On Safari With Karen From 17 October 2015

17 October 2015

Today we started a 6-day safari and our first drive was a sunset safari. Well, it was very cloudy so not much sunset to look at, but they still came across some nice animals. There were buffalos, kudus and impalas close to the camp we had noticed upon arrival and in addition the also saw waterbuck, more buffalos, hippos, a fish eagle and elephants in the distance. 

18 October 2015

A rainy start this morning which first intensified before it finally stopped. We had a great morning with lots of sightings and lots of new animals to see, but our highlights were both in the afternoon. 

First we were surprised by a leopard that was strolling alongside the road. This was especially nice since we had missed two earlier leopard sightings today. He strolled along until he got two zebras in his line of vision and then started purposefully walking in their direction. We kept on following for a while, through a drainage line and to the other side. Then he was close, about 15 meters away, he started an elaborate maneuver to walk around them with the wind blowing away from him.

Last we saw he crouched down almost flat to the ground. And then we waited, watching the zebras... We sat watching these zebras graze for about 35 minutes and nothing happened. But it was time for the gates to close soon, so we had to make our way. 

On the last stretch to Skukuza we had another surprise around the corner when 4 wild dogs suddenly appeared out of the grass. Sniffing the air, possibly for prey, they split up and went left and right in twos before rejoining next to the vehicle. Then they kept on walking, but we had to leave these very rare and endangered hunters to make it to camp in time (which we did, by the way, with not even 1 minute spare!) 

Other animals seen: klipspringers, impalas, kudus, common reedbucks, common grey duikers, steenboks, waterbucks, the rare sable antelopes, multiple large herds of buffalos, lots of elephants, white rhinos, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, hippos, crocodiles, hyenas, dwarf mongooses and vervet monkeys. 

Birds included: bateleurs, african fish eagle, kori bustard, pied kingfisher, lilac breasted roller, cape turtle dove, cape glossy starling and green woodhoopoe. 

On safari With Robbie From 16 October 2015

16 October 2015

On a day where temperatures didn’t rise above 17 degrees we had some superb sightings of Zebra and Giraffe!!

The Zebra on the notorious S100 route were in particular special as some mules had begun to fight and specifically " jump and back kick " like only the Zebra can do!!!!

The photos myself and Gary got of these striped wonders were truly up there!!!

Giraffe spotted close to Nsemani were so special as there were 5 drinking together...

After 15 minutes of " pure poetry in motion " drinking the entire herd approached us as if to officially welcome us to the " central " region of Kruger and try and remove our " obsessive thought pattern of the Majestic North" !!!!!

We came across Ostrich that was extremely close to the road and seemed excessively nervous!!!

The Nwanedzi tar however produced the days best with the new addition to the "Predator list " being added... The spotted Hyena who was suckling her 2-3 week old pups very close to the road!!!!

Vocals, visual, volume of traffic were all 10/10 and thoroughly enjoyed.

Guests then departed on a late night safari.

17 October 2015

On the night drive Wendy and Gary added Civet Cat and large spotted Genet to their ever growing list of Mammals and also spotted something on their " needed" list which was the  Flap Necked Chameleon!!!

Setting out a little later today we came across so much on our way to Pretoriouskop that the entire dinner tonight was focused around selecting "no 1 " sighting!!

To summaries we saw the big 5 twice and 10/10 sightings to boot!!!

However for us was the sighting of 3 Giraffe lying down together in a row preparing for a sleep in increasingly bad light!

Garys comment that the W.Rhino and calf close next to us came a near second!!!

18 October 2015

As much as the previous 7 days were legendary in many ways the epic day of the North to South was mutually agreed by all concerned to be today!!!

There was no real standout sighting but the early morning male Leopard near camp walking literally 1 m from us took first prize!!!!

To turn around and see Wendy in tears and awe at this Leopard was quite something and Gary basically remarked that it was his best sighting of any species in all four trips so far!!!

The late afternoon interaction between Baboons and Wild dogs on the sun lit Sabie river was special!!!

So was the rare sighting of a Trumpeter Hornbill at Pretoriouskop camp being extremely vocal!!!

The lion pride lazing in the open was awesome as were many others!!!

Some that quickly come to mind were the sightings 5/5 of Banded and Slender Mongoose and then a glimpse but a positive id of a Cape Clawless Otter!!!

The mind boggles at today but tomorrow something may crop up that tops them " all " !!!

That is what makes Kruger so unbelievably amazing!!!

On Safari With Curtis From 16 October 2015

16 October 2015

The beginning of a new safari and a pretty cold overcast day which turned into a very wet day as the skies opened up!!!

The afternoon seemed fairly quiet but when you add up all that we saw maybe it wasn't as quiet as first thought!!!

The highlight was a lovely family herd of elephants we found at a drinking hole. About ten individuals we had all different sizes and age ranges including a baby less than a year old.

We watched as they drank and then, possibly, the matriarch led them away out of sight.

We also had a nice sighting of three warthog boars next to the road. Not always the most bold of animals but these three were not put off by our presence and continued to dig for any tasty morsels right next to the car.

