August 2024
Although we live near Durban on the Eastern Seaboard of South Africa, where the warm Mozambique current allows for all-year bathing, we have been reluctant to swim in the sea. This is because of the high levels of e.coli present in the water.
I recall the recent Paris Olympics in which the same problem was indicated in the Seine River. Two weeks ago, I watched in horror at the mass death of fish in an English river. Just yesterday I watched a program indicating the toxic levels of microplastics in our oceans and the severe negative impact this has on our collective health.
It is all very depressing.
On my last visit to the lodges, I was annoyed to find unacceptable amounts of non-biodegradable items at the Tremisana staff quarters. Luke saw to it that each staff member was issued with a refuse bag to remedy the situation. I have also asked Luke to get the second rifle (assistant on bush walks) to take a refuse bag every so often on the bush walk along the Olifants River and collect any refuse, especially plastic, that may have originated upstream. Our commitment to conservation is paramount. If our guests see our staff collecting refuse it may help in encouraging them to convince their friends and family not to litter.
GAME VIEWING REPORTS FROM OUR GUIDES
BNR = Balule Nature Reserve
KNP = Kruger National Park
LUKE, Viva Safaris Head Guide :
The heat is beginning to return to the lowveld, summer is on its way, and with that hopefully some much needed rain.
We’ve had some wonderful experiences both on the walks and drives this month. Our lion pride has frequently been seen in our areas of traverse.
One of the best sightings took place on the Olifants Road, not far off the entrance to Campfire property. My guests and I set off along Olifants Road, on route to our bushwalk spot.
It was still dark at the time, so we had a spotlight. On the road ahead, we picked up eyes shining back at us. As we got closer, we could see the lions feasting on an impala.
We sat and viewed as the big male lion chased the other lions away from the meal. He did not want to share any of it.
During the bushwalks, we approached many elephants, hippos, and sneaky crocodiles in the river. My most memorable encounter involved a black rhino.
We headed out over a small hill towards the Olifants River. From the higher ground, we had a wonderful view on the valley bellow.
There standing in the shade of a tamboti tree, we spotted a black rhino. We chose a route down the hill and through a drainage line to view him without invading his space.
He didn’t even know we were there. He continued standing in the shade of the tree. It was a wonderful moment and very special to see on foot.
Male lion on an impala kill, Olifants Road, Near Campfire Entrance. BNR
White Rhino enjoying a drink of water, BNR.
African Painted dogs, Rome 1 along the Olifants River. BNR
Lion Pride, Barnards Property. north of Shikamba Dam, BNR
MARC:
Unlike July we had no late night surprise visits from Elephants in camp. I’m pleased to report our new energizer and electric fences have done the trick so far at keeping these brave bull elephants at bay.
August was a busy month, and I found myself doing quite a bit more guided activities than previous months, which meant I got the opportunity to sharpen my guiding skills, learn some new roads and get to enjoy a bit more of the wildlife our area of the Greater Kruger has to offer.
The afternoons have been really hot with temperatures regularly soaring well over 30 degrees Celsius. We have spent many afternoon drives down by the Olifants River where we have seen a large amount of animal activity enjoying the continuous supply of water. Hippos and Crocodiles sunbathing, Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Kudus, Nyalas and Giraffe all near the waters edge daily and the Elephants have made the river their home. On one particular day we got a breeding herd of Elephants crossing the river. So we all got out the vehicle at a designated picnic site and spent 30 minutes watching these elephants slowly cross the river right in front of us.
We have also been seeing a lot of Leopard and Lion tracks down by the river, however we haven’t been fortunate enough to spot them down there as of yet.
I have frequently traversed on Rome 3 and Rome 4 this month because I’m still trying to learn all the roads on this property. There is still a bit of fresh water in the waterhole thanks to the staff who pump fresh water daily from their borehole. I have been fortunate on a few ocassions this month seeing several different White Rhino, large herds of Buffalo and a new solitary sub adult Male Lion who has come into this area of late.
On the 20th of August the African Painted dog puppies (they are a few months old now) finally made their first appearance on Tremisana Property after venturing from their den site. We counted 6 puppies who are extremely cute. These 6 spent the day with another 5 adults lazing around just south of Tremisana Dam after they caught and ate an Impala just behind our staff compound.
