This page shows the photo blogs that we created. The link Recent will take you back to the top of this list.
| Titel | Day 28: Birds in the gorge and a small animal park |
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| Our flight home leaves around midnight, so we can take it easy. We walk along the river in the gorge, which yields many new bird species. We go through an animal camp/gas station where we see a number of well-known animals, but also antelopes that we have not seen before. But with some Googling we found that the park is to attract people to their restaurant. New species, but the antelopes belong in northern (warmer) regions. In the last light we check in for our peaceful flight home. |
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| Date: | 2024-07-21 |
| Titel | Day 27: Last game drive and to Komati Gorge Lodge , Carolina |
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| On Saturday morning we do the very last game drive. There is nothing special to see. In dire straits, the guide starts pointing out birds of prey, and we look at a group of baboons. We get coffee, and the baboons sit in the morning sun. After breakfast we will drive for 6 hours, and at sunset we will be at our last hotel. Still in a nature reserve in a ravine, but there are no more Dangerous Animals. |
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| Date: | 2024-07-20 |
| Titel | Day 26: Rhino River Lodge in het Manyoni Nature Reserve |
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| For variety we go to a Big 5 park where we can see lions and elephants. That's right, and to be honest it was the best elephant photo spot. A large group comes to drink in the beautiful evening light at the end of the afternoon. After looking at the group for a while, we started looking for a few lions. There are two men and a lioness. The lioness tried to seduce the leading male. He stood up for a while, but he preferred to sleep. She gave up and left.< /p> |
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| Date: | 2024-07-19 |
| Titel | Day 25: St Lucia and Cape Vidal |
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| Today I went to Cape Vidal park with Natascha. Cape Vidal is the Big 5 park above St Lucia. The coast has dunes, a forest, then a wet area and then it is normal savannah again. But from the road it looks like a different area, with different birds and the same Big 5 animals. We end the day with bird guide Ian Ferrera, who shows me birds in a wet area for 2.5 hours. If I come this way again, I would like to explore the entire area around St Lucia with him. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-18 |
| Titel | Day 24: St Lucia: Birdwatching and Hippo Boat Cruise |
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| St Lucia is a small tourist town. It is not a safari park, although you can see the hippos in the town at night. We start the day with bird guide Ian Ferrera, who shows us birds in a park for 2.5 hours. For the first time on foot because there are no lions or other dangerous animals. During the day at least, this forest is also visited by hippos at night. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-17 |
| Titel | Day 23: Zululand to St Lucia via iSimangaliso Wetland Park |
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| We start again with the manager to look for birds. Now we have more time to actually look because we do the distance with a jeep. That gives a nice picture of a turaco. Natascha drives us around in the savannah of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. We don't find lions, but we do find giraffes and a "new" bird of prey. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-16 |
| Titel | Day 22: Zululand and Hluhluwe National Park |
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| The next day we start with a walk through the forest around the tents. The intention was to see birds, but for my understanding it becomes a fast walk. The monkeys watched us calmly. We are not going fast enough, at 8:55 we are picked up by a jeep. The Hluhluwe park is old and very big. As an experiment I asked Natascha to try the routes from my Birdfinder book. Unfortunately the route was not suitable for "our" car, and we did not find the special birds. Fortunately Elly found a very beautiful orange bird, we got stuck with the car by a very large group of elephants and Natascha saw a lion. Something for everyone. |
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| Date: | 2024-07-15 |
| Titel | Day 21: From Africamps to Zululand Lodge , Hluhluwe National Park |
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| Today we move from one game reserve to another. We went to have a look in a crocodile park, but that was nothing special. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-14 |
| Titel | Day 20: A day of travel through eSwatini |
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| The next location is a glamping location of Africamps White Elephant in the Pongola Game Reserve. In the morning we make a big boat trip on Lake Jozine, where the Pongola Game Reserve is located. The lake is very quiet and the mist lingers for a long time. This makes the experience much calmer than bouncing around in a jeep in the morning looking for a lion. Now we don't have to do anything, and that's nice. In the afternoon we stay at the tent and I amuse myself with birds. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-13 |
| Titel | Day 19: A day of travel through eSwatini |
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| Today is a travel day to the south, through the country that used to be called Swaziland. We follow the highway through the country, with only stops at the borders and at a roadside restaurant for lunch. Today's photos are from their garden. Eventually we arrive in a nature park in South Africa again, Pongola Game Reserve. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-12 |
