Lewa safari camp and Kruger cheaper camps June/July 2013

[COSMIC RHINO]

no unusual predators wild dogs, cheetahs or leopards

[COSMIC RHINO]

The hide sleep out was remarkably warm, not much of the building is open to the air

 

the hide has beds with inner sping mattreses and sleeping bags. I was wearing polartec trousers, 2 x flannel shirts and a polartec jacket as well.

 

the camp was occupied by men from a sth african motoring group who come there as a bonding event and as a o[pportunity to talk strategy . They spent the first few days just drinking , and their games drives had very long drinks breaks. they find the camp appealing as it has a certain level of comfort but not enough to make their women want to come along.

[COSMIC RHINO]

At Timbavati camps have traversing rights or sole viewing areas, Shindzela at 3,500 ha have one of the largest sole viewing areas. With 2 vehicles moving around radio calls on animal sitings are exchanged. they drive of the tracks for special sitings when necessary.

 

The elephant sitings were especially good, they say that June,July and August are usually good times for eles, although being an open reserves it can be days without seeing them, I saw them up close on 6 days. The ele sitings were especially good. They were both in family groups and solo males. I really love elephants and the sitings here were delightfull.

 

buffaloes weree seen in large herds and in dugga old guys with attitude groups. It was great to observe them up close.

 

On one evening as a member of the support staff was driving around, people were taken out after dinner to observe a standoff betwween the large herd and 2 or 3 male lions. After staying for over 1 hour we left as the lions had not tried anything like a successfull attack.

[COSMIC RHINO]

the rules which went to a full A4 page were mainly about being carefull around animals, don't move around after dark without a staff member ,don't move around between cabins after dark, don't keep shoes outside beware of hyneas, if you have any food keep your door closed beware baboons.

 

people are taken back to their rooms after dark by a guide complete with a loaded rifle.

 

meals are family style food and plenty of it, brunch, full lunch before the gamedrive not the drinks and snack most places have ,then dinner.

 

my vegeterian meal choice was well catered to, one lunch I was presented with a mushroom risotto, a whole lot better than the rice and beans which someone else on another thread said he kept on being given.

 

as mentioned before there is a wharthog family of 4 who come through the camp and can be approached reasonably closely, but keep a distance to avoid scaring them of. they came at least daily when I was there, sometimes more often. they find the grass around camp appealing, it is often longer than the grass in parts of the surriounding bush.

 

lunch was delayed twice by viewing a group of elephants who came to the sand river and dug in it to drink water which is directly at the back of the camp.

 

there is a small not very deep (about 1.8 meters) swimming pool.

 

Johanne is a excellent very knowledgeable guide who can explain things with ease.

 

the drives go well as they are of a good liength of time, the vehicles are not crowded and are well maintained.

 

visitors tend to come from different areas seasonally north europeans in June, july and August, north americans and British in December and january.

 

the best time to visit is the sth african winter around July.

[COSMIC RHINO]

Jonanne left school at the age of 16, then played rugby at hooker or prop for sth african provincial or UK club sides. After this he did ranger training and has workeed in a number of places in the greeter kruger area.

 

It was good to have someone on site who does maintance so well, the globe on my bathroom light blew, it was re[placed, then it blew again. So the fitting was removed and replaced with a LED light strip, all when I was out on gamedrive and no mess was left anywhere.

 

There was actually an unseasonal shower ,so the ponchos came out ,but being new to such things I did not know to put the blanket on my knee to catch the flow of dripping water, so my cargo pants got a bit damp and rinsed. I had a spare pair which I put on whilst the other dried spread out on 2 coathangers placed on a short rope line that I erected in the bathroom. My trousers were rinsed since 2011 I have only travelled in the winter, I have not felt any sweat below the waist, so the trousers have not been washed, they have taken o a character appearance of timber treating oils from the rails at Umkumbe lodge oils and craft glue which I have used to repair a few snags from thorns. The bush dust is special and has been retained.

