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Our Latest Monthly Newsletters

Brilliant shot of Wild Dog pack on the road.

November 2016

08 Dec 2016
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The Greater Kudu, Tragelaphus Strepsiceros, is the third largest antelope in Kruger Park, after the Eland and Roan Antelope. The Kudu is an elegant antelope with bulls having magnificent spiral horns that can grow up to 1.75 metres long. Its coat is fawn-coloured with the sides...
Honey Badger.

October 2016

14 Nov 2016
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The Honey Badger, Mellivora Capensis, is so named as it is believed that it follows a bird, the Greater Honeyguide, to a beehive. Once the Honey Badger opens the beehive, the Honeyguide gets its sweet share. The fact that it survives any number of bee stings is eloquent testimony...
Yellow-billed hornbill.

September 2016

11 Oct 2016
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The drought continued throughout September 2016. Unlike Kruger Park, some of the Private Game Reserves that Viva Safaris visit have decided to feed the animals. Both Kapama Game Reserve and Tshukudu Game Reserve have been feeding their grazers on a daily basis. In Kruger I am...
James and guests near lion

August 2016

07 Sep 2016
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The Small-spotted Genet, Genetta Genetta, is widely distributed throughout South Africa. Genets have long, sleek bodies and equally long tails, short legs and relatively long, rounded ears. The general body colour is off-white to grey and is liberally covered with dark brown to...
Leopard with fresh Duiker kill up a Marula Tree.

July 2016

13 Aug 2016
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Last month’s newsletter indicated our concerns about poaching by ill-informed locals. Underpinning these nefarious activities is a need to earn cash – poverty is widespread in the communities adjacent to Kruger Park. It is critically important that the owners of Game Lodges and...
The mighty Ezulwini.

June 2016

18 Jul 2016
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The White-backed Vulture, Gyps Africanus, is the most common vulture species in the Kruger Park. It is also the most common vulture in Africa. Guests who book our 5 and 6 day packages go to Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre where they can interact with some rehabilitated...
A good waking up yawn!

May 2016

13 Jun 2016
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We apologise for the lateness of this month’s newsletter. The drought continues! Grazers are really struggling and there are large areas of Kruger Park that simply have NO grass! I expect serious mortality amongst animals such as hippo, buffalo, white rhino and to a lesser extent...
Christopher our new walking guide.

April 2016

09 May 2016
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Notwithstanding the assault on Rhinos throughout Africa, the rangers and tourist guides at Viva Safaris still regard the Leopard as the most difficult member of the Big Five to find on our game drives. The reason for this is the secretive nature of leopards. Usually our sightings...
Tanya and guests close-up to lioness.

March 2016

07 Apr 2016
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We had a group of 18 Italian tourists earlier this month who, on their Sunset Drive, witnessed a territorial fight between two Black Rhino bulls. This is an unusual and very impressive sighting. By all accounts it was very exciting with lots of snorting and vocalising. Black...
Lioness and elephant share a water hole

February 2016

11 Mar 2016
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With the ongoing drought, animals are having to move great distances to find both grazing and water. Certain animals that are normally found in specific habitats are now forced to move away from their usual home ranges. Recently I saw a Klipspringer, Oreotragus oreotragus, very...
Great off road experience with lion pride.

December 2015 / January 2016

10 Feb 2016
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This is a double-month edition so I shall keep my introduction short. There is only one thing on everyone’s mind at this time : the persistent drought. It looks like the El Nino effect will limit the rainfall in our region to less than half of what normally falls – we expect that...
A baby Nyala.

November 2015

05 Dec 2015
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The VERVET MONKEY, Chlorocebus Pygerythrus is widespread across the eastern part of South Africa. It has been introduced to a number of states in the USA as well as the West Indies. Vervet Monkeys are highly interactive and great fun to watch because of the complex social...
Great lion sighting

October 2015

24 Nov 2015
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The Woodland Kingfisher, Halcyon Senegalensis, is an amazingly striking bird. Colourful and noisy (it has a loud trill as its call), it is easily noticed. So far this year, we have not seen nor heard a single Woodland Kingfisher and that, for me, is very bad news. The Woodland...
Cheetah

September 2015

16 Oct 2015
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Despite what my family may otherwise believe, I think that as I have grown older, I have become a little more tolerant. Things that used to drive me mad are now less maddening as I try to put issues into proper perspective. One issue that still drives me up the proverbial wall is...
Lions, lions every day!!

August 2015

18 Sep 2015
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The drought has continued throughout August and the bush is very dry. Game viewing has been excellent throughout the month and there have been numerous occasions when our guides have had sightings of all Big Five before lunch-time. It has been an amazing month for lion sightings...
Elephant crosses in front of Viva Safaris clients

July 2015

05 Aug 2015
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The introduction of a camera trap at the Tremisana waterhole has been a wonderful revelation ! It is attached to a Marula tree that thankfully has survived some seriously close encounters with elephants and buffalos. Despite the camera covering only a third of the waterhole (and...
Leopard grabs hold of warthog on Sunset Drive

June 2015

08 Jul 2015
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From my home in Durban, I normally drive via Northern kwa-Zulu Natal through Swaziland and enter the Kruger Park at Crocodile Bridge and then proceed to Tremisana Lodge via Orpen Gate. It is a journey of about 850 km. On my most recent trip (end of June) I was very concerned to...
Bongani leads a focussed group on a walk along the banks of the mighty Olifants River.

