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Beauty in the heat at Tswalu Kalahari

On Safari at Savanna Private Game Reserve

I have taken several trips to Savanna this past year and wanted to share some of the highlights of my time there. Although the game viewing is exceptional, it is the genuine warmth and friendliness of the staff that I enjoy most. They all have this wonderful ability to make you feel so at home […]

Frontpage Article, South Africa Blogs

Beauty in the heat at Tswalu Kalahari

Frontpage Article, South Africa Blogs

On Safari at Savanna Private Game Reserve

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Frontpage Article, South Africa Blogs

Beauty in the heat at Tswalu Kalahari

There is very rarely such a thing as the perfect time for a safari – I believe you make the most of what you get. In the Kalahari it was really hot, but by getting out early and staying out late, I managed to have a great few days with my guests. We explored the vast Tswalu terrain, seeing big-horned big game and hungry lions as well as a myriad of other creatures. One of the highlights was working with tracker Siphiwe Mandleni. He not only has the eyes of a hawk and finds Pangolin tracks with ease, he has a superb ethic to the whole safari. I can safely say that this is down to his foundations which were laid in his time at the Tracker Academy. The holistic approach taken there has produced some fine young men and instilled the right approach to take tracking into the next generation. What better place to see this in action than on game drive in the red sands of the southern Kalahari! (Alastair)

Another hot day comes to a close in the Kalahari as a White-backed Vulture sets in to roost for the night.

Siphiwe Mandleni & Alastair taking a selfie!

A tired young lion after missing a warthog during the hunt.

This is one of the fun parts of the night at Tswalu – finding scorpions with a UV light!

Photographing a Rufous-cheeked Nightjar on the red sand track – always a good photographic challenge to get the light right.

Africa’s smallest raptor – this male was not distracted by the butterfly like I was.

Refreshing is an understatement at this point in summer!

A female Kudu peers at me from the ridge above the lodge – Korannaberg.

Frontpage Article, South Africa Blogs

On Safari at Savanna Private Game Reserve

It really is all about the game though and that’s the impression you get from the passionate guides who go out of their way to make sure all expectations are met and, where possible, exceeded. Every safari is an adventure, from tracking game to the friendly banter between the vehicles. We are often the first to go out in the morning and the last to come back in the evenings, and that’s not because the guides are lost. Guests are often dragged away from tasty meals to race back out into the field to find themselves arriving at the perfect moment to observe an incredible sighting, and sometimes not. That is nature and it waits for no one but it’s always worth a try. There are very few camps where this still happens and unfortunately, it seems to be a dying service.

At Savanna there is a directly proportionate ratio of embellished camp fire stories to red wine, both of which are in never-ending supply. It does make it a little harder to get up in the mornings but with a fresh cup of coffee, the incredible wildlife and a little nap after brunch, you find yourself quite happily doing it all over again. These are the makings of a great safari.

A young female leopard killed a warthog piglet just before dark. After a brief scuffle with an opportunist hyena she managed to hoist it into a nearby tree.

Lions killed a wildebeest in the early morning, this was all that was left by the time we arrived. This hyena spent some time making sure every available piece of flesh and bone was removed.

Affection from an older sibling. These young lions were separated from the rest of the pride, we found them in early morning where they climbed up a termite mound right next to the vehicle and posed beautifully for us.

This young giraffe, with its umbilical chord still attached was running away from a large male leopard who had been watching it closely from the cover of a thicket.

Watching elephants swim is both fascinating and funny, these two bulls certainly wont be competing in a synchronized swimming event any time soon.

We discovered this male cheetah early one morning, he had caught a young impala lamb just before we got there and had started to feed. Seeing cheetah is always a bonus so we just sat patiently in the rain and enjoyed the sighting.

Under immense pressure, one can consider every sighting of rhino a modern day privilege. In South Africa alone close to a 1000 rhinos were poached in 2013 and in 2014 we have already lost 42. How do we stop this epidemic?

A pack of wild dogs on the hunt has to be one of the most thrilling experiences in the African bush.

One of my favourite things to do is spend time watching a large herd of buffalo. There is so much interaction between the different members of the herd, ox-peckers fluttering excitedly and the ever present threat of hunting lions.

The water hole at Savanna often attract herds of elephants, buffalo and lions. To see these animals from the comfort of the breakfast table is always a treat.

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