Tag Archives: outdoors

Ntshondwe Walkabout

When visiting Ithala Game Reserve, it pays to spend some time strolling through Ntshondwe, the reserve’s award-winning main camp.

Ntshondwe Walkabout (22)

Ntshondwe’s excellent amenities all blend beautifully into the environment and despite offering all modern conveniences, one never feels cut-off from the natural beauty that surrounds you.

Ntshondwe reception

Ntshondwe Information Centre

Ntshondwe’s shop

The conference and function venue

One of Ntshondwe’s chalets

Take one of the shady pathways that lead through the camp’s lush indigenous vegetation.

Ntshondwe pathway

Fig trees are popular with birds and animals alike

The flowers of the Sickle Bush

Stop and have a closer look at the variety of moss, toad stools and mushrooms that thrive in the dampness of the forest floor.

Fungal variety in Ntshondwe

An easy-to-overlook patch of moss

Fungal variety in Ntshondwe

All around you you’ll notice little animals quietly going about their daily lives in the undergrowth – insects, spiders, frogs, toads, lizards and birds

CMR Blister Beetle

Bee and White Water Lily

Suspended spider

Eastern Olive Toad

Tiny Raucous Toad

Tiny Raucous Toad, no bigger than a pinkynail

Painted Reed Frog

Tree living agama lizard

Even bigger animals – especially dassies, monkeys and bushbuck – are quite at home around Ntshondwe’s human visitors.

Ntshondwe Walkabout (1)

Ntshondwe Walkabout (2)

And then, to end your walk on a high, why not head onto one of the surrounding hills – easily accomplished along the well marked trails – for a breathtaking view over Ntshondwe and the reserve?

Ntshondwe Walkabout (20) Ntshondwe Walkabout (21)

We hope you enjoyed this closer look at life inside Ntshondwe? Have a look here to read more about our December 2013 trip to Ithala Game Reserve

Moreletakloof, 5 January 2014

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Suffering from extreme wilderness withdrawal symptoms – yes, we know we’re only back in the city for a week now 😉 – we headed to our local nature reserve, Moreletakloof, this afternoon for a bit of a “fix”.

Out and about

Moreletakloof scenery

Springbok

Moreletakloof scenery

Plains zebra

Blesbok

Guinea fowl

Ithala Game Reserve – December 2013

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Our 2013 December holidays kicked off at one of our favourite South African wild places; the scenically spectacular Ithala Game Reserve in the north of Kwazulu-Natal province.

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Ithala 15Dec2013

We’ve become accustomed to start seeing game as soon as we enter Ithala’s gates, and this visit was no different.

Waterbuck

Plains zebra

We were booked to stay in a self-catering chalet at Ntshondwe Resort, Ithala’s award-winning main camp, for four nights from the 14th of December (more about Ntshondwe here). I quickly had to leave the reserve to have a punctured tyre fixed in the nearby hamlet of Louwsburg while Marilize and Joubert settled in, and before long we set out on our afternoon drive. Inclement weather was setting in and while the animals were hiding away from the thunder and lightning the scenery more than made up for the sparse game viewing.

The rains are on the way!

Have a look at our “community photo challenge” post for other photos taken on our first day at Ithala, before the massive thunderstorm (that knocked out the electricity at camp for hours overnight) set in.

The next morning we went out early for a short drive before spending most of the day settling into the holiday groove in camp.

Orange-throated longclaw

Mushroom on rhino dung

Whenever we visit Ithala we treat ourselves to a guided sundowner drive. Ithala’s one of the few game reserves that allow children as young as Joubert to participate in these open vehicle safaris, and he enjoys it tremendously (as does his parents). The guides share a wealth of knowledge about the reserve and its inhabitants, and the drive often takes in roads that are not open to the general public, thus exposing visitors to areas they would not have experienced otherwise.

Eland

White rhino and Ithala scenery

Mountain reedbuck

Plains zebra

Giraffe

Half-way through the drive there’s time to stretch the legs and enjoy a cool drink

Giraffe after sunset

The setting sun illuminating the clouds from below

Grey duiker in the spotlight

Unfortunately the Dakaneni road down into the Pongola River valley, which is one of our favourites at Ithala, was rendered impassable due to the heavy rains the previous couple of days. While we couldn’t enjoy our traditional breakfast picnic beneath the massive trees at the river picnic site, we still had wonderful sightings on the roads that we could traverse. It is difficult to decide which was our most memorable experience of this visit: the excellent leopard sighting we had on the Ngubhu loop, or the number of close encounters we had with the magnificent and highly endangered black rhinos? Not to mention the inspiring scenery!

Leopard on Ngubhu Loop in Ithala Game Reserve

Eland on the way to Bergvliet

Black rhino pair

Black rhino in dawn silhouette

Red hartebeest

Blue wildebeest youngsters

Reedbuck males squaring off

Giraffe

Angry black rhino

White rhinoceros

Evidence of early human habitation

Ithala scenery

We try to visit Ithala at least once a year – in our opinion it is one of the most diverse and beautiful South African conservation areas and never as crowded as some of the more well-known reserves sometimes feel. The staff are always very hospitable and willing to assist with any issues and the facilities are all well maintained. If you’d like to read more about Ithala you can have a look at two previous detailed blog posts we published about the reserve: Ithala Game Reserve and Ithala Game Reserve – December 2012.