In other news, Viva Safaris has been trying to share all our latest sightings with daily updates of our Guides favorite sightings from their Safari drives around Balule and the Kruger Park.
If you are interested in seeing these, please like and follow our pages on both Facebook and Instagram @vivasafaris.
Cheers until next month.. 
Wild Dogs at Tremisana BNR
Elephants crossing the Olifants River with excited guests watching on
White Rhino on BNR
Guests with a pride of lions with several cubs on Barnards BNR
TOLLI:
Tame Red Duiker at Pumusa Bushcamp Hluhluwe
Hippo really close at St Lucia estuary boat trip
White Rhino near Hilltop Camp Hluhluwe
Buffalo near Memorial Gate Hluhluwe
RAYMOND:
Nadine close to White Rhino BNR
Lion on Rome 3 BNR
Buffalo at H7 Nsemane Dam KNP
Lioness at Barnard near Ngwenya dam BNR
Leopard on BNR
White Rhino BNR
ROCKY:
Male lion on morning drive BNR
Big elephant cow grazing close to the road S90 KNP
Breeding herd of buffalo along H7 KNP
Three lionesses on H7 KNP
Two cheetahs near Orpen boom gate KNP
A tower of giraffe near Orpen KNP
ANDY:
A breeding herd of elephants with the youngest baby thought to be less than 2 weeks old, KNP
One of the largest herds of elephants I have seen in my career, crossing H7, metres from Orpen rest camp, KNP.
Buffalos spotted crossing the H7 to Nsemani dam KNP
The southern ground hornbills spotted feeding on a terrapin near Nsemani dam, KNP
NADINE:
Black Rhino BNR
Sleepy Lioness, Barnards BNR
Buffalo, Rome 4 BNR
Wild dog pups, Tremisana property BNR
Elephants, Rome 1 BNR
QUINTON:
Giraffe seen on early morning bushwalk at Marc’s Camp
Buffalo seen on early morning bushwalk at Marc’s Camp
VICTOR:
Spotted hyena on S40 near Girivana waterhole KNP
A lioness on S40 near Girivana waterhole KNP
Three lionesses on BNR
A herd of Buffalos near Orpen Gate KNP
ELIAS AKA SMILEY:
Aug 13: We saw a Wild dog passing through our property to Olifant road, just before we left for bush walk BNR
Aug 15: We saw Lions on Rome 1 southern side of Nambu Camp BNR
Aug 17: We saw baboons on Rome 1 during the bush walk BNR
Aug 21: We saw a beautiful giraffe during our sunset drive on Barnard airstrip BNR
CHARL:
Beautiful sunset on sundowner drive BNR
White rhino cow and calf in Hluhluwe, 2 of 27 seen
Oxpecker on the roof of the quantum, iSmangiliso Wetland Park
Bushbuck ram near Hilltop Camp, Hluhluwe
NEWS FROM OUR LODGES
Nyarai sent the following on Tremisana:
The month of August has just come to an end. I am going to miss the cold days. It’s already warmed up and sunshine is abundant. The last week of the month was too warm for comfort. Temperatures soared to 39 degrees Celsius. I longed for the coolness of the pool but my hair would betray me. All I could do was stay in the office with the fan on. I am grateful that this month was busy. Most of our guests were from Italy. Google translate saved me one too many times. Guess who wants to learn Italian now. I have to mention our fabulous new Boma at the Lapa. It is my favourite viewing place at night. The lighting is beautiful and gets better when the elephants come to drink by the watering hole.
My highlight for this month was the wild dogs or the African painted wolf in our own back yard. I do not go out a lot and it seems like the few times I do the Balule plains gift me abundantly. The sight of the puppies made my heart melt. The wild dog is one of the world’s most endangered mammals. The largest populations remain in southern Africa and the southern part of East Africa (especially Tanzania and northern Mozambique). I marvel at their hunting skills, the fact that they live in packs is amazing. Great social skills right there.
I came across a poem by author Jess Shillaw that describes them in a beautiful way and it’s titled The Wolves of Africa. I will share my favourite part:
The Wolves of Africa
‘’A paintbrush dips into a palette of brown, black, and white watercolours.
The colours swirl and craft the intricate mosaic on our coats.’’
‘’We are the dance of the savannah,
in unity, we weave.
If Wildness was a secret song.
