Blogs from Mpumalanga , South Africa, Africa - page 21

Geo: -23.9561, 31.4416When we were planning this trip, we were going to splurge and spend two nights at Olifants for Robert's birthday. Robert was doing research and found that the restaurant at Olifants was going to be closed for renovations and so we changed it to one night at Olifants and then to Lower Sabie to have the real celebration out on the deck and have some more Mugg and Bean dinner!Got packed up from Letaba and headed to Olifants. Stopped on the bridge and had some wonderful bird sightings. We also enjoyed the antics of the baboons on the bridge as they raced past us or some would be brave and stop and take a look at us. We saw some great saddlebill storks and african spoonbill. Somewhere along the drive we also saw the ... read more

Geo: -24.3715, 31.7644From Skukuza we moved on to Satara. This is the rest camp and surrounds that is famous for sightings of "animals with teeth"! During both nights we could hear the lions roaring/grunting in the distance. We saw lots of nice game but did not see any of the lions, leopards or cheetahs the first day we were there. We did see a hyena on the drive to Satara from Skukuza but it was still a fun time had looking here and there. We try to each look on our side of the car for game to occassionally are known to look over on the other side of the car! There was rumor of leopard near the bridge heading to the entrance, and rumor of lions on the side of the road but none were ... read more

More Touring SAI had 13 days in January with my daughters, Serena and Amanda, and 9 days in April with my friend Molly and her daughter, Hallie. We focussed on African wildlife...hoping to see all the BIG FIVE. (Rhinoceros, Water Buffalo, Lion, Elephant, Leopard) The leopard eluded us, but as you can see there were lots of other interesting species to watch. We barely saw a lion (or lioness) at Pilanesberg, but it was exciting. Driving through the park there, you must look out for other cars pulled over to the side of the road for possible sightings. People in 5 or 6 cars were looking out over a field of long grass; and we saw nothing. We waited patiently while a group of wildebeast walked through the field...then later one lonely wildebeast came along. He ... read more

It is May 2, four months since I took my holiday at the end of the school year 2013. Right now, it’s 5 days before national elections and 5 days after Freedom Day which celebrates the country’s first democratic elections twenty years ago when Nelson Mandela was elected president. Back in December, I was in Cape Town during the week following Nelson Mandela’s death. We went to the Robben Island Museum (not out to the island itself) and signed a commemorative book there. There were memorial events all around the country and people wearing T-shirts with Nelson Mandela on them. At our backpackers’ (hostel) dining area we watched the televising of the memorial held in Johannesberg..the one where President Zuma was booed when he got up to speak, where the sign language interpreter was having difficulties, ... read more

The first full day of our safari stared with a wake- up call at 5:30 then some tea and coffee before our morning safari and we saw Impala, again, and again, and again. Then Elvis spotted some Leopard tracks and started to track the Leopard through a donga, a river bed, there was some really serious 4-wheel driving. While Sean and Elvis tracked the illusive Leopard we saw a dazzle of Zebra, a herd of Elephant, Kudu, an e agle owl, a Bataleur eagle, various types of buck before finally finding the Leopard named as Scotia’s daughter, who was just lazing in the grass, but everyone was still really excited. Then Chris and I went for a swim but no diving catches this time, too many people. So we got out pretty quickly and then went ... read more