February is just a continuation of an amazing January, and our guests are blessed with a vast range of daily sightings. But just see below some of our best shots!

For example, an amazing elephant sighting – took us about a week as they have been in Madrid. But along with MRL we tracked and found them on Marula Loop in Wilderness. Aggy took some great photos of a young one (too big to
suckle) but went on his knees and tried anyway …hahaha … that’s positively amusing!

We also saw Giraffe, Impala and Wildebeest.

We also tracked and found the Lions at Ratelpan – the “teen” group were all together and taking a nap. Now that’s iconically beautiful! No comments needed …

Also great shots of a Ground hornbill and Yellow billed hornbill. The Ground Hornbill is a very rare bird, so it is a real privilege to see this animal. They are on the brink in many areas, so to see them breed successfully here – that’s what gives me personally the biggest smile. This is exciting.

We had some fantastic drives the past couple of days! We tracked and found the elephants in the South of Moditlo at Marula Pan – they then moved into the river bed and we got some truly great photos. See below!

We also spotted Nyala, Kudu and then tracked and found two White Rhinos as well as some Egyptian Geese. I personally have a thing for them. I find them to be very pretty birds.

We saw Wildebeest and Krest captured a Kudu bull beautifully.

We tracked and found the Cheetah at Seven star junction – they were very lazy, we spent around 15 minutes here, then they got up and moved into the thicket. It’s not often that you get to take photos that up-close of cheetahs in the wild … but you can on our reserve. It’s one of our speciality here!

The lions were tracked and found near Knob thorn wallow – the big male and female were on the move and it seems like they are looking for potential kill – snapped some amazing photos. Here’s one of them! Stunning.

Alan Hiatt stayed with us in October 2016. And he is such a fan of our lodge that has has written up a typical day’s description for us, to be posted on ur blog. That’s the sort of guests we have here. Awesome, simple as that.

“On 24^th October we got up early as usual dressed and were escorted to the main lodge for coffee and Rusks. We talked to the other guests about what we’d see. The anticipation of the upcoming drive and what we’d see was palpable. 

The weather was overcast and looked like rain. There was thunder and the occasional flash of lightning.

We climbed aboard our game vehicles snuggled down under a blanket and we headed off into the bush.

No sooner underway a shout on the radio came in and Uyai changed from excited to very excited and said another vehicle had spotted some Lions. With a brief look to the sky he said we should get there before it rains. But we might not get back before it started. He asked what us guests what we thought. We all said. “Yeah let’s go for it”

 So off we went. We went fast, or as fast as you can go on a bush road. We were all told to sit close and in the middle of the vehicle. Crest overhanging on the spotters seat. Uyai driving, using the radio and occasionally shouting “mind the trees” where we would all squeeze together a duck a bit more.

Round corner after corner with Crest somehow holding on. Slowing down for potholes and humps then back up to speed corner after corner.

Eyes kept looking to the skies. It’s getting darker, was that a spot of rain, that lightning is getting closer, that that clap of thunder was loud. Still we drove into the bush, corner after corner and then in the distance we saw a couple of game vehicles. More corners, another spot of rain, another flash of lightning, another clap of thunder and then while Uyai’s driving round corners, “mind the tree” he sees them.

We’re still looking in front of us and all we can see is trees. “he’s mobile” and immediately turns right. Points across to the left where we see two lionesses and the most beautiful Male Lion. We stop, we take pictures and within a minute of arriving the lions slope off into the bush.

The lightning feels close the thunder is now very loud. Uyai turns slightly towards us and says. “I think we’d better get back to the lodge”

We were sat with these wonderful animals about a minute when we suddenly became aware that it was raining.

For those that don’t know. When it rains in Africa…..It rains.

How Uyai could see on the way back none of us knew but we got back to the lodge: Soaked but happy.

The rest of our stay was much the same, without the rain. A truly superb place with superb people and accommodation. Just too many people to praise.

Everybody on holiday says, “I can’t wait to come back!”

How many people actually go back a second time?

How many people go back a third time?

Well in October 2017 we’re booked in for a fourth time!!”

 

Alan also sent in this Youtube video he published when they saw the lions.

and

Sometimes it seems that nature knows that our guests are due a lovely Christmas present.

And nature didn’t disappoint this year either! 🙂

Jackals, cheetahs, giraffes, big herd of wildebeest, vultures … everything and quite a lot more was on the Christmas menu. What a way to celebrate before a huge Christmas dinner!

Christmas is upon us, and that is always a very busy time for us at the lodge. No Christmas for us! 😉

But the festive season is a time of reflection, looking back at the past year, and looking forward to the new year. And of course it is for most people a time to catch up with family, friends, and enjoying some time together.

