SANParks Board Thank Dr. Mabunda For 15 Years Service

SANParks Board thank Dr. Mabunda for 15 years service

Dr David Mabunda’s career as Chief Executive Officer of SANParks will come to an end on 31 March 2014, after two 5-year contractual terms. Dr Mabunda has worked for SANParks for 15 years, starting as Director of the Kruger National Park in 1998 and was appointed CEO of SANParks in 2004. 

The Board expressed its sincere gratitude at its meeting held on 26 March 2014, in recognition of Dr Mabunda’s contribution to conservation and to national parks specifically. The Board will now begin the process of recruiting a successor for the position of SANParks' CEO.

…Ends…

Issued by: Corporate Communications on behalf of the SANParks Board

Media enquiries:
Dr Gert Dry, Chairperson of the Human Resources & Remuneration Committee of SANParks' Board, Tel: 082 441 4426 or Email: gertdry1@vodamail.co.za

On Safari With Mark From 24 March 2014

24 March 2014

Route: Doispan - Skukuza - Napi - Skukuza

General animals seen: kudu, blue wildebeest, impala, hippos, common duiker, rhinos and zebra

Highlights:

Once we entered through Phabeni gate we saw a dark chanting goshawk attack a snake which looked like a vine snake. As the attack was on, it was interesting to see that the snake was trying to wrap itself around the legs of the bird and intern the goshawk only attacked the head area of the snake. This continued for approximately 15min and in the end the goshawk got the better and the snake expired.

Along our route we had wonderful sightings of single elephant bulls as well as herds of elephant cross over in front of our vehicle. Most of these sightings had elephants either drinking water or cooling themselves down by spraying water behind the ears.

We did find a lioness lying in the shade of a sickle bush, however not much could be seen apart from a full belly going up and down as she breathed. Will look for a better sighting so guests can take some photos.

We head north tomorrow morning, just to show guests another part of Kruger as later on in the safari will be based south at Nkambeni.

 

25 March 2014

Route: Skukuza - Tshokwane - H10 - Elloff - Skukuza

General animal sightings: impala, warthog, kudu, bushbuck, chackma baboons, dwarf, slender and banded mongoose, elephant, rhino, crocodile and ostrich

Highlights: At the lower sabi bridge on the H10 we were luck to get a cape clawless otter out of the water on the river bank. Unfortunately as we spotted him, he move back into the water on his way to catch fish and we lost all sight of him. We stayed around but unfortunately didn't get visual of him again. One of those brilliant sightings that no one expected and the only photo taken was in a persons mind.

Heading back to skukuza we found a lioness with her 2 cubs lying in the shade of a sickle bush. We stayed with her a while hoping that she would get up and move closer, but because of the heat of the day she just stayed in the shade relaxing.

 

26 March 2014

Route: Skukuza - Doispan - S65 - H3 - S112 - S114 - Doispan - Albaseni - Nkambeni camp

General animal seen, impala, kudu, giraffe, warthog, zebra, elephant, rhino, waterbuck, hippos, common duiker,

Highlights:  A male leopard walked out behind our vehicle on the S65 approximately 9kms from doispan. As I turned the car around, it moved off the road into the thicket and although we waited a while, that was all we got to see of it. Guests once again couldn't get photos of it but enjoyed the sighting never the less.

We responded to a call about wild dogs just south of S112. We found all 11 just lying right next to the road. Guests got good photos of these and enjoyed the sighting tremendously.

We moved on looking for lion, but no such luck. As we moved towards skukuza, we came across another sighting of 15 wild dogs lying in the road approximately 20m from Stevenson Hamilton and S112 junction. This brought us up to  26 for the day.

After lunch we were fortunate to experience a black rhino game capture for possible relocation purposes. Our guests got good photos of this and a explanation as to how we handle such a process here in Kruger.

Guests are on a sundown drive so we headed back to camp for some rest before leaving on their drive.

 

Keep watching for more!

On Safari With Curtis From 22 March 2014

22 March 2014

After picking up my guest from Nelspruit we headed down to Nkambeni Tented Safari Lodge and checked in. After a bit of lunch and a bit of time to settle in we set off on our first Safari of this tour. A very short drive around the local area and it turned out to be a quiet drive. We had three separate Kudu sightings as well as a sighting of five Giraffes in the distance. We also had a nice Elephant sighting where a young Bull walked across the road in front of us.

Although quiet my guest enjoyed her first experience of Kruger and we both hope for much more tomorrow morning.

 

23 March 2014

We left the lodge early and started to head down Napi. A bit of a quiet start but we did find a couple of nice Elephants close to the road, we also saw a family of Dwarf Mongoose which scurried into the bush as we neared them, However after we turned off the engine and waited a couple of minutes they soon came back out onto the road. We also had sightings of Zebra and Kudu before we turned down to Transport dam. The resident Hippos were there as well as plenty of water birds.

As we drove back and came across two male Rhinos lying in the middle of the road and we got some great close ups of them before they wandered into the bush. We also had two sightings of Waterbuck near the dam. We then heard about a Lion sighting nearby and drove straight there. Unfortunately the Lions had decided to move into the shade of a nearby Acacia and so we only got brief glimpses as they occasionally moved around.