| Titel | Day 18: The last day in Kruger National Park |
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| We've been in and around Kruger a lot, and we're now heading for a south exit. Of course we will make it a safari drive, looking for large animals and birds. Some of the photos have already been taken at breakfast, where the birds are feasting on the fruits of a large tree next to the terrace. Along the way we see elephants enjoying a mud bath. The hippopotamus also appears to have bathed, but we did not see that. We spend the night in Malelane, Mhlati Guest Cottages. |
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| Date: | 2024-07-11 |
| Titel | Day 17: The second day with the WildPhotoAfrica guide through Kruger |
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| The second day with the WildPhoto Africa guide through Kruger. The second and last day with the photo-bird-guide from WildPhotoAfrica. I will definitely approach the guide again if I return to this area. Today there are even more photos than the first day. I should actually sort them out more, but now it is just as easy this way. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-10 |
| Titel | Day 16: With Natascha to Skukuza camp in Kruger |
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| We go the same way to the Skukuza camp, now with Natascha. An oncoming car points out a honey badger, which we indeed find. Usually the badger is only active at night, but this one apparently found something tasty. In the Skukuza camp there are beautiful sunbirds. They are very active. If the photos are- successful, the birds are very beautiful. We also see a Nile monitor again. That is the name of the iguana that we see several times near puddles. We eat in the old station, which serves as a restaurant and boarding point for the train hotel parked on the bridge. |
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| Date: | 2024-07-09 |
| Titel | Day 15: Day 15: Hazyview , with WildPhotoAfrica (VJ) guide through Kruger Park |
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| Today the first day with a photo-bird-guide from WildPhotoAfrica. The guide knows where the birds are, has patience and forces some luck. With such a guide you realize how much you miss because you just drive past. It also helps a lot that the guide can recognize the bird sounds. But an elephant can also be photographed :-). | |
| Date: | 2024-07-08 |
| Titel | Day 14: The Panorama Route |
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| The panorama route is a tour through the Drakensberg Mountains and around the Blyde River Canyon where we were yesterday. We pass through a lot of forestry and fruit (trees) of all types. The area is partly high, so that was friendlier to fruit with lower temperatures. With the Canyon there is also water. But we don't stop there, we pass a number of viewpoints. Elly goes down to the Bourke Luck potholes, on a path in the gorge that is not suitable for me. I took pictures of the birds near the large lawn near the restaurant and parking lot. |
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| Date: | 2024-07-07 |
| Titel | Day 13: The reservoir in Blyde River Canyon |
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| The cruise on the Blyde River Canyon reservoir is a welcome change from the savannah safaris. The lake is beautifully situated in a large gorge, and the guides sail along the banks, pointing out birds, crocodiles and hippos. The reservoir provides energy to the environment, but the reservoir is mainly intended for the agricultural areas around the mountains. Our guide lives nearby, we eat with Rex, who guided us the first days before Natascha came. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-06 |
| Titel | Day 12: Safari in Kruger National Park, Timbavati Safari Lodge |
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| In the Kruger Park we only go to the same hotel for 1 night. We partly drive the same road so that we can return to the watering hole where the birds and lionesses could be seen. The birds were back, but the lionesses were not. After that, the part of Kruger is quite dry, so a nice area to spot a secretary bird. Our guide/driver Natascha succeeded. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-05 |
| Titel | Day 11: Safari in Kruger National Park, Mopani Camp |
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| We go looking for animals by car. We don't leave early, so that we can wake up quietly and there is enough light to take photos. We have a good day with birds, lions and elephants. If we see birds and lions at the same time it is difficult, you can't just get out and each do your own thing. At the end of the day we also see a leopard, for the first time this trip. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-04 |
| Titel | Day 10: Back to Kruger National Park, Letaba Camp |
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| All good things come to an end and our own guide picks us up to take us to Kruger National Park where we look for some wildlife. We take it easy on the first day. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-03 |
| Titel | Day 9: Balule Nature Reserve - Bundox Explorer Camp |
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| We spent three days at the Bundox Explorer Camp, without our own guide. That felt very nice. The guides are amused by tracking, and they enjoy it. Because they have the time, they also stop for birds. The sundeck remains an attractive place to enjoy the sun and photograph birds. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-02 |
| Titel | Day 8: Balule Nature Reserve - Bundox Explorer Camp |
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| The Bundox Explorer Camp was the most beautiful location, and it helped that we were the only guests. Besides the big game we also see a lot of birds. Like the vulture at a killed forest pig, birds at a drinking hole or a bustard (a bird) on the road. The guides are having fun tracking, and they are having fun doing it. But also the sun deck is a nice place to see birds. | |
