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Photos courtesy of Mosetlha Bush Camp A dusty-red road leads me through Marico bushveld deeper into the 750 square kilometers large wilderness of the Madikwe Game Reserve – the 4th largest reserve in SouthAfrica, home to 350 bird and 66 mammal species, some 4 hours’ drive from Johannesburg. And on the road, an elephant rules it.
The history of Tembe Elephant Park in SouthAfrica is a slightly unusual one. But it wasn’t founded to serve as a refuge for human refugees, but animal ones, specifically elephants. And elephants are always overwhelming anyway. Tembe Elephant Park is a mosaic of savannah and forest.
And so, I went on the American Birding Association Safari to SouthAfrica. That was easily fixed by adding a post-Safari trip to Eastern SouthAfrica, led by dashing Rockjumper guide Clayton Burne, to my itinerary. The small group was a good counterpart to the large, convivial ABA Safari group of 98 birders.
A dusty-red road leads me through Marico bushveld deeper into the 750 square kilometers large wilderness of the Madikwe Game Reserve – the 4th largest reserve in SouthAfrica, home to 350 bird and 66 mammal species, some 4 hours’ drive from Johannesburg. Two young bull elephants slowly walk along the road in front of us.
After a very long day of 7 hours of driving, 11 hours flying and then 9 hours more driving, we have arrived at our temporary home here in SouthAfrica. Daily park fees are such that we opted for the annual “Wild Card” that is good not only for Kruger, but nearly every park in SouthAfrica. This pass cost us $3850.00
Ndumo Game Reserve lies in the Easternmost part of SouthAfrica, close to the border of Mozambique and Eswatini. I am sure it has some value, but would I really want to spend a few months or even years on “Ticks on Crested Francolins and on the vegetation on a farm in Limpopo Province, SouthAfrica “ ?
They are not necessarily the biggest African animals, but represented those that were considered a real hunter’s worthy prey or “game” – the African Elephant, Cape Buffalo, Black Rhinoceros, Leopard and king of the jungle, the Lion (which of course doesn’t inhabit jungle but savanna!).
Madikwe , in SouthAfrica, wasn’t a site of importance before it came into existence. And so SouthAfrica’s fifth largest park came to be (it’s worth remembering that its largest park, Kruger, is the size of Israel) on marginal land that no one in particular could do much with. But they are very cute!
Then, in 2002 I went on my first safari in SouthAfrica’s Kruger park. My true road to Damascus came on the 28 th of January 2009, in another African park: Pilanesberg, SouthAfrica. We moved to Malaysia, I watched birds and gained 10 kilos eating that gorgeous food. Sofar, nothing new.
Elephants were seen in the far distance, Warthogs mud-bathed where the water had receded, hippos hauled up in a big flatulent pile along the southern shore and a small herd of Wildebeeste filed down for a drink. Mammals seen; African Elephant, Brindled Wildebeeste, Giraffe, Hippopotamus, Warthog, Impala, Springbok.
I don't know how to call this one.will it help or hurt the elephant population in the long run? It will allow China to bid for more than 100 tonnes of ivory stockpiled in Botswana, Namibia, SouthAfrica and Zimbabwe through culling and natural deaths. Tags: ivory africa CITES poaching china elephants.
Northern Carmine Bee-eater riding an Arabian Bustard by Markus Lilje/Rockjumper Birding Tours Northern Carmine Bee-eaters in particular are masters of this trait, and rides range from elephants, donkeys and goats to Kori and Arabian Bustards, Abyssinian Ground Hornbills and a variety of other larger birds and mammals.
mi (almost exactly the same size as Indiana), it is one of the smaller provinces of SouthAfrica, but is the second most densely populated with over 10 million inhabitants. They discovered Gurney’s Sugarbird during their time in SouthAfrica. I live in a city called Pietermaritzburg, the capital of KwaZulu-Natal province.
But if they obeyed the rules, which may be too strict – in the Kruger Park in SouthAfrica, the limit is 50 km/h (31 mi/h) – they would not manage to show tourists much of the reserve in about three hours in the morning and the afternoon, which would reflect on their tip.
Pafuri lies in the northernmost part of the Kruger National Park and is described as “some of the most potentially productive birding territory in SouthAfrica” on the SANParks website. A slightly more surprising threat for the vultures comes from elephants. Elephants destroy the trees the vultures live and nest in.
Take an example, Tembe Elephant Park in SouthAfrica. This was one of the first, most shocking and most important lessons I learnt in my conservation masters – conservation requires active management. We can’t afford just to let nature be nature any more. Not if we want to hang on to what we have left.
Finally, SouthAfrica has three 400+ hotspots, namely 1 Mkhuze Game Reserve 458 sp. I will not bother you with the entire list, but rather choose some of the essential birding areas for each of the three bird-richest countries of East Africa (having a choice, we’ll stay within the 500+ reserves). 3 Lake Manyara NP 573 sp.
With an elephant for scale. Their odd movements during these times caused some friends to nickname them “Creepers” I saw these two males outside my cabin in Mkuze, where they were unconcerned by my presence.
Ethiopia, a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa, has firmly established itself as one of Africa’s top birding destinations. Its great diversity of habitats hosts an incredible bird count of over 900 species, including Africa’s 2nd highest list of endemics and near-endemics (after SouthAfrica).
Nevertheless, only the most important news I did follow, those about the decision-making process on future sales of elephants and their ivory at a global wildlife summit in Johannesburg, SouthAfrica, the first such meeting since 2013. In Africa, one elephant is being killed every 15 minutes. One may say so.
I’ll never forget my introduction to the mammals of Kruger National Park, SouthAfrica. We –participants of the ABA SouthAfrica Safari—were on a small plane when one Lori Conrad looked out the window and screamed, “There are elephants down there!” and everyone ran to Lori’s side of the plane.
When I got to SouthAfrica though I was struck with some indecision. A bird drove me nuts in Tembe Elephant Park, as I couldn’t find it on the app. Overall, I found the function worked best in SouthAfrica compared to other countries. There had also been a number of splits. I may be mistaken).
The Lilac-breasted Roller is the national bird of Kenya, but of course, this does not help it pay its bills in SouthAfrica. .” The Latin species name caudatus does not really mean much – just that it has a tail. Thanks for pointing that out. The Magpie Shrike looks like a magpie but is a proper shrike.
While the species is listed as Least Concern, there are some papers suggesting it may not be as common as assumed, at least in SouthAfrica. The Natal Spurfowl forages on rhinoceros and elephant dung (HBW) and does so without complaining. . “ The diet includes seeds, nuts, and nectar.
Anchieta’s and Whyte’s are restricted to the Miombo or Brachystegia woodlands of south-central Africa, White-eared to the forests along Africa’s eastern coastline and Green to scattered forests from south to east Africa. This image was taken at Makakatana in Isimangaliso Wetland Park, SouthAfrica.
… Tags: south-africa , Spotted Dikkop , stone curlews , thick-knees • Camping tents - Check out our pop up tents , family tents , and more! Elephants Eye Mar 19th, 2011 at 7:34 am I vote for night-plover. A multi-part trip report from Cape Town can be found at Redgannet, March 2011. Go check it out!
We did however see a Yellow-rumped Warbler at Elephant Butte Lake, New Mexico on 16th November 1989 and a Townsend’s Warbler at Big Sur, California on 3rd December 1989. We have never been to SouthAfrica, but it is a lovely book to look at and dream!
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