Traveling Adventures

Visiting Yogyakarta tourism object is not complete without coming to Fort Vredeburg Museum. This fortress has a high historical value to the struggle against the tyranny. Before known as the Fort Vredeburg as now, the fort was named Fort Rustenburg.

In the year 1760, at the request of the Netherlands, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono I—the Sultan of Yogyakarta— built a very simple square fort on the land owned by the Kraton (palace). On each corner stands a bastion or seleka which resembling a turtle shape with four legs. By the Sultan the four corners was named Jayawisesa (northwest corner), Jayapurusa (northeast corner), Jayaprakosaning (southwest corner) and Jayaprayitna (southeast corner). Then, under the supervision of architect from the Netherlands named Ir. Frans Haak, in the year 1767 the fort reconstruction was take place. When the building was finished, the fort named Fort Rustenburg which means “Fort of resort”.

In the beginning this initial establishment of the fort was actually a strategy from the Netherlands for the Sultan’s Palace security, though the real intention is to monitor the movement of Sultan’s Palace itself. From inside the fort, the Dutch could easily lead a number of cannons precisely on the Sultan’s Palace if revolt emerges from the Sultan’s Palace, because the fort is close to the Sultan’s Palace.

Devastating earthquake in 1867 in Yogyakarta, causing the collapse of many important buildings in Yogyakarta including Fort Rustenburg. Soon, all the buildings were rebuild and reform. After completion, the name Fort Rustenburg changes to “Fort Vredeburg” which means “Fort of Peace”. The name is taken as a manifestation of the relationship between the Sultanate of Yogyakarta and the Netherlands to cease aggression at that time.

On August 9, 1980 with the approval of Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX Fort Vredeburg serve as Center of Information and National Culture Development. On April 16, 1985 a restoration was carried out in order to the fort became a museum of struggle. The museum opened to the public in 1987. Dated November, 23 1992 Fort Vredeburg was officially served as a museum of struggle with the name “Museum of Fort Vredeburg”. Because it has functioned as a modern museum, Fort Vredeburg has a complete collection includes collection of buildings, collection of realia, collection of photographs including replicas and miniatures and painting collections. In addition, there are four diorama rooms of the history of Indonesian struggle.

On August 9, 1980 with the approval of Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX Fort Vredeburg serve as Center of Information and National Culture Development. On April 16, 1985 a restoration was carried out in order to the fort became a museum of struggle. The museum opened to the public in 1987. Dated November, 23 1992 Fort Vredeburg was officially served as a museum of struggle with the name “Museum of Fort Vredeburg”. Because it has functioned as a modern museum, Fort Vredeburg has a complete collection includes collection of buildings, collection of realia, collection of photographs including replicas and miniatures and painting collections. In addition, there are four diorama rooms of the history of Indonesian struggle.

Visiting hours:
Tuesday – Thursday : 08.30 AM – 13.30 PM
Friday : 08.30 AM – 11.00 AM
Saturday – Sunday : 08.30 AM – 12.00 PM
Entrance fee : Adult Rp. 750, children Rp. 250

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We had the pleasure of hosting the Pavan family during the holidays in December from the 26th through to the 30th of the month. We arrived at the Numbi Gate, checked in and took a ride down to the camp of Pretoriuskop which would be our camp for the night. After checking in, the guests had a chance for some lunch and then at 15h30 it was time to get out and see some animals. The afternoon started off quietly, but soon came across some elephant and Rhino, together with quite a lot of plains game.

The next morning it was time to packup the luggage, have some tea and coffee, and start making our way towards Skukuza, our next camp for the following two nights. After leaving camp at 05h30, we came across elephant, rhino, and a number of plains game en route to breakfast. We made our way down to breakfast at the Nkulu Picnic spot, where the guests enjoyed an english breakfast before continuing on to view other animals. Soon after breakfast, we got a call on the radio that there were lions lying right next to the Doispane road that leads into the park from the Phabeni Gate. We decided to make our way in that direction. En route to the lions, some rhino and elephant were encountered. We eventually came onto the sighting of two male lions lying 4 meters off the road, and as it was an overcast day, they were quite happy lying there and were not going to look for cover in the long grass soon. After a good sighting of the lions, and some good photos got while at the scene, we decided to make our way back to the Sabie river to see if we could get some sightings of crocodile and hippo.
As the group had been going from early morning, they decided to go into camp for a midday siesta, before going out again late afternoon.
The drive that we took in the afternoon did not yield anything new, but were able to find more hippos and quite a few plains game.

The following day turned out to be a quite day with few animals encountered as it was getting closer to the New Year Festivities, and the animals needed to prepare for a new years party!!! After a reasonably quite day, clients enjoyed dinner at the Selati Restaurant in the camp of Skukuza.

