Impala in the Kruger National Park

Impala

                         For more information on the Impala, Please go to Interesting facts About the Impala

When is Close too Close

                                                            When is Close too close

                                                                Nhongo Safaris                                 

Drawing a living Eye

WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN TO RECREATE AN EYE LIKE THIS ????? Then you need to keep a look out for our four special "Art Safaris" coming soon. all done in conjunction with one of South Africas best wildlife photographer and artist. keep a watch on our website at www.nhongosafaris.com for all the information you will need need. We will only be doing four of the Artist Safaris a year, with a maximum of six people for seven days. Two will be in the "Greater Kruger National Park", and two will be at "Tiger Canyon" in the Orange Free State.
So for all those wanting to experience and learn something completely different, this is for you.

For more info on our safaris, please visit www.nhongosafaris.co.za

Photos By Amanda

Hi There Everybody,

Thought for today, i would just share what i think to be some excellent photos taken by one of our guides Amanda, while on safari in the Kruger National Park. The safari took her for the first night at the camp of Pretoriuskop, a camp known  for is great sighting of leopard. after a successful day, it was off to the camp of Nkambeni. A tented private camp that we have used for nearly ten years with great food for the clients to enjoy. The following night, Amanda was scheduled to stay at the southern most camp of Berg En Dal. Known as one of the more modern camps in the Kruger Park.
When choosing a safari, one needs to take into account, the density of animals in the park, this is where the "Kruger National Park" has the highest densities of animals found in any National Park, thereby making it a lot easier for the visitor to either find or see the animal looked for, as there are good numbers of each species found in the park.

For more info on our safaris, please visit www.nhongosafaris.co.za

 

The importance of happy clients

When in the tourism industry it is the ultimate requirement that one develops a product that is aligned to the visiting guest, and is something that they can not only enjoy, but also learn from, thereby taking home new knowledge gained from their visit to South Africa. Guests under all circumstances have to be told of both the good and the bad things of the country, thereby giving them a balanced view of the country.

A lot of safari operators have always taken a stance regarding the discussion around politics and race relations in the South African context, we at Nhongo Safaris, have always regarded this conversation as important an necessary for firstly people to understand where South Africa has come from, and where the country is currently heading.

We have certainly experienced over the years that the necessity for a well balanced guide, who is firstly very knowledgeable about the bush and wildlife together with environmental interpretation skills, but at the same time, is well up to date with what is going on in the country of South Africa, and the the world, so in order to keep guests concentration and entertained, it is extremely important to have somebody who has a wonderful knowledge of all that is going on.

It takes time to nurture a guide from the time that they start working with you, that you invest the time and content to get them up to a certain level. Once this level has been achieved, what is the tendency to happen, is that the guest or clients, get an overall experience, go home or proceeding further on their holiday with a huge positive outlook on the country, and a client or guest that is happy and does not actually want to leave.

We have been very lucky over the years, to be a balanced safari operator, that have put a lot of time and effort into our staff as a whole, and we continue to reap the benefits of this, as we have received a lot of feedback from our visitors on this subject. Keep up the good work guys, as we are definetly are on the right road.  

For more info on our safaris, please visit www.nhongosafaris.co.za

On Safari With Amanda From 4 November 2016

4 November 2016

Today I collected 4 new guests from Kruger airport, Emanuel and his wife along with their nephew and his wife.

We arrived at a very hot Kruger and checked into nkambeni camp. 

My guests were on a sundowner where they spotted elephants, zebras and lovely impalas. 

Early to bed after supper after a long day for my guests. 

5 November 2016

Today temperatures were expected to reach a high of 36° so set off early after breakfast towards skukuza. 

A magnificent herd of Elephants literally surround our car and came so close it was breathtaking. A dazzle of zebras and further along we waited patiently for 3 rhinos to cross the road a few meters ahead of us.

Things were hotting up as we took a turn onto napi boulders, always beautiful to look at this amazing rock formation. Looking in the shady parts of the rock we spotted 2 lionesses on closer inspection hidden deeper behind them were at least 3 others resting from the scorching African sun!

After spending some time with the lions we headed for a coffee break.

Stopping at a waterhole we saw a huge kudu bull coming to drink we watched and then drove slowly towards a little koppie where a leopard and her cub are sometimes found, we located the cave and sat for a while and after 5 mins she made her appearance, beautiful! 

A quick lunch and we headed back to camp as my guests wanted to do another sunset drive... luckily for them they found another leopard and 2 big male lions!

