Manyaleti game reserve next to Kruger, Feb 23-27, 2010

FINAL TWO BLOGS, LONG BLOGS.  ALL ABOUT OUR SAFARI...

We arrived for our 4 day safari in the afternoon and our animal sightings started right away.

As we drove in, this was part of the greeting committee.  We all decided this looked like a 3 headed giraffe.  It wasn't of course, but it looked that way at first.

When we arrived, there was a lovely lunch laid out for us, then it was off for our first photo game drive.

For ease, I have decided to divide this blog into sections of animals we saw, rather than do a time line...

HERD ANIMALS:

Cape buffalo covered in mud to keep cool.

New baby buffalo are lighter brown than the adults.  We went at a good time of year to see the younger animals.

Large herds of Cape buffalo

Nothing says "Africa" like zebras!

Except maybe a herd of wildebeest!

Kudu female

So many impala we stopped taking photos after the first day!! We saw 100 or more every day!

I know you know giraffes are tall, but they are REALLY tall!

And actually quite cute.

Often times the herd animals would be found together.

Do you see the impalas in the background with the wildebeest?

BIRDS, REPTILES AND SUCH:

European rollo

Lilac-breasted rollo.  A truly beautiful bird with amazing coloring!

Glossy starling.  They liked to come visit us at our lodgings. 

Vultures waiting in a tree for the lions to be done with their kill.

Couldn't remember what this one was, posted it on the blog and the next day John (our guide) emailed me with the name.  This is a Burchell's coucal.  Talk about service even after the fact!!

Saddle billed stork, one of a mated pair that live at one of the local watering holes.

White storks behind impalas.

White storks in flight, an amazing sight!  They are so big!

Golden orb spider, our closest friend during our drives through the bush!

Chameleon held by John, our ranger guide.

Back of an artichoke... not really.  It is a pangolin, a member of the anteater family.  John was so excited to see this creature.  He had never seen one in the wild before.

The pangolin is all rolled up as a defense mechanism.

He finally unrolled and walked away!  VERY COOL!!

BIG GAME ANIMALS:

We saw elephant almost every day.  Like giraffes, you don't realize just how big they really are until you see them up close.

Sometime we saw them up very close!

Rhinos look like the stepped out of the time of the dinosaur! 

 Yep, those little birds do just sit on their back and eat bugs off of them.

Hippos hang out in water all day, then eat grasses all night.

They weigh about 2 tons and are known to be the most dangerous animal to a human.

We saw lions every day.  We only saw females and young males.

The females are the hunters.  We saw kills two days of the four.  This zebra kill fed about 6 lions.  The wildebeest kill fed a group of 8.

This juvenile male is just starting to get his mane.

We were amazingly lucky to see leopards every day also.  We saw a total of 5 different leopards.  They are beautiful creatures.

Our last morning we spotted this mother with her two cubs, which were about 3 months old.  

It was an amazing 20 minutes watching them interact, then watching the mother hide them in the bush, likely so she could go out and hunt.

Talk about adorable!  Three months old and you can see the intelligence and power, even at this young age.

NIGHT DRIVES:

The sunsets were spectacular.

But it gets really dark, really fast...

As it gets dark, we can see how the flash light picks up the eyes of the animals.  This is how Alfie, our tracker finds the animals at night.

Alfie was amazing!  This spotted owlette was one of the kids' favorite nocturnal animals.  It is actually quite small.

The big cats were not bothered at all by the spotlight.  This leopard was hunting.

Lions drinking, lots of lions drinking.

We saw so many amazing animals and the amount and variety was total unexpected.  We ran into a man at the airport who had just finished his second trip and got to see his first and only lion this trip.  We saw lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, hippos, etc every day!!

Tintswalo Game Lodge, Manyaleti game reserve, South Africa Feb 23-27, 2010

FINAL BLOG FROM OUR TRIP

LIFE AT TINTSWALO:  OUR DAILY ROUTINE:

Up at 5am and on the road at 5:30am to see the animals.

Stop out in the bush around 7-7:30am for coffee, hot tea, fresh muffins and cookies.  Table set up with tablecloth and everything! 

Legs are stretched, stomachs happy, then back out for another hour of seeing animals.

After our 3 hour morning drive, around 9am, it was time for a full breakfast, both hot and cold foods.  Always delicious and welcome after our full morning drives.

After breakfast, homework time for the kids.  They took over the open loft area above the room where Gabriel slept.  They found some plastic kiddy furniture and moved it up there.  Debbie and I also took advantage of the wonderful massages and spa treatments they had available at the main lodge.

One day after the kids finished their homework, John took them on a hike around the area near the Manor house.  Always worried about safety, he took his gun with him.  The kids learned even more about the smaller creatures that you don't see while driving.

Afternoon brought another stunning and delicious meal.  Lunch around 1:30pm

After lunch was time for swimming, laying out in the sun, reading, and napping (my favorite).

The place was stunning, with a small electric fence that enclosed the yard making it safe to hang out.

Another afternoon option was a trip to the local village.  Jonathan and Gabriel went and had an amazing experience including a visit to the "sangoma", the local healer.

Then back out at 4:30pm for 3 more hours of game driving, seeing animals and learning about them.

Around 6-6:30pm we would stop for "sun-downers", sodas for the kids, mixed drinks for the adults plus snacks for all.  Notice there is not only a tablecloth, but a runner, too!  Fancy, fancy!

Back to the manor house around 7:30pm and dinner at 8pm.  The table was always beautifully set, the lighting lovely, the table decorations completing the picture.

One night, they moved the table out next to the pool where they had a fire pit going and cooked an amazing braii (African barbeque), including some local foods that were mighty tasty!

After lingering for good conversation and nice wine, it was time for bed around 9:30-10pm, because that 5am wake-up was coming again the next morning!

THE PEOPLE MADE THE DIFFERENCE!

Our trip would not have been nearly as nice had it not been for the wonderful people that work at Tintswalo.  Kensani cooked the most delicious foods for us.  Her recipes are amazing! 

Selbi kept trying to take credit for Kensani's recipes, which cracked us up!  It was sort of odd to have a butler, but Selbi was so relaxed and fun to be with, that we quickly got used to our pampered lifestyle!

John and Alfi made our safari the amazing experience that it was!

Watching Alfi and John track game, both from the vehicle and on foot was so cool... Alfi truly was worth his weight in gold for his ability to find us all those awesome animals to see!

Alfi took extra time with the kids, teaching them and making things for them from the local trees, grasses etc.  Here he is putting the finishing touches on a bracelet he wove from tree bark that became as strong as any rope once it was woven.

Alfi showed the kids how to weave grasses to make lots of different things, including this razor.  He also made fly swatters and toothbrushes from the bush!  I think he should go on "Survivor"!

Alfi and John gave each of the kids an opportunity to sit in the tracker's seat and try to spot animals.  Needless to say, it was much harder than Alfi made it look!

John was our driver, teacher, companion at meals, and organizer of what ever we wanted to do.  He put himself at our disposal from 5am until 9pm every day.

When the kids wanted to hike, he took them out.

While we were out in the bush, he was always teaching us, from the biggest animal's habits to the nest of foam a frog made by a watering hole.

The kids all loved him and thought he walked on water!

When the kids joked around, he jumped right in.

Our experience at Tintswalo was everything we were hoping it would be AND MORE!  If you are planning on going on an African safari in your lifetime, I would HIGHLY recommend Tintswalo... and don't forget to ask for Kensani, Selbi, Alfi and John!

What an amazing end to our trip!!