Heading back to the lodge we had Elephant, Impala, Giraffe and Kudu sightings as well as Vervet monkeys.

This afternoon my guest has gone out on an evening drive, with more details to follow tomorrow.

 

24 March 2014

Last nights Sun downer drive was enjoyed very much, with a lovely sunset, and a tot or two of Amarula followed by sightings of Buffalo, Rhino, Impala, Scrub Hare and an owl.

This morning we set of down Albasini where we spotted several Hippo, at Mestel Dam, as well as a tree full of Cattle Egrets as well as Impala and a brief glimpse of a Warthog. As we turned onto Doispane we found two male Lion lying in the bush , not much movement by either so we decided to carry on to Nyamundwa dam where we found a solitary 'Dagga Boy' stood in the dam at the edge. We then noticed a pod of Hippos making their way to the Buffalo, one of them moved all the way up and opened his mouth touching the Buffalo. The Buffalo didn't take kindly to this and turned around before moving slowly out of the water. He moved further along the edge before entering the water again and again one of the Hippos came up to him. This time , however the Buffalo was having none of it and stood his ground and the Hippos moved away. We watched as two more very large Hippos moved closely to the Buffalo but again he stood his ground. While all this was happening we also had a family of Vervet monkey playing and feeding in the tree next to us. We also saw an African Fish Eagle and a Crocodile at the dam.

Carrying on we spotted two White Rhinos and we spent 20 minutes sitting watching them munching away on the grass, as the Red-billed oxpeckers sat on them and the Impalas looking for Ticks. We moved back up to the Lion sighting and the two of them had moved next to each other.
Driving back down doispane we found more Impala, the Hippos and Waterbuck before we returned to the lodge for lunch.

 

Late afternoon we went back out for a short drive spotting Hippo, Impala, Kudu, Cape Buffalo, Giraffe and a very inquisitive family of Dwarf Mongoose who came right up to the car and started looking up at us, even lovelier were the baby Dwarf Mongooses who were just as brave as their parents.

 

 

25 March 2014

 

This morning it was time for the bush walk, accompanied by two armed rangers the guests set off on a three hour walk in the bush. The actual walk turned out to be a quiet affair regarding the larger mammals however this meant more time to explore the smaller, and often forgotten, bits. The guests were shown different spoor, how to identify it and how to decipher what it means. They also learnt about some of the more common local trees, animal scat and smaller animals such as the Golden orb spider. It was thoroughly enjoyable experience and there even had sightings of Giraffe and Cape Buffalo on the drive back.

In the afternoon we went for a drive on the way spotting Impala, Kudu, Waterbuck, Elephants and four separate sightings of White Rhino, with a total of 13 Rhino seen. As we got to the dam we slowly drove past some known Hyena dens but with no luck, we went down to the dam and turned off  the engine and just sat for twenty minutes just enjoying the peaceful tranquillity the water brings. Numerous birds as well as Hippo and Waterbuck were seen. Heading back up to Napi we decided to have one more look for the Hyenas, again we drove past but nothing. As we turned around to head back to the lodge three young Hyena cubs walked across the road before disappearing into the bush. Our patience had been rewarded.

We headed back to the lodge with my guest very happy at seeing the Hyena, her ' top of my list' animal. We saw more Impala, Rhino and Kudu on the way back to the lodge.

On Safari With Karen from 20 March 2014

20 March 2014

Last night's sundowner drive was a success. They set out from Numbi gate spotting zebras and hippos on the way to the sunset spot where they drank some Amarula. When it got dark they drove around with a spotlight, being lucky to see a spotted eagle owl, white rhino, hyena and a honeybadger!

Today we went out for a full day game drive. On camp road we greeted our impala friends and almost at the end we found a road block in the form of a buffalo. Instead of moving to the side he stop and had a poo in the middle of the road, taking his time. We waited and spotted a tree squirrel with a fluffy baby in the tree next to us.

When we continued we heard about a leopard sighting and made our way there. We met another car on the way that showed us the place. We saw some warthogs running away and then we indeed saw the leopard! As soon as we stopped him he got up and moved down out of site. We waited a little, as there was no way to go anyway since there were lots of cars all around, when suddenly an alarm call sounds and this big kudu bull comes jumping out of the thick bush. He scares us, us being there scares him so he screams again and jumps back into the bush the other way. Then we decide to turn around as the cars behind us did and while turning we get another glimpse of him first sitting up on the rocks and then slowly walking out of sight. We were hoping to see him on the other side of the rocks, but no such luck.

At the crossroads we spotted a warthog reading the road sign - no 'looking' at the sign, So this warthog stands in the middle of the crossroads looking at the road sign and then at us. He is quite indecisive so we warn him not to go towards the leopard, but who knows where he went when we left him...