We also found a leopard lying in the grass, seven very sleepy hyenas, buffalo, Impala, Nyala bulls, bushbuck, steenbok, klipspringer, giraffe, zebra, kudu and hippo.

17 October 2015

Another overcast morning but with a few spots of blue we hoped to see the weather improve.

This morning we hoped to complete the big 5 by finding some lions.

Well it took a while but we eventually found some after getting a tip off from Mark.

We found two sightings just two hundred meters from each other. The first sighting a courting couple who by the looks of it had courted enough as they didn't even have the energy to pop a head up.

The second sighting another courting couple who although didn't mate while we were there did sit up and roll about giving us the opportunity for some decent photos.

Our second highlight was a brief but nice sighting of a honey badger. Too often these sighting are short but on this occasion it was long enough to get a good look at the badger before it moved off.

We also saw two leopards, hyenas, baboon, vervet monkey, elephant, buffalo, white rhino, zebra, giraffe, warthog, kudu, Impala, steenbok, bushbuck, hippo and crocodile.

Birds included a lappet faced vulture, Goliath heron, grey heron, Maribou stork, red billed oxpecker, yellow billed hornbills, bataleur, helmeted guineafowl and tawny eagle.

18 October 2015

An extremely wet start to the day ended up being an extremely hot day by the end and also an extremely good day!!!

Picking just the two highlights is difficult on a day like this but I think the first one has to be our lion sighting.

We initially found a pair right next to the road just relaxing. They then got up and walked across the road to sit with four other lions, three of them smallish Cubs a few months old.

Then out of the bush walked another two females and a male. Then as a whole pride they stood up and walked right next to our vehicle across the road again to be greeted by three more females.

An absolute beauty of a lion sighting especially the interaction between the male and the Cubs who climbed all over him.

Our second highlight was a small group of elephants down at a drinking hole. Five in total but the smallest one stole the show.

The youngster looked no more than a month old but on closer inspection maybe just days old. Still shaky on its legs it struggled to keep close to mum.

It even slipped over into the shallow water with mum quickly giving it a helping trunk to get it back on its feet.

We watched as mum kept the youngster close by protecting it from the sun and any other threats.

Another great experience!!!

We also saw a wonderful leopard sighting, buffalo, white rhino, Impala, kudu, waterbuck, warthog, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, dozens more elephants including a lot of fighting bulls, sable, hippo, vervets, baboon, crocodile, banded mongoose, common duiker and common reedbuck.

Birds included southern ground hornbills, African fish eagle, pied kingfisher, blue waxbill and lilac breasted rollers.

On Safari With Gert 14 October 2015

14 October 2015

After breakfast and loading up for the last morning drive of our 2 remaining guests, we also picked up a group for a full day safari.

The started off quite well as not very far in, we were privileged enough to encounter ‎3 rather majestic large bull Sable Antelope. They were fairly relaxed and even though in tall grass, provided us with a good view, grazing close to our vehicle.

A little further on we also found a dazzle of Zebra in a clearing and there was a young foal with them. We had the perfect opportunity to observe one of the foal's survival strategies, as it hardly left it's mother's side. This illustrated perfectly how the foal with its almost disproportionately long legs fits in next to is mom with their bellies at the same level and as the stripes will break up the outline and make it blend in with its mom, it becomes much harder for predators to notice the youngster. 

After the first couple of hours it heated up significantly and we also said goodbye to our 2 overnight guests. 

Continuing with our full day group, we headed further into the park, trying to get to a few waterholes, which is normally your best bet for animal activity on very hot days. Our efforts were rewarded soon enough, as at one of the larger dams in the area, we found 5 bull elephants of varying ages swimming and cooling down in the water. It is always interesting to see how much they love being in the water and how even the largest of males, will loose all inhibition and splash and play in the water like youngsters, often completely submerged and just using the top of the trunk as a snorkel. Certainly a highlight of the day.

We had another great sighting at a smaller waterhole where a White Rhino was having a wallow in the mud. A hyena approached and made its way into the same waterhole also to cool down. The Rhino hardly paid it any attention and we left the sighting with Rhino and Hyena still happily sharing the same space.

The true highlight of the day, however came when a very alert guest on the back of our truck casually said: "stop, leopard.." I hit the brakes and quickly reversed, but it was already out of sight... slowly driving on again it came back out onto a pathway and it quickly became ‎clear that it was stalking Impala on the opposite side of the road.

We changed position in an attempt not to influence the reaction of either Leopard or impalas in any way. We sat and waited as the leopard snuck out behind a thicket it was using as cover and moved straight towards us! I realized that it was going for a gap underneath the road, through which it would be able to get much closer to the intended prey without having to cross the road. 

We sat waiting patiently for the leopard to emerge on the side of the still unaware Impala.‎.. after about 10 minutes they must have spotted it coming out on their side as a quick, loud warning snort saw the impalas scatter and very quickly get out of sight, living to fight another day, while the leopard, not seen again by us, was left to hunt another day!