On the 29th December, we decided to take a drive northwards in the direction of the Tshokwane Picnic spot, where we were going to have breakfast. En route as we crossed over the Sand River Bridge, we came across some wild dogs walking in the road looking very hungry. We followed them for a while until they must have got a scent of someting and ran into the bush looking for it. We made our way to breakfast at Tshokwane, after which we made our way down the H10 towards Lower Sabie. About one Kilometer from turning onto the H10 we came across a large male and female lion lying around fifty metered off the road. When we stopped to view them, they suddenly got up and moved closer. It became evident that this was a breading pair, who had separated themselves from the rest of the pride. After a good viewing, we made our way down the H10 finding quite a number of Elephant, Rhino, and Plains Game. Around 25 Km’s down the H10, we came across 5 Lion Cubs that had been hidden under a Magic Gwarri Tree, there were no adults present, although i think they were not far away, but we had a wonderful sighting of one of the cubs trying it’s best to climb the branch of the tree. Soon it was back on the road for a welcome stop at Lower Sabie Camp. After a welcome stop, we made a turn at Sunset Dam were we all enjoyed some good sightings of Hippo, Crocodile, Impala and a large number of different birds.
it was then off back to the camp of Pretoriuskop, as the clients were going on theur night drive.
The night drive was enjoyed by all with numerous sightings being enjoyed.

The following morning was time for the groups last game drive before leaving the park, and making their way back to Johannesburg in order for them to catch their early flight to Cape Town to enjoy the rest of their holiday while in South Africa. The group thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and some have booked to come back and enjoy a Nine Day Safari with us in July which starts in the far Northern Section of the park, and makes it’s way down to the Southern Side of the park.

We look forward to hosting you guys again upon your return to South Africa.

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After an early morning pickup from Emerald Guesthouse in Kempton park, we made our way in the direction of Nelspruit and the Kruger National Park. Upon arrival in Nelspruit, we changed our vehicle from the nice air-conditioned microbus and into one of our open safari vehicles for our short journey to the the Kruger National Park. After arriving at the Numbi gate, we checked in and made our way to the camp of Pretoriuskop were we checked into the accommodation and gave the guess time to enjoy some lunch, prior to them leaving on their first game drive. We took a drive down the Napi road, getting good sightings of Rhino, Elephant and the general plains Game.

After some good tea and Coffee, it was off and out of camp to see what we could find. We took a drive down the Napi road on route to Skukuza and then on to Tshokwane for breakfast. While on route we had good sightings of rhino, buffalo, elephant Zebra, Kudu and impala. After breakfast we decided to take the H10 down to Lower Sabie, a road that had proved to be very good on the last safari. As we turned right onto the H10, we were met by a lioness leading her three small cubs over the road. While standing there, one of the cubs became tired, and the female then proceeded to pick it up in her mouth and carry it over the road. This was really good to see. We carried on with the H10 picking up some really large Elephant bulls and some good Rhino and Buffalo. We stopped at lower Sabie for a well deserved break,l before making our way up Eloff Street running parallel with the Sabie River back to the camp of Skukuza. On route back, we stopped of at Sunset Dam, having a chance to see the Hippos, and Crocodiles together with the prolific bird life found around this dam. After arriving back at Skukuza, it was time to have a lunch break, after which it was time to start making our way back to camp. After a good day of game viewing and some good dinner, it was off to bed for a good rest before we started again the next day.

I woke up the clients at 04h30, had tea and coffee at 05h00 and then we were out on our merry way. Something said to me to take the same road as the day before and then take a different route late closer to the camp of Skukuza. The morning started off slowly, until at about 7,1 Km’s from the Napi Boulders exit on the Napi road it’s self, we came upon quite a nice sighting of Wldebeest with there calves, Zebra, Impala and Giraffe. While watching these guys to our left hand side, my head turned to the right from something moving in my field of vision, and to our surprise it was a cheetah standing right next to my vehicle using it as cover from the potential prey. We watched this for around5 -10 minutes, we also called it in over the radio, and heard that there were other vehicles on the way to us. After a while the cheetah moved passed the front pf the vehicle keeping very low and went to lie down on the ground 6 to 7 meters from the vehicle right behind a termite mound. By this time other vehicles had arrived and many of the Wildebeest, Zebra, Impala and Giraffe knew that something was up. it was at this time sensing that time was not on it’s side, the cheetah broke cover and started it’s charge bringing down a wildebeest calf around 80 - 100 meters in front of us. Visuals were lost at this point due to the long grass being encountered at this time of year due to the large amount of rain that has been experienced over the last 2 - 3 months.
After this wonderful sighting and with the guests on a high, we made our way down to the Nkulu picnic spot for breakfast. After a well deserved breakfast, we found out that there were some lions lying on the road that we had taken the previous day to breakfast, so we decided to take a drive in this direction and we could maybe get lucky in seeing them. We made our way to the N’walindlopfu River bridge, where we found the two large male lions lying out to the right hand side right in the middle of the dry river bed. As if the lions were waiting for us, one of them got up and started coming closer to the bridge in order for us to get some better photos of him. He was making his way closer to the water in order to take a drink. This proved to be a wonderful sighting and as we took our leave, it was good to finally see some of the larder males in the lion species doing so well.
The day seemed to speed past with many other sightings, and soon it was time to make our way back to the Pretoriuskop camp, as the clients were going out on there night drive.
The clients left at 17h00 on their night drive and returned at around 20h30, having seen some good animals and also seeing more lion walking on the road.

