Verity and Dean Cherry had an African dream in 1999 and started Nhongo Safaris® to eliminate the logistical challenges of international visitors on safari. We provide a once in a lifetime experience for wildlife enthusiast that demand quality overnight safaris in South Africa and most particularly the Kruger National Park. We want to enrich our visitors’ experience by providing Luxury Safari Packages or African Safari Holidays and maintain our position as leader in Kruger Park Safaris.
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Some of Nhongo Safaris Fleet of Open Safari Vehicles
The photo shows some of our fleet of Open Safari Vehicles used while on safari in the Kruger National and Hwange National Parks. These ve...
Thursday, 5 June 2014
TripAdvisor Reviews on Nhongo Safaris
To view TripAdvisor reviews on Nhongo Safaris follow the link http://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Attraction_Review-g312618-d2204555-Reviews-Nhongo_Safaris_Day_Tours-Kruger_National_Park.html
Monday, 2 June 2014
On Safari With Karen From 29 May 2014
29 May 2014
Upon arrival my guests went straight on their Sundowner Drive after checking in. Beside a very lovely sunset with a drink in hand, they
saw two different elephants, a lion crossing the road in front of them and a
zebra butt.
30 May 2014
This morning we started off with two waterbuck on the road
out of camp. Then we were surprised to find a male white rhino in the parking
lot at reception. We sat with him quietly, so quiet that he came walking within
5m of the vehicle before he started to turn away. He ambled towards the reception
office, where we saw the Sanparks Rangers hiding out of sight. He munched on
their lawn a bit and then crossed the road and disappeared into the bush.
We were just on our way again on Numbi tar road when Curtis called that he had found lions on Albassini. We made a u-turn and followed up on the call. On the way we saw 4 zebras hiding in the bush and a couple of impalas. When we got to the lion sighting two of the three lions had disappeared behind a bush but the third one was still visible. Looking through the high grass and bush we saw him lying with his head up. We waited patiently for a half hour to see if he would get up and were rewarded. He did indeed got up and started marking the area by rubbing his chin on nearby bushes and scratching the trees, rubbing of his scent. Then he got tired from all the effort and plopped down again, behind a bush this time.
We continued our drive on Doispane where we spotted wildebeest, lots more impalas and a steenbok until we got to a couple of cars standing on the side of the road. They were looking at hyena cubs that were outside their den. Two young ones that were still very brown were play fighting over a piece of what looked like wood or scraps of food that one of them had picked up somewhere. Their older brother or sister looked at them with a disdainful look. After watching them for quite some time we continued our ways spotting a nice kudu bull and his females, a tawny eagle and a beautiful martial eagle.
At Skukuza we were almost sharing our coffee with a large troop of vervet monkeys. The youngsters were playing nearby but the adults were thieving from tables and bins. We protected our food and coffees and decided to leave.
We drove down Napi spotting a marabou stork flying over as well as white backed vultures and multiple bateleurs, and we saw warthogs and more kudus. Close to Transport Dam another young hyena was lying in the middle of the road, not fazed by any passing cars. He looked sad and cute at the same time and some of us were willing to take him home, but did not want to risk the wrath of its mother or the babysitter. So we left him on his spot and continued. It had gotten rather hot by now and the animals were hiding in the shade out of sight.
We took our lunch and break time at Nkambeni Lodge where some of us saw four hippos outside the Dam in front of the restaurant and others saw waterbuck and elephant passing by the fence line in front of the huts.
The afternoon drive started really quiet. Being still hot the animals hadn't come out yet. We saw a slender mongoose crossing and were suddenly surrounded by a troop of banded mongoose. Some of us will be haunted by eyes staring at them from the bushes! But then it was quiet all the way around Shabeni and up the link.
However as soon as we turned onto Albassini, we knew where the animals had been hiding. We saw a big dazzle of zebras, two separate elephants before we reached Mestel Dam. At Mestel Dam the hippos in the water were pretty active and showed half their bodies. We also saw a fish eagle trying to catch some fish but he was unsuccessful. When it was time to go we were surprised by two elephants that were walking towards the road. We hang around and one of them crossed in front of us. The second one rather stayed feeding off a tree on the other side and as time was running out we had to leave them. Just before the end of Albassini a side-striped jackal was walking on the road but he quickly ran off when we came closer.
