Traditional dancers at Kwantu Game Reserve outside Port Elizabeth entertaining guests before dinner. This kind of entertainment usually includes dances from different South African cultures as well as story telling.
Port Elizabeth and its environs offer numerous wildlife photography opportunities for a wide variety of animals. The best place to photograph elephants in their natural environment around here must be the Addo Elephant National Park and I have many elephant photos from there. But nothing could prepare me for a visit a while ago to Addo Elephant Back Safaris situated in the Zuurberg mountains. Although the main activity there is riding elephants, my favorite part was walking with these gentle…
This must be one of my favorite photos. I was on a game drive at Pumba Game Reserve and sitting in the front seat next to the game ranger. We found this male lion (seemingly) sleeping at sunset. We pulled up to him about 6 meters away and the ranger switched the engine off. As he did that the lion opened his one eye to let us know that he knows we were there. Sitting in the front seat meant…
Addo Elephant National Park is probably the most popular destination as a day trip out of Port Elizabeth. Visitors can either go to the park in their own vehicles or with a tour operator. Once at the park you can drive through the park in the vehicle you came in as it is a national park, or you can book an open vehicle game drive guided by a game ranger. In the days when I was still a tourist guide…
The Seaview Game and Lion Park is situated just west of Port Elizabeth. They have a white lion breeding program. The lion cubs are all hand reared by the staff who give them their bottles, sit up with them at night and even take them potty. Ok not potty. In their case its lawny, or grassy or sommer behind the bushy. LOL. Why I say that is that when a cub is small the mother would lick their thingies (for…
Most of the private game reserves around Port Elizabeth serve traditional South African foods to their guests. Some make it in their kitchens while others do it out in the open on the coals. At Schotia Safaris they prepare the food in their outside lapa in full sight of their guests. Schotia's owner, Peter Bean, are very hands on in everything that happens on the reserve and in the picture he is braaiing (barbecuing) the lamb chops, chicken sosaties (kebabs)…
Following on yesterday's post of the game lodge bedroom, I thought I'll show you what a bathroom in the lodge looks like. Talk about a batchroom with a view. Just make sure you don't have a peeping tom monkey or giraffe peeking in the window.
Port Elizabeth is situated in Big 5 country and is surrounded by luxurious game reserves. Most of these game reserves offer guests 5 star facilities with each lodge being different from the next one. This is the bedroom at one of the lodges at Pumba Game Reserve. The room opens up on the bush surrounding the lodge and a private plunge pool. Just check out the door before exiting to make sure there isn't an elephant drinking from your pool.
One of the most popular things at the game reserves around Port Elizabeth are for guests to relax around a fire with a couple of drinks. At Schotia Safaris Game Reserve guests come off the evening game drive and all head to the fire to heat up before getting a drink at the bar and settling down around the fire to wait for dinner.
The last in the Big 5 series is the Cape Buffalo. Buffalo are normally found in big herds while old bulls lead a solitary life. Buffalo are grazers and mostly found in the open. The buffalo in the Addo Elephant National Park is, or was, a bit different. Due to the fact that they were so extensively hunted in the late 1800's and early 1900's, they turned nocturnal. They only came out during the evenings and spent their days in…