on the morning of the 21st January, we left camp early again for our final game drive before coming back to the camp for breakfast and time to packup, before climbing back onto the road in the direction of Nelspruit were we changed our vehicles and then took to the road in the direction of Johannesburg.
Guests feedback was that they had the time of their life, and certainly want to come back and enjoy another safari to the Kruger National Park. The highlight of the trip was seeing the cheetah hunting and using our vehicle as cover to stick away from the plains game it was trying to hunt.

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Christmas camp 20 – 26 December 2009 in the Kruger National Park

20th December 2009

As we approached the Numbi gate in a shinning Lion hunting machine (Open Safari Vehicle), I had a strange feeling as though I was going to a rugby match. There was a massive long queue of local visitors waiting to obtain the entrance permits and unfortunately I just had to fall in and wait my turn.
Once I was helped with the relevant documents and after my client briefing we were on our way and as we were staying at Skakuza for 2 nights I decided to get off the main roads and travel on the gravel road towards our camp. This proved to be a good decision as most of the cars entering chose to stay on the tar road and very soon we found that we where all alone. Approximately 1.3 Kms from the gate, We drove into a heard of 100 buffaloes and there was our big 5 count starting already. 500 meters on we found 3 White Rino standing in the middle of the road – how majestic.

The general game (zebra, antelope, giraffe and Blue wildebeest) was plentiful on our drive into camp. After booking in at Skakuza we all had some free time to just enjoy being in the bush.
Our afternoon drive gave us 5 Elephant (1 Bull in musth). We were traveling south on Napi and 300m before the H3 junction we came across 3 wild dog playing in the road. This was an awesome way to end our day.

21st December 2009

Early morning rise, out the camp and onto Tshokwane for breakfast. I decided to take marula loop, for a change and 1.4Kms down the road lay a pride of Lions consisting of 1 Male, 2 females and 6 Cubs. All of them still wet from the rain we had during the night. After breakfast we traveled along the H10 towards Lower Sabie and came upon a Fresh water crab on the road – unusual animal sighting I thought as the closest water was approximately 3 Kms from us.

After stopping off at Lower Sabie we drove along Eloff street, hoping to have some animals come across the road towards the water – I was wrong as Eloff proved to be very disappointing. Back into Skakuza just before the gates of the camp closed.

22nd December 2009

After an early morning game drive we cam back to Skakuza for breakfast. Once we were done with a brilliant traditional breakfast we packed our bags and moved on to our following camp Pretoriuskop. In the sothern part of the park, you can tell we have had good rain fall this summer as the vegetation growth is something phenomenal. One thing’s for sure the guides have to work hard for your money as animal sightings especially the cats are hard to find (well hidden in the Yellow thatch grass).
On the main road towards Pretoriuskop from Skukuza (Napi) general sightings were good. Something I decided to do was stop of at Mathekenyane look out point. In the distance we found the Black Rhino enjoying the shade of a common sweet thorn acacia tree. As we drove into Pretoriuskop my guests and I decided that we would leave camp at 4pm as it was incredibly hot. Temperature must have been well over 39 deg Cel.At 4pm I was happy to be informed by Dean that he had picked up two Cheetah’s on the Napi road between Transport dam entrance and Napi Boulders entrance. We all decided that we would move towards Dean and he continuously updated us regarding these two beautiful cats. Just as luck would have it as we got to the sighting, both brothers lay down bringing our visibility to 0/5. Fortunately all the holiday makers decided to leave and soon we were the only car there. As if prompted, both cheetah’s stood up and started walking parallel with the car. What a brilliant sighting, both of them allowed my guests enough time to take photos that would fill a photo album. Thanks for calling us in Dean.