It would be the hoo calls of the painted.
The strength of our family.
Nurturing the pups, sharing our spoils of the hunts by sacrificing our share.
Together, we will press onward, sprinting across vast distances as the sun descends and the full moon takes its throne.’’
Till next month stay safe and take care
Nyarai
New fireplace at Lapa
We did not have a fireplace at the Lapa and both my sons, Anthony and Marc, convinced me that we needed one.
Elephant herd unfazed by new fireplace at Tremisana Lapa
Congratulations to Nadine who saw her first ever Aardvark in the wild this month:
Charl sent the following on Marcs and Katekani :
MARCS TREEHOUSE LODGE
With the season changing upon us we have had a few warmer days with the evenings still cooler weather we had our first client take a dip in the newly renovated pool the other night excuse the poor photo taken at night. 
I definitely look forward to taking my first dip in the pool as the days warm up. As you can see from my pictures of the Nyalas on bush walk they are always a show stopper with this particular bull getting up close and personal with us.
Quinton also celebrated his 35th birthday this month and was surprised during dinner with a cake.
Quinton with his birthday cake at dinner.
KATEKANI
Dinners have definitely been a highlight for our clients as the sub adult hyena keeps on making a appearance for us during dinner. Unfortunately he seems to be a little skittish as every time I exit the boma to try and take a picture of him he runs away. We have had quite a few guests through the doors this month sharing some special memories with them all.
All smiles as Margrett poses with guests.
PUMUSA:
Pumusa Bushcamp is looking lovely now that the pool has been fibreglassed:
EZULWINI LODGES:
Thanks to Craig for sending the following:
NEWS FOR OUR TRAVEL PARTNERS
Thanks to my son, Anthony,who runs MoAfrika Tours, for the video clips of Tremisana, Marcs and Katekani.
Marco has put these on our website.
Our August 2024 bookings were really good and I thank all our agents for their strong support.
From time to time, we get very close to animals. We trust our guides to do the right thing.
Elephant close to vehicle during Sunset Drive at Tremisana 
Lion seeking shade of MoAfrika vehicle KNP
Marco, Webmaster, has selected the following reviews posted in August 24 :
Professional and very welcoming
Sinaly S, Burkina Faso
We had an amazing experience with Viva Safaris. From the beginning, we appreciated Patti’s availability and reactivity in all communications (emails / WhatsApp) and for tailoring a 4-day tour of great value for our family. Transfer from Johannesburg to Tremisana Lodge was on board of comfortable buses with very helpful drivers. We enjoyed the stays at Tremisana and Katekani luxury lodges with very kind staff.
We had very skilled and experienced guides with us in the parks for game drives and bush walks. They were all funny too. (I don’t know if this is part of their training). All big five were seen. We were fortunate to meet a leopard just near the lodge at Tremisana. We saw a cheetah and were very close to Casper in Kruger.
My family and I enjoyed so much this experience. The animals didn’t seem much bothered by visitors and they were kind enough to let us take beautiful pictures 😉
Viva Safaris also helped us organizing visits in Johannesburg with a tour operator, which was very much appreciated, especially for us, traveling to South Africa for our very first time.
Amazing!
Wendy, UK
This was my second Safari experience with Viva Safaris.
From booking the trip to departure from the lodge to Johannesburg, every detail was executed with thought and care.
The drive from Johannesburg to the lodge was long but ample comfort breaks were scheduled aswell as a lovely stop for lunch.
The accommodation was very comfortable and spotlessly clean. Food was home cooked, nutritious and delicious.
The game drives were beyond expectations. The guides really go above and beyond to make sure you experience as many sightings as possible. Their knowledge and enthusiasm was infectious.
Special thanks to Victor and Rocky. Victor did not give up when all of the cats seemed to have disappeared from the Kruger Park. He found our group three lionesses laying in a bush. A beautiful sighting. His smile and rendition of Hakuna Matata are legendary.
Rocky found us ‘Casper’ the white lion, a bucket list sighting for me. Then at the end of a long day in the Kruger park he gave us another amazing sighting. Just as we returned to Tremisana he was putting up the sides of the jeep for us to alight when he spotted a leopard very close to camp. He quickly told us all to sit back down, leapt back into the drivers seat and took off at speed. We had the most amazing sighting of the leopard. We were truly grateful as he had done a full day of driving us round and must have been as exhausted as us, but he still made sure we didn’t miss a thing.