It was the end of a very succesful day!
We were just on our way again on Numbi tar road when Curtis called that he had found lions on Albassini. We made a u-turn and followed up on the call. On the way we saw 4 zebras hiding in the bush and a couple of impalas. When we got to the lion sighting two of the three lions had disappeared behind a bush but the third one was still visible. Looking through the high grass and bush we saw him lying with his head up. We waited patiently for a half hour to see if he would get up and were rewarded. He did indeed got up and started marking the area by rubbing his chin on nearby bushes and scratching the trees, rubbing of his scent. Then he got tired from all the effort and plopped down again, behind a bush this time.
We continued our drive on Doispane where we spotted wildebeest, lots more impalas and a steenbok until we got to a couple of cars standing on the side of the road. They were looking at hyena cubs that were outside their den. Two young ones that were still very brown were play fighting over a piece of what looked like wood or scraps of food that one of them had picked up somewhere. Their older brother or sister looked at them with a disdainful look. After watching them for quite some time we continued our ways spotting a nice kudu bull and his females, a tawny eagle and a beautiful martial eagle.
At Skukuza we were almost sharing our coffee with a large troop of vervet monkeys. The youngsters were playing nearby but the adults were thieving from tables and bins. We protected our food and coffees and decided to leave.
We drove down Napi spotting a marabou stork flying over as well as white backed vultures and multiple bateleurs, and we saw warthogs and more kudus. Close to Transport Dam another young hyena was lying in the middle of the road, not fazed by any passing cars. He looked sad and cute at the same time and some of us were willing to take him home, but did not want to risk the wrath of its mother or the babysitter. So we left him on his spot and continued. It had gotten rather hot by now and the animals were hiding in the shade out of sight.
We took our lunch and break time at Nkambeni Lodge where some of us saw four hippos outside the Dam in front of the restaurant and others saw waterbuck and elephant passing by the fence line in front of the huts.
The afternoon drive started really quiet. Being still hot the animals hadn't come out yet. We saw a slender mongoose crossing and were suddenly surrounded by a troop of banded mongoose. Some of us will be haunted by eyes staring at them from the bushes! But then it was quiet all the way around Shabeni and up the link.
However as soon as we turned onto Albassini, we knew where the animals had been hiding. We saw a big dazzle of zebras, two separate elephants before we reached Mestel Dam. At Mestel Dam the hippos in the water were pretty active and showed half their bodies. We also saw a fish eagle trying to catch some fish but he was unsuccessful. When it was time to go we were surprised by two elephants that were walking towards the road. We hang around and one of them crossed in front of us. The second one rather stayed feeding off a tree on the other side and as time was running out we had to leave them. Just before the end of Albassini a side-striped jackal was walking on the road but he quickly ran off when we came closer.
It was the end of a very succesful day!
31 May 2014
Today we started early for what turned out to be an awesome
day. On the road we saw once again a waterbuck and little bee eaters and brown
headed parrots. On Numbi tar we saw our first giraffes of this tour: a group of
7 giraffes and baby, that looked only a
couple of days old. We watched them browse for a while before carrying on. We
spotted various white rhinos, one of which a group of 4 white rhino, a great
kudu bull and more giraffes.
Then just past Transport Dam we saw two cars slowly reversing. Assuming they were looking at something that was walking in our direction we stopped the car and watched. Surprisingly not one but two leopards came walking towards us in the grass not far from the road. The male leopard came out of the grass towards the road and walked by our car so close it almost rubbed it. While the other cars overtook us reversing we decided to turn around and follow them to see if the female would come on the road too. This was a good decision as both of them crossed and continued walking on the opposite side. We followed them and when other cars showed up from opposite direction it got a bit crowded as they all stopped. Unable to turn around in the squabble of cars we overtook them with the intention to turn around behind them, but as luck would have it the male leopard came back onto the road behind us. We stopped and waited as we had him all to ourselves this time as the rest of the cars was still busy turning around and impeding each other. He walked by us again and didn't care about us being there at all. Then the cars caught up with him and we let them overtake us and follow the couple so we could turn around and follow our way to Skukuza. But what an amazing sighting it was!