23rd December 2009

We had some late sleepers this morning but those that got up with me moved out of camp and onto Voortrekker Road towards Afsaal picnic spot for Breakfast. I as guide prefer these spots in the park to that of a restaurant. Breakfasts are wholesome and always enjoyable especially with a cup of coffee.

After breakfast we continued south along the H3 towards berg-n-dal and 1.7kms past Mlambane loop entrance we came across 3 Nomadic male Lions lying 5m off the road. After spending some time with them, watching them roar (intimidating). We moved on. What stuck in my mind was the 1 “Older” male +-11 – 13years reminded me of “Scar” in the movie “THE LION KING” as his face was full of scars but a predominant one that stretched right across his right eye. Wonder if “Mafasa” was lying in the grass somewhere watching us.

The morning proved to be good with “Up close and personal” sightings of white rhinos, but back to camp as some of my clients were leaving the Kruger. Once we said our goodbyes we decided to head out in search of the “Illusive Cat with spots” the Leopard.

This proved rather difficult and most of the day was spent driving and searching for this prize. Just before my guests got “square bums” from all the sitting we drove towards Shebeni koppies and I’m sure you know what happened next………. There she lay on top of a granite outcrop just minding her own business. I still say it’s my favorite cat. We spent about 10 – 15 min with her before she moved off into the thicket. Well back onto camp but at lest with precious memories and photo’s of the “cat that didn’t get away”.

24th December 2009

Just goes to show No animal in our Kruger Park has read any manuals on animal behavior, as I could tell today was going to be very quite. Few animal sightings of the big 5 animals and this could have been due to the extreme heat we were experiencing. The “general game” was out but also not in full force. My guests mentioned that they might have been invited to a “Christmas party” and if so it must have been an open invitation as very little was seen for the rest of the day.

25th December 2009

Christmas day in the bush was no different to any other day, apart from the occasional “Ho Ho Ho” on the radio and some Field Guides with father Christmas hats, no luck on any reindeers. My clients also enjoyed the bird life Kruger has to offer and most of our time on the drive was spent Birding. Some of the typical birds seen where lesser striped swallow, palm swift, red collared widowbird, long tailed whydah, black collared barbet, European roller, Lilac Breasted roller, burchell’s coucal, ground hornbill, woodland kingfisher, pied kingfisher, red Crested korhaan, kori Bustard and Common ostrich.
We decided to end the day early and move back to camp to spend a lazy afternoon just relaxing. The restaurant treated us to a traditional South African Braai or barbeque as some of you might know it and with full stomachs and heavy eyelids we retired back to our rooms.

26th December 2009

D-Day arrived and so after an early morning drive we had breakfast at Pretoriuskop and then bid farewell to the Kruger park. I could see my clients were sad to leave and on this, I said to them when they back in their high-rise offices with central heating or air-conditioning and the weather looks gloomy out there and they have a 150 emails to attend to, just sit back and think of Mark, driving looking for the next best animal to appreciate.
With this they climbed into the microbus and off they went to catch their airplane back to the concrete jungle.

After that it was my turn and I greeted the bush with some sadness, but new I will be back with some more Lion Hunters on my Open Safari Vehicle sometime soon.

Goodnight God Bless Goodbye.

Mark
Senior Guide Nhongo Safaris

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It was the first visit to South Africa by Lenore and Claudia Vitantonio from Cleveland Ohio in the United States. We left Johannesburg taking a drive north east to Witbank and then turned eastwards to Nelspruit and on to the Kruger National Park, we entered through the Numbi Gate and made our way to the camp of Pretoriuskop. After booking in to the huts we had a break in order for Lenore and Claudia to get some lunch before leaving on a afternoon game drive. We left camp at 15h30 and made our way down the Napi road in the direction of Skukuza. Our forst animals encountered on the drive was two huge white rhinos grazing near the road. after a good viewing of them we proceeded down encountering elephant, kudu, Impala and warthogs on the afternoon drive. we got back to camp at about 18h15. After agood dinner, it was time for some sleep before the early start the next morning.

