November 2024
This month, we have had more people applying for work at Viva Safaris than in any previous month over the last 33 years. In one sense, we feel flattered – it would appear that Viva Safaris has a reputation of being a stable and growing business that places staff welfare as a top priority. In another sense, I am concerned that the serious unemployment issue in SA is very prevalent in the hospitality industry. Many work applications are from people already employed by other lodges and tour operators. I guess these may be struggling. Applications for employment are for all levels – from management positions to gardeners and housekeeping staff. It is always sad for me to respond with the usual “Thank you for your application but I regret that we have no vacancies. Sorry.”
Viva Safaris has had fewer tourists in 2024 than in 2023. We are not overly concerned – we have had a good year. In 2024, we bought a brand-new Quantum bus for transfers, a brand new OSV (open sided vehicle) for safaris to Kruger Park and now run six Landcruisers for game drives on Balule Nature Reserve. 
Luke, Brandon and Nhlanhla
The Old Lady is generally reserved for the GM (truth is she is a 1974 model so I am not 100% sure of her reliability).
On the building side, we have completed the seven-tent Dumela Lodge and have renovated all 22 rooms and rondawels at Cheetah Inn. We have added a new kitchenette for Tremisana staff and have built a two-bedroom house for our mechanic, Ricus. 
Luke and Ricus at new house
Tremisana Camp Manager, Luke and his good wife Zanele (who was a guide at Viva years ago) are expecting their second child and the building of another bedroom for the Manager’s House will be completed this December.
We have extended Tremisana’s perimeter fence and now have a cozy dinner venue around the mandatory fireplace.
Extended fenced area offers close-up sightings of animals coming to drink
All staff rooms have been repainted.
Nomvula and Audrey at newly panted rooms
The entire roof of Marc’s Camp main building has been rethatched. All eight of the units at Masango Camp now have air conditioning.
Most importantly, we have secured traversing rights on all our existing traversing areas. The game viewing on Balule has been good with numerous sightings of elephants, lions and rhinos. The game viewing in Kruger is always top-notch and the diversity of animals is unrivalled anywhere else in Africa. If we miss buffalo and leopard in Balule Nature Reserve, we are pretty sure to get these in Kruger Park. The newsletters of 2024 bear brilliant photographic testimony to the wonderful safaris we have been privileged to offer. The photos taken this month are, as always, exceptionally good.
GAME VIEWING REPORTS FROM OUR GUIDES
BNR = Balule Nature Reserve
KNP = Kruger National Park
LUKE, Head Ranger, sent the following report and photos:
The month of November has been a good one. The rains finally came pouring down. The bushveld is slowly transforming into the beautiful summer greens, with a dash of color from the variety of flowers coming through.
The animals are, of course, thrilled with the extra water and food availability. 
Leopard in Nyalatree on Campfire BNR
Southern Ground Hornbill, BNR.
The bushwalks bring us closer to the smaller things in nature, one of my favorites being the dung beetles. They are everywhere rolling up different animal dung and burying it into the soft soil.
The lions have been moving around the area. We had an incredible sighting on a recent sundowner drive. The pride had taken down a young giraffe. The location the lions chose was perfect, nice and close to Marula Road. 
Lion pride after feeding on a giraffe kill, BNR
I took a trip to Kruger National Park for a day. We entered at Orpen Gate and made our way to Satara. Along the way, we stopped multiple times for elephants, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, and some big male kudu. 
Elephant herd, Kruger National Park, near Nsemani Dam.
The highlight, however, were a pride of lions, walking along the side of the H1-3 road just north of the H-6 turn off. The lions came straight towards our vehicle and then moved across the road only to fall asleep on the other side of the road in the shade.
Then, to top off an excellent day, we found a cheetah on the H1-4 road just north of the S127 turn-off. We sat and watched her walk closer to the road, and then she sat ready for the camera. A wonderful experience.