 

In all places staff turn down the bed at night and place hot water bottles in them. I was impressed how the staff brought in my washing which I had left on hangers attached to the external tent ropes.

 

Shinsela bush camp was a very good choice.

 

ON ENCOUNTERING HEAVY BUSH

 

There is a whole lot of heavy mpoane and other bush in the area.

 

Well when I could see the heavy bush coming, I put my head down top avoid it, then I put my head up at the wrong time and got wacked a few times.

 

once I got a thorn scratch around the neck which would have been avoided and another time I got a reasonable size bruise on the upper arm around where an injection would have been given , about the same size and original colour. both went away with the use of tea tree lotion.

 

johanne advised it is best to remain up and only move out cf the way if necessary.

[COSMIC RHINO]

PUNGWE BUSH CAMP AT MANYLETI GAME RESERVE

 

As with all the areas I was staying I told the guide not to cut short the morning activity for my sake, as my bag was pre packed and I was ready yo leave quickly. A radio call came over during the game drive that my transfer was waiting. I had a quick breakfast and left around 1030 ,it is a long trip between the two places, the driver asked me for directions to the camp, I told him that I thjought that he knew the way. he had no problems geting to the front gate of the reserve and asked for directiions from there.

 

Pungwe has a 10,000 hectare concession and the name means African civet cat.

 

I have asked a number of people who have not been on safari do you call this a tent? Their answer was a clear no. The units are called something like semi canvas backed cabins.

 

There are 4 cabins each can sleep 2 people on a concrete slab covered with large terrocotta tiles, there is a seperatr bedroom and bathroom. The roof is thatch and at least 10 feet high ,the bedroom has a front and two sides of very solid canvas, and 4 mesh windows, a 4 posted king size bed with insect net, 2 comfortable chairs, a blanket box, whardrobe,and 2 bedside tables. The bathroom has a toilet, seperate shower and a massive deep bath about 7 feet long . THe hot water comes from its own directly connected wood fired donkey boiler. All the piipes are copper. this is very elaborate for a so called tent at the lower price bracket.

[COSMIC RHINO]

there is a large central lounge room , bar, dinning area all under thatch ,with 3 actual lounges suites to sit on and a dining table which was made from actual wood from the area. The entire structure is covered with a high thatch roof and has oil lamps on the walls around the edge.

 

The camp itself is of the power grid ,the rooms have oil lamps,hot water is donkey boiler, the fridges and stove work of LPG bottle gas, the owners live nearby in a house which has a generator working at times , you can give them your batteries to charge and this is done quickly.

 

there is a tea,coffe,hot chocolate station with pins put on them to keep them closed, hot water is made on the nearby fireplace. the hot chocolate is unlabeled in the hope that I think a vervet monkey will nit raid it again.

 

it is not a wifi zone, hooray people can try to escape the outside world but they normally don't.

 

The Manyleti reserve is largely similar to other areas around kruger I have seen.

 

the owners put in a meaningfull contribution to both community welfare and anti poaching operations (supplying fuel, vehicle spar parts etc ). They donated the building materials for a child creche (which community men built) and support it on an ongoing basis with their feeding program.

 

the owner has a prior background of having been a lawyer.

 

Manyleti reserve is in the process of returning to communuity ownership with the community keeping the present use and recieving a rent in exchange.

 

the reserve is very physically close to the community, to the extent that cow bells and recorded music can be heard in camp.

 

when I got here I was starting to feel sad as I knew that my safari was coming towards an end.

 

the reserve is open you get to see the animals who wander through ,it has borders open to southern sabi sands and parts of the public Kruger national park.

 

they do a bush walk in the morning and an afternoon/evening game drive in an open land rover.

[COSMIC RHINO]

there can be a problem with a vervet monkey in camp but he can't undo tent zips, but anyway I was cautious and did not pack that much.

 

The infamous Alan Grey (of Mapumlunga parks board - dolpin group fraund deal associations) went up to the Pungwe stand at a travel show and said that provinces had done a high level deal to swap reserves and Manyleti was going to become a hunting property. he was told that anty vehicle coming there in such a way would get a very direct action protest, well the deal was cancelled.