On the way to Skukuza we also saw a duiker and a journey of giraffes that looked like it wanted to cross but decided against it. After the break we drove down Eloff where we spotted a well hidden buffalo in the riverbed, loads of impala, bushbucks, a crocodile and two sounders of warthogs.
We crossed at High level bridge, while watching an island full of hippos and another crocodile. As we were looking for buffalo and elephant herds we decided to go all the way down to Lower Sabie and watch the river. We took our luck down Salitjie and were rewarded quite quickly with a herd of elephants in the reeds and the bush on the other side. While watching those elephants we noticed a well blended tree agama on a tree stump next to the road as well. Furthermore we came across warthogs, zebras, more giraffes and our second viewing of ground hornbills. We did see 4 yesterday already, which I had forgotten to mention. One sighting is pretty unique of those rare birds, two separate sightings even more so. We also stopped for a nice lilac breasted roller, yellow billed hornbills, a big water monitor, terrapins and two elephants having a shower.
The last stretch to Lower Sabie on the H10 rewarded us with wildebeest, more zebras and a large elephant herd with babies that were still so young the easily fit under their mothers' bellies. From the bridge we looked at buffalos, hippos and baby crocodiles.
After our lunch at Lower Sabie we stopped at Sunset Dam where the shore was divided by hippos on one side and a large flock of yellow-billed storks on the other. Spread out everywhere though were over 40 crocodiles! One of the guests had previously asked if there were crocodiles in the park and if we hadn't seen any before this definitely answered her question! A water monitor crept by next to the car as well.
Then we continued on the tar road to Skukuza spotting once again the endangered ground hornbills (a third group, this is amazing!), more hippos, elephant herds, giraffe, daggaboys and black storks.
Down on Eloff again we stopped to look at a brown hooded kingfisher, when we heard something else. We turned off the engine and it was a lion roaring. After a bit he came out from behind the bush, had a drink and came up just in front of our car where he started calling to other lions again. We only continued after he disappeared back into the bush. It was another great sighting!
Skukuza was the scene of a splash n dash and down Napi we went. As the day was coming to an end we only stopped for a hyena pup sunbathing outside its den. We returned to the lodge after a long day but what an amazing day! We were so spoiled today!!
Then just past Transport Dam we saw two cars slowly reversing. Assuming they were looking at something that was walking in our direction we stopped the car and watched. Surprisingly not one but two leopards came walking towards us in the grass not far from the road. The male leopard came out of the grass towards the road and walked by our car so close it almost rubbed it. While the other cars overtook us reversing we decided to turn around and follow them to see if the female would come on the road too. This was a good decision as both of them crossed and continued walking on the opposite side. We followed them and when other cars showed up from opposite direction it got a bit crowded as they all stopped. Unable to turn around in the squabble of cars we overtook them with the intention to turn around behind them, but as luck would have it the male leopard came back onto the road behind us. We stopped and waited as we had him all to ourselves this time as the rest of the cars was still busy turning around and impeding each other. He walked by us again and didn't care about us being there at all. Then the cars caught up with him and we let them overtake us and follow the couple so we could turn around and follow our way to Skukuza. But what an amazing sighting it was!
On the way to Skukuza we also saw a duiker and a journey of giraffes that looked like it wanted to cross but decided against it. After the break we drove down Eloff where we spotted a well hidden buffalo in the riverbed, loads of impala, bushbucks, a crocodile and two sounders of warthogs.
We crossed at High level bridge, while watching an island full of hippos and another crocodile. As we were looking for buffalo and elephant herds we decided to go all the way down to Lower Sabie and watch the river. We took our luck down Salitjie and were rewarded quite quickly with a herd of elephants in the reeds and the bush on the other side. While watching those elephants we noticed a well blended tree agama on a tree stump next to the road as well. Furthermore we came across warthogs, zebras, more giraffes and our second viewing of ground hornbills. We did see 4 yesterday already, which I had forgotten to mention. One sighting is pretty unique of those rare birds, two separate sightings even more so. We also stopped for a nice lilac breasted roller, yellow billed hornbills, a big water monitor, terrapins and two elephants having a shower.
