On Safari With Gert 11 October 2016

11 October 2016

This afternoon we started a new Safari with Anthony and Julia from Australia. After a quick lunch stop at a nearby camp, we set off to our destination for the next 3 nights.

As it was a very hot day - about 38 degrees - we weren't expecting a great deal of animal activity for the first part, however, we were very lucky at a small waterhole to find a young male lion lying on the edge of the clearing in a shady spot, keeping a eye on some nearby Impala. Upon our arrival 2 very impressive Elephant bulls came walking out towards the water, passing within 10 meters of the lion, which suddenly tried to look very inconspicuous! The Elephants paid it no attention and proceeded to drink their fill and also have a good splash to cool down. They slowly moved off to feed, followed by 6 younger bulls, considerably less happy with the presence of the lion than the older bulls! The lion eventually thought it a good idea to move away slightly and found some thicker cover and more shade a few meters further in, adding to the distress of a Giraffe which was surveying the scene from close by. However the lion got very comfortable in its new shady spot and we eventually left the sighting happy with a great start to the Safari!

On Safari With Robbie From 8 October 2016

8 October 2016

Our short pm safari this afternoon was totally dominated by Elephant!!

What was amazing to us was watching 3 Elephant bulls feeding on Sycamore leaves in a dry river bed!!

Out of the blue and further down the dry riverbed came a younger bull with quite an attitude with a mission of stealing the fresh leaves!!

However he was soon put in his place by the older males and was literally leaves free for 15 minutes until they kindly allowed him to share some!!

Great birding and general game spotting was also achieved!

Tomorrow its a 5am start!

9 October 2016

Today due to early rising by Thomas and Sonja we were first in at Phabeni gate at 05-20 am!!

We were truly rewarded with what was in the end the top sighting of the day.. a huge Hippo bull that approached us from his night out feeding!!

To see this massive mammal when it is on the " trot" so to speak is something special!!!

The big male literally stopped to observe us for a couple minutes then increased its pace, crossing the road at an ever increasing pace towards its safe region of water nearby!!

The rest of the morning was full of sightings of Lion, Elephant. Buffalo, W.Rhino and plenty general game!!

Tonight guests enjoy a night drive.

On safari With Amanda From 6 October 2016

6 October 2016

After a very successful full day yesterday we decided to take it easy and do a morning and afternoon drive.

A little bit chilly, but, with temperature set to reach 36° you could feel the warmth in the air.

Along the road we came across a herd of zebras with the smallest foal I'd ever seen it was totally adorable, sticking very close to its mum. We watched for a while moving off onto one of the dirt roads. Lovely giraffes, Donnas favorite, and nice elephants. 

After lunch and a siesta we headed to mestle dam and saw lovely fish eagles and hippos. A very scenic drive, Donna happy to chat and take in the amazing scenery.

7 October 2016

Our last drive this morning and it was a stunningly warm morning. 

On one of the roads we watched a small herd of Elephants cross, the baby running quickly after its mum! It's just nice to sit and watch these beautiful animals. Further down we saw a mother rhino and it's calf and behind them in the distance a herd of sable antelope.  

Lots of birds on our trip.... bateleur eagles, lilac breasted rollers, tawny eagles, blue waxbill and glossy starlings amongst others.

I dropped Lesley and Donna off for their panorama tour after a lovely time in the best place on earth.

On Safari With Mark From 6 October 2016

6 October 2016

This morning we set off back to Kruger after spending some quality time at the rehabilitation center and both clients understanding what we doing for each species here in SA.

We had a full day ahead as we drive south searching for different animals.

Our 2 highlights happened to be in the late afternoon whereby we found a male leopard that had just caught a bushbuck and had started opening it up to remove the entrails. We sat watching this for approximately 30min and as time was an issue we had to move on. This after he had dragged the antelope closer to the base of a marola tree. I was pretty sure that it would drag it up into the tree but unfortunately we couldn't stay any longer.

The second highlight was on our return to camp, we found a herd of Sable. This was fantastic and guests could get great photos of the last sunshine on their bodies. With the soft lights it was a really "Out of Africa" experience and I'm sure many memories of this great trip will be remembered.

7 October 2016

Unfortunately only enough time for 1 highlight as we had to drop the guests for their travels back to JHB.

This didn't stop me for looking for the 3 male Cheetah . Imagine my surprise when the road I was traveling on had the 3 brothers and since Cristina had arrived it was one animal she desperately wanted to see. This was a fantastic way to end the safari and although they were a bit far from the road, we still achieved what we wanted to do.

So with proud title holders of the magnificent 7 it was time to return them to JHB for flights back to Switzerland.