Kuzuko Lodge - Firefly the Travel Guy

Mountainside cycads at Kuzuko

Cycads, or as we know them in Afrikaans, Broodbome, (all Encephalartos species and Stangeria eriopus) are the most threatened plant group in South Africa. They are also one of the most threatened groups of plants in the world. In South Africa almost 70% of our cycad species are threatened with extinction, with four species on the brink of extinction and seven species with fewer than 100 plants left in the wild. In South Africa it is illegal to buy or…

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28/07/2021

Firefly the Travel Guy

Going on a game drive at Kuzuko Lodge

Over the Zuurberg mountains in the southern part of the Eastern Cape's Karoo Heartland lies a place of glory. That bit should actually be written with caps as Kuzuko Lodge's slogan is Place of Glory. Most game reserves are located in a part of the province where lush subtropical thicket vegetation is prevalent which makes Kuzuko different. Wide-open spaces, sparse vegetation, dry climate and often warmer temperatures. Due to this Kuzuko doesn't have big numbers of animals like the other…

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21/07/2021

Firefly the Travel Guy

Yawn!

It's a lazy and hot Friday morning at Kuzuko Lodge. The sun's already baking down without a cloud in the sky. The pride spots a kudu and the two female take the lead in the hunt. It's a patient wait watching it through the spekboom as it stands browsing unaware. Then the chase is on. Adrenalin pumping. Excitement. Hunger. Fear. Everything happens so fast yet everything else stands still. The kudu stood no chance as she gets taken down in…

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14/05/2021

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My Kuzuko cheetah experience

Kuzuko Lodge in the Greater Addo Elephant National Park is one of my favorite lodges to visit. Because its on the Karoo side of the Zuurberg mountains the animal sightings may be slightly less than on the coastal side, but I have had some magnificent encounters and combined with their lodge and service it has been a recommendable experience every time. A Karoo Heartland Marketing Association meeting brought me back to Kuzuku and during my stay I got to do one…

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10/02/2015

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Antelope skull

A game drive through a reserve with predators are all about watching live game but more often than not one would encounter the remains of not so live game. During our sundowner stop on a game drive at Kuzuko Lodge I found this lone skull out in the open very interesting. Probably a kudu skull as there was a kudu horn lying close by, I can only imagine how he came about his end. Must have been quite a sight…

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05/11/2013

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Succulent flowers at Kuzuko

Succulents always surprise me with the beautiful flowers that they produce specially when they grow in dry and arid areas. The flowering succulent in the picture was growing next to the path to our room at Kuzuko Lodge in the northern part of the Addo Elephant National Park.After reading the post, Alan Fogarty of Alan Tours helped me out a bit with the name: Crassula ovata or Kerky bush, Beestebul, iPhewula also commonly known as the "Botterboom"

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28/10/2013

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Lion leftovers

You don't kick a lion kill out from behind every bush and very few people have had the opportunity to see the actual kill take place. What you do get though are the remains of those kills. Bones picked clean and bleached white by the sun.

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17/09/2013

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Mock charge

On a recent visit to Kuzuko Lodge in the greater Addo Elephant National Park we had some amazing sightings. The afternoon game drive started with a close up sighting of their two male lions before we encountered a herd of elephants in a valley close to the lodge. The matriarch put up a spectacular mock charge what with flapping ears, stamping of feet and the shaking of a poor little bush. Unfortunately I didn't have me camera at the ready and missed…

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10/09/2013

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Game sightings at Kuzuko Lodge

What is the difference between visiting a game reserve and a zoo? At a zoo the animals are kept in enclosures with little freedom and visitors are guaranteed to see them although the sightings include walls, buildings, fences and cages. At a game reserve you will see the animals in their natural environment and as they are free to roam throughout the reserve but there is no guarantee to see them. So which would you rather do? Personally I would take my chances and…

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22/08/2013

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View of Kuzuko Lodge

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

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16/08/2013