Blogs from Limpopo, South Africa, Africa - page 2

Don't ask if we love our new home....my only regret, is that we didn't move here earlier! We had to do some administration duties in Pretoria last week. so after three full weeks of school holidays and diving with Tiffany, we dropped her to school on Monday and drove the next 5 hours up country to Pretoria. We stay a total of three nights at the Sheraton Pretoria. As explained before, the hotel is a bit of a joke when it comes to service....but let say they start to know us and are a little more cautious...making it a cheap and decent stay. on Tuesday, I ended up playing Pecanwood. The course has been designed by Jack Nicklaus, 45 minutes West of Pretoria, and ranked in the top 40 of golf courses in South Africa....green fee ... read more

The PhD brought me to South Africa. Fieldwork to date had involved two month-long trips to Ethiopia last year and now I was on the hunt for another type of shallow aquifer with the potential to provide water for irrigation rather than relying on increasingly inconsistent rains. The timing was unfortunately impeccable as southern Africa is currently (in November 2016) two years into its worse drought since records began a little over a hundred years ago. Whereas in Ethiopia I went and did most of the fieldwork alone, the people I was collaborating with in South Africa said this would not be possible here. The crime rate is high which you are constantly reminded of by the electric and razor wire fences surrounding households, private security companies patrolling about, and advice to never go anywhere ever ... read more

Geo: -23.95, 31.117.Need pics of camp gateOne South African described Letaba as a paradise compared to the camps further south. It has big trees and lots of palms is scenic. We always enjoy camping there though.not much big game but lots of neat birds (goliath, saddlebill, maribou stork drove toward Mopani and saw a secretary birdWe have always enjoyed camping at Letaba but were a little worried this year because of the drought and would there be any water in the river when we got there. Letaba is usually the furthest north we go in the park to camp.Many of the South Africans we talked to said Letaba was a paradise compared to the parks further south. The landscaping around the campground is very lush compared to some of the others and there are some nice ... read more

Hi all, We arrived safely in the Kruger on Sunday. Many apologies for not having blogged this week. Although we were having lots of fun this is not the reason for our lack of contact. We had no internet would you believe! After arriving at the park gates, we made our way to the first camp we were booked into, Letaba. On the way we spotted: Elephants, Fish Eagles, Vultures, Hornbill, Bats, Buffalo and Hippos. When we had unpacked the cars, we made our way to the restaurant for dinner. All feeling tired and the sky being pitch black we debated turning into bed until we realised it wasn't even 9pm! This is the problem with the sun setting so quickly here. Monday we enjoyed breakfast looking at the deer like creatures that were grazing on ... read more

Geo: -24.349, 30.9542Up and did a leisurely pack up before heading out. We did not have far to travel and we knew we probably would not be able check in when we first got there. Drove down to the river to see what we could see there. Not much happening and took the river road. There was a very large female elephant with her baby who seemed a little upset with us as we drove past.Drove to the waterhole and there was no lion and so we decided to drive the secret road we have discovered and as we drove the loop could see dust rising. Got to the overlook and there were hundreds of buffalo either in the water or heading to the water. The dust they were making made the whole scenario seem very ... read more