Cheetah in the KNP, North of the S127
MARC, Assistant GM, sent us the following report and photos:
November was a special month as we finally had our first decent rains.
The veld has turned from hues of grey and brown to beautiful greens.
The Marula and Knob-thorn trees have almost got all their new summer leaves again, and there are shoots of green grass and night lilies almost everywhere.
The Impalas, Kudus, Zebras, Warthogs and Elephants all seem to have a spring in their steps. 
Elephants at the Lapa during breakfast with Admin Staff Educate and Nyarai and Baby Josh
Before the rains came we were almost guaranteed close up sightings of water dependent animals such as Rhinos, Elephant and the odd Leopard here and there drinking at water holes that still had water in. 
White Rhinos at Tremisana
However, after the first big rains, these animals have dispersed because there is ample water all over, and it’s not necessary for them to only get water at the river or the water holes. This makes trying to find these animals a little more challenging than just driving to the nearest river or water source every day.
On the 8th of November I conducted an afternoon come sundowner drive. My guests on the vehicle had not been fortunate enough to have seen any leopard sightings. The veld was still extremely dry as we hadn’t had our big rains yet so I decided to try my luck at a few water holes on Rome 3. Unfortunately we didn’t find a Leopard, nor any Leopard tracks around the Waterhole. As I kept on driving just around the corner instead of finding the prized Leopard, we bumped into a huge Rhino Bull. This Rhino was not phased by our presence whatsoever and he ambled along side our vehicle for the next 20min or so until we decided to move on with our drive.
I then decided to go to Rome 1 near the Leadwood Pan area as there was a Leopard seen there a few days ago with a Duiker kill up a tree.
Quite often I change route plans at the last minute and rather follow my gut and inner feelings instead of a planned out route. Generally these feelings don’t always end up with anything exciting, but on this particular occasion instead of going directly to Leadwood Pan, I decided to turn down one road earlier and take a detour via Drum Rock road. As I turned left onto Drum Rock, there he was in all his majesty. A big beautiful Leopard lying on the rocks right in front of us. Normally these Balule Leopards do not enjoy vehicles or being watched for long and they push off quite quickly. This time round it was different, this Leopard didn’t have a care in the world about us being there and he sat there letting us watch him for a few minutes and then he decided to parade up and down for another 10 minutes next to the road. 
Leopard Tom seen on Drum Rock, Rome 1, BNR
This was most definitely one of the better Leopard sightings I’ve seen this year in Balule and our guests were overjoyed.
Another excited sighting was bumping into a pride of Lions on Marula Road. Piero, my father and our General Manager was visiting and he took me for a drive on our Old lady (Land cruiser which is a 1974 model and that has done way over a million kilometers). We took the regular circuit route and saw 3 Lionesses and 5 cubs on Marula Road. These Lions had just eaten a baby Giraffe and were now laying in the road with full bellies. I had seen these cubs a few days earlier and they looked very malnourished so I was initially concerned about their survival. It was a great relief knowing they finally had something to eat and we were so happy to see them with their full bellies. 
GM Piero with a Lioness seen on Marula Road, BNR
Lion Cubs on Marula road during a Sundowner drive
Until next month…
Marc
QUINTON:
Twine snake seen busy eating a frog at Marc’s Camp
Red-headed Weaver at one of Katekani suite’s plunge pools.
