Hi all, dear friends and family,
so today I also came back home to Germany like Sandra did a week before. We and I had a blast in various parts of South Africa and after all these times I was blessed to visit this beautiful country it's good to see that there are still lots of new things to discover and interesting people to meet. It's also good to see that the bonds of friendship are strong and sustainable, another beautiful thing that makes me come back over and over again and which adds a very special glow to that gem in the south. Yes, this goes out to you, the Pieters and the Paintings! :)
Besides Chitwa Chitwa is not only worth remembering but a unique place with a very strong gravity field, last but not least because of the hospitality and all the great animals to see in Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve. I will be back and this is a promise.
As this is the end of the 2010 South Africa "mission", I want to thank you, the readers of this little travel journal and encourage you (including all the nice people we/I met in the course of the trip and who I gave the URL to this blog) to please leave your comments! You might want to bookmark this site as there will be more to read in the future.
Thanks again and "Cheers" to all of you!
Stefan
Friday, November 05, 2010
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Goodbye for now...
Hi all,
I hope you are well and the winter in Europe doesn't bother you too much. :)
So here I am again, back in "civilization". Joburg airport. Kinda strange, but thats just how it is. The last couple of days at Chitwa Chitwa were simply amazing, I have hardly ever met so many nice people in one place. Everyone from reception to staff to the kitchen team and the guide/tracker were just unbelievably nice and caring. Next time someone asks me for an advice regarding a great lodge in South Africa: this is what I will recommend. I have seen quite a few nice locations over the last couple of years but nothing beats Chitwa Chitwa. Besides that Johan (the ranger) and Rodney (the tracker) were really pushing it hard to track interesting and rare animals, which is why -again- I have seen far more leopards than anywhere else in South Africa. What an experience!! Loads of interesting sightings (including two magical close elephant encounters) , lots of other nice guests but also a few rather sad things like a hippo which got badly injured in a territorial fight with a dominant hippo bull and lay in a thicket during a really hot day. Which is very bad for their skin cause they are dependent from water and usually only leave it at night. We all thought he would die but it seems he made it to another water hole in the area. Yesterday we saw an old male lion lying at a water hole which was only skin and bones. He apparently looks like this for quite a while now and manages to stay alive but it's a shame to see how a once powerful animal with a decent pride will eventually die alone in the bush. Yeah, it's nature and it's good that no intervention is made but like many other guests and even the rangers/trackers it still touches me.
This morning Johan and Rodney really pushed hard to find "me" another leopard and they succeeded. A very beautiful female lying in a riverbed which we were able to adore for quite a while. After that I mistook a visit to an active hyena den for our coffee break and almost jumped out of the vehicle daydreaming, but luckily nothing happened.
Will have to check in my luggage now (after a domestic flight from 38 degree Hoedspruit to 26 degree JoBurg), so this is a new farewell to South Africa. Another great stay in Sabi Sand and a very nice cross country trip with Sandra. So I believe, that we will be back. April 2011 might not be a bad date. :)
Cheers!
Stefan
Pictures are completely updated!
I hope you are well and the winter in Europe doesn't bother you too much. :)
So here I am again, back in "civilization". Joburg airport. Kinda strange, but thats just how it is. The last couple of days at Chitwa Chitwa were simply amazing, I have hardly ever met so many nice people in one place. Everyone from reception to staff to the kitchen team and the guide/tracker were just unbelievably nice and caring. Next time someone asks me for an advice regarding a great lodge in South Africa: this is what I will recommend. I have seen quite a few nice locations over the last couple of years but nothing beats Chitwa Chitwa. Besides that Johan (the ranger) and Rodney (the tracker) were really pushing it hard to track interesting and rare animals, which is why -again- I have seen far more leopards than anywhere else in South Africa. What an experience!! Loads of interesting sightings (including two magical close elephant encounters) , lots of other nice guests but also a few rather sad things like a hippo which got badly injured in a territorial fight with a dominant hippo bull and lay in a thicket during a really hot day. Which is very bad for their skin cause they are dependent from water and usually only leave it at night. We all thought he would die but it seems he made it to another water hole in the area. Yesterday we saw an old male lion lying at a water hole which was only skin and bones. He apparently looks like this for quite a while now and manages to stay alive but it's a shame to see how a once powerful animal with a decent pride will eventually die alone in the bush. Yeah, it's nature and it's good that no intervention is made but like many other guests and even the rangers/trackers it still touches me.
This morning Johan and Rodney really pushed hard to find "me" another leopard and they succeeded. A very beautiful female lying in a riverbed which we were able to adore for quite a while. After that I mistook a visit to an active hyena den for our coffee break and almost jumped out of the vehicle daydreaming, but luckily nothing happened.