On the morning of the 10th December, we boarded the open safari vehicle at 05h00 and turned right back on the Napi road in order to make our way to Eloff Street and a breakfast stop at the Nkhulu picnic spot. 900 meters down the Napi road we came across 4 lionesses lying in the middle of the road sleeping, they were not at all disturbed by our presence and continued to sleep as we passed them in the bush aftwer being there for more than 45 minutes. We continued down Napi road getting good sightings of buffalo, elephant, rhino, kudu, impala and Zebra. At about 2 km’s before the transport dame turn off i received a radio message of some lions lying near to Klipspringer Kopies, we decided to make our way down there. Upon arrival, we were the only car in the area, so the guests could get a good view of the pride of lions together with there cubs lying on the flat rock next to the road. At this stage the lions were only about 5 meters from our vehicle. after this fantastice sighting we were again called to the sighting of a giraffe kill about 1 meter of the road on the S114, upon arrival we narrowly missed the lions, but were treated to a sighting of six Hyenas and about 200 vultures that had tucked in to the kill to get there fill. After quite a protracted sighting, we had to make our way to Skukuza instead for breakfast as time had got away from us and all the animals that had been seen. After breakfast things started to quieten down as the weather got a bit cold. We decided to make our way back to camp for a rest before continuing out again in the afternoon.
At 15h30 we left camp, only to get a radio message from one of the other safari companies that there was a pride of 21 lions next to the natural pan about 2,2 km’s past the Napi Bolders exit, we decided to go and look for them, after a fifteen minute drive to the area, we came to the area and found them all lying on a rock next to the water looking in a southerly direction at some buffalo. While we were watching the large pride of lions, we noticed a breeding herd of elephants crossing the road behind our vehicle in the direction of the lions. This was only temporary, as the elephants soon made of in a southerly direction after smelling the lions. All in high spirits we decided to make our way back to camp taking some of the back roots. On the way back, we had good sightings of Kudum, Impala, White Rhino and more elephants grazing in the open area next to the Shithavie waterhole.

On the 11th we left camp early again at 05h00 and made our way down the Napi road to see what was going on, after an initially quite start to the mornings game viewing, we decided to make a turn at the Giraffe kill on the S114. I decided to drive down to Kwagga Pan and then take the S112 coming out on the S114 which was the road that the Kill was on. After turning onto the S112, we came across some Elephant, Wildebeest, Impala and some hyena.While on S112 we got a call of a male lion walking in the road on the S23, we decided to investigate. Upon arrival we found this huge male lion walking towards us. After turning around, we managed to follow him for another 500 meters while he was busy marking his territory. After he moved off, we made our way back to the S114. After turning right en-route to Skukuza we found one of the lions lying right next to the road busy sleeping. After getting some good photos, we moved onto the kill, to find a hyena busy eating on the kill with a huge amount of vultures around him, some good photo opportunities were enjoyed.We got a call on the radio from one of our open vehicles further up the road that they had the lions from the kill busy walking on the road in front of them. We decided to investigate, but by the time we got there, they were lying about three meters of the road on the left hand side. Good photos were enjoyed by everyone. After this sighting we made our way for breakfast. After breakfast was enjoyed, we made our way to the doispane road looking for a good leopard sighting. This was unfortunately not to be, as we had a quite trip back to camp with good sightings of general game as well as a good sighting of some hyensa pups outside their den next to the road. The afternoon game drive was pretty much the same with good sightings of general game, Elephants, buffalo and rhino being seen.

On the morning of the 12th, we left camp a little later as Lenore and Claudia were finding it difficult going, getting up so early, we made our way down to the S112 and the S114 to have a final view of the giraffe and see if we could see the lions again. This time we found one of the young males next to the road and a bit further up, we found the rest of the pride sleeping off all of the meat thet they had eaten during the past three days.
We made our way back to camp for breakfast and to get cleaned up for the trip back to Johannesburg. After breakfast, we left the camp of Pretoriuskop and made our way to the gate and then onto Johannesburg.
Both Lenore and Claudia said that they thoroughly enjoyed their Kruger Park Safari and would love to return again to do another one.

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Hi There to all from the Kruger National Park,

This is a report received from one of our guides Mark while on safari in the Kruger National Park with Erwin Doorenspleet from the 29th November to the 2nd December 2009

Now this had to be a wacka of a trip as the first animal we came across on entering the Kruger Park was a massive White Rino bull. This chap was big and I estimate him at approximately 1.8 Ton easily. Massive main horn, honed to perfection. Rather placid while the vehicle was next to him, approximately 3 - 5m away from us on the left hand side. We proceeded to Pretoriuskop to have a quick bite to eat and to book in to the rest camp for the duration of our stay.

As you know me, I couldn’t wait to get back into the bush. Fortunately as it was my guests first day in the Kruger, they to were happy to get out there. After a quick bite to eat we left Pretoriuskop camp, my route planned for the afternoon was Shebeni Koppies, Albesini north to doispan Road East to River Rd Link. Turn around and follow exactly the same route back. Later this worked in our favor as by the time we got back to camp many animal species were seen.