Vultures seen at Marc’s Camp
Giraffe seen at Masango Camp
RAYMOND:
Lion at Tremisana Lodge BNR
S12 before Ngirivana waterhole, KNP
S106 before Rabelais Hut, KNP
Rhino BNR
Lion on Olifants Road BNR
VICTOR:
A mating pair of lions near Orpen Gate Kruger Park
Elephants and a Buffalo on S125 near Tshokwana picnic spot Kruger Park
A male leopard south of Kumana Dam near Satara KNP
Wild dog Marula Road BNR
SMILEY (ELIAS):
18 November: Just before lunch, we saw a mating pair of lions on S126 KNP
19 November: We saw two male giraffes fighting KNP
20 November: Leopard Tortoise crossing the road KNP 
22 November: We saw a herd of buffalo KNP
ROCKY:
Mating pair of lions S126 KNP
Female leopard on impala carcass H7 KNP
Big tusker elephant bull H7 KNP
A dazzle of zebra north of Satara KNP
Bachelor herd of buffalos H7 KNP
NADINE:
Lioness, Olifants Road BNR
Rhino, BNR
Sunset over Drakensberg mountains, Barnards BNR
Leopard, Campfire BNR
NHLANHLA:
Lion near Tremisana Lodge BNR
We spotted lions on a sunset drive and they remained for about 20 mins – this was a real highlight and our guests were so delighted, BNR
Also during our sunset drive we came across this rhino – he was so relaxed, BNR
Afternoon drive – it was really cool to be this close, BNR
BRANDON:
20 November: 2 elephant bulls in Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park right after mud bathing
20 November : Small herd of 5 white rhinos in Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park
9 November: 1 lone giraffe male, Rome 1 BNR
ANDY:
This ostrich was spotted near Satara KNP
Buffalo bull spotted on the H7, KNP
This mating pair was spotted on the S100, KNP
Wildebeest and warthogs sharing the shade, KNP
PIERO:
I am pleased that we have had some rain. Trees have lots of leaves and grass sprouts are about 3 cm long. I had some fantastic sightings on BNR including all Big Five except Buffalo. Victor invited me to join him on a Kruger Safari on the 27th November, promising me we would find at least 5 different herds of buffalo. I was tempted to go, but declined as I wanted to get first-hand experience of Marc’s Treehouses, including a two night stay.
Sandra, my patient wife, feels that the treehouse camp is for younger and more adventurous people. We have not stayed there for many a year. She did not accompany me on this trip as she was recuperating from a double cataract procedure.
I absolutely loved it. The trees are so huge and leafy and the night sounds are fantastic – I heard lions, a leopard, hyenas and thick-tailed bushbabies.
I even got to accompany three guests to their tents after they had walked into a two-buffalo path-block. It was really a WOW stay at Marc’s. 
Young Nyala bull at Marc’s Camp
First place where young impala were seen – Dumela Lodge
Elephant digging for water on Rome 3, BNR
Hyena cooling off in waterhole in front of Tremisana Lapa
Luke promised me elephants on the Afternoon Drive, BNR
Elephant seen from our dinner boma, Tremisana BNR
NEWS FROM OUR LODGES
NYARAI sent the following:
Can you believe it’s already end of November? We are very close to the end of the year. I am grateful for all the good things that have happened throughout the year. Focusing on the positives makes one realise it hasn’t really been a bad year.
We finally had some showers in the Balule Plains. I was very happy that the animals would get more water. It has been a really dry season. We are expecting more rains this coming month.
The animal sightings around the lodge have included elephants, lions , rhinos, hyena, honey badger. I went on the sundowner drive with Nadine. I have to say I was happy to be out in the bush. Seeing the beautiful sunset and the animals made me happy. My top sightings of the month were the two rhinos as well as the elephant that came to Tremisana property. I wish I had great photography skills. Thank you to Bruno Barroso for the pictures you sent to me of a lioness and our awesome guides Luke and Nadine.
There is a famous story my maternal grandmother told me about the race of the hare and the tortoise. The hare started the race running very fast. When he thought he had covered enough distance he decided to sleep . He thought he still had enough time to finish the race. The tortoise was slow but kept going until he passed the hare and won the race. As we come close to the end of year we still have time to make a difference in our lives. We may have started the year slow but we will still finish winners. May your December be the month that allows you to finish the year a champion.
