. After returning to the camp, a good dinner was enjoyed by all in the camps restaurant.

The next morning, after enjoying tea and coffee, it was out of the camp early to find what we could find. and after a short time out, we got more Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo. When turning onto the H3, a short distance down we came across two cheetah that were walking parallel with the road. Michelle was very happy to see them, as it was something she was looking for over the last two safaris. After this sighting, we decided to make our way to breakfast at the Nkulu picnic spot. On route to breakfast, we came across a good lion sighting with all of them on the road in front of our vehicle. This set us back with our breakfast, but the guests were not worried as they enjoyed the sightings. After breakfast our game drive continued finding many other animals and enjoying many good sightings. Late afternoon, we made our way back to camp for a well deserved rest. A good dinner was enjoyed by all.

The following day saw us leave the camp early again after enjoying tea and coffee. Good sightings were experienced throughout the day. We came back to camp early in order to have some well deserved rest before guests went out on their first of two night drives. Sightings experienced on the night drive was good with lots of owls being seen as well as a good leopard sighting.

The next day, it was pack up time as we were moving on to the camp of Skukuza were we would spend the next two nights. After enjoying tea and coffee, it was off and just down the Napi Road, we came across a pack of wild dogs in the road, guests were very happy to see this, as this was one of the species we did not get to see on both there last safaris. After enjoying this sighting, we continued on seen large numbers of elephant, rhinos and buffalo throughout the day. A good meal in the restaurant was enjoyed by all in the evening.

The next day, we decided to take a northerly route stopping off at the tshokwane picnic spot for breakfast, before continuing on the H10 to the camp of Lower Sabie. Good sightings were experienced on this route with large herds of Zebra ans Wildebeest being found, also some good sightings of very large elephants were found on this road. We stopped off at Lower Sabie so guests could take in the goosd sights of the Sabie River and also get to see some large pods of hippos that are found there. After the break we made our way onto Sunset dam, were there was chance to see more hippos, closer this time as well take in some of the different bird species found in this area. We continued our journey back in the direction of Skukuza, arriving late afternoon in time for a rest for the guests prior to going out on their next game drive that left at 17h00. Good sightings of lion, leopard, hippo, elephant, buffalo and numerous bird species was enjoyed by all.

The next morning it was up early, we packed up the open safari vehicle had some tea and coffee and then it was off in the direction of the Olifants camp. This would be a long day as it was quite a distance from the camp of Skukuza. we enjoyed many great sightings along the way and after a good breakfast at the Tshokwane picnic spot, we drove on in the direction of the camp Satara. we arrived at Satara in time for lunch, and after a well deserved break we made our way further north coming across good sightings of lion, rhino, wildebeest, zebra, impala, waterbuck and hippo. We arrived at the Olifants camp late afternoon and in enough time for the guests to enjoy the sunset from the viewing deck overlooking the Olifants river. 
Guests enjoyed a good dinner in the camp restaurant and then it was off to bed after a long and eventful day. 

The following morning it was again pack up time as this was the day guests were leaving the park on route for Johannesburg. After tea and coffee, it was out of the camp and back onto the road for there last game drive that would take them from the Olifants camp to the camp of Satars and then down to the camp of Skukuza. After a good morning of game viewing and having a good breakfast we made our way to the Numbi Gate and then on to Nelspruit. We changed over from our open safari vehicle back into the Microbus and then started our journey back to Johannesburg, arriving late afternoon at there hotel.

The feedback from the guests was that they had a wonderful time just like the previous two safaris, and that they plan to return back again in the next year or two for another visit to the Kruger National Park.  

 

Letter received from Justin and Michelle Leegsma who were on safari to the Kruger National Park with us.

Hey Dean and Verity,

Thanks for another absolutely incredible time! As always it was everything I had hoped for and better. Those picnic spots were so great. Looking forward to the next one.

All the best, see you next year

Kind Regards

Michelle and Justin Leegsma