Invariably the rhinos we saw were accompanied by both red- and yellow-billed oxpeckers that were not at all shy about the intimate spaces they were inspecting for ticks!
Red-billed Oxpecker inspecting a White Rhino’s ear
Red-billed Oxpecker diving into a White Rhino’s ear
Red-billed Oxpecker
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
Red- and Yellow-billed Oxpeckers sharing a rhino
We’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!
We had two terrific late afternoon Cheetah sightings during our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photographic safari at the end of June. Our guests were most appreciative of these two beautiful models!
Our first cheetah sighting of the trip was courtesy of this male patrolling and marking his territory. We could follow along for quite some distance and our guide positioned the vehicle expertly for great shots, even in the fast-fading light.
Cheetah
Our second cheetah sighting of the trip was of another male using a fallen Marula tree as a vantage point from which to check for prey or danger – we never figured out which it was as he disappeared from view in a thorny thicket shortly after jumping off.
Cheetah
We’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!
The Manyeleti Game Reserve has a large population of buffaloes and we encountered several enormous herds of these bulky bovines while exploring the reserve on our recent Manyeleti Magic photographic safari. Being able to venture so close to animals this intimidating is always a thrilling affair.
One buffalo from a herd several hundred strong
A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective
A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective
A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective
A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective
Buffalo taking a little longer to chew this prickly grasshead
Buffalo taking a little longer to chew this prickly grasshead
Old Buffalo bull
Buffalo cow with interesting headdress
Buffalo calf
Alert Buffalo bull
Buffalo cow
Young Buffalo bull
We’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!
Late afternoon on the third day of our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photo-safari we were driving through a most beautiful spot of towering trees lining a stream and waterhole, with the most glorious golden light illuminating the scene. It was a little slice of paradise filled with various animals and birds and it is hard to describe just how blessed we felt to be there in the moment.
Giraffes congregating at the water to drink
Giraffe checking out the water before drinking
Nile Crocodile basking on a sandbank
Hippo eyeing us from the waterhole
Hippopotamus cow and calf
Hippopotamus calf
Our guide Beckson was the first to notice an enormous Southern African Rock Python slithering across the two-track road we were on. It was a magnificent specimen and must’ve only very recently shed its old skin as it was now resplendent with shiny new scales amplified by the golden light of the afternoon sun. With pythons, especially this size, being a rare sighting we all got off the vehicle and our guests had a chance to photograph the enormous snake from all angles before it moved underneath an old leadwood stump and disappeared from view. A most memorable encounter; the kind of which we’ve learned is pretty much par for the course in the magical place that is Manyeleti!
Shiny new scales on a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari
The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari
The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari
The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari
The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari
Just look at the size of this Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari!
We’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!
I am fresh back from our Manyeleti Magic Photo-Safari & Workshop hosted in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography out of Buffelshoek Tented Camp, and what a trip it was – without a question one of the best I have ever had, and with 40+ years of visiting South Africa’s wild places that takes some doing! Of course I will be telling you all about it in good time, but here’s a little taste of what you can look forward to.
Red-billed Oxpecker diving into a White Rhino’s ear
Spotted Hyena
Bateleur pair
Lilac-breasted Roller
Cheetah
Young male Lion
Magpie Shrike
One buffalo from a herd several hundred strong
Pearl-spotted Owlet
The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari
Spotted Hyena
African Wild Dogs in playful mood before starting their hunt
A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective
White Rhino
Leopard
Hippo eyeing us from the waterhole
Cheetah
Lions after dark
One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride
Two of the Kambula Lions at Manyeleti
Buffalo taking a little longer to chew this prickly grasshead
DeWetsWild and Hannes Rossouw Photography invite you to Manyeleti Magic, 27 June to 1 July 2024. A one-of-a-kind photographic safari in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve, an integral part of the Greater Kruger National Park.
Join us for a look back at the wonderfully wild South African destinations we visited during 2023. May 2024 be a blessed year for you and your family, memorable for all the best reasons.
Jakhalsfontein Guest Farm
Our camping setup at Bontle in Marakele National Park, March 2023
Chalet #1 in Lilydale Rest Camp
Hut #107 in Pretoriuskop Rest Camp, Kruger National Park (June 2023)
Hut #46 in Lower Sabie Rest Camp, Kruger National Park (June 2023)
Tent #10 in Tamboti Tented Camp, Kruger National Park (June 2023)
Guest House, Shingwedzi Research Camp, Kruger National Park, June 2023
Buffelshoek Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
Ndzhaka Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
Twanana Research Camp, Kruger National Park, September 2023
House #32, Kudu Private Nature Reserve, October 2023
The beach at the estuary of Lake Saint Lucia
Cape Vidal at low tide
Western Shores section of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park
Rest Hut #3, Mantuma Rest Camp, uMkhuze Game Reserve, November 2023
One of our very first sightings in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve – shortly after settling in at Ndzhaka Camp – was of two young Leopards. Their mother had caught an antelope for each of them and hoisted these into different trees so that the two cubs could eat in peace. One had a bushbuck, the other an impala. It was amazing being so close to the feeding leopards. They truly are beautiful animals.
