From Johannesburg with this Dehavilland Dash 8 Turboprop to...
...Eastgate Airport near...
... the small town Hoedspruit and from there fifteen kilometers to...
Balule Nature Reserve was created of farm owners who agreed to drop the game fences between their properties. Balule is connected to the Kruger Park with no fences between.
Here I will join the Big Five project...
...and stay for three weeks.
Lesson one. As you gonna work and walk close to dangerous animals you must learn how to behave and how to read their warning signs. You can see Lesson one on youtube Länkar/Mina filmer på youtube.
Then you are ready to go into the bush and meet the wild animals. Zebra, wildebeest,..
You will also see many birds like this european roller.
Student Co-Ordinator Adele teach us about the leadwood tree, so hard that not even termites can destroy it.
The poisonous tamboti tree, if you eat the leaves you will die, if you burn it and inhale the smoke within 200 meters you will be sick of diarrhea.
You will also learn a lot about insects and bugs like this female golden orb spider and her smaller husbond
Student Assistant Brass ready for a game drive. You will come closer to the shy animals if you go with the landrover.
Burchell´s zebra, standing about 1,3 m tall and weighing 290-340 kg.
Giraffe, male or female, look at the horns to decide. Male horns are thicker and worn smooth by years of fighting.
Male giraffe may tower over 5m and weigh over 1200 kg, female reach 4,5m and weigh up to 850 kg.
Wildebeest with red-billed oxpeckar on his back.
Impalas, stands about 90 cm at the shoulder and weighs up to 50 kg. Male impalas have horns, up to 60 cm long.
Waterbuck, slightly bigger than a zebra.
After relaxing and swimming in the pool...
...I will stay overnight in that tower.
...and in the morning watch the animals at the waterhole.
One evening we heard lions roaring just outside the gate.
Next morning we went to track down the lions.
We found the tracks but not the lions.
So next evening, going with the landrover, some hundred meters from Campfire, we found four lionesses with a newly killed giraffe.You can see many videos from this extraordinary occasion on youtube Länkar/Mina filmer på youtube
When we returned to the carcass next morning hundreds of vultures were there waiting for their turn.
Three male lions had joined the lionesses.
Eating much meat makes you tired.
After three days vultures and jackals are allowed to approach the carcass.
On the fourth day the lions leave the carcass.
Then time had come for the vultures.
There are different kinds of vultures, on this carcass you could see hooded vultere, white-backed vulture and Cape vulture.
If you are adventurous there´s lot to do in the surroundings. E.G. sit on a rock hundred meters above the ground.
Or join the Blyde River X-fest...
... and go with crocs down the stream.
If you are most adventurous you can do the Big Swing at Graskop.
If you want a real big kiss ask Jessica the hippo.
Kruger National Park, as large as Israel, with sixty different mammals, hundreds of bird species, snakes.
There are more than 10 000 elephants in the park.
It´s easy to spot lions in Kruger compared to spot leopards though the numbers of lions only is about 50 percent more.
Though the difficulties to spot a leopard this day I was lucky to see two, one in the bush and this one in the open field.
White rhino, after elephant the world´s biggest land mammal. A mature bull can weigh more than 2300 kg.
Its alternative name, square-lipped rhino, is easy to understand when you see this photo.
Black rhino, same colour as the white rhino but half the size and the mouth quite different.
Cheetah, the fastest mammal on earth with a measured topspeed of 112 km/h. But that was the Usain Bolt cheetah. The speed for an ordinary cheetah is about 60-90 km/h.
You can´t stare out a lion, he doesn´t care but...
... anyway, sitting in an open landrover, three meters from this carnivore, makes you a little nervous.
Don´t try to stare out a leopard, he goes crazy, and this isn´t a cat you´ll play with.
One of the most scenical countries in the world. Here´s part of the Drakensberg.
Klipspringer at Mariepskop.
If you´ll get in shape you can do the Manoutsa mountain hike.
Male lion at the waterhole close to our gate but...
...no worry. I am well educated to handle a situation like this.
It´s time for me to leave Campfire but first I will have something to eat...
South Africa is almost three times larger than Sweden and have five times more inhabitants.
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