Blogs from Mpumalanga , South Africa, Africa - page 56

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So we have arrived in Johannasburg after an uncomfortable 19-hour journey from Cape Town. Our aim is to visit Kruger national park. This park is the size of Israel and is home to a multitude of animals including the 'BIG 5' - Buffalo, Elephants, Lions, Leopards and Rhino. Its a 500km drive from Jo'burg and as part of the tour, we visited some interesting spots along the way including 'gods window' (called so because of its endless landscape and uninterrupted views). Bourke’s luck potholes, which was once occupied at the height of the gold rush, (ironically, Bourke didn't discover the potholes first and ultimately didn't get to prosper from its riches). We also visited the blyde river Canyon (the third largest canyon in the world) - an impressive site. Our day ended with an overnight stay ... read more
Crazy Warthogs!!!
Lookout on route to kruger
A failed attempt

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Nelspruit August 18th 2007

Well what a week it's been! I can't quite believe it was only 7 days ago that I said goodbye to Mark, Mum, Dad and Katie at the airport. It's certainly been eventful. I am writing this in an internet cafe in Nelspruit having just dropped off Sally at the airport for the next leg of her adventure to Cape Town. Hopefully over the next couple of days I'll be able to master the art of uploading photos to the web...then you'll really all be bored! So in a nutshell...Sally, Mel, Paul, Dharsh and I all met at Jo'burg airport last Sunday morning after waiting ages in the longest ever immigration queue. I wouldn't have minded but the woman stamping my passport was so completely not bothered. We ended up all panicking that we would miss ... read more


Hi all....apologies in advance, this will be my shortest blog ever but under some time constraints (i.e. cost 2 pounds for half hour). Just a quick one to say that I have arrived in South Africa safely, am loving Kruger park and have been offered a job as a game ranger here. We've seen so much! Tracey's wedding was lovely. I will attempt to load the 30,000 photos taken over the last few days on here. If not, I'll find someway for you to view them. Anyway more soon, thanks to everyone who has sent me messages, particularly Ruth who seems to be blogging my trip in her own inimitable way - love you! xxxxx ... read more


So Kruger NP is everything you think it is... bushlands, dried up rivers in the African Winter, an abundance of wildlife, tourists, ( but you don't see them, since the Park is bigger than the Netherlands, and they put a daily limit on the number of cars allowed into the Park) and did i say an abundance of wildlife... just spectacular to see herd after herd of Elephant , journeys of Giraffe gracefully towering over the bushlands, lazily grazing , hippos cooling of in the few rivers that have not totally dried up in the winter months, lions, whose roars are an amzing sound before you fall aslepp at night, the majestic Rhinos who way about 4 tons, and who nevertheless can be so super fast, that you don't want to be chased by one of ... read more
Giraffe-
Hippos
Rhinos- crossing the road at sunset


After the success of Makalali we decided to put our tracking/game finding skills to the test and try our luck in Kruger National Park, some 70 km to the east of Hoedspurit. Kruger encompasses an enormous area of land averaging 65km across and 350 km long with further private game reserves located around its borders. The terrain ranges from open Savannah to thick bush and from completely flat to mountainous with a series of major rivers running through it.. Navigation around the park is via a network of good tarmac roads with further dirt tracks branching off into the more remote areas. While you can take organsied Safari drives at the different camps located around the park, for the most part, people, just drive around and see what they bump into. After 4 weeks at Makalali ... read more
Hyaena
Lion
Zebra

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Nelspruit July 24th 2007

With a group of students we went to South Afrika to learn about the bush from ranger Ed De trip was organized by Bushpackers in Hazyview (www.bushpackers.co.za), South Africa, close to the Kruger Nat. Park. Edwin is a passionate game ranger and conservationist. He gives ranger courses and at the moment he is busy with setting up a tented camp in Sabie Sands, a 65.00 ha private Big 5 Game Reserve close to Hazyview. This trip was undertaken after my graduation from the Van Hall Larenstein Institute, my name is Harold van Oorschot and i was 25 years old during this trip.This was my first contact with Africa, it was a great experience. This trip was organized by the Gecko bushpackers lodge (http://www.gecko-bushpackers.co.za/) owned by : Edwin Cruywagen and Francis Hamwyk. Edwin is the head ranger ... read more
Anna met slang
Vogel opvang
Tenten kamp, Zuid Afrika


After arriving in Jo'burg...rented a car and got out of there!! Heading for the Blyde River canyon we had an overnight stop in Nelspruit. There I went crazy because I read someting about doing nice activities here....like rockclimbing kloofing (canyoning) and tubing..... Convinced my girlfriend to go there and we were alread in the canyon by the afternoon. Our kloofing trip was a bit dissapointing...we found out kloofing here is'the same as canyoning in the Alpes.... The Tubing trip the next day sure made up for it.....Awesome experience and great fun. A couple of active days in Sabie and an Japanese photo shooting day wile driving along the Blyde River canyon, and it was time to move to KRUGER!! KRUGER is ANIMALS. what a great place, suddenly a rhino around the corner or a crossing Elephant! ... read more
Happy at the blyde canyon
Sunrise giraffe
just another postcard


Day 2, Nicole and I decided we were going to do a self-drive through the park while half the group went on their morning guided drive. We went and parked the car in line at 5am, bribed the gate guard to watch our car, then ran back to have breakfast and get our stuff together for the day. We were the second car through the gate when it opened at 6am, and third in line to pay. Britt, another girl in our group, caught up with us at the gate, and by then the line was about 100 people long. Again, we exerted the power of bribery on the gate attendant to secure Britt’s entrance into the park without standing in line. It’s amazing how much the term “money talks” really applies in this country. ... read more
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Well, I returned from my weekend on safari with all limbs intact, and no lion bite-sized chunks taken out of me. It was really an amazing weekend, and I’m not sure that I can describe it all, but we’ll see how far I get. This is a story of the wilderness, of driving on the left-hand side of the road, and of the sunset drive from hell. There were twelve of us UF students that decided to go on the safari. We arrived in Joburg on Thursday afternoon, and split up into our respective cars. I was in a car with my friends Nicole, Josh and Katie (who is also my roommate), and we were pretty lucky since I remembered to bring my FM Transmitter for my Ipod. So we had some rockin tunes. It was ... read more
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i arrived at Johannesburg airport on Sunday 8th July, where i was 'meant' to be greeted with someone holding one of those embarrasing signs saying my name... 'meant' being the operative word! after an hour of waiting, hoping that the driver was just running late, i went to the information counter, who transferred my enquiry to the police, and before i knew it i was being escorted through the airport by 3 police to find me a reliable driver to take me to my hostel. yes, my driver had forgotten me. Excellent start! Prior to leaving home, most of you would know that i booked an 8 day Safari trek through Kruger National Park, where i was in hope of seeing the big cats in the wild. In my very informative brochure, it not only suggests ... read more
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