On the Doispan road 1,8kms before the River link road at approx 16h15 we got sight of a female Leopard lying in an African wattle tree facing eastwards. (Typical postcard photo). further on down the road a herd (20 plus) of elephants crossing from south to east.

Back to Albasini, we found a herd of buffalo crossing over towards Mestal dam. It felt good to be in the park and within 2.5 hrs we had see 4 of the “big 5″. With this in mind it was time to head back to camp.

As you all know, early rise with a cup of coffee we left camp heading North. My idea was to head along the main road between Pretoriuskop and Skakuza. Something that stood out for me, was our sighting of 2 Sable antelope approximately 10 - 15m off the road facing us (What a sight as I thought back to when last I saw one so close.) We continued North and approx 1kilometer from Matekanyane view point we had a sighting of a Black Rino bull moving eastwards.

Approx 2.2kms past the H3 junction which goes down to the Malalane gate, we spotted 2 Female Lion sleeping in the open. Not the best sighting as I would estimate them to be approx 30m of the road.
As we crossed over the Sand River, I decided to take the Marula Loop road and 500m down came across 2 humongous black mained male Lions. Both were lying on the edge of the road and brilliant photos were taken.

Up to the Tshokwane picnic spot we saw lots of general game and fabulous amounts of birds were encountered. After eating a brunch (very late breakfast - due to the amount of animal sightings) we moved Eastwards on the H10 to Lower Sabie. While on this road a number of good sightings were encountered of rhino, buffalo, elephant and general game.

At the junction to Mlondozi Dam off the H10, we came across a pair of mating Lions. Good to see nature is still on the go and the Lion is still king.
Looking up into the east, I could see a cloud build up and decided to head back to Pretoriuskop. After a visit to the camp of Lower Sabie, we made our way back to Skukuza, stopping off at various sightings of elephant and buffalo as well as general game along the way. After a short stop at the camp of Skukuza, we made our way back to camp for the night and the potential of some heavy rain.

The night sounded like a battle field in the sky’s as the thunder roared. This was confirmed the next day with little animal movement and sightings. What also played a major role was the sudden drop in temperatures. Even the new Impala lambs where aware of the change in weather.

We decided that we would take advantage of the weather and visited many different historical sites during the course of the day. Always enjoying the general game viewing as we spent our time in the African bushveld.

The night was cold and the next morning we had breakfast at Pretoriukop. On leaving the park its always interesting to see what is the last specie of animal is, to come out and say goodbye. Strange to this we had a sighting of 8 Sable antelope, wishing our guests

” Goodnight, God bless and Goodbye”.

Till next time and we meet again,

Mark
Senior Guide Nhongo Safaris

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The history of kwaDukuza - Stanger is an intriguing one, a history that draws many a visitor to explore, learn, and appreciate. Tradtional Africa travel blogs focus on the major tourist attractions within close proximity to major metropolitan areas, but the town of kwaDukuza - Stanger lies inland from Blythdale, in the midst of sugarcane fields.

Its streets are lined with beautiful Jacaranda trees, which is home to King Shaka’s memorial monument part of the Zulu Heritage Route, as well as the proposed Sugar Route.

KwaDukuza means place of the lost person and was named after the intricate maze of the hut layout. Born in Zululand in 1787, to Princess Nanadi, and his father, the Zulu King. In 1816, when his father died, Shaka became King of the Zulus. After his assassination, a hasty burial was given to him – and a simple stone memorial was erected in his honour. Shaka’s successor allowed it to run to wrack and ruin, and in 1873, a European town was built on the site. It was named after William Stanger, the surveyor-general of Natal.

The town of Stanger has been recently renamed kwaDukuza and stands on the site of Royal Kraal. You’ll find a small memorial to Shaka in the centre of town. Stanger is known as the cane growing centre of South Africa, and offers some unique local shopping, browsing experiences.

The Stanger and North Coast Museum, house so many historical items and information on King Shaka, the sugar industry and local history – you will be enthralled by the 20 minute video on King Shaka’s history! If you visit kwaDukuza-Stanger today, you’ll find that it serves as a commercial, magisterial, and communication centre for the large sugar-producing industry. It’s one of the many little towns in this area to be able to claim an authentic, eastern influence, brought by the first Indian immigrants, coming to work on the cane fields. You can find markets, mosques, temples – all of their own descendants now adding a vibrant flavor on the town on the Dolphin Coast.

You’ll find the atmosphere here to be typically tropical with the humidity being high, which is why the sugarcane grows phenomenally, and the bottlenose dolphins use the sea as their playground through the year. Not to mention that the Sappi Paper Mill, which is hosted in kwaDukuza-Stanger, offers daily tours to visitors. If you’re looking for activity to keep you busy – why not try one of the many activities offered such as safe bathing, surfing, scuba diving, rock and ski-boat fishing, or just relax on the beach.

