On Safari Starting 18 April 2013

Mark Enters The Kruger

18 April 2013

Route: Numb tar - Napi - Boulders - Napi - Nkambeni Camp

A very quiet afternoon drive with a total of:
9 Impala just before Napi Junction.
4 female Kudu just before Voortrekker link.
7 Waterbuck at Shithave
1 Buffalo bull at the water of Shithave and approximately 400m
A distant sighting of 2 elephants.

19 April 2013

Route: Albaseni - Doispan - S114 - S112 - H3 - Voortrekker - Albaseni - Doispan – Albaseni

A good day today with some good sightings. Animals spotted were:
A Heard of Buffalo 1km down Albaseni
1 Elephant bull north of Cheetah Pan
5 Wild Dogs ran past us 1km from Doispan
1 female Spotted Hyena at the Doispan Albaseni Junction.
On the way to skakuza 2 Honey Badgers crossed the road in front of us.
3 male Lions 700m before the S112
1 Cheetah just killed an impala 5m off the H3 at Quagga Pan
1 female Leopard 1.3km south of Afsaal lying in a tree.
A herd of Elephant (10) 7.3km down the Voortrekker.

Got word of another cheetah on Doispan and after collecting our new guest we headed off to see if we could find it. We founder her hunting a herd of impala approximately 1.3km from Albaseni Junction.

On our return to camp we saw a herd (200) buffalo on Albaseni. General game has been great as well.

20 April 2013

Guests went on a bush walk this morning, on return we went for breakfast before leaving the Kruger National Park.

Dean Enters The Kruger

21 April 2013

Arrived at Numbi gate with 2 guests, we started off by going for lunch at Pretoriuskop camp, after which we went out on a game drive.

Route driven was down Napi road - h3 - Quagga pan - Napi road - Nkambeni tented camp.

Animals seen were zebra, impala, wildebeest, rhino, elephant and buffalo.

Rhino Fridays

RHINO FRIDAYs

The Managing Executive- Conservation Services of SANParks Dr. Hector Magome spoke on SA.FM this week. Amongst other things, he mentioned that 80% of the rhino being poached out of our iconic Kruger National Park, are being poached on the Mozambiquan side, over which our rangers and military have no Jurisdiction. Furthermore, it was said that it is not illegal in Mozambique, to be in possession of rhino horn ie; not a crime. ( I have not been able to confirm that this is indeed so )
Last year, South Africa and Mozambique signed an M.O.U. ( Memorandum Of Understanding) specifically regarding rhino poaching, with Mozambique agreeing to do all it can to stop this scourge from their side. We urge Mozambiques High Commissioner to South Africa, based in Pretoria to adhere to the terms of the M.O.U signed with South Africa and make rhino poaching a priority crime in Mozambique.

White Rhino having a bath in the Kruger National Park

More Amazing Photo's From The Kruger National Park

Male Lion Having A Drink

Cheetah's Walking In The Bush

Elephant Charge

Safari Starting 13th December Ending 17th December 2012

13^th December – Our guests arrived in Nelspruit where they were met by Mark who then proceeded to the Kruger National Park entering at Numbi gate. The route taken was straight down Napi into Skukuza for lunch. Good sightings were experienced such as Elephants just past shithave, 8 Giraffe together on the road at the Boulders entrance, 2 White Rhino which approached an elephant bull  and got the fright of their lives when the Elephant flapped its ears, a herd of buffalo at the Napi Boulders exit walking down the road and 3 wild dogs just before Transport Dam access road. We then proceeded to Nkambeni Tented Lodge for the evening.

14^th December – After a good breakfast we set out for the day when we spotted a male Leopard just past the Sabi River Low Water Bridge. We then proceeded on the Marola Loop where a Male Lion was marking his territory.  Other sighting for the day include Elephants, Rhino, 5 Giraffe lying down, a female Leopard who was stalking a Serval cat but after the chase the serval got away and the Leopard gave up, another 11 Lions down the S37, 3 male lions as well as fantastic sightings of general game.

