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 Post subject: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:18 am 
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Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:35 pm
Posts: 159
Location: Centurion
I would love to hear about sightings that you had with no other tourists around.

Hubby and I went to Timbivati picnic spot once and after we left decided to take the long way back to Satara. We came across two Cheetah next to the road playing around the Landrover and went off in the bush. We spent an hour there sitting and watching them with no other cars passing. AWESOME!

Oh and the last time we went we had Impalas right next to the car. :whistle:


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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:11 am 
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Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 9:31 pm
Posts: 238
Location: Leiderdorp, The Netherlands
Hi,

in march 2010 we spent some nights in Punda Maria and on the second day we went for a drive on the Mahonieloop very early. And about on the middle of the loop we suddely saw lions in the field with cubs. :thumbs_up:
Never seen lions before on that loop so we stopped and after a while the lions came closer and walked before our car on the gravelroad. The cubs playing on the road and some times later they all went to the water and playing again. And....... for more than an hour no other tourists.
So the next day, we had to leave for Satara again, we decided to drive the loop again.... hoping to get a glimps of those beautifull lions again. And YES on the same place, again the pride of lions and again no other tourists for about 45 minutes. But those to 2 times were the only times we saw lions on the loop. Never saw lions before or after that time..... :(
But it was great to 'have them for ourselves'. :D
http://www.afrikafotosafari.nl/Zuid%20A ... 02010.html

Ruud

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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:37 am 
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Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2005 6:31 pm
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Location: Ballito, KZN North Coast, South Africa
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In Feb 2910 we were driving on the Mahonie Loop and decided to take the Witsand little cul de sac where we found our infamous 2 Caracal Kittens lying under a bush right next to the road.
We spent over 20 minutes with them completely alone, definitely a highlight for us.

The year before we also had 3 Lionesses come walking up the road towards us, also the Mahonie Loop, not a long sighting but again the only people there.

I think it was the same year we spent quite a time alone with a small herd of Roan Antelope a few kms below Babalala.
A car did stop, they had a quick look, shrugged their shoulders and pulled off! :roll:

Another time we sat for over 20 minutes with a beautiful Leopard on the S25, not another single soul came along!

So I think we have been pretty lucky over the years.

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Kruger - Feb 6th - 22rd - 2013 &
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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:45 am 
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Junior Virtual Ranger
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Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:29 pm
Posts: 619
Location: Okavango
Nice topic!! :thumbs_up:

Had some great sightings to ourselves over the years...
Many a leopard as expected and a couple of times came across hunting lions and once a cheetah kill.
One of the funniest was travelling down the S100 (in the 90's) only to come to a group of about 20 cars watching 2 sets of lion ears in the grass...we couldn't get passed so turned around and a few corners later had a big beautiful male lion walking across the road all to ourselves...it was especially nice in the circumstances.

A more recent sighting was on the S128 near LS where I joined about 5 or so cars watching lions. Supposedly 3 females in the distance and asleep. One of the cars had tourists that said they had been with them for the whole day. It had been about 35-40 degrees so I thought that was strange because the lions were hardly going to move in the heat. Anyway it was about 2 hours before closing time and suddenly everyone just left the sighting and one car went around the corner for some reason. Being summer, a sudden pre thunderstorm wind started up and with the numerous giraffe in the area that the lions had been aware of, the lions took the opportunity to hunt.
I was in the car alone and couldn't believe my eyes when it turned out to be about 10 adult lionesses all chasing this one giraffe right in front of me jumping at it...they seemed to pull it down on the other side of the road in some thick bush (but couldn't tell for sure) and a few more lions came running in to where the giraffe had been chased. I didnt see the actual kill with my own eyes but many vultures in the area in the following days probably confirmed the lions success.
I was shaking from all the adrenalin when the car came back around the corner and the tourists asked where did the lions go? I couldn't really explain I was still shaking so much but managed to tell them in the end...they hardly believed me!
Anyway my drive (and trip) was made so I took a slow drive on the S29 where some reedbuck, a coqui francolin and 2 cheetah brothers walking in the road put on a show for me. :dance:
A drive I wont forget :thumbs_up:

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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:03 am 
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Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:35 pm
Posts: 159
Location: Centurion
VERY very nice indeed.