Will have to check in my luggage now (after a domestic flight from 38 degree Hoedspruit to 26 degree JoBurg), so this is a new farewell to South Africa. Another great stay in Sabi Sand and a very nice cross country trip with Sandra. So I believe, that we will be back. April 2011 might not be a bad date. :)
Cheers!
Stefan
Pictures are completely updated!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Animals sleeping in...
Well, the expectations were high but unfortunately we got disappointed. No sign of the three lions we saw yesterday, only two rhinos and a leopard's bum. After only 5 minutes of being close by the leopard the guide didn't want to follow him when he got up and walked off as there were "other vehicles waiting" and the vegetation was "too dense". What a turn-off. I know a lot of other guides who would have made the effort to make their guests at least get a glimpse of the leopards face, but hey...the vehicles are new so why bother going off-road too much. Well, these (and a lot of other) things will be better at Chitwa Chitwa where I will take off to in approx. 2 hours from now. I might not be able to post any more stuff as they only have an internet access at the reception. We'll see about it, I'll try to keep you updated. :)
New pictures can be found here.
Cheers!
Stefan
New pictures can be found here.
Cheers!
Stefan
The cats are out, part 2...
If I hadn't travelled to Africa a few times before I'd probably have peed in my pants today. Male lions all over the place. And pretty much intruding the comfort zone of most visitors, I would not have been surprised if they had rubbed their bum on the vehicle. Funny enough it was scratching day today. We saw zebra, rhino, buffalo and kudu with itchy bums all over the place. Each of them were rubbing against something, mostly trees or branches. Wildlife comedy.
But when it came to the three lions we saw this morning, everybody just shut up. They were a little scattered over an airfield inside the reserve when one of them started vocalizing. The definition of vocalizing in this case is more like a brutal roar that makes your clothes and the whole vehicle vibrate. This was just CRAZY and strangely exciting!!! We then followed them a long way and they headed straight for a big herd of buffalo. I don't know why we didn't pursue them longer but tomorrow we'll probably know what they were up to.
Will have my last dinner at Nkorho now, til later and cheers!
Stefan
But when it came to the three lions we saw this morning, everybody just shut up. They were a little scattered over an airfield inside the reserve when one of them started vocalizing. The definition of vocalizing in this case is more like a brutal roar that makes your clothes and the whole vehicle vibrate. This was just CRAZY and strangely exciting!!! We then followed them a long way and they headed straight for a big herd of buffalo. I don't know why we didn't pursue them longer but tomorrow we'll probably know what they were up to.
Will have my last dinner at Nkorho now, til later and cheers!
Stefan
Friday, October 29, 2010
The cats are out!
Still no rain but whoa! what a game drive this morning. First we saw two well fed lionesses (maybe members of the now scattered Styx pride) strolling over to Kruger and then we were really blessed cause the mighty lion coalition had apparently returned out of nowhere. We saw three of the four male lions who took over a big territory in Sabi Sands a couple of months ago wreaking havoc on the prides in the reserve. To accomplish that they have gone through a lot of fights and it shows. Good to see them in such a great condition though resting around a termite mound.
Just to spoil that sighting a little more we saw Tanya, a small but very successful leopardess up in a tree with a duiker she must've killed tonite. Too bad the light conditions weren't as superb as they were last evening. But the perfect picture wouldn't be the perfect one if you could take it every day, would it? I have added the new corresponding pictures to the album, see link in the posting below.
Have a great day, hope you are well & cheers!
Stefan
Just to spoil that sighting a little more we saw Tanya, a small but very successful leopardess up in a tree with a duiker she must've killed tonite. Too bad the light conditions weren't as superb as they were last evening. But the perfect picture wouldn't be the perfect one if you could take it every day, would it? I have added the new corresponding pictures to the album, see link in the posting below.
Have a great day, hope you are well & cheers!
Stefan
Coming back "home"...
Dear friends and family,
sorry for the little enthusiasm we had for maintaining the blog but most of the days we were either too busy or too tired to sit ourselves down and write so apologies for this.
Just to give you a short wrap-up of what happened so far:
On Oct. 14th we arrived in JoBurg and headed to Capetown on the same day. Well, not really Cape Town but rather a little smalltown called Fish Hoek where we found the most beautiful B&B called the Tranquility House nestled into the hills of a stunning bay. The owners Ron&Gill are the typical hospitable and ever friendly South Africans I got to appreciate over the last couple of years. But still a wee bit nicer. :) And the breakfast is the best you will ever get in whole South Africa. Not only did they say so, we also did after we had it. :) So we stayed 2 nights there, made a trip to the penguins in Simonstown, the Cape Peninsula, Chapman's Peak and, of course, the Cape's Town itself.