15^th December – On this day we set out for another day in the Kruger. We turned onto the Kruger Gate Road where we got 17 Wild dogs lying in the road after a kill, still bloodied faces and stomachs full, we then made our way to watergat where we found 2 Lioness and 1 male Lion, after some time we proceeded onward with our route when we got good sightings of Rhino, Giraffe, General Game, another 3 Lions lying in the shade of a tree, a Leopard cub relaxing on a Silvercluster tree branch, a Buffalo herd of about 100 and Elephants.  After an exciting day we then made our way back to camp.

16^th December – Our route today is Voortrekker- S114 – Napi then back to camp. A great day experienced by our guests with a herd of Buffalo on their way to the first historical sight, 3 Wild Dogs on Voortrekker marking their territory, a Female Leopard walking parallel with the road,  5 Elephants on the S114, mating Lions on gwatamiri, 3 Lions on Napi, a Leopard in a morola tree just before the Transport Dam access road, 2 Rhinos and a female Cheetah having a afternoon walk before the Shithave entrance. After dinner we said our goodnights so our guests could have a rest before leaving the Kruger on the 17^th.

Dean enters the Park today with new guests. Sightings of Elephant, Rhino, Leopard, 2 different sightings of Lions, as well as Buffalo on the Nkambeni  access road to camp was spotted within two and a half hours of arrival.

17^th December – After their morning drive on their last day of their safari guests leave at 10h00 where they were handed over from Mark to Verity who would be bringing them back to OR Tambo to catch their flight.

Leopard with Impala Kill

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 26)( Page 2 ) Our Various Ways

"Goodness knows what the row was about.  As far as I can make out from your heathen, it is because the other boy is a Shangaan and reads the Bible.  Jim says this boy--Sam is his name--worked for you and ran away. Sam says it is not true, and that he never even heard of you, and that Jim is a stranger to him.  There's something wrong in this, though, because when the row began, Sam first tried to pacify your lunatic, and I heard him sing out in answer to the first few licks, `Kahle, Umganaam; Kahle, Makokel'!'  (Gently, friend; gently, Makokel'.) `Wow, Makokela, y' ou bulala mena!'  (Wow, Makokela, you will kill me.)  He knew Jim right enough; that was evident.  But it didn't help him; he had to skip for it all the same.  I was glad to pay the noble Jim off and drop him at his kraal.  Sam was laid up when we left." It is better to skip the change from the old life to the new--when the luck, as we called it, was all out, when each straw seemed the last for the camel's breaking back, and there was always still another to come. But the turn came at last, and the `long arm of coincidence' reached out to make the `impossible' a matter of fact.  It is better to skip all that: for it is not the story of Jock, and it concerns him only so far that in the end it made our parting unavoidable. When the turn did come it was strange, and at times almost bewildering, to realise that the things one had struggled hardest against and regarded as the worst of bad luck were blessings in disguise and were all for the best.  So the new life began and the old was put away; but the new life, for all its brighter and wider outlook and work of another class, for all the charm that makes Barberton now a cherished memory to all who knew the early days, was not all happy.  The new life had its hours of darkness too; of almost unbearable `trek fever'; of restless, sleepless, longing for the old life; of `home-sickness' for the veld, the freedom, the roaming, the nights by the fire, and the days in the bush!  Now and again would come a sleepless night with its endless procession of scenes, in which some remembered from the past were interlinked with others imagined for the future; and here and there in these long waking dreams came stabs of memory--flashes of lightning vividness: the head and staring eyes of the koodoo bull, as we had stood for a portion of a second face to face; the yawning mouth of the maddened crocodile; the mamba and its beady hateful eyes, as it swept by before the bush fire.  And there were others too that struck another chord: the cattle, the poor dumb beasts that had worked and died: stepping-stones in a man's career; the `books,' the `chalk and blackboard' of the school--used, discarded, and forgotten!  No, they were not forgotten; and the memory of the last trek was one long mute reproach on their behalf: they had paved the roadway for the Juggernaut man. All that was left of the old life was Jock; and soon there was no place for him.  He could not always be with me; and when left behind he was miserable, leading a life that was utterly strange to him, without interest and among strangers.  While I was in Barberton he accompanied me everywhere, but--absurd as it seems--there was a constant danger for him there, greater though less glorious than those he faced so lightly in the veld.  His deafness, which passed almost unnoticed and did not seem to handicap him at all in the veld, became a serious danger in camp.  For a long time he had been unable to hear a sound, but he could _feel_ sounds: that is to say, he was quick to notice anything that caused a vibration.  In the early days of his deafness I had been worried by the thought that he would be run over while lying asleep near or under the waggons, and the boys were always on the look-out to stir him up; but we soon found that this was not necessary.  At the first movement he would feel the vibration and jump up.  Jim realised this well enough, for when wishing to direct his attention to strange dogs or Shangaans, the villain could always dodge me by stamping or hammering on the ground, and Jock always looked up: he seemed to know the difference between the sounds he could ignore, such as chopping wood, and those that he ought to notice.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 21)( Page 5 ) Monkeys And Wildebeeste