 

the said Alan grey was given for the Dolphin Group deal full time leave at home on his full pay, and he is now serving elsewhere in another high level position, something I am told happens all too often in South Africa.

[COSMIC RHINO]

I was advised that the tap water was drinkable, so I used it without a problem. That is what I drank at every place I went to with a bit of roobos tea added in and plunger coffee at Tangala.

 

For those who want more favourable comments were made about the wine and beer at every place I went to..

[COSMIC RHINO]

the tents/cabins are well seperated and allow a whole lot of natural light in during the day.

 

the food is family home style and offered in good serve yourself quantaties, the breakfast is cooked on an open fire with a huge metal tray balanced over the hot coals and individual dishes are cooked in glass bowls within the metal tray.

 

porridge is a local variation (1) oats with cinnamon sugar and Drambuie (2)cassava with Amarula ,in each case not a whole lot of liquer is used for flavouring.

 

I was advised keep the tent zip closed at all times, beware vervet monkey on the prowl. I took this to further level of caution but not unmpacking much and leaving a whole lot of things in the blanket box which I locked. the said monkey was seen around a bit but not close to me. I was advised that they are not able to undo tent zips.

 

the camp is unfenced and animal tracks etc can be seen ,buffalos come close and their dung is also around. A number of elephants came close to camp but I did not see them as I was soaking in the bath.

 

the walks in the morning are mainly about trees, spoor, termite mounds, but sometimes animals can be seen ocassionally impalas,buffalos and once a white rhino in the distance.

 

towards the end of walk people were asked to smell breakfast and guess what it was , I said it was 100% detail as I was here for a natural bush experience.

 

both the walks and the gamedrives are a delightfully uncrowded experience. I was able to have a few alone when no other people were in camp.

 

it is good to do bush walks to get a much better feel for the wild than just being in a vehicle. As Jochen had mentioned before the guides explainations could be better, although the tracker had a well prepared and practiced talk on termite mounds.

 

I was able to walk through rhino middens, see up close the grass they like to eat, get the ends of my cargo pants lightly marked with the due at the bottom of the grass and kiss a rhino rubbing post.

[COSMIC RHINO]

Manyleti is a very uncrowded reserve, all the camps are involved in the community property association.

 

it has a wonderfull bush feel but not a whole lot of animals.

 

fortunately rhinos were seen on every day, on occasions they were saeen closely some general plains game, a few hippos are relatively easy to find at a few dams, sometimes in the water, sometimes out of it. there are not a whole lot of elephants around, lions and leopards were only seen after dark. buffalo herds and old men with attitude can be found relatively easily.

 

the tracker is certainly dedicated going past a rhino midden there was some dung which looked fresh, he got out and felt it gently with his bare hands to sense the temperature.

 

nothing at this place was elaborate but it has a great bush feel.

 

the tented cabins whatever you want to call them are wonderfull.

 

they are carefull with security ,people are required to walk back at night to their cabin with an armed ranger.

 

the owners are wonderfull hosts talking of the bush, life and present day south africa.

 

as with elsewhere the other guests cannot escape everyday life and constantly spoke of it, they must have had at least 75% of their minds concerned with being at home and a consumer.

 

An excess emphasis on food and wine has robbed many people of an ability to enjoy nature as anything other than an object of beauty or curosity. Rest assured that I do not ever watch TV cooking conteasts ,let alone talk about them. I have a real life.

[COSMIC RHINO]

http://mg.co.za/article/1997-03-14-board-chiefs-empire/

 

the above is one of many articles

 

I have had a few pvt mesages with jochen about the people at Pungwe. he did not really know what the reference was about.

