Tag: south africa

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Bush Accommodation!

Well, after a nine-hour car ride from Kwazulu Natal to Mpumalanga I have arrived at the Nkombe Camp on Sabi Sabi.

This is a picture of my home for the next seven days. The camp is in a big five area, so I expect quite a few nightly visitors around the camp. I will set up a trap camera (with motion sensor) in front of my tent to capture all wildlife that passes through at night.

Here are also three pictures I took from the car while I was driving. The first gives an impression of the scenery, the second of the special road condition (You are not supposed to stop, so speeding is no problem 🙂 and the third of bovine road blocks!

 

It was an interesting and enjoyable, but very long, trip. Now I am tired. A quick bucket shower, then dinner and an early night!

PS: My 3G USB internet modem works great around the camp. Modern times in the bush 🙂

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Crossing fast!

I usually do not post more than once a day, but I had such a great game drive tonight, that I wanted to share one of my favorite pictures with you.

The drive started with two male Cheetahs greeting us on the savanna, then two Elephant bulls made their appearance and had a good meal on some acacias. And while we were watching them the breeding herd crossed the savanna very quickly (Elephants with young ones do not like to be in the open). We then viewed a Lioness sleeping while Wildebeest were feeding near by. And on the way home we viewed a herd of Buffalo resting near a waterhole.

What an afternoon!

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Rifles, Trails, Landis and Snakes

End of this week I will be leaving Thanda for almost a month to attend four different educational courses.

I will attend a Advanced Rifle Handling Course (to learn how to handle a rifle in a dangerous game encounter) and a Trails Guiding Course. Both course are held by Africa Nature Training (ANT – http://www.africanaturetraining.co.za). The aim of the Trails Guiding Course is to learn – in many contact sessions – how to guide and view dangerous game on foot (Lions, Elephants, Buffalo, Leopards, Rhinos, Hyenas and Hippos).

A Land Rover Experience is also on the program. The goal is to learn how to better handle a Land Rover in off-road situations. And last but not least I will attend a Reptile and Snake Handling Course.

The Advanced Rifle Handling and the Land Rover courses will be held around Pretoria, the Trails Guiding course will be held at Sabi Sabi Game Reserve and the snake handling course will be near Hoedspruit. So will be getting around a bit 🙂

During this time I will have limited internet access, so my blogs may be not as frequent as usual, but I will try to keep you updated on my trails guiding adventures!

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Silent Night!

 

What a night!

After I finished my evening game drive and after a quick meal at Intebane camp I was ready to go home. It was a dark, warm night with many stars overhead.

Just when I left the camp I heard a Lion’s roar nearby. Just a few hundred meters (yards 🙂 up the road a large male Lion walked towards me in the dark. Once he appeared in my headlights I switched them off, stopped the engine and watched him passing my vehicle just within a few meters (using my red-filtered spotlight).

I turned my car around and started following him. He made his way around the camp and moved to a dried-up waterhole in the valley below. On his way he stopped a few times to listen to the voices from the camp and to scent-mark along the road. He finally settled down in the middle of the waterhole. I switched off my car and my lights and I did let me eyes get used to the dark.

I stay with him for a while – looking at the stars in total silence – just a few meters away from one of the most magnificent creatures on earth.

That is why I love Africa!

 

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Massive, Flight and Almost!

On today’s game drive we had an encounter with the massive bulk of seven White Rhinos …

… and some Zebras took flight when we approached a waterhole.

At the end of the day two male Cheetah almost caught an Impala.

We also saw an Elephant bull and a group of Wildebeest at the waterhole.

Not a bad Monday.

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Bath Time!

Sorry that there were no blog posts on Friday and Saturday, but I drove all weekend with guests at the Lodge and had no time to blog.

One of the main reasons for not blogging was that, when I was on my way home just before noon on Saturday (to work on some pictures …), the breeding herd of Elephants crossed the Savanna just behind me. They were on their way to our largest waterhole. So I spend the next 1.5 hours there.

After arrival they not only drank, but they swam, sparred and mud-bathed.

It was incredible to see how the females took care of the youngsters and how our oldest bull made sure that no other mature bull (or any Land Rover :-)) came to close to “his family” while they were enjoying themselves in the water.

They young bulls in the group were sparring quite a bit …

 

… and once the breeding herd had moved of the mature bulls took a mud-bath. Especially the “old guy” enjoyed himself once everyone else had left.

I also recorded some video footage. A YouTube video will be published soon.

Enjoy the pictures and have a good week!

PS: Besides me a herd of Buffalo, a journey of Giraffe and a group of Wildebeest were watching the scene and waited for their turn to drink. The Elephants would not tolerate anyone else near the waterhole during their bath and the old bull made me re-locate a few times before he accepted my presence and I could shoot in peace 🙂

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Love and Hate!

I love Land Rovers and I hate them!

Thanda3 is out of commission again, this time it is the front diff which is currently being replaced 😦

If I am lucky, I will have the vehicle back tomorrow evening. In the meantime I am driving a “Luxury Vehicle”, one of the newest Land Rovers, which is usually used for community trips. It got an (in-) convenient roof, which makes it quite difficult to go off-road on game drive.

Well, tomorrow is another day 🙂

And the picture of the day is a black&white image of a Harem of Zebra!

 

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This time it’s me!

Quite a few of my friends have asked if there are ever any picture with me on game drive.

Well, this shot was taken by Jo Perry, one of the African Impact Volunteers (Thanks for letting me use the picture :-).

I was explaining the “circle of life” after one of our sunset shots at our largest waterhole (I was kneeling on my driver’s seat!)

 

 

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