| Date: | 2024-07-01 |
| Titel | Day 7: Bundox Explorer Camp |
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| We are now at Bundox Explorer Camp, an even smaller location with only 5 tents. The location is very beautiful, with a (shared) sun deck. We are the only guests, so we have the cook, manager, and 2 Bundox guides for the jeeps to ourselves. Because our own guide is home, it feels like a real holiday. | |
| Date: | 2024-06-30 |
| Titel | Day 6: Bird safari in Kruger Park |
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| OOur first bird guide was a game guide, so his methodology was to find big birds from the car. That gives us 4 hornbill species, mostly at the stops . Because all excursions are in a safari park , we also encounter all the large animals. Birds and animals are attracted to river water. Sometimes the water flows invisibly in a pebble bed. Elephants then create wells that other animals also benefit from. Like zebras. | |
| Date: | 2024-06-29 |
| Titel | Day 5: From Entabeni to Phalaborwa , Sefapane Lodge |
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| We now go to another part of the park which was largely a forest. That is less attractive to lions, but buffalos appreciate it. There are also many pools, and each larger pool has a few hippos. Of course there are birds everywhere, including here. In the afternoon we go to the Sefana Lodge | |
| Date: | 2024-06-28 |
| Titel | Day 4: Safari from Hanglip Mountain Lodge in Entabeni |
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| A normal day in the savannah. The guides drive with their own group from their lodge on the site. We often see lions and hippos in this park. The lionesses work as a group, 2 generations of children and 4 adult ladies. The jackal wants to scavenge the lions' leftovers. The cheetahs are more difficult to find, but the guide finds them after radio contact. It's an ongoing chat about what each guide sees or hears. | |
| Date: | 2024-06-27 |
| Titel | Day 3: Hanglip Mountain Lodge in Entabeni |
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| In the morning I look around the garden of the Bakubung lodge, but we have to get in the car quickly to get to the Hanglip Lodge in time for the afternoon safari drive. It's all on a much smaller scale, the animals now walk around the buildings. On the first safari drive we see a something animal: a forest pig. Normally these pigs only show themselves at night. And we see the first lionesses. |
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| Date: | 2024-06-26 |
| Titel | Day 2: Safari in the Pilanesberg National Park |
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| This day we experience the safari in the early morning. The first photos are taken when it is still night; the light is from a spotlight. The jeeps stop when they see a large animal, an elephant, rhino, a group of impalas or wildebeest. And sometimes you can also photograph landscapes in a stationary jeep, such as the go- away bird on a tree destroyed by an elephant. The cheetahs were the most special find. In the afternoon we will look for birds with our own guide. | |
| Date: | 2024-06-25 |
(picture not found)
| Titel | Day 28: Birds in the gorge and a small animal park |
|---|---|
| Our flight home leaves around midnight, so we can take it easy. We walk along the river in the gorge, which yields many new bird species. We go through an animal camp/gas station where we see a number of well-known animals, but also antelopes that we have not seen before. But with some Googling we found that the park is to attract people to their restaurant. New species, but the antelopes belong in northern (warmer) regions. In the last light we check in for our peaceful flight home. |
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| Date: | 2024-06-24 |
(picture not found)
| Titel | Day 17: The second day with the WildPhotoAfrica guide through Kruger |
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| The second day with the WildPhoto Africa guide through Kruger. The second and last day with the photo-bird-guide from WildPhotoAfrica. I will definitely approach the guide again if I return to this area. Today there are even more photos than the first day. I should actually sort them out more, but now it is just as easy this way. | |
| Date: | 2024-06-24 |
(picture not found)
| Titel | Day 9: Balule Nature Reserve - Bundox Explorer Camp |
|---|---|
| We spent three days at the Bundox Explorer Camp, without our own guide. That felt very nice. The guides are amused by tracking, and they enjoy it. Because they have the time, they also stop for birds. The sundeck remains an attractive place to enjoy the sun and photograph birds. | |
| Date: | 2024-06-24 |
(picture not found)
| Titel | Day 6: Bird safari in Kruger Park |
|---|---|
| OOur first bird guide was a game guide, so his methodology was to find big birds from the car. That gives us 4 hornbill species, mostly at the stops . Because all excursions are in a safari park , we also encounter all the large animals. Birds and animals are attracted to river water. Sometimes the water flows invisibly in a pebble bed. Elephants then create wells that other animals also benefit from. Like zebras. | |
| Date: | 2024-06-24 |
| Titel | From Johannesburg to the Bakubung lodge |
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| We arrived in Johannesburg late yesterday. This morning after a quiet start we drove to the Bakubung Bush Lodge. It is a large complex. We have lunch with a view of wild animals, and then we go on the first safari ride. You are divided into groups, and each driver is mainly looking for lions, leopards and cheetahs. As a by-product you get to see many other animals, from elephants to cormorants. | |
| Date: | 2024-06-24 |