The last stretch to Lower Sabie on the H10 rewarded us with wildebeest, more zebras and a large elephant herd with babies that were still so young the easily fit under their mothers' bellies. From the bridge we looked at buffalos, hippos and baby crocodiles.
After our lunch at Lower Sabie we stopped at Sunset Dam where the shore was divided by hippos on one side and a large flock of yellow-billed storks on the other. Spread out everywhere though were over 40 crocodiles! One of the guests had previously asked if there were crocodiles in the park and if we hadn't seen any before this definitely answered her question! A water monitor crept by next to the car as well.
Then we continued on the tar road to Skukuza spotting once again the endangered ground hornbills (a third group, this is amazing!), more hippos, elephant herds, giraffe, daggaboys and black storks.
Down on Eloff again we stopped to look at a brown hooded kingfisher, when we heard something else. We turned off the engine and it was a lion roaring. After a bit he came out from behind the bush, had a drink and came up just in front of our car where he started calling to other lions again. We only continued after he disappeared back into the bush. It was another great sighting!
Skukuza was the scene of a splash n dash and down Napi we went. As the day was coming to an end we only stopped for a hyena pup sunbathing outside its den. We returned to the lodge after a long day but what an amazing day! We were so spoiled today!!
1 June 2014
This morning we went on a morning safari after breakfast. We
spotted for two duikers together on camp road and a little further on we saw
another one. We drove down the tar road towards Shabeni. On the loop we had a
couple of nice sightings of buffalo bulls that were grazing and we even saw an
elephant in the distance.
Up Shabeni and then Albassini it was rather quiet. We did see some zebras and wildebeest hiding in the bush and of course impalas, but we were so spoiled yesterday that we thought it was quiet.
At Nyamundwa Dam we then saw a group of hippos in the distance, a darter and a white-breasted comorant. A crocodile showed himself briefly before diving under. Then we were surprised by a hippo walking on the dam wall and close to us he walked down and into the water. He did it nicely, no splash at all.
Then it was time to make our way to Phabeni Gate where we had to say goodbye to Leo and Cata. Their honeymoon had come to an end, but by the sound of it they had a great time. I hope to see you back one day :-)!
Then we drove back to Nkambeni over Albassini road. The bachelor group of zebras with wildebeest friends had come closer this time around and we saw a zebra harem further down the road as well as warthogs quickly crossing the road. At Mestel Dam we spotted waterbucks and hippos again. Just past it we encountered our first troop of baboons of this tour. The older ones were grooming each other and relaxing in the sun while the youngsters were playing and throwing each other out of a tree. It looked like they had a lot of fun. After watching for a while we continued back to the lodge for a nice break.
In the afternoon we went for a slow drive around Fayi Loop. On the tar road we had two elephant boys crossing in front of us, which were half wet from an earlier shower. Then just as we started wondering if there were any animals around, we saw a herd of impalas and some hippos playing in one of the overflows. At the end of the loop we saw giraffes feeding.
We visited Shitlhave Dam spotting terrapins, a crocodile on a rock and a half submerged hippo. On the last stretch before entering the lodge we saw those two elephants again that we started with. They had followed the water trail to camp road and were now feeding alongside it.
Not as lucky as yesterday but all in all a good day!
Up Shabeni and then Albassini it was rather quiet. We did see some zebras and wildebeest hiding in the bush and of course impalas, but we were so spoiled yesterday that we thought it was quiet.
At Nyamundwa Dam we then saw a group of hippos in the distance, a darter and a white-breasted comorant. A crocodile showed himself briefly before diving under. Then we were surprised by a hippo walking on the dam wall and close to us he walked down and into the water. He did it nicely, no splash at all.
Then it was time to make our way to Phabeni Gate where we had to say goodbye to Leo and Cata. Their honeymoon had come to an end, but by the sound of it they had a great time. I hope to see you back one day :-)!