I stood and faced the bush that Mungo had shied at, and the first thing that occurred to me was that my bandolier and cartridges were with the pony.  Then Jock growled low and moved a few steps forward and slightly to the right, also sheering off from that bush.  I felt that he was bristling all over, but there was neither time nor light to watch him. I stepped slowly sideways after him gripping the rifle and looking hard at the bush. Our line was much the same as Mungo's and would take us some seven or eight paces off the road--more than that was not possible owing to the barrier of thorns on that side.  When we got abreast of the bush two large spots of pale light appeared in the middle of it, apparently waist high from the ground. It is impossible to forget the tense creepy feeling caused by the dead stillness, the soft light, and the pale expressionless glow of those eyes--the haunting mystery of eyes and nothing more! It is not unusual to see eyes in the night; but this was a `nervy' occasion, and there is no other that comes back with all the vividness and reality of the experience itself, as this one does.  And I was not the only nervous one.  Mungo incontinently bolted--probably what he saw warranted it; Jock, as ever, faced it; but when my foot touched his hind leg as we sidled away he flew round with a convulsive jump.  He too was strung to concert pitch. As we moved on and passed the reflecting angle of the moon, the light of the eyes went out as suddenly and silently as it had appeared.  There was nothing then to show me where danger lay; but Jock knew, and I kept a watch on him.  He jogged beside me, lagging slightly as if to cover our retreat, always looking back.  A couple of times he stopped entirely and stood in the road, facing straight back and growling; and I followed suit.  He was in command; he knew! There was nothing more.  Gradually Jock's subdued purring growl died down and the glances back became fewer.  I found Mungo a long way on, brought to a standstill by the slipping of his load; and we caught up to the waggons at the next outspan.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick ( Chapter 19 )( Page 2 )Jock's Mistake

At the next stop I had a look back to see how he was behaving, and to my surprise, although he was following carefully close behind me, he was looking steadily away to our immediate right.  I subsided gently on to my left side to see what it was that interested him, and to my delight saw a troop of twenty to twenty-five Blue Wildebeeste.  They, too, were `standing any way,' and evidently had not seen us. I worked myself cautiously round to face them so as to be able to pick my shot and take it kneeling, thus clearing the tops of the grass; but whilst doing this another surprising development took place.  Looking hard and carefully at the wildebeeste two hundred yards away, I became conscious of something else in between us, and only half the distance off, looking at me.  It had the effect of a shock; the disagreeable effect produced by having a book or picture suddenly thrust close to the face; the feeling of wanting to get further away from it to re-focus one's sight. What I saw was simply a dozen quagga, all exactly alike, all standing alike, all looking at me, all full face to me, their fore feet together, their ears cocked, and their heads quite motionless--all gazing steadily at me, alive with interest and curiosity.  There was something quite ludicrous in it, and something perplexing also: when I looked at the quagga the wildebeeste seemed to get out of focus and were lost to me; when I looked at the wildebeeste the quagga `blurred' and faded out of sight.  The difference in distance, perhaps as much as the very marked difference in the distinctive colourings, threw me out; and the effect of being watched also told.  Of course I wanted to get a wildebeeste, but I was conscious of the watching quagga all the time, and, for the life of me, could not help constantly looking at them to see if they were going to start off and stampede the others. Whilst trying to pick out the best of the wildebeeste a movement away on the left made me look that way: the impala jumped off like one animal, scaring the tsessebe into a scattering rout; the quagga switched round and thundered off like a stampede of horses; and the wildebeeste simply vanished.  One signal in one troop had sent the whole lot off.  Jock and I were left alone, still crouching, looking from side to side, staring at the slowly drifting dust, and listening to the distant dying sound of galloping feet. It was a great disappointment, but the conviction that we had found a really good spot made some amends, and Snowball was left undisturbed to feed and rest for another two hours.  We made for the waggons along another route taking in some of the newly discovered country in the home sweep, and the promise of the morning was fulfilled.  We had not been more than a few minutes on the way when a fine rietbuck ram jumped up within a dozen yards of Snowball's nose.  Old Rocky had taught me to imitate the rietbuck's shrill whistle and this one fell to the first shot.  He was a fine big fellow, and as Snowball put on airs and pretended to be nervous when it came to packing the meat, I had to blindfold him, and after hoisting the buck up to a horizontal branch lowered it on to his back.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 19)( Page 4 ) Jocks Mistake