Young leopard in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Young leopard in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Young leopard in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Young leopard in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Young leopard in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
The next afternoon while enjoying our drive from Buffelshoek Camp we eventually found ourselves back at the Leopard sighting just after sunset. Both the cubs were still there – in separate trees – and their mother joined them, snacking on the leftovers of the bushbuck. Below two Spotted Hyenas were waiting for scraps falling from the tree above.
Leopard Cub in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Leopard Cub in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Female Leopard feeding on a bushbuck carcass in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Spotted Hyena, Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Getting up close to feeding leopards in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Female Leopard feeding on a bushbuck carcass in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Female Leopard feeding on a bushbuck carcass in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
In the fading light I eventually had to switch to video. The female would stop feeding every now and then, growling ferociously at something unseen in the dense undergrowth. Minutes later the source of her irritation revealed itself as a male Leopard, in all likelihood the father of the cubs. He climbed into the other tree to feed on the remains of the Impala carcass. In 45 years of frequent visits to our wild places I have never seen four leopards in the same spot. An incredible experience, and I hope this video gives you a sense of that!
Heading back to Buffelshoek Camp in the dark we encountered more Spotted Hyenas in the road.
Shortly after leaving Ndzhaka Camp on our first guided morning drive in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve earlier this month, we found a pack of Painted Wolves, better known as African Wild Dogs, in the road. There was great excitement among the younger Dogs in the pack as the adults had just returned to them with meat from a fresh kill, and all of them were in a very playful mood. We got some wonderful photographs and video of the Dogs playing around the vehicles at the sighting.
Wild Dog in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Wild Dog in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Wild Dog in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Wild Dog in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Playful Wild Dog pups in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Playful Wild Dog pups in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Playful Wild Dog pups in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Playful Wild Dog pups in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Playful Wild Dog pups in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Playful Wild Dog pups in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Wild Dog in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
After a while we noticed two Cheetahs walking along the road in our direction, very aware of the Wild Dogs but apparently not fazed enough by them to immediately head for cover.
Two cheetahs walking along the road in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
It didn’t take long for the Wild Dogs to also notice the Cheetahs though, and they immediately set off in their direction.
Wild Dogs running along the road in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Now this is the point where I can kick myself! I thought I was videoing the whole sequence, but in the excitement I never pressed the recording button… Next time I will do better, I promise… As the Wild Dogs trotted ever closer one of the Cheetahs broke cover and charged at them, seemingly thinking that offense is the best defense. The Cheetah was however immediately surrounded by the adult Wild Dogs, hit with its front paws on the ground, hissing and spitting, and then ran through a gap in the Dogs and up a dead tree, where we pick up the action with a photograph or two.
Cheetah after being chased up a tree by Wild Dogs in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Cheetah jumping out of the tree
With the Dogs satisfied that they’ve given the Cheetahs a run for their money and setting of on another hunt, we followed the now reunited Cheetahs for a while until they moved into dense cover where we lost sight of them. By then, the Wild Dogs had also ventured further into the bush and out of sight.
Cheetahs in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Cheetahs in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Cheetah in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
African Wild Dogs can cover enormous distances, and we found the pack again that afternoon, this time on a drive from Buffelshoek Camp. In the heat of the afternoon they were a lot less energetic and more content lazing in the shade at the side of the road than hunting.
The Manyeleti Nature Reserve is renowned for its large prides of Lions and so we had high hopes for excellent sightings before we arrived. We didn’t have to wait long into our first afternoon drive from Ndzhaka Camp for our first encounter with the “Kings of Beasts” as we happened upon a large pride walking with determination through the veld while our guide tried to manoeuvre the vehicle into position for the best pictures.
Lioness in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Lion family in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
A young male Lion in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
A big male Lion in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Young lion in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Young lion in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
A big male Lion in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
A big male Lion in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
A big male Lion in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
A young male Lion in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
As we drove out of Buffelshoek Camp our last morning at Manyeleti Nature Reserve dawned like a painting with a glorious orange sun backlighting large trees eerily peering through the mist that settled on the plains overnight.
Sunrise over Manyeleti
Years of visiting our wild places has given me a sixth sense that told me we won’t be waiting long for another audience with Manyeleti’s monarchy that morning, but our first sighting as we drove from camp was of two spotted hyenas lying lazily on the two-spoor track, as if just waiting for us to arrive.
Lazy Spotted Hyenas on the two-spoor track
Lazy young Spotted Hyena
And then, there they were! Two enormous Lionesses with their stomachs distended from a large meal enjoyed overnight. Eventually they got up and started moving in the direction of the nearby waterhole. We followed along for a few hundred metres, until they probably felt they needed another break and picked a termite mound as an elevated bed. One of the Queens flopped onto her side almost immediately, but the other was very interested in something happening between us and the camp, still visible in the distance.
Two very full Lionesses in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Two very full Lionesses in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Two very full Lionesses in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Two very full Lionesses in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
The Queen is not impressed! A Lioness in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Two lionesses on the move in the Manyeleti
Two lionesses on the move in the Manyeleti
Two lionesses on the move in the Manyeleti
Two lionesses on the move in the Manyeleti
Two lionesses settling on a termite mound in the Manyeleti
DeWetsWild 