Then we drove back to Nkambeni over Albassini road. The bachelor group of zebras with wildebeest friends had come closer this time around and we saw a zebra harem further down the road as well as warthogs quickly crossing the road. At Mestel Dam we spotted waterbucks and hippos again. Just past it we encountered our first troop of baboons of this tour. The older ones were grooming each other and relaxing in the sun while the youngsters were playing and throwing each other out of a tree. It looked like they had a lot of fun. After watching for a while we continued back to the lodge for a nice break.
In the afternoon we went for a slow drive around Fayi Loop. On the tar road we had two elephant boys crossing in front of us, which were half wet from an earlier shower. Then just as we started wondering if there were any animals around, we saw a herd of impalas and some hippos playing in one of the overflows. At the end of the loop we saw giraffes feeding.
We visited Shitlhave Dam spotting terrapins, a crocodile on a rock and a half submerged hippo. On the last stretch before entering the lodge we saw those two elephants again that we started with. They had followed the water trail to camp road and were now feeding alongside it.
Not as lucky as yesterday but all in all a good day!
More coming soon!!
On Safari With Curtis From 27 May 2014
27 May 2014
The start of a new tour and after
picking up my guests in Nelspruit we headed straight down to Kruger and
Nkambeni tented safari lodge, our accommodation for the next few nights. No
rest for the wicked however because as soon as we had arrived and checked
in to our rooms it was time for the guests to head out on their sunset drive.
The drive turned out to be a very
good start to their safari as they saw a nice herd of about 50 buffalo as well
as three elephants as well as general game. They also heard hippo but couldn't
see them. On their arrival back to camp it was time for dinner in the boma with
a nice hot fire to warm up in front of.
Tomorrow we hope to add to tonight's
successful first drive.
28 May 2014
Leaving the lodge early morning we had only just got onto Numbi
tar when we came across a herd of buffalo, possibly the herd that was
seen on last night’s sunset drive, they were hidden quite well in the bush
but we managed to see a few heads. As we carried on we came across a group of
giraffe, two adults and three youngsters. Gradually the adults crossed over the
road and the youngsters followed them. We turned onto Napi and found plenty of
herds of impala and kudu as well as waterbuck in the distance. For some
distance the road went quiet and this gave us the opportunity to stop and look
at some of our feathered friends such as the Yellow-billed hornbill, Red-billed
hornbill, Grey-headed hornbill as well the cape glossy starlings and lilac breasted
rollers. As we drove past transport dam we found a little traffic jam and found
the hyenas outside their regular dens. 7 hyenas in total, 4 cubs and 3 adults
and we were able to spend quite a bit of time watching them as the youngsters
fought over the remains of their last meal even treating to the wonderful hyena
sounds when they get excited.
We then drove down watergat and found a male cheetah sat under a tree. The visual wasn't good to start with but we waited and eventually he started to move towards the road, if that wasn't good enough it turned out that he was accompanied by two other male cheetahs and after about ten minutes of following them they came out into the open and then crossed the road close to us. After such a great sighting we carried on and found more impala, kudu and waterbuck before turning onto the Doispane where we found a second hyena den this time with much younger cubs who were just getting rid of their black coats and obtaining the spots. We headed off to the golf club for coffee and spent our time watching the hippos coming out of the water, impala and lots of warthog around the ninth hole. After coffee we stopped off at the Lake panic hide where more hippos were seen as well as a crocodile, chameleon and plenty of water birds. We then took a short drive on the river doing a couple of loops where we saw more hippos out of the water as well as a beautiful Martial eagle and baboons. As we headed back to the lodge we saw vervet monkey's and a nice crash of white rhinos and a small family of elephants as well as white-backed vultures, a tawny eagle sat on the road and leopard tortoise.
We then drove down watergat and found a male cheetah sat under a tree. The visual wasn't good to start with but we waited and eventually he started to move towards the road, if that wasn't good enough it turned out that he was accompanied by two other male cheetahs and after about ten minutes of following them they came out into the open and then crossed the road close to us. After such a great sighting we carried on and found more impala, kudu and waterbuck before turning onto the Doispane where we found a second hyena den this time with much younger cubs who were just getting rid of their black coats and obtaining the spots. We headed off to the golf club for coffee and spent our time watching the hippos coming out of the water, impala and lots of warthog around the ninth hole. After coffee we stopped off at the Lake panic hide where more hippos were seen as well as a crocodile, chameleon and plenty of water birds. We then took a short drive on the river doing a couple of loops where we saw more hippos out of the water as well as a beautiful Martial eagle and baboons. As we headed back to the lodge we saw vervet monkey's and a nice crash of white rhinos and a small family of elephants as well as white-backed vultures, a tawny eagle sat on the road and leopard tortoise.