No two days were quite alike; yet many were alike in the sense that they were successful without hitch and without interest to any but the hunters; many others were marked by chases in which Jock's part--most essential to success--too closely resembled that of other days to be worth repeating.  On that day he had, as usual, been the one to see the wildebeeste and had `given the word' in time; the rest was only one straight shot.  That was fair partnership in which both were happy; but there was nothing to talk about. There was very little wanton shooting with us, for when we had more fresh meat than was required, as often happened, it was dried as `bultong' for the days of shortage which were sure to come. I started off early next morning with the boys to bring in the meat, and went on foot, giving Snowball a rest, more or less deserved.  By nine o'clock the boys were on their way back, and leaving them to take the direct route I struck away eastwards along the line of the pools, not expecting much and least of all dreaming that fate had one of the worst days in store for us: "From cloudless heavens her lightnings glance" did not occur to my mind as we moved silently along in the bright sunshine. We passed the second pool, loitering a few minutes in the cool shade of the evergreens to watch the green pigeons feeding on the wild figs and peering down curiously at us; then moved briskly into more open ground. It is not wise to step too suddenly out of the dark shade into strong glare, and it may have been that act of carelessness that enabled the koodoo to get off before I saw them.  They cantered away in a string with the cows in the rear, between me and two full-grown bulls.  It was a running sho --end on--and the last of the troop, a big cow, gave a stumble; but catching herself up again she cantered off slowly.  Her body was all bunched up and she was pitching greatly, and her hind legs kept flying out in irregular kicks, much as you may see a horse kick out when a blind fly is biting him. There was no time for a second shot and we started off in hot pursuit; and fifty yards further on where there was a clear view I saw that the koodoo was going no faster than an easy canter, and Jock was close behind. Whether he was misled by the curious action, and believed there was a broken leg to grip, or was simply over bold, it is impossible to know. Whatever the reason, he jumped for one of the hind legs, and at the same moment the koodoo lashed out viciously.  One foot struck him under the jaw close to the throat, `whipped' his head and neck back like a bent switch, and hurled him somersaulting backwards.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick ( Chapter 19 )( Page 3 ) Jock's Mistake

Snowball was villainously slow and bad to lead.  He knew that whilst being led neither whip nor spur could touch him, and when loaded up with meat he dragged along at a miserable walk: one had to haul him.  Once-- but only once--I had tried driving him before me, trusting to about 400 pounds weight of koodoo meat to keep him steady; but no sooner had I stepped behind with a switch than he went off with a cumbrous plunge and bucked like a frantic mule until he rid himself of his load, saddle and all.  The fact is one person could not manage him on foot, it needed one at each end of him, and he knew it: thus it worked out at a compromise: he carried my load, and I went his pace! We were labouring along in this fashion when we came on the wildebeeste again.  A white man on foot seems to be recognised as an enemy; but if accompanied by animals, either on horseback, driving in a vehicle, leading a horse, or walking among cattle, he may pass unnoticed for a long while: attention seems to be fixed on the animals rather than the man, and frank curiosity instead of alarm is quite evidently the feeling aroused. The wildebeeste had allowed me to get close up, and I picked out the big bull and took the shot kneeling, with my toe hooked in the reins to secure Snowball, taking chance of being jerked off my aim rather than let him go; but he behaved like an angel, and once more that day a single shot was enough. It was a long and tedious job skinning the big fellow, cutting him up, hauling the heavy limbs and the rest of the meat up into a suitable tree, and making all safe against the robbers of the earth and the air; and most troublesome of all was packing the head and skin on Snowball, who showed the profoundest mistrust of this dark ferocious-looking monster. Snowball and I had had enough of it when we reached camp, well after dark; but Jock I am not so sure of: his invincible keenness seemed at times to have something in it of mute reproach--the tinge of disappointment in those they love which great hearts feel, and strive to hide!  I never outstayed Jock, and never once knew him `own up' that he had had enough.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick ( Chapter 18 )( Page 1 ) Snowball and Tsetse