 

Alan Grey was the head of the Mpumalunga parks board when a dubious Dubai based services group was granted warrants for a considerable price in exchange for long term exclusive development rights in all the provinical parks. There numerous articles in the MAIL AND GUARDIAN in 1997. It caused a total uproar, the group was didious it had been granted a contract to supply weapons to the police academy in Kenya, was fully paid in advance of supplying anything , and did not deliver anything .he had an arrested warrant out in his name, and this is the group Alan Grey did a deal with. A forensic document aduit showed that the provincial park development warrants were all forged. He was on such terms that he could not be dismissed, so he was sent home on indefinate leave at full pay.

 

I asked the people at Pungwe what he was doing and I was told that he was a crook and had been given another high level provincial job.

 

I was then told that he went up to their stand at a tourist promotion show, introduced himself and said that a high level deal had been done to transfer Manyleti reserve from Limpopo to Mpumalunga province , and it was to become a hunting area. A Grey was then told that the first hunting vehicle to appear on Manyleti would have its grill shot up. Needless to say the deal did not go ahead and there is no hunting.

[COSMIC RHINO]

Pungwe is a very comfortable place to stay , with good bushwalks and gamedrives although there are not high numbers of af animals there they appeared to be unbothered by vehicles and do not rush away from vehicles.<br /><br />I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there.<br /><br />it is regretable how much being a consumer has taken control of so many peoples lives to the extent that this is with them in mind ,if not in reality whereever they area.<br /><br />last year i was so wonderfully surrounded by nature and wildlife that I managed to forget that I had just got a jury duty roll notice and this year I nearly never thought of home.

[Super LEEDS]

Hey CR

 

What are the rates at Pungwe? Can't find them on the web.

[COSMIC RHINO]

@@Super LEEDS Punge bush cam,p is a good place to stay , the rooms sleeo 2 people and the current rate is ZAR 1535 Per person per night , there is no additional charge for single travellers.

 

their site can be found at http://www.pungwe.co.za

 

People may have seen some talk here and on the photographty forum , I will not being buying one of those mini photo printers or a home computer. I have recenyly printed a small selection of my Lewa photos at office works, the results are good and it is lovely to have prints to look at. Those kodak print kiosk at not easy to use but you get used to them after a while. Well the thumbnail portraits are only postage stamp sized but the print result is good, although it is not always easy to get the selection to move on or select one for printing. The screen works much better if tapped with the end of a pen. I went to 2 shops the one in the CBD has machines which work better and is less busy. The prices are the same 9 cents for 6 x 4 inches postcard and $ 3.35 for A4 size all printed on proper photo paper, so much cheaper than the photoshop which I was thinking of using.

[Super LEEDS]

Thanks, CR.

[Pennyanne]

@@COSMIC RHINO

 

Thanks for the very interesting trip report. It sounds like you had some great wildlife viewings and I like your detailed descriptions of the camps. That will really help us when we are planning future trips.

 

I agree with you about no cell phones or computers. We are leaving for a 5 week safari soon and will not be packing them. I want to be disconnected from work and if I have access to email that will not happen. Anyway I don't think there is cell phone or wifi at most camps where we are staying.

[COSMIC RHINO]

TO put ot very politely the parents would be less than impressed at pay the high daily rate at Lewa Safari camp to have the kids listen to their Ipod, send text messages and update facebook. So much money spent and they only did what they could have if they stayed at home.

 

this common expression that a consumer appliance which does not work has died is nonsense ,as it was never alive to begin with.

[COSMIC RHINO]

My trip report paused whilst I made up some prints of my photos using the Kodak kiosk at officeworks, not easy to use you get tiny postage stamp sized images to look at and it takes a lomg time to find what you want, especially so if you are looking for particular images. I like the result I got so much better to have a photo album and a display book to look at than have to put the SD card into my mini DVD player.

 

I especially like seeing a image of a Grevy's zebra foal with mums nose there for support at the back which I took from a moving vehicle in Lewa last year.

 

From pungwe bush camp my transfer vehicle arrived well after the final walk and breakfaat but in loads of time to get me to Hoedspruit airport when SA express wants people there.

 

the only security check they do on hand luggage is just before boarding , so it would be best to have your metal items out seperately.