Happy Holidays
Nyarai
Thanks to Ed, Nomvula. Daphne and other staff for using the Yellow Bell flowers so effectively:
I would like to thank the entire Tremisana staff for the surprise birthday party. I arrived at Tremisana on 20 November, 3 days after my birthday. While I was unpacking at the Guest House, I was pleasantly surprised to hear wonderful melodic Shangaan voices led by Delina carrying her special brand chocolate cake. Marc had a bottle of good Shiraz. Thanks so very much for touching the heart of an ageing man – 70 next year !!
CHARL sent the following:
The first big rains have officially fallen and we have started to see the bush waking up, the new grass has started shooting and the leaves are back on the trees. Unfortunately it hasn’t been enough to fill the dams but has definitely made a difference for the animals as there is now food available for them to eat. This had probably been one of the worst dry seasons I have experienced in the years I have been in the bush and it still hasn’t completely broken we hope we get some follow up rain soon as the new growth needs it to keep growing.
Dumela/Cheetah Inn, our property across the road from Katekani, was one of the first properties in the area where a baby impala was seen. At the beginning of the month with other properties only getting babies at the end of the month, we have definitely done something right to keep them happy through the drought.
First baby impala
Unfortunately, the nyalas have become a little less common at Marcs Camp with them having to move a lot further in search of food the hopes it that as the bush greens up as it has that they will return to the camp on their morning routine of looking for fallen leaves and flowers to eat.
Nyala on bushwalk
Nyala bull and ewe outside Paulina’s room at Marcs Camp
The other night we had our visit by the thick tailed bush baby at Katekani joining us for dinner they are great to have around as they help to control all the insects around the camp.
Thick tailed bush baby
The cicadas have been calling quite a lot lately and we have found countless exoskeletons while walking in the bush with the odd sighting as well quite loud for such a small insect that’s for sure. We are all desperately awaiting the big rains to fall just to fill the dams and give a little relief in the bush.
Cicadas
Baboon spider moving after the rain
Best wishes for the festive season,
Charl
On behalf of the entire Viva Safaris family, I congratulate Charl and Charlotte on their wedding. They exchanged vows on the beautiful Motlala Reserve near Marc’s Treehouse Lodge.
We wish you a long and happy marriage.
DUMELA TENTED CAMP : I took this beautiful picture of the colourful flowering trees around the pool : Pink Hibiscus, White Frangipani, Mauve Bougainvillea and Red Flamboyant.
We have had 7 impala lambs born starting on 10 November. I have seen none on Balule. Charl, through his connection with orange farmers, managed to get some orange peel and twisted my arm to buy lucerne. We think that these extra feeds significantly improved the condition of the ewes and they dropped the lambs early.
NEWS FOR OUR TRAVEL PARTNERS
Thanks for your continued support. Viva Safaris is in good shape.
The fact that we increased our staff complement by 3 new people is pleasing, given the tough conditions in the travel industry.
I thank all our members of staff for always giving of their best. The number of reviews that praise your efforts is a lasting testimony to your dedication to Viva Safaris.
I include an email received:
From: Michi Roman
Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2024 10:01 PM
To: piero@vivasafaris.com
Subject: summary of my bushwalk
Hi Viva Safaris,
I`m not sure if this is the correct e-mail address, but I just took it from the homepage.
As my bushwalk at my stay at Tremisana Lodge was very special, some guides asked me to write a short review of it for the newsletter etc.
So I did as they requested. 🙂 Please find attached.
As SO many things happened, the summary is not very short, so feel free to shorten it, not use it, use it, rewrite it etc. You have my permission to do whatever you want with it 🙂
Thank you for the amazing 4 days, I can recommend the stay 120%. Especially all the staff, the guides, the food, it felt like visiting a big family there. If I have the change one day, I have to come back. (I will write a review on Tripadvisor too of course).
An Unexpectedly Eventful Bushwalk
On my second day at Tremisana Lodge, it was time for my bushwalk. Due to different timetables of the other guests it happened, that I had the luck to get a private walk with only the guide Smiley and I.