A great day had by all as we relax and catch up on the days events!

On Safari With Gert From 3 November 2016

3 November 2016

We started a new Safari yesterday afternoon with Matt and Hayley from Australia.

After settling in they went on a Sundowner drive which was thoroughly enjoyed.

This morning after a quick breakfast, we left for a different camp, with quite some distance to travel, which meant that we spent the majority of the day on a Game drive.

This worked out well as we saw an amazing variety of animals throughout the day, aided by the fact that we had nice cool weather until about lunch time, which led to a fair amount of predator activity. At the end of the day, the hardest part is choosing 2 highlights to write about and if neither of the Cheetah or Leopard sightings make the highlights list, it's a good indicator of how the day went!

We had our first Lion sighting of the day fairly early on, when we found 2 of 3 males that had apparently killed a young Buffalo a while earlier. The 2 we found were done feeding and relaxing in the open away from the 1 still left on the kill. They were both youngish males, a few years before their prime; most likely nomadic and took their chances with a large buffalo herd in the area. While we were watching, they got up and started moving parallel to the road, stopping to scent mark here and there. They slowly made their way closer and closer to us, providing us with a brilliant sighting as they eventually crossed the road and found a new spot to relax.

We had 2 more Lion, Spotted Hyena, Cheetah and 2 Leopard sightings throughout the day, but the pick of them all came late in the day when we spotted a lone Honey Badger foraging! Seeing this animal at any time of day is very special, but in broad and rather warm daylight is just extremely lucky and we watched as it bustled along, with it's nose on the ground, stopping every now and then to dig up and wolf down an unsuspecting snack! A memorable sighting indeed and a great day on Safari!

4 November 2016

We left camp just before sunrise this morning in an attempt to make the most of the conditions, as it was expected to become a very hot day.

We were rewarded early on, with a good sighting of 2 large male Lions in their prime and 2 lionesses with them. When we arrived at the sighting one male was walking from a waterhole towards where the other 3 lay and joined them, keeping a very close eye on one female in particular. They appeared to be smelling something of interest in the breeze, as they kept looking back in one direction, but eventually got very comfortable in the morning sun and we left them to it.

Later on we stopped at a view point overlooking a riverbed with a few pools of water left. A large Elephant bull was slowly approaching the water, stopping off to snack along the way, when we noticed a large Crocodile in the shade of the tree which the Elephant was very keen to feed on! The Elephant kicked at the Crocodile a couple of times, the Crocodile in turn opening it's mouth to the Elephant in self defense and reluctantly moving away a few meters, while the Elephant was happily browsing. Eventually the Crocodile had enough and scampered into the water, giving the Elephant such a fright that he ran off in the opposite direction and didn't even go for a drink in the end!

After a late breakfast we moved to a new camp where we went for a late afternoon drive. While stopped at a spot overlooking a stretch of river, some Impala had just finished drinking and were making their way across the wide riverbed. They suddenly stopped and all stared in one direction. After a while a Leopard came walking out past them, not really showing much interest in the Impala and we soon realized why, as it already had an Impala up a nearby tree. We lost sight of the Leopard in a thicket and waited to see if it would get up the tree, but to no avail and we moved on bringing an end to another great day on Safari!

5 November 2016

We left early this morning at Sunrise and again it became apparent quite early that it was going to be a hot day!

One of our early highlights came as we crossed the river on a low-level bridge. First, we spotted a pregnant looking female Hyena on the prowl in the riverbed. She had a quick splash in a pool before continuing on her way, eyeing some Waterbuck along the way, but they kept a close eye on her and she moved past. She appeared to be following a scent as she had her nose close to the ground and carried on into the bush, crossing the road right next to us.

We then spotted some commotion in the water and it turned out that there were at least 4 Crocodiles feeding on a fresh Hippo carcass in the shallows! The crocs were eagerly tearing off chunks of Hippo and lifting their heads out of the water to swallow, also attracting the attention of a Saddle-billed Stork and another Hyena which decided to go investigate, but wisely avoiding the action, and leaving the spoils to the Crocodiles!

After breakfast we moved to a new camp and shortly before arrival stopped at a drainage line where a herd of Elephant were enjoying a mud bath. There were also 4 old Buffalo bulls around the mud pool, with a few Baboons on a nearby Ridge, overlooking the scene. We then noticed a lioness walking past the Buffalo into a shady spot on another rocky ridge and getting comfortable in the shade - as it turns out - to join another female and a young male. Some of the Elephants kept browsing closer and closer and we had a bit of a showdown, as the Elephants, assisted by some of the Buffalo, tried to chase off the Lions, whom in turn were loathe to give up their shady spot on the rocks and stood their ground. All of this accompanied by the Baboons' belated alarm calling at the presence of the big cats from their vantage points!

