On safari With Gert 28 September 2016

28 September 2016

After an early breakfast and loading luggage we left on a short morning drive as our guests were leaving today. The morning started off well with a 3 very large and grumpy looking old Buffalo bulls.

We then received word of a Leopard in the area and made our way to were it was spotted. Our luck was in, as it was still lying on a rock, fairly distant but out in the open; a large male soaking up the early morning sun through the wispy cloud cover!

Then more luck as we also found 3 lionesses basking on top of a nearby rocky outcrop - a brilliant end to a short and sweet Safari!

It was then time to bid farewell to Cesar and Sarah and welcome 5 new guests, also New Yorkers!

After checking in we went out on afternoon drive and got lucky, finding the same 3 lionesses, but by now it was time for them to wake up and start moving around. We had a brilliant sighting as they woke up, stretching, yawning and lazily playing around on the rocks, before getting down very close to us and playing around in the grass before setting off to wherever it was their instincts told them for their nightly prowl, a fitting end to a great day on Safari!

On Safari With Mark From 11 September 2016

11 September 2016

Highlight for today was on our afternoon drive, when driving down the road we found a female Leopard enjoy the shade of a false marola tree. She couldn't have been more than 10m off the road and in open view. For some the elusive cat stayed an elusive cat as people came and passed us without seen her. After a while she got up and started on her late afternoon walk about. Great to spot a second leopard up in the north.

12 September 2016

Our highlight for the morning drive was at the klipperfontein water hole as we rounded a corner so we found 2 male lions having a drink. Both were in brilliant condition and after a while moved a little further away from us and proceeded to take a morning nap in the shade of a large mopani tree.

Our second highlight was at the same waterhole out walked a lioness and walked over to have a drink. Once done she moved to the other 2 males but was very quickly chased off by the 2.

13 September 2016

It was a rather quiet day for the safari and mostly the animal highlights had to go down as some of the picturesque late afternoon photo opportunities, until we heard of a buffalo kill by 12 lions. Without a hesitation it was off to go try locate this pride.

Wow was a word that came to mind with some of the youngsters trying to rip pieces of meat off the carcass approximately 5m from our car. This was fantastic and many brilliant photos were taken. Then we turned the car and headed back to our camp for a well deserved sundowner.

14 September 2016

It was onto shingwetzi, and although very little happened on route, we got to hear about a pride of (5) lions and followed up on them. Luckily we were able to locate them and watched as they drank from one of the smaller puddles in the riverbed. After this, they all lay right next to the puddle and proceeded to have a mid afternoon nap.

Both early morning drive and afternoon drive was dedicated to spotted Hyena's as we found an active den with different sizes. Even the young were familiar with our vehicle and came straight up to it. Great to watch them playfully "hunt" other siblings and adults. Very often falling over their own feet.  

15 September 2016

Must be a day to remember the "TALL" animals in the park as we spotted no less than 50 giraffe just on the morning drive and afternoon drive even more. Fantastic to be able to just sit and watch these graceful creatures walk together, babies playing and bulls just watching as we pass.  Some fabulous shots with morning and afternoon lights are hidden on our cameras and imprinted in our memories.

16 September 2016

Great day had by us as we went to a waterhole and found a signal Eland bull. We were hoping for more to come out but as we stayed waiting patiently, the wind started to pick up and most of the animals moved into the thickets rather than been bothered by all the dust in the air.

17 September 2016

We returned to Tihenginyeni waterhole to see if we could find more Eland or even might have been lucky with Roan antelope but no luck on them. We did however find a lioness that was lying in the shade of the gwari bushes. She just lay as though the Kruger was owned by her. Great stuff to watch as most animals weren't even aware of her presence and it seemed that she wasn't bothered by theirs.

18 September 2016

Today was the coldest day on the safari and very little was seen as the wind howled and icy weather seemed the order of the day. As Hugh and Cathy did this for their enjoyment, it was a day of relaxation and sorting of photos.

19 September 2016

On our departure to Orpen rest camp we decided to stop off, for one last glance at the Mooiplaas water hole. To my surprise as we drove we came across a male Lion that had just killed a buffalo calf and busy with removing the in-trails.

This was a perfect start to a great day as we were the only vehicle there. We spent sometime with the lion and then headed for Orpen.

20 September 2016

Highlight was 2 male lions just outside of Satara lying in the shade of a gwari bush. Distant visual but photos could be taken.

Further highlights were that of a mating pair of leopards, with male up the tree and female lying on the ground a couple of meters away from him. While we were at this sighting we were told of a further 3 lions 2 kms away and so we obviously went to check on them. This wasn't a great sighting as they were flat like carpets but still a lion is a lion. With guests loving it, we decided to call it a day and head back to camp where we could sit around a campfire and chat about all we have seen.