May 2015

10 Jun 2015
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The African Civet, Civettictis Civetta, is a strikingly attractive animal. Generally but not strictly nocturnal, the Civet stands roughly 300mm at the shoulder and has a mass of around 4 kg. Civets are sometimes called “Civet Cats” but this is a misnomer as Civets display...
Lioness really close to us on the tarred road

April 2015

07 May 2015
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I was pleased to receive feedback to my last newsletter (March 2015). There were two notable responses to my call to exterminate Mallard ducks and their hybrid offspring from all nature reserves. Cosimo Brescia, MD of Sandown Travel, plans to organise Italian hunters to do duck...
Brilliant photo of excellent Leopard sighting

March 2015

11 Apr 2015
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I am writing this newsletter from Cape Town, where there has been a major issue regarding the removal of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes from the grounds of the University of Cape Town. Rhodes is seen by radicals as a colonialist who brought terrible hardship to Africa. The...
Lionesses resting after a good meal of Kudu

February 2015

04 Mar 2015
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It is very unfortunate that most people are scared of snakes. Perhaps the snake is maligned as a result of negative connotations. For example, we read in Genesis that Adam and Eve were tempted to do evil by a “crafty” snake. Similarly there are pejorative expressions such as “a...
Elephant bull near Tremisana Lodge feeding on a Marula Tree

December 2014 / January 2015

04 Feb 2015
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There can be no bigger thrill than having a Black Rhino bull sense our presence on a Bush Walk. I accompanied Rex on a walk this January. We were walking through a dry watercourse when we heard the most terrifying bellow – Rex, who was ahead of the group, came charging back and...
Young male leopard resting in the shade

November 2014

10 Dec 2014
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The sighting of a Pangolin at Marc’s Camp as reported in last month’s newsletter by our tourist guide, Vanessa, has caused a substantial stir. I have received a number of comments from friends and previous guests. Old timers to the Kruger Park who have been there hundreds of...
Rhino mother and calf

October 2014

05 Nov 2014
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The Sausage Tree, Kygelia Africana, is so named after its fruit which looks like a short fat salame (singular form of salami). Perhaps it was the Italian connection that led me to buy one specimen about 15 years ago and plant it at Tremisana Lodge. This year is the first year it...
Lioness near Satara

September 2014

06 Oct 2014
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Unlike last year, when the rains fell on 1 September, this month the ground was parched and dry. No rain fell in September 2014 and both grazers and browsers are having a tough time. The condition of the veld is deteriorating rapidly. The old, sick and weak are moribund and the...
Great shot of a cheetah

August 2014

07 Sep 2014
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The Barberton Daisy, Gerbera Jamesonii, derives its name from its geographic origin. Barberton is a town south of Nelspruit in the Lowveld and it was here, in the granitic soils, that the early gold diggers first saw this beautiful flower towards the end of the 19th century. It...
New sliding doors in treehouses 1 and 6

July 2014

08 Aug 2014
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The home page of our website, www.vivasafaris.com has videos taken by guests of two lion kills. These videos were taken in July 2012 and July 2013. I was hoping that we could make it 3 out of 3 with another video for July 2014. No such luck ! Nevertheless, at the beginning of...
White Rhino bull

June 2014

06 Jul 2014
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There is no doubt that the most colourful bird in our region is the Lilac-breasted Roller. The bird is easily noticed not only by its visual splendour but also by its raucous call. To make it still more noticeable, the Roller does some great physical exhibitionist displays. In...
Warthogs having a disagreement

May 2014

06 Jun 2014
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Sandra and I spent part of our long leave this May on a spiritual pilgrimage to the Holy Land, led by the Catholic Archbishop of Cape Town, Stephen Brislin. It was a truly amazing and unforgettable experience. In between the wonderful visits to the places where our Lord walked, I...
Wesley's brilliant photo of young male leopard seen regularly near Tremisana

April 2014

05 May 2014
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Last week we received an animated email from an upbeat Craig Spencer, Warden of Olifants West Game Reserve, in which Tremisana Lodge is located. Craig informs us that a Black Rhino calf was born in our reserve during the last week of April 2014. You may recall that, as part of...
Mating lions

March 2014

07 Apr 2014
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After the heavy March rains this year, the butterflies have appeared in greater numbers than usual. I took this photo with my cell phone on a bush walk. A friend of mine, Ian Sharp, is an avid lover of butterflies. Viva Safaris helped in sponsoring a checklist of butterflies...
Young lion cub

February 2014

07 Mar 2014
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My Italian background has played an important part in many facets of my life. Probably the biggest part has been in my founding of Viva Safaris in 1991. Because I can speak Italian fluently, the big Italian travel agencies like Sandown Travel and International Travel supported...
Bongani and nearby elephant during Sunset Drive

December 2013 / January 2014

07 Feb 2014
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The year has started badly – one of our Black Rhino bulls was killed on the first full moon of January. A year ago exactly I predicted in my Dec 12 / Jan 13 newsletter that the rhino poaching deaths for 2013 would reach a figure around 987. This was based on a simple mathematical...
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