29 May 2014
After such a good day yesterday we left early in the hope that we could
match yesterday’s sightings. It didn't take long before we were looking at an
elephant which was close to Numbi gate, we then drove down Napi spotting
plenty of herds of impala, waterbuck and kudu. After getting a tip off about a
sighting we headed down and found a white rhino dozing near the water hole and
then at the river bed found a huge family of baboons alongside impala and kudu.
We spent quite a bit of time watching the interactions of the three species
especially the playful younger baboons who chased a couple of the impala
around. We then found what we had been looking for as we came upon a
male lion with his head up. We watched for some time when he decided to stand
and walk a few metres before collapsing back down. We also spotted a steenbok
and klipspringer along the way.
We then made our way down to skukuza for a break before heading down the S114 towards renosterkoppies. We found impala and a lone wildebeest at the watering hole but a collection of cars caught our attention and we made our way there to find a lovely sighting of a male leopard lying up on the rocks. We were able to spend a good 15 minutes at the sighting before we decided to move on down the s112. As we headed down the H3 to Afsaal we found a large herd of elephants, at least 30 strong, which I hoped would cross over the road. Unfortunately they didn't and disappeared into the bush but not before we had followed them for ten minutes or so getting lots of great photos. The rest of the drive to Afsaal was fairly quiet but we did see a lovely African harrier hawk sat perched in the tree. After lunch we headed down Voortrekker which was very quiet for long periods however we did see more impala, kudu and a group of 5 giraffe as well as a brief glimpse of a slender mongoose scurrying across the road.
We then made our way down to skukuza for a break before heading down the S114 towards renosterkoppies. We found impala and a lone wildebeest at the watering hole but a collection of cars caught our attention and we made our way there to find a lovely sighting of a male leopard lying up on the rocks. We were able to spend a good 15 minutes at the sighting before we decided to move on down the s112. As we headed down the H3 to Afsaal we found a large herd of elephants, at least 30 strong, which I hoped would cross over the road. Unfortunately they didn't and disappeared into the bush but not before we had followed them for ten minutes or so getting lots of great photos. The rest of the drive to Afsaal was fairly quiet but we did see a lovely African harrier hawk sat perched in the tree. After lunch we headed down Voortrekker which was very quiet for long periods however we did see more impala, kudu and a group of 5 giraffe as well as a brief glimpse of a slender mongoose scurrying across the road.
30 May 2014
It was the final day for one of my guests after so many
great sightings over the last couple of days we still had unbelievably not seen
any Zebras yet, with this in mind we set off early and found two separate
sightings of common duikers which both scurried off into the bush. We drove
along Albasini, stopping at mestel dam where we found the hippos popping their
heads up occasionally and then carried on. The road was fairly quiet for the
first half seeing just Impala, we then found a journey of giraffe just walking
parallel to the road a few metres in the bush. After leaving them we then found
what we were looking for, a group of about 10 zebras standing right out in the
middle of the road. We had plenty of time to view them as they seemed a bit
confused as to which way they wanted to go as they crossed the road a couple of
times before deciding on the right hand side. We carried on and just a few
hundred metres we found a beautiful male lion lying just a couple of metres
from the road. I don't think he appreciated the attention as he got up and
walked off further into the long grass, we were then beckoned by the car facing
us that there were two more lions sitting further ahead. We moved forward and
found them both lying in the grass. We waited a while and then the female got
up with a second male in pursuit with the female leading him across the road
and then the second male got up and followed them. We managed to get some great
photos before they disappeared into the bush. We turned around and headed back
down the way we came finding another larger herd of zebras and a lovely old
male giraffe before having two male elephants crossing the road before we
went to Petoriouskop for an ice cream. Afterwards we went round Faye loop
finding a pod of hippos in the reed beds and a herd of buffalo before driving
round the koppies finding impala, kudu and vervet monkeys before arriving at
Numbi gate.
Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to Tonya who is heading down to Durban on the next part of her South African adventure. I know you enjoyed all the amazing sightings of the last few days and hope to see you back here one day.
Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to Tonya who is heading down to Durban on the next part of her South African adventure. I know you enjoyed all the amazing sightings of the last few days and hope to see you back here one day.
This afternoon we went for a short drive along Albasini
stopping off at mestel dam. The dam was a hive of activity as the hippos were
out of the water and very vocal, we had a crocodile sitting on the dam wall,
impalas grazing in the background while a giraffe walked towards them. We also
had a small herd of buffalo lying nearby and we could see an elephant in the
distance. We also had waterbuck and steenbok near the dam. Further along the
road we found a couple of very noisy tree squirrels in the tree, kudu, vervet
monkeys and impala however the highlight of the drive was a pack of wild dogs
we found next to the road just on doispane. They started off hidden in the bush
but given time they gradually appeared more relaxed and came out giving us the
opportunity to view them better. Time was getting short and so we had to leave
the dogs and drive back along Albasini and we found Zebras and five separate
elephant sightings before we got back to the lodge.
31 May 2014
Today was the final day of the tour and after loading up the
car with luggage we left Nkambeni tented safari lodge for the final time to
have one final morning drive. Immediately we found a 'dagga' boy loitering in
the drainage line on camp road and a second one further along on Numbi tar. As
we drove down Napi the road was fairly quiet at times although we saw plenty of
impala, kudu and a couple of elephants before we found a young hyena cub
sitting outside it's den, we heard the familiar sound of more hyenas around but
found none. As we were going to move on we informed off a lion sighting further
along the road and made our way stopping for a white rhino along the way. When
we got to the spot where the lions had been they had moved off, we turned around
and searched for them but to no avail. We then turned back around and headed to
Skukuza, as we turned around a corner we suddenly found 8 lions walking down
the road, 7 females and a juvenile male. They decided to lie down on the road
and we spent a good while talking with them before they strolled off into the
bush. We then found another white rhino with a young calf before getting to
Skukuza.
After our break we headed along river road where we found bushbuck, more kudu and impala, warthog and vervet monkeys. We even had one final look at a big bull elephant before we had to head out of phabeni and transfer to Kmia.
After our break we headed along river road where we found bushbuck, more kudu and impala, warthog and vervet monkeys. We even had one final look at a big bull elephant before we had to head out of phabeni and transfer to Kmia.
I know Cory and Will, Louise and Marcel have enjoyed the
many amazing sightings we have over the last 5 days and will go back to
Australia with so many greats photos and videos and more importantly great
memories of their time in Kruger and I hope one day we will see you back here.
It has been great fun and an absolute pleasure in your company.
More coming soon!
Rhinos Airlifted To Safety In South Africa
In the continuous effort to save rhinoceros from poachers, conservationists in South Africa are now airlifting rhinos to safer areas....
The process requires the animals to be drugged first so they don’t react as activists tie their ankles together and hook it to a helicopter that flies them to a safer area away from poachers.
While it may seem pretty awful to be flown by your ankles between 500 and 1000 feet in the air, conservationists from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife assure that’s the best way..
Airlifting rhinos has been the adopted method for saving them since the World Wildlife Fund’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Project went into effect in 2003. Emma Gatland, a photographer for The National Geographic, was present at the latest rhino transport in Kwa Zulu Natal and also stood by the method.
“It’s a new procedure, which is gentle on the rhino as it shortens the time the animal is kept drugged. The rhinos are airlifted using an old Vietnam Huey [helicopter]. said Gatland
With poachers killing over 1,000 rhinos last year alone for their ivory horns, the endangered creatures don’t have much of a choice anymore for survival unless they’re moved away from their killers.
For more fantastical images of rhino relocations, please click on the following link:http://news360.com/article/240918463
Breaking the Brand of Rhino Horn in Viet Nam Project ( report by
Lynn Johnson PhD )
This project was created to address the spiralling demand for rhino horn from Viet Nam, which is the primary driver of the current killing spree in Africa and Asia.