We also had a leopard crossing the road right in front of us when we stopped to show the little one an owl in the tree.

With no other tourists.

Then this year, we had 4 baby giraffes together. Same thing that other cars drove past.

Image
IMG_4396 by Stelliegp, on Flickr



On the 4X4 trails we were also very lucky. Ellies, buffalo and Rhino.


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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:09 am 
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Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:35 pm
Posts: 159
Location: Centurion
ruud wrote:
http://www.afrikafotosafari.nl/Zuid%20Afrika/Kruger%20maart%202010.html




BEAUTIFULL pictures. Are you a professional photographer?


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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:28 am 
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Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2008 11:20 pm
Posts: 67
Location: peterborough uk
hi about 8 years ago on the mphongola loop (s56) had mating leopards to ourselves stayed with them for about and hour before they disappeared into the bush.again leopards 2 years ago on the biyamiti private road towards camp coming from malelane side had 3 leopards together all to ourselves. :D :D :D


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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:30 pm 
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Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 10:51 pm
Posts: 27
Location: NLD
This year in July during my first visit to the KPN... :D :D
and i had all the beginnersluck in the world with lost of beautiful sightings and the Big Five...
we were leaving the park :cry: ....but as an icing on the cake whe had two Cheetah brothers sitting on a termite hill just beside the road.
It was just the two of us in our car and ths bro's on the lookout.... :dance: :clap:

Awesome but also mixed feelings because of leaving this behind :cry:

greetz,

Simone

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Missing South Africa and KNP......

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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:50 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:02 pm
Posts: 497
Location: SA
About two weeks ago on the way home i was stuck in the middle of 18 young lions on the kruger road. It was after 8, so they were very relaxed. In the village in skukuza we have been very blessed with numerous predator sightings over the years. A nicer one was where a leopard was watching us through our fence while braaing, about 10 metres from where we stood braaing.

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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:58 pm 
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Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:35 pm
Posts: 159
Location: Centurion
wacktazz, Please post some photos of the Staff village! :pray:


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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 4:00 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 9:31 pm
Posts: 238
Location: Leiderdorp, The Netherlands
stelliegp123 wrote:
ruud wrote:
http://www.afrikafotosafari.nl/Zuid%20Afrika/Kruger%20maart%202010.html




BEAUTIFULL pictures. Are you a professional photographer?


Hi Stellie,

thanks for your compliments :thumbs_up: , but no we are not professional photographers. Just doing it for 'fun', since we 'discovered' the wildlife of Africa, we come as often as possible. We try to visit Africa twice each year and we are just back from 4 weeks Kruger.
So within some weeks we update our website again.

Ruud

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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:02 pm 
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Junior Virtual Ranger
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Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 4:51 pm
Posts: 513
Location: Kleinmond, Western Cape
On two occasions we were fortunate to see leopard catching warthog. The first time was next to the present S114 (then still known as the H3 as the present tar road was not built yet) in 1981. The second event was in 1989 on the main tar road (H1-4), next to the Ngotso creek, between Satara and the Olifants River. In both cases we were the only car watching what was happening in front of us.


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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:08 pm 
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Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:51 am
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Location: Johannesburg SA
Elsa wrote:
In Feb 2910 we were driving on the Mahonie Loop and decided to take the Witsand little cul de sac where we found our infamous 2 Caracal Kittens lying under a bush right next to the road.
We spent over 20 minutes with them completely alone, definitely a highlight for us.

Top story :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

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25-27 Skukuza 3 nights

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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 8:45 am 
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Joined: Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:34 pm
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Location: Edenvale
post some :cam: :cam:

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 Post subject: Re: Your Best sighting in Kruger, with no other tourists
Unread postPosted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 9:10 am 
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Location: Pretoria, South Africa
Interesting thread Stelliegp123! :thumbs_up:

One of our greatest sightings without ANY other tourists around was a leopard sighting during July 2011 a few km's before the Letaba river crossing on the Phalaborwa/Mopani road.
We saw something in the road ahead....a leopard :shock: and it stayed with us for approximately 5 - 10 minutes! This huge male walked right next to our vehicle! :dance:

Image

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