Speaking of family … we got this superb shot on our reserve a few days ago, and I thought it was a lovely image to publish for Christmas: a Leopard Tortoise and her little one. There is a lot of love in this world, and that also in the world of animals. Very cute!

And with that picture, we wish all of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS !! 😀

After the severe drought we have had over this year’s dry season, rains have been quite regular and plentiful, just what the doctor prescribed. This is great for nature – and for our guests! The reserve certainly looks all the prettier for it! See for yourselves.

We have been lucky as it seems all the animals have moved to the south of the reserve, and that’s very close to the lodge.

The elephants were tracked and found just off Nyala road and it is amazing if you sit very quietly how close they get to the vehicle. Great photos to prove that if the animals feel comfortable, it is an amazing sighting.

We found them again west of Lodge road and had another amazing close encounter.

The Lions were tracked and found first at Porcupine dam by both Vuyani and MRL guides. They were napping and not fazed by the Hippo in the dam. Great sighting. The following day we tracked and found them off Eastern River road – in the same vicinity as the Wild dog – the wild dog were on the move so we only managed a couple of shots. But still – what a quick succession of unique sightings!

The cheetahs were just off the fence line of Bloubergbos heading west – as soon as the Lions entered the southern area of the reserve, the cheetahs moved out. Amazing how all these predators live in “harmony”. They certainly know how to stay out of each other’s way. Well, more like everyone stayng out of the lion’s way, I suppose. 😉

 

On Monday, Hendrick and his guests were treated to an amazing sighting. Unfortunately it all happened so fast that no one really captured all of it on film. It was one of those sightings that you can’t stop looking and completely forget to film.

Dawn and Alan captured the Leopard and kindly gave us the photos. Amazing guests! Many thanks! 🙂

So what happened? Hendrick was driving along and tracking the lions on Nyala road. He saw the tracks move off and took a little to track. He saw the lions through the thicket and decided to approach. They were quite active and noisy and kept looking up into a very big Marula tree, it looked like the female was chasing something. As the vehicle approached Hendrick could hardly believe his eyes. There was a young leopard up the tree!! The Lions had managed to chase it up there and the leopard was looking rather nervous. The lions were circling the tree at the bottom and kicking up quite a fuss. The leopard jumped from one tree to the next and down and ran for his dear life! The lions did not see this happening and kept looking up the tree for Mr. Leopard (who was long gone by now) it was an amazing sighting, and that’s putting it mildly.

Even Hendrick said this was a once in a lifetime sighting, even for an experienced guide! Wow !! I wish I had been there myself, tell you what!

Sightings have been abundant over recent days … elephants, cheetahs (on a kill!), lions, rhinos, giraffes, leopards, … just everyhing that is “standard” … and then so much more! Endless laughters about these two leopard tortoises enjoying a bit of a spring time fun! No comment … everyone is feeling a spring in his step, tell you what 😉

On a less kinky note … we also found our cheetah brothers on a VERY fresh kill in the plains … this is the sort of sightings that you travel thousands of miles for. Unforgettable! Nature at its best, simple as that. If you stay 5-7 nights with us, you are quasi guaranteed an up-close cheetah sighting, and you don’t get that on many reserves. This is one hell of a rare animal. Only a few hundred are still left in the wild in South Africa, so you can imagine.

And then also some spectacular up-close sightings of our lions … resting in the shade of the bush … the kings and queens of the bush. And these two youngsters are just stunning! What a pleasure to see them do so well on our reserve. 🙂

 

We have had a couple of big rain events over the last 4 weeks, and notably a few days ago, some parts of the reserve got over 80mm of rain, which is huge. Some rivers started flowing, so that is excellent news. As a result nature has greened up loads, and wildlife is rampant.

Today, zebras and cheetahs were tracked and found by Vuyani and MRL guides on the Riversdale Cutline. They were pretty chilled and didn’t move much. We sat with them about 10 minutes or so. We managed some beautiful shots of them. Just see below. 🙂

We also tracked and found the elephants south of the Moditlo Main Gate, they were taking a drink of water and then
moved off in a Western direction. Our guests were beyond excitement to see these huge animals. Biggest animals on earth actually (if you take out sea animals)

We then went to the wild dog den site and they were pretty active. Running all over the place. We got a nice shot
with Hendrick in the driver seat. What a privilege to have these super rare animals on our reserve! It’s mind-numbing, if you just think about their rarity, actually.

We also tracked and found the lions east of the lodge – they were in the thicket and had taken something down, by the looks of it giraffe (they have really turned into very skilled lions, that’s for sure). We could not access this morning, but we will try again … we are not the ones t give up here at the Vuyani Safari Lodge! 😉

And just as nature is making a steady comeback, so are the spectacular sightings.

And the photo footage is a testimony of the many animals you can see when on safari on our large reserve. From the smallest and rarest, to the biggest and most impressive.

Just see for yourselves!