Tag Archives: wildlife

Ithala Game Reserve – December 2013

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“

Imfolozi, 22 December 2013

Imfolozi, 18 December 2013

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We arrived at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park today and checked into our accommodation at Mpila Camp. Shortly afterwards, the neighbours’ kids came to welcome us 😉

Southern Ground Hornbill

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Bucorvus leadbeateri

The Southern Ground Hornbill is an easily recognisable bird that occurs in the northern and eastern parts of South Africa. Turkey-sized, weighing up to 6 kilograms, very confident, and with the longest eyelashes imaginable, they make great photographic subjects.

Ground hornbills are mostly found in woodland or savanna with large trees used for roosting, and nesting in deep holes in often dead trees.

In the early morning, their booming, lion-like, calls can be heard up to 3 kilometres away. Groups of between 2 and 11 individuals occupy home ranges of about 100 square kilometres. These groups consist of a dominant alpha pair, the only ones in the group that breed, and their “helpers” of various ages. Though they lay clutches of two or three eggs between September and December and incubate the eggs for 45 days, only one hatchling is raised to fledging, the others either dying of neglect or being killed by their older sibling. The chick leaves its tree-hole nest at three months of age and is then cared for by its parents and their helpers for up to two years. This means that a pair of ground hornbills produce a maximum of one offspring only once in three years which is an exceptionally low rate of reproduction for a bird – some studies have found that only one chick every nine years reaches adulthood! Ground hornbills can live for up to 30 years in the wild.

Though they are quite capable flyers, you’ll mostly see them striding across the savanna – they can walk distances up to 11 km a day – searching for food. Ground hornbills are predators and their diet ranges from small fry like insects, snails, lizards and frogs to large snakes and mammals up to the size of hares! They’re often encountered near veldfires and on burned areas, searching for exposed prey fleeing the flames or scorched morsels ready for the picking. They’ve also learnt that visitors to game reserves often offer handouts of food from inside motor vehicles, a practice that should not be encouraged as it is detrimental to their health and negatively affects their natural behaviour.

Unfortunately, the Southern Ground Hornbill is an endangered species in South Africa. Having lost much of its habitat to farming practices and tree harvesting, they’re also targeted by poachers supplying the traditional medicine (or muthi) trade, in which their ground up bones are regarded as “protection” against lightning strikes. This, coupled with their slow reproductive rate, has pushed them to the brink of being wiped out. Today, the only place in the country where they can be found reliably is in the Kruger National Park, where the population stands at about 700 individuals. In an effort to boost their numbers, conservators often remove the second-laid egg from nests for hand-rearing and then later release the juvenile bird back into the wild, and in this way founder populations have been re-established at a handful of reserves from which they’ve disappeared.

Ground Hornbills at sunrise

Ground Hornbill in flight

Ground Hornbill

Ground Hornbill feasting on termites

Ground Hornbill (photo by Joubert)

Southern Ground Hornbill

Ground Hornbill (photo by Joubert)

We didn’t expect to find a pair of Southern Ground Hornbills roaming the grasslands in the rain at Rugged Glen!

Ground Hornbill

Ground Hornbill juvenile

Southern Ground Hornbill

Southern Ground hornbill

Ground hornbill

Ground hornbill, S100

Ground hornbill

Southern Ground Hornbill

Southern Ground Hornbill (photo by Joubert)

Southern Ground Hornbills

Ground Hornbills striding past a young Nile Crocodile

Ground Hornbill

Southern Ground Hornbill

Ground Hornbill snacking

Southern Ground Hornbill

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.

Giraffe

Black backed jackal

Tsessebe searching for fresh growth following a fire in the Pilanesberg

Rock-climbing the white rhino way

Elephant

Black-backed jackal

Waterbuck

Kudu

Ruighoek Dam almost dry

Large-leaved Rock Fig

All-in-all a very enjoyable boys camping weekend at Pilanesberg, which we hope to enjoy again as soon as possible.

Golden Gate, 27 November 2013

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I made a quick solo visit to Golden Gate Highlands National Park today for work, and of course the cameras went along! With summer now in full swing the Park is looking absolutely beautiful. You can click on any of the images to view them in a carousel gallery:

What a final resting place!

Summer in the highlands

Blesbok and Golden Gate scenery

Plains zebra

Jackal Buzzard

Summer in the highlands

To read more about Golden Gate Highlands National Park, have a look at our special post on the Park’s 50th anniversary)

Crocodile Bridge Rest Camp, Kruger National Park

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Crocodile Bridge

Almost right in the south-east corner of the Kruger National Park lies quaint Crocodile Bridge, which serves both as an entrance gate into the Park and a rest camp providing overnight accommodation and other amenities to visitors.

Crocodile Bridge sunset

The first Europeans to set foot in what is today the Kruger National Park was a Dutch expedition from Delagoa Bay (today Maputo, Mozambique) in 1725, under command of Francois de Kuiper, who was forced to turn around at Gomondwane just north of Crocodile Bridge by antagonistic locals.

By 1894 work started on the railway bridge across the Crocodile River, an important section of the Selati Line.

Crocodile Bridge railway bridge

Crocodile Bridge was one of the first four ranger stations in the Sabie Game Reserve, which later became the Kruger National Park. The first stretch of road in the Park was built by ranger de la Porte from Crocodile Bridge to his post at Lower Sabie for use by his personal Model-T Ford, but it was too rough to be used by visitors and so had to be upgraded soon after the Park’s proclamation in 1926. The pontoon over the Crocodile River was in use until 1945, the last in the Park to be replaced with a low-level causeway.