The sole focus is on demand reduction by targeting the primary users of genuine rhino horn in Viet Nam.
This project is run by a team of volunteers based in Australia.
The report is just too long to post here, but please do yourself a favour and click through to this link to the report where you will see the fantastic ad campaigns targeting users of rhino horn.http://breakingthebrand.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Breaking-The-Brand-Project-The-First-12-Months.pdf
The following are identified as the two main users of rhino horn –
High Status Businessmen
• Senior Businessmen/Finance Professionals/ Government Officials.
• Group values rarity and expense rather than perceived medical properties.
• Acquiring rare produce associated with money, power and skill.
• Rhino horn gift used to demonstrate respect and competence when negotiating deals.
• Gifts used to influence and obtain preferential treatment from those in positions of power.
Only 2 motivators to stop using:
• Negative impact on personal status as a result of using/giving rhino horn.
• Negative impact on health from using rhino horn.
Affluent Mothers
• Believe in fever-reducing qualities of rhino horn - in line with use in Chinese /Vietnamese medicine.
• Keep small quantities at home in case child gets a high fever.
• Also buy for aging parents.
• Relatively recent trend.
• Unclear if using fake vs. genuine rhino horn.
• A group heavily influenced by social media.
• Small individual quantities but large group size.
• Interested and aspire to celebrity mothers.
• Again very status conscious and aspirational
Primary motivator to stop using:
• Negative impact on family health from using rhino horn.
The process requires the animals to be drugged first so they don’t react as activists tie their ankles together and hook it to a helicopter that flies them to a safer area away from poachers.
While it may seem pretty awful to be flown by your ankles between 500 and 1000 feet in the air, conservationists from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife assure that’s the best way..
Airlifting rhinos has been the adopted method for saving them since the World Wildlife Fund’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Project went into effect in 2003. Emma Gatland, a photographer for The National Geographic, was present at the latest rhino transport in Kwa Zulu Natal and also stood by the method.
“It’s a new procedure, which is gentle on the rhino as it shortens the time the animal is kept drugged. The rhinos are airlifted using an old Vietnam Huey [helicopter]. said Gatland
With poachers killing over 1,000 rhinos last year alone for their ivory horns, the endangered creatures don’t have much of a choice anymore for survival unless they’re moved away from their killers.
For more fantastical images of rhino relocations, please click on the following link:http://news360.com/article/240918463
Breaking the Brand of Rhino Horn in Viet Nam Project ( report by
Lynn Johnson PhD )
This project was created to address the spiralling demand for rhino horn from Viet Nam, which is the primary driver of the current killing spree in Africa and Asia.
The sole focus is on demand reduction by targeting the primary users of genuine rhino horn in Viet Nam.
This project is run by a team of volunteers based in Australia.
The report is just too long to post here, but please do yourself a favour and click through to this link to the report where you will see the fantastic ad campaigns targeting users of rhino horn.http://breakingthebrand.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Breaking-The-Brand-Project-The-First-12-Months.pdf
The following are identified as the two main users of rhino horn –
High Status Businessmen
• Senior Businessmen/Finance Professionals/ Government Officials.
• Group values rarity and expense rather than perceived medical properties.
• Acquiring rare produce associated with money, power and skill.
• Rhino horn gift used to demonstrate respect and competence when negotiating deals.
• Gifts used to influence and obtain preferential treatment from those in positions of power.
Only 2 motivators to stop using:
• Negative impact on personal status as a result of using/giving rhino horn.
• Negative impact on health from using rhino horn.
Affluent Mothers
• Believe in fever-reducing qualities of rhino horn - in line with use in Chinese /Vietnamese medicine.
• Keep small quantities at home in case child gets a high fever.
• Also buy for aging parents.
• Relatively recent trend.
• Unclear if using fake vs. genuine rhino horn.
• A group heavily influenced by social media.
• Small individual quantities but large group size.
• Interested and aspire to celebrity mothers.
• Again very status conscious and aspirational
Primary motivator to stop using:
• Negative impact on family health from using rhino horn.
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