Category Archives: Wildlife

Our Visit to Lionsrock Big Cat Sanctuary

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If you have already been following my blog, it is probably quite apparent that I truly love the amazing wildlife we have here in South Africa. I am also a big supporter of the idea of keeping the wildlife wild. I absolutely do not support the numerous animal interaction activities that are found all over the country such as lion cub petting and walking, elephant back safaris, ostrich riding or cheetah cuddling. Most times these types of places will claim that what they are doing is all for conservation reasons but most true conservationists agree it is anything but conservation. Lion cub petting probably tops my list of the worst of the bunch due to the connection to canned lion hunting. There is a lot of information out there on this topic if you just seek it out but if you need a start you can read here and here.

LionOne of the rescued male lions at Lionsrock

Fortunately there are also many organizations here in South Africa doing true conservation and/or rescue work. We had the opportunity to visit one such place a few weekends ago, Lionsrock Big Cat Sanctuary, located in the Free State about 3 hours south of Joburg near Bethleham. Lionsrock is a sanctuary for big cats rescued from horrific conditions in zoos, circuses and canned hunting situations from all over the globe.

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You’re Such a Chee-tah !

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Back in February, I took a solo trip to Kruger National Park. I am trying to get caught up on my adventures but life seems to keep getting in the way of my blogging (all in a good way). In my last Kruger post, I wrote about my sighting of 2 lionesses that I had all to myself. That day in particular was probably my most exciting ever on safari and today I would like to share another fantastic sighting from that same day.

As I mentioned in my post about the lionesses, this day started out grey and misty with rain showers lurking so my expectations were rather low for the day. My first sighting for the day was one of my favorite eagles, the Bateleur. The eagle was fairly close, up in a tree, just off the road. But with the unfavorable weather conditions, the lighting was terrible. After spending 10 or 15 unsuccessful minutes trying to get a decent shot of this bird, I noticied there had been no other cars coming in the opposite direction and the couple of cars that came from behind me did not even stop and quickly continued up the road.

I started to wonder what I might be missing up ahead and gave up trying to photograph the bateleur. I continued up the road and after about a minute I was greeted by around 20 vehicles coming towards me on both sides of the road. I knew it had to be something big but with the tall grass it took me a minute or so to see this:

Cheetahs in the long grassCheetahs in the long grass

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A Special Kruger Moment with Two Special Kruger Ladies

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If I had to name one reason why I totally love being on safari in the Kruger Park I would probably say something like it’s because of the idea that each day when you roll out of bed and hit the road, you really have no idea what surprises the Kruger has in store for you. Maybe you will run across a breeding herd of elephants peacefully frolicking in a waterhole or maybe you might forced to reverse down a narrow dirt road by a big elephant bull who could easily flip your vehicule in one swift trunk swipe. Maybe there will be a crash of rhinos blocking the road and you will have to eventually turn around and find another road. Maybe you’ll plan a quick stop at a waterhole just to check it out but you end up sitting for a couple hours just watching (and taking zillions of photos) the diverse bird life and all the other creatures coming down for a visit. The possibilites for special sightings in Kruger are endless but sometimes there are some that are just a little more special for one reason or another. One of those is what I wanted to blog about today.

This particular day on my recent visit to Kruger Park had started out overcast and drizzily. I had already had some great sightings on previous days but with the weather being as it was, I really didn’t have any high expectations and I was in fact glad that the rain had finally brought the high temperatures of the previous days down a bit. However the Kruger had other ideas for this day and soon I found myself at an amazing cheetah sighting; only the second time in my life that I have seen them. That was special, really special but that sighting isn’t what I am going to write about today (I will one day but you’ll have to wait a bit for that one).

It was the sighting just after lunch, during the off-peak safari hours in which it is usually way too hot and most of the animals  are hiding somewhere in the shade that was really, really extra special to me. I was driving down a dirt road between Lower Sabie and Skukuza (S128 aka the Old Tshokwane Road for those fanatics that like all the details) when I saw this:

Lionesses in the RoadLionesses in the Road

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Confessions of a Kruger Park Addict

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I am addicted to the Kruger National Park. There, I said it, and I am not the least bit ashamed. I just got back 2 days ago from another fantastic self-drive trip to this reserve, my 3rd since moving to South Africa a little over a year ago and my 5th visit overall. This time was a bit different than the others as I went solo. Yes, that is correct, just me, myself and I, alone in the bush and it was an amazing adventure.

Kruger National ParkKruger National Park

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Globetrotting: Nice to Zanzibar to Kruger National Park

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The past 6 weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind of travel for me so I thought I would do a quick update to let you know I am still around and looking forward to sharing my recent adventures with you soon.

The beginning of November had me back in Nice, France for a work trip. Incidentally I left for this trip exactly one year and one day from the date we moved to Joburg. It felt a bit strange to be back in Nice (or more precisely Sophia Antipolis where our offices are located) and I really feel Joburg is home to me now. It was a hectic week of conferences but a great experience to meet fellow colleagues from all over the globe. We didn’t have much free time at all and I didn’t even get a chance to see old friends but we did manage a few hours for a nice Sunday afternoon around Antibes, much needed after the long, hellish flight from South Africa.

Flying into NiceFlying into Nice

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