On Safari With Amanda From 5 September 2016

5 September 2016

Today I collect John and Carol from Chicago, their first time in Africa to celebrate 30 years of marriage! 

On arrival at camp a light lunch before a sundowner drive where they came across some lovely Elephants and were then surrounded by over 100 buffalo much to their excitement. A lovely supper in the boma followed by an early night.

6 September 2016

We headed off bright and breezy for a full days drive, temperature expected to reach a max of 36°c.

We were on the hunt for Giraffe, carols favorite and after a while we saw 4, one crossing the road. Despite the drought the majority are looking in good condition. 

After a much needed coffee we set off again, we found lions in the river bed, very difficult to spot but always nice.

Heading down a dirt road we came across a beautiful bull rhino relaxing in the shade, always good to see.

Further down are some beautiful granite rock formations and there lying lazily lay the king of the park, a majestic lion fast asleep. We switched off and sat watching him and then to our surprise came another male to greet him, incredible. 

We sat and watched for a while and then made our way back to camp, seeing elephants cooling off in some water was very rewarding. 

An early supper ready for tomorrow's drive.

On Safari With Gert From 20 May 2016

20 May 2016

We started a new Safari today with Anna and Maya from Boston. We were quite lucky with the weather as it was fairly cool and overcast, which assisted with some good animal sightings.

We were exceptionally fortunate to find all of the Big 5 as well as Cheetah within one drive, which is almost unheard of!

The highlights of these sightings were a mother White Rhino with a year old calf grazing close by, Elephant feeding right next to the road!

The best of our cat sightings were undoubtedly the Lions, as these were a mating pair. They were taking a break a when we found them, but male and female were lying close together and about 5 meters off the road when we found them!

Certainly a good introduction to the Park and hopefully just a taste of what's in store the next few days!

21 May 2016

We headed out on our drive this morning after an early breakfast amidst cool but clear conditions. After all the cats and excitement of yesterday, our day belonged to all the animals we haven't seen very well so far! We had very good general game sightings and one of the highlights of the day was one of our many giraffe sightings, where we had a female browsing right next to us and even 2 quite young calves inquisitively staring at us and their surroundings! We had several breeding herds of Elephant cross the road today and could not ask for more or better Elephant sightings!

We also had many different Buffalo sightings including one very large herd with a few youngsters, crossing the road in front of us!

We had a spectacular end to our drive with the full moon rising over the lowveld as we approached camp.

On Safari With Gert 12 April 2016

12 April 2016

Setting out early this morning, we witnessed yet another spectacular African sunrise painting the sky red!

The first animal we saw was a large Buffalo bull, wandering down the road, glancing back at us over his shoulder every now and then, in no mood to be hurried along!

We then received word of Cheetah spotted further along in our intended direction of travel, however, they had apparently moved into the bush. Since we haven't found any Cheetah on this Safari yet, we decided to check it out anyway. Arriving at the site where they were last seen, we stopped and scanned the area far a while with no luck. We then decided to turn back for about a kilometer and do a slow drive back to the same area. Very shortly after turning back again in the original direction, the 3 Cheetah brothers came walking out of the long grass right next to us! The one jumped straight up into the fork of a Marula tree to survey the surroundings while the other 2 carried on down the road. He then jumped down again to join them and we followed them down the road for a few hundred meters as they scent marked the bushes and road signs along the way, at one point 2 of them lay down in the road in shady spots while the 3rd got on top of a road sign for a vantage point and more scent marking! A brilliant sighting and great experience to watch them for as long as we did!

About 10 km further down the road we found a Leopard sleeping in a shady spot in a large drainage line. We then stopped off for breakfast at a nearby camp and had a visit from a large Nile Monitor below the deck we were on. After breakfast, heading back along a different road, we found our 2nd Leopard for the morning! This one had just killed an Impala and was lying with its kill at the base of a thick tree! The Impala was still intact as the Leopard was still catching its breath and contemplating what to do with the carcass; i.e take it up a tree or feed right there... We watched for a while as it lay there licking the Impala, but then decided to make our way back to camp, as by that time the vehicles had started building up significantly - what a great morning for the spotted cats!

After some siesta time back at camp, we headed back out for a short afternoon drive during which we found a large Kudu bull with an impressive set of horns, browsing very close to the vehicle as well as 2 adult bull Elephants leisurely grazing in tall grassland under a huge Fig tree.

A brilliant sunset signaled the end to another memorable day on Safari!