Snowball was an `old soldier'--I say it with all respect!  He had been through the wars; that is to say, he had seen the ups and downs of life and had learnt the equine equivalent of "God helps those who help themselves."  For Snowball was a horse. Tsetse was also an old soldier, but he was what you might call a gentleman old soldier, with a sense of duty; and in his case the discipline and honour of his calling were not garments for occasion but part of himself.  Snowball was no gentleman: he was selfish and unscrupulous, a confirmed shirker, often absent without leave, and upon occasions a rank deserter--for which last he once narrowly escaped being shot. Tsetse belonged to my friend Hall; but Snowball was mine!  What I know about him was learnt with mortification of the spirit and flesh; and what he could not teach in that way was `over the head' of the most indurated old dodger that ever lived. Tsetse had his peculiarities and prejudices: like many old soldiers he was a stickler for etiquette and did not like departures from habit and routine; for instance, he would not under any circumstances permit mounting on the wrong side--a most preposterous stand for an old salted shooting horse to take, and the cause of much inconvenience at times. On the mountains it often happened that the path was too narrow and the slope too steep to permit one to mount on the left side, whereas the sharp rise of the ground made it very easy on the right.  But Tsetse made no allowance for this, and if the attempt were made he would stand quite still until the rider was off the ground but not yet in the saddle, and then buck continuously until the offender shot overhead and went skidding down the slope.  To one encumbered with a rifle in hand, and a kettle or perhaps a couple of legs of buck slung on the saddle, Tsetse's protest was usually irresistible. Snowball had no unpractical prejudices: he objected to work--that was all.  He was a pure white horse, goodness knows how old, with enormously long teeth; every vestige of grey or other tinge had faded out of him, and his eyes had an aged and resigned look: one warmed to him at sight as a "dear old pet of a Dobbin!" who ought to be passing his last years grazing contentedly in a meadow and giving bareback rides to little children.  The reproach of his venerable look nearly put me off taking him--it seemed such a shame to make the dear old fellow work; but I hardened my heart and, feeling rather a brute, bought him because he was `salted' and would live in the Bushveld: beside that, all other considerations were trivial.  Of course he was said to be a shooting horse, and he certainly took no notice of a gun fired under his nose or from his back--which was all the test I could apply at the time; and then his legs were quite sound; his feet were excellent; he had lost no teeth yet; and he was in tip top condition.  What more could one want? "He looks rather a fool of a horse!"  I had remarked dubiously to Joey the Smith, who was `willin' to let him go,' and I can recall now the peculiar glint in Joey's eye and the way he sort of steadied himself with a little cough before he answered feelingly: "He's no fool, sonny!  You won't want to get a cleverer horse as long as you live!"  And no more I did--as we used to say!  Snowball had one disfigurement, consisting of a large black swelling as big as a small orange behind his left eye, which must have annoyed him greatly; it could easily have been removed, and many suggestions were made on the subject but all of them were firmly declined.  Without that lump I should have had no chance against him: it was the weak spot in his defence: it was the only cover under which it was possible to stalk him when he made one of his determined attempts to dodge or desert; for he could see nothing that came up behind him on the left side without turning his head completely round; hence one part of the country was always hidden from him, and of course it was from this quarter that we invariably made our approaches to attack. So well did Snowball realise this that when the old villain intended giving trouble he would start off with his head swung away to the right, and when far enough away to graze in security--a hundred yards or so was enough--would turn right about and face towards the waggons or camp, or wherever the danger-quarter was; then, keeping us well in view, he would either graze off sideways, or from time to time walk briskly off to occupy a new place, with the right eye swung round on us like a search-light.