For the Golfer, Prince Grant Golf estate offers a very unique experience - located 10 minutes fro kwaDukuza - a 18 hole championship course split into 9 holes park and 9 holes links.
For further information, visit Eazipleazi, a leading south african search directory - containing more than 3000 local business’s and attractions.

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Savonne and Alexis joined us on a safari to the Kruger National Park as it was there first visit to the continent of Africa. After arriving at the Kruger National Park after a pleasant drive from Johannesburg, the girls were booked into there accommodation in Pretoriuskop rest camp. We departed on our first game drive of the safari at 15h30. Just outside of the camp we came across a heard of kudu busy browsing on the new foliage that had become quite dense after the prior week of rain in the area. We carried on with our drive coming across a huge bull elephant in the road.

We decided to wait and see if he would pass close by to us without any problems, but this was not to be as we had to soon take evasive action as he proceeded to mock charge us in order to get us out of the way. After a few short breaths from the girls, order was restored and we went on our way coming across a hyena den next to the Napi road with a juvenile hyena lying outside for some good photos. We also got to see it’s mother that was lying close by.

The morning of the 24th saw us leaving camp at 05h00 after having tea and coffee and making our way down the Napi road in the direction of Skukuza. On the early morning drive we had good sightings of Elephant and rhino as well as lots of sightings of general game such as zebra, kudu, impala, wildebeest and warthog.

We made our way to Nkhulu picnic spot for breakfast and after a welcome break we proceeded down what is known as Eloff street to the camp of Lower Sabie. On the way to lower Sabie we had good sightings of elephant, buffalo, baboons, bushbuck and hippo in the sabie river. We stopped off at sunset dam to watch the four large pods of hippos as well as spoon billed storkes and some large crocodiles. After visiting the camp of Lowe Sabie we decided to start making our way back to Pretoriuskop in order for the girls to have a rest as the tempretures in the park have climbed significantly since the start of the rainy season. On route we came across a pride of lions lying close to the road. They were very uninterested in us as the temperatures had already started to climb and they just wanted to have a sleep, something lions do quite often and very well.

After a welcome rest we decided to take a drive to Shebeni Kopies to look for the pride of lions in the area of the koppies. Our search was abruptly brought to an end when we received a call of a leopard sighting some 10 Km’s down the Napi road. We decided to try our luck and see if we couls see this guy. We drove down to the sighting of the leopard that had just killed a Banded Mongoose and lying in the shade. We made our way back in the direction of Pretoriuskop coming upon a sighting of nine Rhino’s with a four month old calf. We carried on with our drive in the direction of the camp only to have us find more lions very close to the camp of Pretoriuskop at around 18h10.

We proceeded to watch these lions before having to leave them there to get back to the camp before the gates closed.

On the morning of the 25th, the day started pretty much the same as the day before making our way for the picnic spot of Tshokwane for breakfast. While on route we encountered good sightings of elephant, buffalo and general game. After a welcome stop for breakfast we decided to take a drive down the H10 towards lower sabie, about 13Km’s down the H10 we came across a large heard of Zebra and Wildebeest, upon closer investigation we saw that both of the herds were acting very strangely and all looking in the same direction.

After a while the herds started running in our direction, we suddenly saw that there were two cheetahs walking in our direction right behind were the two herds of Zebra ans Wildebeest had been. we watched the two cheetahs make there way towards us and then started walking towards the junction of the S128. When they reached the junction, the cheetahs decided to mark there territory by climbing onto the road marker, the two girls aboard our open vehicle managed to get some really good photos as we were standing right next to them while they were doing this.

After we had finished at the sighting we carried on our way getting good sightings of Elephant, Buffalo and Rhino before reaching the camp of Lower Sabie.
After a break we made our way back to the camp of Pretoriuskop as the girls were going on a night drive that evening.

While on the night drive Savonne and Alexis managed to get good sightings of general game as well as two different sightings of lion close to the vehicle.

After breakfast on the 26th we took our leave of the camp of Pretoriuskop and the Kruger National Park and made our way up the Panorama route were we visited Gods Window, Berlin Falls and the Three Rondavels.

Both guests really enjoyed themselves and are hoping to return to South Africa if they win a competition running in the USA for tickets to the 2010 Football world Cup in June next year.