Misty Crocodile Bridge sunrise

In March 1929, the Crocodile Bridge area was the scene of one of the most notorious events in the young Park’s history. Two lorry loads of American tourists, visiting South Africa on a cruise ship tour, were driven into the Park on their way to Lower Sabie, when they were caught in a thunderstorm and decided to turn back. A dry stream they had crossed earlier was now in flash flood, but the drivers decided to cross it nevertheless, with dreadful consequence, as the first truck was summarily overturned by the raging water. Luckily no one was killed or seriously injured. When lions started roaring nearby, the soggy tourists climbed into the thorn trees and this is where the local ranger found them hours later; cold, miserable, wet, muddy and tattered. The subsequent reports all over the world describing the Park as a “death trap” lead to it being closed to visitors annually through the wet season, a ruling that was scrapped only in the late 1970’s.

The perils of working as the ranger guide at the Hippo Pools – a herd of buffalo may just cause you to be late for work!

Today, the area around Crocodile Bridge is one of the most popular regions in the Park – little wonder considering that the immediate area around the camp supports large numbers of a huge variety of animals and birds. The tarred road leading to Lower Sabie carries most of the “traffic”, and so we prefer to travel on the gravel roads instead when we are in the vicinity. The S25 road that follows the course of the Crocodile River westwards towards Malelane is a particular favourite that often delivers sightings of predators. A short turn-off from this road takes you to the Hippo Pools, where an armed ranger escorts visitors to the river’s edge for a closer view of the hippos, crocodiles and riverine birds. The S28 Nhlowa Road is an alternative, and highly recommended, route through to Lower Sabie. Near camp, Gezantfombi Dam is just the place to enjoy that first morning coffee or to while away the last couple of minutes before the gates close for the night.

Elephants on the move

Martial eagle

Buffalo are numerous around Crocodile Bridge

Gezantfombi Dam

Young giraffe males on the Crocodile River road (Kruger)

Leopard on the Crocodile River road

Spotted hyena on the road to Lower Sabie

Cattle egret

Nhlowa Road scenery

Magnificent male white rhinoceros

Lions are frequently seen at Crocodile Bridge

Cheeky baby elephant

The camp lies on the bank of the Crocodile River and its shady grounds are frequented by a myriad of small animals and a rich birdlife – just keep a watchful eye on the little vervet monkeys who’ll part you from any food left in the open in the blink of an eye! Crocodile Bridge first opened to visitors in the 1930’s but was completely rebuilt in 1987. It offers twenty 3-bed bungalows with their own bathrooms and kitchenettes, eight safari tents that make use of communal facilities, and a small campsite (with plugpoints). The camp also has a small, but well stocked, shop and a fuel station.

Whip spider in Crocodile Bridge

Crocodile Bridge safari tent

Vervet monkey in Crocodile Bridge

Camping in Crocodile Bridge

Blue waxbill in Crocodile Bridge

Crocodile Bridge bungalows

Tree Agama in Crocodile Bridge

It’s the family-friendly atmosphere that draws us to Crocodile Bridge most. The spacious, green, shady lawns of the camp, the game-rich surroundings and the peacefulness of it all will see us return again and again…

Crocodile Bridge

Unexpected

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Finding a little bat in a corner of a kitchen at Shingwedzi Rest Camp, was definitely an unexpected, but not unwelcome, surprise.

Unexpected

“Unexpected” is this week’s weekly photo challenge from WordPress.

Cape Mountain Zebra

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Equus zebra zebra

The Cape Mountain Zebra is a smaller, and much rarer, cousin of the better known plains zebra. It occurs naturally only in the southern provinces of South Africa and is considered vulnerable, though the population is increasing in size thanks to dedicated conservation work at especially the Mountain Zebra and Karoo National Parks, both of which offers an excellent chance of seeing these beautiful animals in their natural habitat.

The Star Attraction at Mountain Zebra National Park

Cape Mountain Zebra

Mountain Zebras occur in small family groups of up to 15 animals, led by a dominant stallion, while young stallions roam around in bachelor groups after being ejected from the groups they were born in. Adults of both sexes are extremely protective of their young.

Cape Mountain Zebras

Cape Mountain Zebra

Cape Mountain Zebras

Cape Mountain Zebras on a hillside in the Bontebok National Park

Two Mountain Zebra stallions chasing a mare

Cape Mountain Zebra and Eland congregating at a waterhole

Mountain Zebras

Cape Mountain Zebra

Cape Mountain Zebras

Cape Mountain Zebra

Cape Mountain Zebras

Mountain Zebras

Mountain Zebras inhabit, as their name suggests, dry, rocky, mountainous areas and the surrounding plains and valleys (the latter being important as hiding places against cold weather). They are almost exclusively grazing animals and can stay without water for up to three days, though they prefer to drink daily if surface water is available.

Cape Mountain Zebra

Cape Mountain Zebra showing how they got their name

Mountain Zebras drinking

Mountain Zebras

Mountain Zebra crossing in Karoo National Park

Mountain Zebra crossing in Karoo National Park (photo by Joubert)

Mountain Zebra

Cape Mountain Zebra

Cape Mountain Zebras

Cape Mountain Zebra in the Opstal Camp

Cape Mountain Zebra

Cape Mountain Zebras

Cape Mountain Zebra

Mountain Zebra

Mountain Zebra family squabble

Mountain Zebra (photo by Joubert)

Mountain Zebra

Cape Mountain Zebras

Cape Mountain Zebra

Cape Mountain Zebra foal

Cape Mountain Zebra foal being shy

Cape Mountain Zebra

Cape Mountain Zebra mare and foal

Mares give birth to a single foal at any time of the year. With an adult weight of around 250kg and shoulder height of 1.25m, the Cape Mountain Zebra is slightly smaller than the plains zebra.