We left the sighting to have a quick toilet break at Pretoriuskop and then continued onto Napi. We spotted an elephant feeding, this one much bigger than the one we saw yesterday. On Napi Boulders we saw 5 male giraffes. A young one and a youngish one who was twice his size were having a very half-hearted fight. They showed the moves but no power or passion. Even when two even bigger ones joined the squabble it looked like a slow motion show without conviction! So no giraffe got injured even a little bit. A little further we saw a terrapin crossing the road from one puddle to another.

We stopped at Transport Dam and saw a large herd of waterbuck snoozing on the opposite side. There was a water monitor on a rock and we saw two hippos in the water. An elephant was feeding but as he was all wet he probably just had a swim before we arrived. We also saw a pied kingfisher showing what he does best: fish. And we saw a lot of other birds like the carmine bee eater, grey heron, greenbacked heron, white faced ducks, water thicknees, blacksmith lapwings and yellow billed hornbills are the ones I remember.

We then turned onto the H3, heading for Afsaal. It is always stunning to see how different the vegetation and the sights get while driving in different areas. The road had some crossing wildlife like impalas, a leopard tortoise and a chameleon. The last one being very slow, showing his imitation of a leaf in the wind, until he got close to the other side of the road and took a sprint! We spotted a nice kudu bull on the side of the road, one that didn't look like he was about to jump in the car. Close to Afsaal on the open area we saw a massive elephant and more kudus.

After our coffee break at Afsaal, the road towards Skukuza had become rather quiet, spotting even hardly any impalas. We decided to take a look around the river as we were told about lions while at Afsaal, but these were unfortunately hiding somewhere unknown. At high level bridge however we spotted some more hippos and saw two nice and close crocodiles. On the way to the golfclub we also saw some zebras and another warthog.

We stopped for lunch at the Skukuza golfclub where a hippo kept on showing half his body above the water. On the way out we spotted a bushbuck hiding in the bush.

Just before we turned onto Doispane we saw a massive herd of buffalo and some zebras which tried to blend in with the herd. The trail of the herd crossed in front of the car when we actually turned onto Doispane.

A little further on we were stopped by another safari vehicle. They had found a leopard, quite far in the bush but with binoculars excellently visible. Grateful we watched until it jumped out of the tree it was lying in. It look like it was going into the direction of a herd of impalas we had just passed, so we turned around. We sat with the impalas for a little while when indeed the leopard showed up crouching in the long grass. We watched it go nearer and nearer but then lost visual when it was about 10m away. Too far to make a dash and the impalas were not aware of the leopard yet. So we hang around for a while, all the time scouting the area in between the last spot we saw the leopard and the impalas. But she did not return in our sights and unfortunately we had to leave as we were running out of time.

We turned onto Watergat and spotted some vervet monkeys. They were hanging around, quite literally as 1 was hanging upside down on a tree ready to jump/let go. The youngsters were having some playing time. We also saw a large elephant bull and more kudus and impalas.

Back on Napi we came across another herd of buffalo. But then close to Transport Dam we saw 11 hyenas outside their den. Of those 11 only 4 were adults and the rest was youngsters of various ages and one female looked heavily pregnant too. The babies were drinking with their mothers while the youngsters were running around in the grass.

After sitting with them for a while, we really had to go. While driving back to Nkambeni there was no more time for stopping, except for some dwarf mongoose and later on impalas in the middle of the road (we wouldn't want to run over anything, now would we!). It had been a long day, but a very successful one.

22 March 2014

Today was our last day. We left after breakfast once again and passed our impala friends on camp road without stopping this time. On the tar road we spotted zebras.

There were rumours there were lions on the Shabeni koppies so we took a drive around the loop. The previous vehicles there hadn't seen anything, but it couldn't hurt to see for ourselves. We drove right way around the koppies and spotted buffalos, impalas and a klipspringer. When we were all around we decided to go around the loop one more time the left way around. To see things from a different perspective, we joked. We once again saw the klipspringer and then suddenly spotted movement. We stopped and through our binoculars we didn't see the lions we were hoping for but a leopard! He was watching around and sometimes even straight at us. The klipspringer started whistling alarm when the leopard got up and walked in his direction. He ran away when the leopard came too close. We sat watching the leopard for about 30min, all by ourselves. The klipspringer came back, showing his mate the location of the leopard too. We could almost see them whisper "look, honey, there he is. I told you there was a leopard".

We also heard vervet mknkeys alarm calling in the area. Probably for that same leopard. As the leopard was settling down again, our attention waivered in trying to find the monkeys, but to no avail.

Then we decided to finish the Shabeni loop, with unfortunately no sightings of lions, but we did see another buffalo and a hovering black shouldered kite.

Just before we turned into Albassini road we saw a small herd of buffalo crossing. And then all the way up Albassini to Phabeni Gate we saw absolutely nothing. Not even an impala. Guess our luck had run out!

At Phabeni Gate we quickly stopped for a toilet break. Kelly thought it was wise to point out we have been so lucky with the weather those four days.... Needless to say we drove to the airport through thick fog and rain! But that didn't change anything. I had to say goodbye to Kelly and Alex at the airport, who are having a bit more holiday in Cape Town and surroundings before they are heading home. It was great having you on safari with us, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!