We ended the day with a relaxed drive along the river front with many Hippo out grazing and a variety of bird species and general game visiting the water for a drink.

On Safari With Gert From 15 October 2016

15 October 2016

This afternoon we started a new Safari with 4 guests, 2 of whom will only be with us for 1 night, hence the first priority was to maximize game drive time in the hope of finding some good sightings.

After checking in and a quick lunch we headed out for a very lucrative afternoon drive.

First up we found a large buffalo herd, probably about a hundred strong, resting in the reeds along the banks of a large waterhole.

We then came across a Leopard kill in a tree, at first all we saw was the kill - a baby buffalo - hanging in a tree, but no sign of the Leopard! We decided to drive a bit further on, as there had also been talk of lions in the area.

We were lucky enough to find said lions, one male and 2 females. The females were lying flat in the shade of a tree, while the male was lying close to the road guarding the leftovers of what also appeared to be a buffalo carcass! We had a great view of the male, lying with his head up looking around, with a few hooded vultures patiently waiting their turn.

On the way back to our camp we also found a large male Elephant enjoying a mud bath in the late afternoon sun, a great afternoon and brilliant start to the safari!

16 October 2016

We left on morning drive after an early breakfast. From early on it was evident that it would be a hot day, as the Impala were already congregating in the shade!

It was a very good morning for the large herbivores and we had good close-up Sightings of several old Buffalo bulls as well as Zebra and Giraffe in the road!

One of the highlights was a crash of White Rhino; a large female with 2 calves, the youngest about 2 years old. We watched them graze close to the road until they got comfortable in some good shade under a tree.

We then returned to drop off 2 of our guests leaving today. On the way back we found a few large adult Elephant bulls with some very impressive tusks between them, all feeding close to the road. One of the bulls was not very happy with the passing vehicles and decided to stand in the road to feed and not let anyone pass for a while!

We eventually got around them and returned to camp for lunch and pool time.

During the late afternoon drive we found a very large crocodile on the bank of a waterhole, a beautiful herd of Elephant feeding in a drainage line and another very large buffalo herd. A spectacular sunset signaled the end to another successful day on Safari!

On Safari With Kara

My first 6 day Safari adventure was a very fun filled experience accompanied by my two guests from Hong Kong China.

Day 1

We started off from hazyview and headed to phabeni gate Kruger to start our first game drive making our way to Skukuza camp. We were greeted by quite a hand full of animals. The two sightings which was our highlights was a elephant bull swimming and playing in a dam which we got to watch for a long time then later we came across a sleeping rhino.

Day 2

We had early start and headed towards Lower sabie. The surprise of 6 ground hornbills walking in the road and a youngster complaining for food made my day.

From there it only got better when we got a herd of giraffes browsing along the road for a while then giving us the African salute and moving away.

Day 3

Today we had a nice route from Skukuza to our new camp which was Berg en Dal. The best thing about this route was the female leopard we got that was having a early morning sip of water before the heat kicked in. Following her we noticed another male leopard and there after they started mating which is a rare find here in Kruger. Along this route we noticed the environment change on the animals seeing a lot of red elephants, warthogs and rhinos after they rolled in the red soil.

Day 4

Starting early again we had a moment with a big herd of elephants, while the adults were eating the babies were sleeping and so happy dreaming in the moms shade. My guests had really hoped for wild dogs and this was the day we found 18 wild dogs sleeping right next to the road a few pups and adults. Faces smeared with blood after a successful morning hunt.

Day 5

Being a girl who loves birds and having guests who also appreciated every type of bird, we founds loads of different species. From a tawny eagle fighting off a white backed vulture while eating insides from a wild dog kill to a goliath heron catching fish in the crocodile river and my first broad billed roller for the season resting in a dead tree next to the sabie river.

Before heading back we got 3 female lionesses trying to hunt impalas in a open clearing which gave us a good view.

Day 6

Having had so many good sighting everything from here was a bonus as we could not expect anything else but nature kept on giving.

One spot there was on both sides of the road just spotted hyenas wherever you looked. Moms with babies suckling and cleaning themselves. A few fighting over ranking in the clan and other digging a hole to lay in.

Ending our safari with a zebra crossing just before the gate.