After this we spent one night in Franschhoek in the heart of the winelands, visited the Spier winery and it's cheetah research and breeding centre. Off we went to Plettenberg to stay 2 nights at the Hog Hollow Lodge, another beautiful place in the hills close to the coast. Some whale watching from an aquatic national park and great food at a place called the Lookout directly at the waterfront plus a visit to Tenikwa, a place where the owners Mandy and Len take care of injured and rescued wild animals to either release them into the bush later or keep them in their good hands. Besides they educate their visitors and the locals about wildlife and the numerous conservation issues. Thanks for a great time to both of you!
Our next part of the trip took us to Addo Elephant Park where we stayed in the Kuzuko Lodge located at the northeastern border of the park. Too bad that they had a bad drought for 2 years and lost a lot of their animals. It still was fun to go on the game drives with Riaan, our guide who was very knowledgeable and helpful. This is where we made a "cheetah walk" approaching two very relaxed males on foot. Lions, red hartebeest, zebra, oryx, springbokkies, elands, elephants, rock monitors and many others were also on our sightings list.
After Addo we had quite a bit of driving ahead of us cause we went to Bloemfontein where we paid Kate and Eve a visit. Great dinner at the Green Fig and a couple of hours with my friends was the perfect finish after a long day of driving. The next morning we went to the Cheetah Experience where a group of volunteers (one of which is Eve) take care of orphaned and/or rescued wild animals, especially cats (cheetahs, leopards, lions, caracals, even tigers). It was an interesting thing to do but I always feel a little uncomfortable to see wild animals in an enclosure.
After this we drove off to Centurion located between JoBurg and Pretoria to see Nicolette and Niel, my favorite South African couple. ;) We had dinner at the Godfather, a legendary steak house in Centurion and with full stomachs slept over at their place to drive to Kruger the next day. Made it there just in time to go on a magnificient game drive at Crocodile Bridge main camp (black-backed jackal pups, porcupines, a civet, elephants, you name it...) but had to stay outside afterwards as the park was fully booked that day. The following day, after lots and lots of great sightings we stayed in safari tents in Tamboti, a satellite of Orpen main cam. Very basic with communal showers but a delicious braai (rump steak, gemsquash, butternut). Unfortunately our sleep wasn't too tight thanks to an outrageous thunderstorm haunting the southern Kruger Park that night.
Some more driving around the park the next day and off we went to the Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve covering an area of 65.000 hectares to spend our first night at Chitwa Chitwa Private Game Lodge. If there is a heaven on earth then this place is it. Unbelievable. Stunning. Wow. Extremely hospitable and friendly staff, two danger-seeking rangers called Johan and Harley and the most beautiful accomodation ever. A great leopard on our first game drive besides lots of other good sightings. Time to relax and enjoy. The next day we went off to the neighbouring Nkorho Bush Camp where we stayed 1 more night before it was time to say goodbye to Sandra because she only had 2 weeks of vacation which is why I drove her to Hoedspruit airport. On my way there I got my 2nd speeding ticket within a week for no particular reason and after I returned to the Nkorho Bush Camp I discovered that 5 other tourists had also been ripped off by the police at the same spot. What a nice way to treat your visitors! But anyway...that was yesterday, Sandra has gotten back home safely and I will spend 2 more nights here before I probably spend my last 4 nights back in Chitwa Chitwa. On today's sunset drive I took one of my best leopard pictures ever of a young female resting on a termite mound. Shortly after we arrived the afternoon sun came through the quite cloudy sky and shone directly on her face. It was the perfect situation, everything was right and a dream came true. One more of the many "wows!" during this trip.
So this is it for now, I might get to write a few more lines or add new pictures to the album (link below) but maybe it won't be possible due to the poor internet access in this area. I hope you enjoyed reading the post, pictures can be found here. Time to sleep now, wake up time is at 5am.
Cheers!
Stefan
sorry for the little enthusiasm we had for maintaining the blog but most of the days we were either too busy or too tired to sit ourselves down and write so apologies for this.
Just to give you a short wrap-up of what happened so far:
On Oct. 14th we arrived in JoBurg and headed to Capetown on the same day. Well, not really Cape Town but rather a little smalltown called Fish Hoek where we found the most beautiful B&B called the Tranquility House nestled into the hills of a stunning bay. The owners Ron&Gill are the typical hospitable and ever friendly South Africans I got to appreciate over the last couple of years. But still a wee bit nicer. :) And the breakfast is the best you will ever get in whole South Africa. Not only did they say so, we also did after we had it. :) So we stayed 2 nights there, made a trip to the penguins in Simonstown, the Cape Peninsula, Chapman's Peak and, of course, the Cape's Town itself.
