On Safari With Curtis 14 December 2015

14 December 2015

The joys of the rainy season as we had a huge thunderstorm overnight and woke to a damp cold rainy morning.

Didn't stop us getting a great elephant sighting as we found four bull elephants just outside the lodge fence.  Two giants and two smaller were busy eating. We followed one who seemed to be checking out the marula trees for any early fruit which may have dropped.

Another lion sighting this morning, with two males lying in the damp grass, not much movement but then one started to roar which then persuaded the second one to join in.

The highlight though was a group of three rhino. This was the one sighting that my guests really wanted to see and to get a good photo of. And after a couple of drives without a sniff off one it was lovely to cross it off their wishlist.

Also seen steenbok,  common duiker,  Impala,  giraffe,  warthogs,  waterbuck,  kudu, zebra, hippo, crocodile,  Vervet Monkeys and buffalo and hyena.

On Safari With Curtis 13 December 2015

13 December 2015

The first day of a new safari and we were spoiled with two lion sightings. The first a big male relaxing and hiding from the warming sun. Not much action going on except for when he decided to roll over onto his back with all four paws in the air.

The second was nicer, 3 lionesses and a youngish male up on top of a rocky area overlooking their territory. With a troop of baboons just fifty meters away, all conveniently situated up or close to a tree, alarm calling.

The guests also had their sundowner drive this evening, unfortunately the weather wasn't on their side with several rain showers throughout the evening so limited sightings but they did see giraffe and had a troop of baboons come close as they had drinks.

Also seen were elephant, buffalo, Impala, steenbok, common duiker, sable, Vervet Monkeys, zebra, waterbuck, kudu, crocodile and lots of warthogs with piglets.

Birds included the cape glossy starling, white stork, marabou storks, red crested Korhaan, tawny eagle and the returning call of the woodlands kingfishers.

On Safari With Amanda 13 December 2015

13 December 2015

Summer is definitely here.. not only are the Woodlands kingfishers calling but the real feel temperature was 51°!!

My new guests arrived the day before at skukuza airport. We took a short drive to skukuza camp along the way a beautiful nyala bull stood in the road watching us before heading off into the bush. 

We stayed at buhala lodge just outside the Kruger sitting on the deck watching a lone buffalo wander along the banks of the crocodile river.

well rested we headed out for an early morning drive, thankfully a cooler day today with the promise of rain. Lots of impala babies following their mothers, then a light rain came and we sat and watched as at least 5 impalas ran around trotting and jumping all excited as the rain came, very nice to see.

My guests desperately wanted to see lions.. so I headed off to where I'd heard they were, we drove for an hour and then came across two of the most handsome young lions I'd seen, my guests could hardly contain themselves as we sat with only one other vehicle. One of the lions moved to another bush and to our delight started calling not more than 10m away from us the sound reverberating through us.

On the journey back we came across some adorable hyena babies of different ages just lying relaxing on the side of the road very special to see.

After the heat of the previous day the animals came out of hiding and to enjoy the cool temperature. Lots of elephants, zebras and kudu....the leopard still eludes us.. but there's always tomorrow! 

On Safari With Gert From 12 December 2015

12 December 2015

This afternoon we welcomed 2 new guests, arriving in about 40 degrees after a long journey from Germany. We transferred to the Park in our open safari vehicle and shortly after entry encountered a small herd of Kudu, browsing nearby as well as a herd of Impala with a large number of lambs.

At a sighting of two large old male Buffalo we also saw a Black-bellied Bustard on a large termite mound, calling as a territorial advertisement.

Distant thunderstorms with the occasional bolt of lightning were approaching and the wind quickly picked up. We encountered a male White Rhino against the wind and it was rather skittish in such conditions, but did eventually cross the road in front of us. It was then that the rain drops started falling and we headed back to camp for a welcome dinner and a good night's sleep accompanied by the sound of rumbling thunder!

13 December 2015

Today was absolutely perfect conditions for a game drive after the overnight rain and we set out early with a light drizzle coming down. Approximately 1 hour into our drive we encountered 3 male cheetah in an open area and in quite a playful mood, chasing each other and rolling around, stretching and eventually settling on a termite mound to survey the surroundings. Evidently something drew their attention as all 3 got up simultaneously and trotted off, into a thicket and out of sight.

We then passed an active hyena den and had 4 adults and 4 cubs out of the den, the cubs especially in a very playful mood, coaxing the adults into their games and also investigating the smells on the various parked vehicles observing them.

Not long after that we came across a female white rhino and her calf of about 2 years old. Also feeling refreshed and energetic after the rain, the calf was nudging his mom and jumping around and eventually got her to play back and they ran chasing each other around in an apparent game of tag, eventually trotting across the road in front of our vehicle.

This was followed by a sighting of 2 large dark-manned male lions in their prime, with full bellies, lying in an open area about 30 meters off the road. They were both in magnificent condition and although not very active, had their heads up most of the time allowing us some very good views.

We returned to camp for a midday break before heading out for a short late afternoon drive during which, incredibly, we were fortunate enough to see all of the Big 5! The highlight of these was undoubtedly our leopard sighting...

The young male was lying down about 5 meters off the road, soaking up the attention from holiday makers and surrounded by a small herd of about 15 elephants feeding. The leopard's ears perked up at the sound of Impala calling not too far off and it quickly got up and moved in that direction, crossed the road and lay down in the grass. It then seemed to loose interest in the impala and got comfortable on its side, apparently having a snooze. Thus it was back to camp for us to conclude an exceptional day's game viewing.