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Beginning

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On our recent visit to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park the babies of a wide variety of animals and birds were much in evidence.

Many of the new arrivals were enjoying newly made friendships, like this warthog piglet and nyala lamb in Mpila camp:

Nyala and warthog playing in Mpila

The African bush is not by any means a child-friendly environment however, as this little Egyptian gosling’s experience illustrates. Newly hatched, it was following its parents to a pond somewhere in the wilds and was obviously struggling to keep up in the extreme December heat. Not off to an easy start…

Tough beginning for an Egyptian gosling

You can click on the images above for a clearer view. This week’s photo challenge theme from WordPress is “Beginning“

Cloudy Golden Gate, 28 December 2013

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Today was our last full day to spend in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park – of this visit in any case. 😉

Tonight we think the fantastic cloud formations that passed over the beautiful mountain landscapes deserves some special attention…

(you can click on any of the images to view them in a carousel gallery)

Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park

Joy (Golden Gate, 27 December 2013)

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When surrounded by nature’s beauty, and with the end of the rainbow conveniently placed along the road you’re already traveling, who wouldn’t experience a feeling of extreme happiness!?

This photograph was taken this afternoon, here in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, and we post it here in response to WordPress’ Weekly Photo Challenge, themed “Joy“.

Joy

Golden Gate, 26 December 2013

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Yes indeed, we’re back in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, and yes, it is very difficult for us to stay away from this beautiful place for very long 😉

Minutes after we arrived and checked into our accommodation at Glen Reenen Rest Camp, a mighty mountain storm passed through, and following the deluge little waterfalls and small streams were in evidence all over the Park.

Rainy Golden Gate Highlands National Park

Wet black wildebeest

Rainy Golden Gate Highlands National Park

Wet black-backed jackal

Rainy Golden Gate Highlands National Park

Imfolozi, 22 December 2013

Grand

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I don’t know of many scenes more grand than an African sunrise, or sunset.

Elephant sunrise, near Letaba in the Kruger National Park

Giraffe sunset, near Olifants in the Kruger National Park

“Grand” is the theme for WordPress’ latest weekly photo challenge.

Pilanesberg National Park, November 2013

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Joubert and I spent last weekend (23 and 24 November) in the Pilanesberg National Park with my brother Niel.

Pilanesberg scenery

Our weekend started early, leaving Pretoria at 03:00 in the morning in order to be at Kwa Maritane Gate before it opened. Shortly after entering we encountered a bunch of adorable, but shy, jackal puppies holed up in a culvert underneath the road. Not a kilometre further, we had an exciting sighting of a young male lion attempting to hunt, unsuccessfully, a group oz zebras and a lone wildebeest. An excellent start to the day, and our good luck continued as we slowly traveled through the reserve, notching up another lion sighting, herds of elephants, white rhinos and giraffes, a good variety of antelope, and several bird species before arriving at Bakgatla Resort, where we’d be camping for the night.

Hiding jackal pup

Lion on the hunt

Lioness

Lionesses

Grey Go-away-bird

Spotted Thick-Knee

Speckled Rock Skink

White rhino bull

Giraffe

Mom and baby

Pilanesberg scenery

After setting up camp, we stretched our legs walking through the camping area, inspecting the facilities (none of which we could fault) and intent on buying an ice cream for Joubert, but unfortunately the tiny shop’s supply had already been sold out.

Red-billed hornbill in Bakgatla

Camping in Bakgatla

Leaving camp earlier than planned for our afternoon drive, we first headed to the Pilanesberg Centre, a historical building that served as the Magistrate’s Court before the Park’s proclamation but today is a popular little restaurant and shop well frequented by visitors, in the hopes of finding Joubert that ice cream he was craving so. Meeting with success on that quest, we set off again looking for Pilanesberg’s wild inhabitants, and again were not disappointed.

White rhino

Lilac breasted roller

Laughing dove

Tiny, lost warthog piglet

Massive crocodile at Lake Mankwe

Black rhinos

At the Fish Eagle Picnic Site we got a close-up glimpse into dung beetle life before spending some time at the photographic hide at Lake Mankwe, enjoying the cool shade and great photo opportunities.

Dung beetle at work

Photographing a dung beetle at work

Fish Eagle Picnic Site

Elephant tracks in the mud

Yellow-billed stork

Weaver

Inside Mankwe Hide

Mankwe Hide

Excitement at Mankwe

Sunday morning we had a couple of hours to explore some more before having to head home. We explored the western sections of the Park and were struck by how exceptionally dry it still is. With summer being the rainy season, we hope the Park will soon see some good rainfall in order to replenish the dams and streams.