After this we spent one night in Franschhoek in the heart of the winelands, visited the Spier winery and it's cheetah research and breeding centre. Off we went to Plettenberg to stay 2 nights at the Hog Hollow Lodge, another beautiful place in the hills close to the coast. Some whale watching from an aquatic national park and great food at a place called the Lookout directly at the waterfront plus a visit to Tenikwa, a place where the owners Mandy and Len take care of injured and rescued wild animals to either release them into the bush later or keep them in their good hands. Besides they educate their visitors and the locals about wildlife and the numerous conservation issues. Thanks for a great time to both of you!
Our next part of the trip took us to Addo Elephant Park where we stayed in the Kuzuko Lodge located at the northeastern border of the park. Too bad that they had a bad drought for 2 years and lost a lot of their animals. It still was fun to go on the game drives with Riaan, our guide who was very knowledgeable and helpful. This is where we made a "cheetah walk" approaching two very relaxed males on foot. Lions, red hartebeest, zebra, oryx, springbokkies, elands, elephants, rock monitors and many others were also on our sightings list.
After Addo we had quite a bit of driving ahead of us cause we went to Bloemfontein where we paid Kate and Eve a visit. Great dinner at the Green Fig and a couple of hours with my friends was the perfect finish after a long day of driving. The next morning we went to the Cheetah Experience where a group of volunteers (one of which is Eve) take care of orphaned and/or rescued wild animals, especially cats (cheetahs, leopards, lions, caracals, even tigers). It was an interesting thing to do but I always feel a little uncomfortable to see wild animals in an enclosure.
After this we drove off to Centurion located between JoBurg and Pretoria to see Nicolette and Niel, my favorite South African couple. ;) We had dinner at the Godfather, a legendary steak house in Centurion and with full stomachs slept over at their place to drive to Kruger the next day. Made it there just in time to go on a magnificient game drive at Crocodile Bridge main camp (black-backed jackal pups, porcupines, a civet, elephants, you name it...) but had to stay outside afterwards as the park was fully booked that day. The following day, after lots and lots of great sightings we stayed in safari tents in Tamboti, a satellite of Orpen main cam. Very basic with communal showers but a delicious braai (rump steak, gemsquash, butternut). Unfortunately our sleep wasn't too tight thanks to an outrageous thunderstorm haunting the southern Kruger Park that night.
Some more driving around the park the next day and off we went to the Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve covering an area of 65.000 hectares to spend our first night at Chitwa Chitwa Private Game Lodge. If there is a heaven on earth then this place is it. Unbelievable. Stunning. Wow. Extremely hospitable and friendly staff, two danger-seeking rangers called Johan and Harley and the most beautiful accomodation ever. A great leopard on our first game drive besides lots of other good sightings. Time to relax and enjoy. The next day we went off to the neighbouring Nkorho Bush Camp where we stayed 1 more night before it was time to say goodbye to Sandra because she only had 2 weeks of vacation which is why I drove her to Hoedspruit airport. On my way there I got my 2nd speeding ticket within a week for no particular reason and after I returned to the Nkorho Bush Camp I discovered that 5 other tourists had also been ripped off by the police at the same spot. What a nice way to treat your visitors! But anyway...that was yesterday, Sandra has gotten back home safely and I will spend 2 more nights here before I probably spend my last 4 nights back in Chitwa Chitwa. On today's sunset drive I took one of my best leopard pictures ever of a young female resting on a termite mound. Shortly after we arrived the afternoon sun came through the quite cloudy sky and shone directly on her face. It was the perfect situation, everything was right and a dream came true. One more of the many "wows!" during this trip.
So this is it for now, I might get to write a few more lines or add new pictures to the album (link below) but maybe it won't be possible due to the poor internet access in this area. I hope you enjoyed reading the post, pictures can be found here. Time to sleep now, wake up time is at 5am.
Cheers!
Stefan
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Just a few hours to go...
Hectic. Chaos. Mayhem!
Lots of work, nothing packed yet and a pick up at 6:30. Who said the holiday shouldn't be earned properly? Lets go. :)
Cape Town on the horizon.
Lots of work, nothing packed yet and a pick up at 6:30. Who said the holiday shouldn't be earned properly? Lets go. :)
Cape Town on the horizon.
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