When you ask visitors which of the Big 5 they would like to see the lion and elephant always comes up first followed by the rhino and then the leopard. For some reason the buffalo always seem to be forgotten. Why? Because people see it as little more than wild cattle? Perhaps. What they don't realise is that the very docile and quiet looking Cape Buffalo are aggravated very easily and then turns into a killing machine, goring those in its…
Kuzuko Lodge, a private concession in the Greater Addo Elephant National Park, sits on top of a hill overlooking the surrounding countryside. It has beautiful views down the valley and beyond, but I would like to share a picture of the lodge taken from the valley while we were on our afternoon game drive
Going anywhere with the KidZ in a car, and that includes the local supermarket a couple of blocks from home, more often than not result in a back seat battle of some sorts. When those back seat battles start to take on epic proportions and I'm forced to stop in a cloud of dust on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere to threaten them that I will be kicking them out the car and leave them just there, then you know…
Ranger Ryan is the guy you want on your vehicle when doing one of the Addo Elephant National Park's scheduled game drives. He is knowledgeable and entertaining and there isn't many questions he can't answer. A ranger superhero of some sorts (not to be confused with the Power Rangers). I posted about him before and found another picture I took of him, this time explaining to the group about a black rhino dung midden.
Clan Firefly spent a memorable long weekend across the Zuurberg enjoying the best the southern Karoo has to offer and as soon as I get a chance to edit the pictures and write a blog post or two I will share it all with you. Here's a taste of what we did so long, most of which were new experiences for the KidZ. Game drives at Kuzuko Lodge...... looking for big game. Learning about the history of Ann's Villa... ... and taking in…
Some visitors to game reserves often get as excited about seeing something like a zebra than they are when seeing elephants or lions. Perhaps we as locals take these animals for granted as we see them often in game reserves and don't get as excited by them. I kinda lost what I was trying to say with this now other than seeing zebra is always exciting for me even if they aren't part of the Big 5. I found these two Burchell's Zebra…
The guides doing the open vehicle guided game drives in the Addo Elephant National Park are vast treasure chests of information. I can't find the note I made of our ranger's name (Vincent van Zyl left a comment pointing out that the ranger's name is Ryan), but my mouth hung open as he rattled off plant names, animal information, pointing out birds and just chatted away with the guests on the vehicle. Guides and rangers like these are what makes visits to game reserves…
I absolutely love visiting private game reserves, who wouldn't? Luxury accommodation, excellent food, personal service, sipping drinks around a camp fire under the stars and, my ultimate favorite about game reserves, going on game drives in the late afternoon and early morning. I've discovered photos I haven't posted before and here are three from the magnificent Pumba Game Reserve between Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown showing some of their accommodation. I got to visit Pumba while showing some media around in…
When I saw this lion at Kuzuko Lodge near Port Elizabeth it immediately reminded me of the lion on the Lion Safety Matches logo. There is a bit of a resemblance.
'n Lantêring wag vir gaste op hulle aankoms by Camp Figtree in die Zuurberg na 'n wildsbesigtigingsrit in die Addo Olifant Nasionale Park.