Viva Safaris deserve ten stars. Highly recommended.
Wir haben eine 4-Tages Safari gemacht
Lina, Germany
An den beiden An-& Abreisetagen, hatte man eine Nacht Safari mit Busch BBQ und einen morning Drive.
Zur Lodge und auch nach Johannesburg macht man mehrere Stops unter anderem zum Mittagessen.
An einer Haltestelle hat man schon die ersten Tiere gesehen.
Die Lodge liegt mitten in der Wildnis und mit etwas Glück kann man aus der Lodge aus Elefanten, Hyänen oder Antilopen sehen.
Das ist ein sehr beeindruckendes Gefühl.
Die Drives, welche im Gebiet der Lodge stattfinden, gehen über Stock und Stein und man fühlt sich richtig in der Natur.
Wir haben atemberaubende Momente mit Tieren erleben dürfen unter anderem mit einem Löwenrudel von 13 Löwen verschiedenen Alters.
Die Tages Safari beim OrpenGate des KrügerNationalparks war nicht so berauschend.
Man fährt fast ausschließlich auf der geteerten Straßen und hat somit weniger Naturfeeling.
Alles in allem würden wir es dennoch wärmstens weiterempfehlen.
Très bonne organisation
Anonymous, France
Très bonne communication par mail avant le départ.
Le chauffeur est bien venu me chercher à l’hôtel sur le créneau horaire prévu de même pour le retour.
Accueil sympathique à l’arrivée.
Très bonne organisation.
Grâce aux bonnes connaissances du chauffeur guide nous avons pu admirer et photographier de nombreux animaux.
Overall great Safari with the best group and guides!
Raphael, Germany
Our 6-day safari with Viva Safaris in Kruger National Park was absolutely phenomenal. From start to finish, everything was meticulously organized, ensuring a seamless and stress-free adventure. The accommodations were comfortable and perfectly complemented the safari atmosphere, making it easy to immerse ourselves in the wild surroundings. We could even spot animals like giraffes, elephants, hippos, hyaenas and warthogs from the lodge.
The number of game drives was impressive, with plenty of opportunities to explore both the private Olifant Reserve and the Kruger Park. Each drive brought new thrills, thanks to the fantastic guides who shared fascinating insights about the animals and their habitats.
A special shoutout to Smiley, whose fun and easygoing personality kept the vibes high during our drives and bush walks. Rocky was another standout, a talented spotter who made our sunrise drive unforgettable by finding a rhino and later tracking down an entire lion family in Kruger. And then there’s Nadine, who wowed us by spotting a chameleon at night—her passion for wildlife truly shines through in everything she does.
Overall, Viva Safaris exceeded our expectations in every way. If you’re looking for an adventure that’s as informative as it is exciting, I highly recommend booking with them. We’ll definitely be back! And yes, we have seen all big five 🙂
An unforgettable experience!
Simone and Anna, The Netherlands
There are no words able to describe the emotions we felt during the three days at the Tremisana Lodge. Experiencing the wildness, looking for the animals in the bushes, stargazing one of the clearest night sky in the world. Those are experiences that make you feel alive.
The sunset cruise was an incredible adventure. Having dinner in the middle of nowhere, with the company of an elephant and just a fence dividing you from the wild life was awesome.
The day at Kruger? It felt like being in one of those National Geographic kind of documentaries, but in first person. Our ranger was very professional, always trying to let us take the perfect shots of the wild life, as well as keeping us safe.
We never felt in danger during the safari.
The sunrise cruise was quite a rush but worth it. You can see the animals awakening and starting their daily routines. We were lucky with the weather and manage to observe an outstanding sunrise. Do you know the opening scene of The Lion King? That is the kind of thing you will experience.
The lodge was the best compromise between comfort and wildness. There isn’t much choice for the food but one have also to keep in mind that the village is literally in the middle of nowhere, so one should never expect to have a restaurant-type of experience in such case. The room was clean and the shower provides hot water. The people working at the lodge, as well as the rangers, are all very kind and professional. They properly take care of you.
Totally recommended if one wants to have a safari experience.
Until next month,
With kind regards,
Piero
General Manager
Viva Safaris