 

at Johannesburg ORITA they have the metal scaners adjusted down so low that they actually picked up the metal in my trouser zips and the hooks on my boots, after I had removed my trouser belt,watch,keys etc.

 

I will now go on with some other comments.

 

I was on time for activities, the only time I was not up before the guide came to the cabin as the morning after the hide sleep in Timbavati as I had not put on my alarm clocks, cheap ones which work well you hear every tick as the second hand goes around and well as when they go of. At Punge bush camp I was fully dressed by the time of the guide coming to the cabin.

 

All places supplied hot water bottles, wishing to re breath the air used by the animals I kept tent mesh windows open at night and wore polar fleece trousers and 2 layers of flannel shirts.

 

Following the visit of an engineer as a guest there is talk of installing solar power at pungwe bush camp.

 

LUXURY CLASS CAMPS

 

The guides I spoke to don't like working there. The safari industry has a more or less standard rates of pay, working at luxury places staff get the same pay and possibly higher tips, in exchange for being with visitors who take a whole lot of time to get ready and need a great deal of looking after.

 

At one un named place 3 women got very prompt bar service ariound the poolside when they decided to sunbake topless.

 

TROUBLESOME VISITORS

 

1 SOME SOUTH AFRICAN MALES

 

They have been to game reserves a few times , perhaps more, some of them have been hunting, and some of them are not very attentive to following the safety rules.

 

2 NON ENGLISH SPEAKING EUROPEAN

 

Italian, Spainish, French, German etc come as a group or as couples.

 

if they come as a group they only have one escort guide for the whole lot of them to try to explain things , too many visitirs for 1 person.

 

They are in a hurry wanting to see everyting in 1 or 2 nights.

 

When the lodge guide says things they don't really understand it ,half jokingly at Tngala I asked would I ne a good idea to have a flip book with line drawings of animals and their european names in big print, as I was told yes I know that a number of Thorybush lodges woukd buy them.

 

when leaving a siting of a rhino at thoynbush my guide exchanged comical looks with the guide of the waiting vehicles, I asked why he has a vehicle of Italians in a hurry . well they rushed in too close, too soon and the rhino went into heavy bush.

 

 

3 CELEBETRIES

 

They tend to book out the entire camp and have their friends and relatives stay with them.

 

the rule for staff is don't look at them ,don't speak to them, hand in your camera for a while so you can't photograph them.

[COSMIC RHINO]

well in one case there was little chance to do that anyway a certain female pop singer only stayed 20 to 30 minutes at a lodge then she arranged to be removed by helicopter as she was scared of a spider.

 

at such late notice there is no refund

 

how would she had reacted if she had been scratched by thorns

 

name withheld due to internet libel considerations

 

the clebretries really like royal Nonwana at the Thornybush reserve, think Elton John, Celine Dion and others.

 

They especially like a very large villa called Africa House ,which a guide told me was priced ZAR 400,000 per night.

 

AS year or so ago Elton spent 5 or 6 nights at Royal Monwana with a charge of ZAR 1 million per night.

 

He also stays at Mala Mala and Londolozi.

[kittykat23uk]

As well as being the guide she was also the manager, supervising building and vehicle maintaince,preparation of the meals This was all done to a very hugh standard.

 

The other guide, Jason was on leave but she was in cell phone contact with him.

 

As before trhe trackers are biblical 2 men called Moses and Solomon.

 

the lodge quests are in one vehicle, there are some radio calls from day trippers with a group called elephant herd and another nearby camp called nottens

 

Who knows how these things work out, when I was there last year there were a whole lot of good leopard sitings ---- the guide regarded me as a leopard magnet.

 

this year there was a good wild dog siting with a pack playing and eating a kill, and a number of good rhino and elephant sitings. Elephants had not been seen for weeks ,so I was regarded as an elephant and rhino magnet.

 

some of the rhino and elephant sitings were lengthty and close.

