Nice Leopard Photos taken by Amanda

Some loverly photos taken on the last safari by Amanda, one of the Nhongo Safaris guides, that has just got the knowledge of where the leopards are, and with her great camera, gets some really loverly photos.

It is something that can be seen while on a kruger safari, however photos like this are not got everyday, as the movement of animals and the climatic conditions has a lot to do with great game viewing. 

It is a well known fact, but one that needs to be said that the months of May, June, July, August, September and October are some of the best game viewing months that we have in South Africa to view our wildlife.

If one is looking at coming on a safari, it is generally a good thing to start planning your safari well in advance, as most of us safari operators get booked up really well in advance, and if one is looking at combining the Kruger National Park with a private lodge, or even another country in Southern Africa, it would be good to start looking and planning, together with booking down your safari as long as a year in advance. At the current state of affairs, Nhongo Safaris is already 40% booked out for next year, and we are currently only in May 2019. So as one can see, booking a good safari takes time, and needs to be done long in advance. We already have past clients, that have been booked on a safari in 2021, and it is not one or two people we are talking about, but the numbers grow every day.

So if you are looking at conducting a South African Safari or even if time does not allow you, a Kruger Park Safari, please book it with time to spare, as we do not want to disappoint clients by not been able to take them on what could be a "safari Of A Lifetime". 

On Safari With Robbie 12 October 2016

12 October 2016

Yet again setting out early ( 5am! ) paid dividends for Vrekesh and Rashie as the 2 species we aimed to find where ticked off before 06-15 am!!

White Rhino and Spotted Hyena were the ones!!Large herds of Impala, Waterbuck, Kudu, Elephant and Buffalo were also seen with excellent photographic opportunities!

A large male Leopard was also spotted fast asleep in a Marula tree!

The sighting of the morning however was the Huge Sable Bull we found with excellent visual about 5 km from Pretoriouskop camp on the Napi road!

Sables normally walk away from tourists vehicles but this majestic specimen literally stood entirely still for the entire time observed and in perfect early morning light!!!

It was an awesome safari for the 2 enthusiasts from India with overall highlights being:

1) Sable bull,

2) 2 Leopard sightings,

3) 16 Spotted Hyena,

4) W . Rhino,

5) African Wild dog,

6) Numerous Elephant calf sightings

7) 43 bird species and of course the huge Hippo Bull charging through the savannah to its water!

We say happy travels further and hopefully you guys will bring the rains!!

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 Amanda From 20 May 2016

20 May 2016

This morning greeted us with Rain.. we were not going to let a drop of rain spoil our drive though we headed off after breakfast all kitted out in our matching ponchos into the park determined to enjoy the day!

A slow drive along the Napi and an update of mating lions and another sighting of a big male lion eating an impala...hopefully they would still be there when we arrived.

On the road we were very luck to spot rhinos, zebras, beautiful giraffes and impalas.

Turning into watergat we all looked around expecting the lions to be well hidden, but, there not more than 1 meter from the road were 2 healthy lions. We sat and watched in awe of them as they chilled on the side of the road...amazing. 

After spending some time with the honeymoon couple we went down to the H3 and under a bush lay a magnificent manned lion eating away at an impala ram, gnawing away quite contently unfazed by our presence. We left him in peace to go grab a coffee at skukuza. At the junction I got an update of a leopard about 6 kms away, there a chance he could still be there, and there he was, lying in a drainage line fast asleep! We sat for a good half hour and watched him sit up and look around before flopping back down again to snooze!

Now we're definitely going for coffee and I drive to make a u-turn and get an update of 3 Cheetahs 2kms away! Off we go and basking in the sun were 3 Cheetahs!  What a morning! We eventually had coffee before heading off to camp. What an incredible day and my guests were also so incredibly lucky.

21 May 2016

Last day for my wonderful American guests. After a nice breakfast and we left for a short drive around shabeni, mestle dam and Voortrekker road for a lovely scenic drive. Lovely to get close up to Ship mountain that we generally see from afar. 

And so my guests depart for another new adventure in cape town. An amazing safari with lovely guests.

On Safari With Gert 14 April 2016

14 April 2016

Setting out early this morning, we were treated to another brilliant sunrise and also, sadly, the last one for this Safari!

We drove out to a nearby dam where we found a few Waterbuck in the area. We watched an African Fish-Eagle overlooking the virtually undisturbed surface with Egyptian Geese, Blacksmith Lapwing and Grey Heron peacefully foraging along the fringes. A male Pin-tailed Whydah flitted about in full breeding plumage, advertising territory as the season comes to a close. A few more weeks and he'll be as plain and short-tailed as the females he is currently courting!

We did a final loop around one of the many impressive granite outcrops characterizing the terrain, stopping for a few great photographic opportunities of the lovely vistas and variety of plants currently in flower. We also found a herd of 10 adult Buffalo bulls grazing in the long grass.

Only a short drive, as this was our morning of departure, we headed back to camp for a last hearty breakfast before packing and heading out of the park, bringing an end to a very successful 7 day Safari.

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!