We had a long drive ahead of ahead of us and so we didn't do a morning game drive. We had breakfast and said goodbye to SK who were driving to Punda Maria gate and then exiting the park and heading to Hoedspruit airport to fly back to Cape Town. The other 5 of us were exiting at Pafuri and then heading west until we hit the N1 and then heading south for 2000 kms back...

We were woken at around 6am and I realised how cold the air was around my head but how warm it was in the bed. One of those situations that you know you're going to regret getting out of bed the moment you do and then regretting not sleeping with your clothes inside the bed with you! The air outside the tent was actually warmer than the air inside the tent. It did make me get...

At 7am we left Shingwedzi and we separated ways with BSRJ. They were headed south to exit out the Kruger Park at Phalaborwa and then onto to Haartebeestpoort Dam (or somewhere near there). We were heading further north to Pafuri which was about a 90 km drive. We did both go and have a quick look at the lion on the giraffe kill again and found a male lion had joined the females and the male...

We decided to leave as the gates opened (6am) to go and see the lion kill and see what was happening and then head north along H & my favourite road which runs along the river north from Shingwedzi. There were already a number of cars watching and a lioness was feeding again from the giraffe carcass. It had been dragged slightly further off the road (and I mean slightly). We spent about an hour watching...

We had a relatively long travel from Olifants to Shingwedzi (over 100 kms) which at Kruger speeds is about a 4-5 hour drive. We decided to have breakfast and leave and we were on the road around 8am. We did a stop at Letaba for toilet and coffee and then headed further north to Mopani. We saw all the standard game but unfortunately still no more predators. We arrived at Mopani just before midday and decided...

We decided to head out to Letaba and have breakfast at the day visitors site where you can rent a skottel for R30. We took the route north along the river which is notorious for grumpy elephants. We did see quite a few elephants and one trumpeted at us as we passed him but otherwise the trip there was uneventful and not a lot of other game was seen. We headed back after breakfast along the...

Some people decided to skip the morning game drive. We took 2 cars (me, S, K & J in one and B & R in the other). We left at 6am as we wanted to ensure we got back by 9am as we had to check out by 10am. We headed south and as it was still dark S was the tracker with the torch out of the side window looking for eyes. We then turned...

C is questioning whether I can remember this far back given I haven't been able to send out a blog for a few days. Not sure whether she thinks that now that I'm over 50 my memory has gone or what?! We left for a morning drive at 6:15am. The sun really only rises at about 6:30am at the moment so while the gates open at 6am, it seems a little more sensible to leave a...

You might be wondering why the blogs suddenly stopped but the issue is not the desire to send a blog but rather the fact that my internet access suddenly dried up! we had a morning game drive on Thursday at Ngala and we went out in search of rhino. Due to poaching, the prevalence of rhino's in the area has declined substantially. The rangers told us that about 20 years ago you could go on a...

Today was my 50th birthday and I honestly could not think of a better way to spend it but in a game park with my family and closest friends. It was a fantastic day of great memories. We headed out for our morning game drive at the usual time after being woken up at 5:30am. The plan was to do a 'Grade 2' walk and that means tracking elephant, rhino or buffalo on foot but in...