 

there was the hiighly unusual case of a large terretorial male white rhino having adopted the male calf who had been farther by another terretorial bull and born to a poached mother. they are knocking around together ,teaching him how to be a proper rhino.

 

on a number of occasions I saw a male white rhino trying to get close to a female with calf , after a while I inquired if it would be possible to bring along romantic cd's say nat king cole and some grass made up into the shape of a valentine , given the situation with poaching more rhinis are needed.

 

elephant family groups, male bachelor groups and single musth males were seen in varying degrees of proxcimity. sometimes in the distance , on occasions vwery close up feeding and playing , and even a bit of excitement right in front of the vehicle.

 

Two maturing males decided to have a bit of direct push and shove right in front of the vehicle complete with the high volume sounds going of. well the track is just like any other patch of ground to them.,then they moved of and did it on the grass nearby.

 

Cosmic, I am happy to report that we saw the same calf and young male bull whilst out on a walk there. We saw lots of rhino in fact and lots of eles. For those who are interested, Tydon Bush Camp where we stayed, shares this same concession. It is a very small bush camp with three twin tents, next door to a property called Ingwe and just around the corner from the lodge where @@COSMIC RHINO stayed.

 

Our guide, Debbie was in regular contact with the lodge guides, Jason was one of those who was out there. We did not see dogs, they were seen a week prior to our arrival, but we did have a fantastic sighting of 3 leopards and hyenas on our first drive, but after that we did not see any further leopards, no lions there either as they were knocking about further south in Lion Sands. One thing to note, we did not have the benefit of a tracker on our drives, with the exception of the first evening when he wasn't actually needed because the leopards were in the same place as they had been in the morning! This was disappointing, in that we were then more reliant on the lodge doing the work to find the cats,which then didn't happen, but we did take turns to sit in the tracker seat, which in itself was quite an experience. On the plus side, it did also leave us free to enjoy what we did see there. of course they got a tracker back for yesterday evening, after we left!

[COSMIC RHINO]

who knows how these things work out last year things improved when I arrived I was called a leopard magnet, this year it got better with rhinos and elephants

[COSMIC RHINO]

Africa House is know in the travel industry as a lavish place for the high end of the market. guides at other places told me that the nightly rate is at least ZAR 400,000.

 

Whilst at Thornybush we were driven past this place a number of times which appeared to be an elaborate lodge. yes it was but it was private it is the guest house complex which the single person who own Royal Monwana to entertain his friends and relatives.

 

The rich South African thing to do is to book out an entire public lodge to have your friends and relatives around less common , or a bit more common own your own private lodge or most commonly done own your own small wine farm which aims to produce one variety of wine to a good quality . Such are the ways of the very wealthy

 

 

.@@kittykat23uk how is Tydon bush camp as a place to stay ?

 

how do you rate these sort of places as compared with elephant plains?

 

your guide debbie worked with the day tour group Elephant Herd last year, and was friendly with Jason back then.

[kittykat23uk]

The permanent tents were very comfortable and even had air con that doubled as heaters, proper loos and showers, though Natalie reported no hot water early morning and late evening. Since I showered during the mid day break that wasn't a problem for me. There is a small seating area/deck outside and a comfortable Lapa where breakfast and Lunch is served. there is an intimate Boma wher foldaway tables (undressed) are used to eat off around the fire.

[kittykat23uk]

I checked my notes from the EP stay. I believe the same timings were used for the drives. I.e. 06.30 to around 9.00 - 9.30 and 16.00 to 19.00. But we did a short bush walk after breakfast at EP. This wasn't offered at Tydon. We did relocate some frogs and the area around ingwe lodge produced lots of sightings of birds and smaller stuff. EP has a pool and a view. Tydon doesn't at the bush camp. EP is more plush. EP has a bigger traverse. But I think we saw more plentiful game at Tydon. Found Gavin the manager to be particularly abrasive. Came across as a complete MCP. Apparently it's his way of breaking the ice! Thankfully we only had him as our tracker on the first night. Stephen led the bush walk we did. He used to be at EP. I do wish the drives were longer though.