For more info on our safaris, please visit our Nhongo Safaris Website
For more info on our 4 Day Budget Safari, please visit our 4 Day Budget safari itinerary

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The Cape Verde islands are the new buzz word in the British tourist industry. New to the scene, they offer tourists the chance to see a distinctive holiday location. Cape Verde is situated just off the coast of West Africa, about 1 hours flying time South of the Canary Islands

The islands that are set up to cater for mainstream holiday makers are the islands of Sal and Boa Vista; flat, sandy islands that have eye-catching beaches and the temperatures to match. What about Cape Verde as a winter holiday resort? Given the dry surroundings of Sal and Boa Vista it would be safe to think that these islands see tons of sun and very little rain. It is safe to say Cape Verde all inclusive holidays have given the winter holiday market another thing to think about.

Temperatures fluctuate between 24°C in the winter months to around 30°C in the summer with the rainy season between the months of June and November. Each island however has its own individual temperatures. Whereas the North West islands of Sal and Boa Vista are dry and sandy, Sao Antao is lush and green. Although temperatures have been known to peak to around 40 degrees, these extreme temperatures are frequently accompanied by soothing cool breezes. all inclusive holidays in Cape Verde are ideal if you want to go somewhere with virtually guaranteed sunshine year round.

The abrupt arrival of tourists taking all inclusive packages to Cape Verde has mostly focused on Sal which forced itself into the task of the most developed island for holiday makers. Holidays in Cape Verde have risen as a winter holiday resort thanks to its distinctive position of being a place that is unaffected by a european climate and being within an easy reach of the UK. Activities include windsurfing, surfing, diving and fishing as well as some remarkable activities such as quad biking over the dunes. Night time entertainment is laid on by most hotels and provides for adults and children alike.

If escaping the crowd is your thing then all inclusive holidays in Cape Verde Boa Vista might have what you are after. It is similar to Sal in several ways - Sandy, Hot and flat - apart from is has some of the best beaches in Cape Verde. As with Sal, if you want to learn to windsurf Boa Vista has the right weather to do so. Kite surfing is also a well-liked sport. Boa Vista is beleaguered with wasted remains of ships that failed to navigate its shores. These make fascinating centrepieces that are just waiting to be explored. tourists looking for more exitement will not be let down by hiring a 4×4 or quad bike and go discovering the islands interior landscape. Who knows what you might unearth - there are heaps of ghost towns and villages that are waiting to be discovered.

Some late deals are also available if you want to take all inclusive holidays to Cape Verde within the next six weeks. Holidays in Cape Verde are definately something exciting to consider for your next holiday.

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While on a kruger park safari our guide Mark together with one of our clients Katie McQuillen came upon a lion sighting only to find that one of the male lions had a snare around it’s neck. Our guide Mark decided to take action and called in the Veterinary services of the Kruger National Park.

Below is an account of what transpired on the S4 in trying to help this male lion to have the snare removed from around his neck in order for him to lead a normal life.

Road: 1.3kms from junction River rd on S4 (Gravel Road) Time: 11h15

Beautiful 2 male Lion sighting approximately 5 – 7m off the road left hand side. Both having a mid-day snooze, when suddenly I realized that 1 of the male Lions had a snare around the neck. Judging on what I could see, this snare must have been around the neck for approximately 4 days. This snare was not attached to anything and must have broken loose when the Lion was caught in it and therefore was literally a very tight necklace. Although the wire had cut deeply, it didn’t seem to hinder the Lions breathing as he lay there. This obviously needed some intervention from our side, so veterinary was called in. Fortunately while waiting for them (veterinary) to arrive, both males just carried on doing what they do well and that’s sleep.

Once they arrived, the problem male was darted and as soon as it went down we then moved in with caution (other male out there somewhere) to carry it out of the bush onto the road. Extra hands (some of our guests) were called in to assist in moving this heavy beast into a better area. The entire operation took approximately 1hr and in this time valuable information was recorded, blood samples drawn, photo identification and snare was removed, wound disinfected and a couple of stitches administered. Once all completed the Lion was moved off the road into a place where it could recover and we could carry on with our african safari. Unfortunately at this time we had to leave for camp as other guests needed to be picked up for a late afternoon game drive.

Word got out about the happenings on the road and during the course of the afternoon, the Lion was monitored closely. Feedback from our other guides on the sighting saw the two male Lions join up again and move off into the bush at approximately 5pm.

Glad to help you Kitty Cat

Regards

Mark
Senior Guide Nhongo Safaris

This particular lion was spotted a couple of days later in more or less the same place, and after observation it was found to be looking a lot better, and was capable of moving a lot faster with little to no worry of the wound around his neck.

Our feedback from our guides as of the 19th November 2009 is since this episode these male lions together with there females making up the pride in the area have been spotted on regular occasions and the wound has almost disappeared and he has returned to full health.

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