After a morning game drive that took us to the starting point of the walk, not far after we started, Smiley spotted an oxpecker and while he explained to me, that where oxpeckers are there are also bigger animals, suddenly we spotted a hippo. Despite of full sunlight, in the middle of the bush, chilling in the shadow, under a tree. We immediately changed our direction, because everybody knows, you don`t mess with a hippo.
Trying to “escape” from the (luckily relaxed) hippo, we almost bumped into a pack of wilddogs, who were crossing our path to the river. It was a pack of around 15 dogs with puppies and they seemed to not notice us, until they decided to change into our direction. The leader of the pack stopped, looked at us, (in the lack of other options) we stopped, looked at him and he decided that searching for proper food is now more important than we are.
So we could continue our path to the river, where we saw a lot of hippos, eagles, crocodiles etc.
While we sat down, having a little break and small picnic, two big male elephants decided to join us some meters away to eat some trees. Latest at that point it was clear, this bushwalk is special and I am very lucky to see all these animals on just a short walk.
A few minutes after we started the way back to the car, we were suddenly stopped by a deep growl. (that I will never forget) Smiley quickly spotted a big male lion in the bush only a few meters ahead of us, who, with the growl, gave us a clear warning, not to come closer and disturb his sleep. Smiley loaded the gun, just for safety reason, and we started to move back slowly and calmly. I think the fact that I didn`t see the lion was better to stay calm in that situation. 🙂
As we arrived on the hill we looked back and we couldn`t believe what we spotted close to the male lion. A lioness hiding in the bush, who we crossed twice without even knowing it.
I have to admit, arriving at the car, was a relieve, but I would never want to miss that exciting bushwalk. At any time with Smiley I felt safe and protected. The only really important thing to do in that situation is to stay calm! And then the animals will stay calm too.
Thank you Tremisana Lodge for that amazing experience. And to all the upcoming guests of the lodge, if you can, DO the bushwalk. You never know what you will see.
Thank you,
Greetings from Munich,
Michaela
Thank you to Barry Hobbs for these 2 wonderful photos of a Secretary bird:
Below, we publish some of the reviews posted this month:
Fed Safari
Noah K, Denmark
Hej Viva Safaris
Tak for en vidunderlig Safari, vi havde fire dage med jer. Vi var meget glade for at vi måtte komme besøge jeres dejlige sted. En af grunden til at dette var sådan en god oplevelse var personalet, personalet var så søde, sjove og vendelige. Man kunne virkelig mærke at de var glade for at være på arbejde. Vi fik set alle dyr i the Big 5. Vi fik set en kæmpe løve flok på omkring 50 løver og endda en albino løve. Vi fik også fornøjelsen af at se en leopard spise en empala. Vi vil gerne give en speciel tak til Victor som både var vores guide i kruger og dagen før, man kunne i den grad mærke at det var vigtigt for Victor at vi fik set alle dyrene, dette gik han meget op i. Så skud ud til Victor god mand.
Alt i alt havde vi en dejlig oplevelse, kæmpe anbefaling
Noah og Nikolai
Fantastica esperienza di safari a Katekani
RobyPanga, Italy
Abbiamo soggiornato 5 notti,siamo stati benissimo.
Stanza ampie e belle,buon livello di pulizia. Doccia e piccola piscina privata all’esterno di ogni stanza.
Personale gentile ed attento, ottima cucina.
Safari molto ben organizzati, puntuali e precisi gestiti da guide molto professionali ma simpatiche e disponibili.
Consiglio assolutamente.
Our tour guides were above amazing!
Dea, Australia
What an amazing experience with knowledgeable, fun and caring tour guides we had Rocky, Smiley and Lucky. Cannot speak highly of them enough, what an amazing experience made by these wonderful people.
What an asset to this company. These amazing tour guides and the beautiful and talented wait staff, mama D, Bell and Sophia, and all the ladies, loved our experience and we loved our time with you.
Thank you so much. they are all the true gems of Africa join these beautiful people and have a fabulous experience like we did.
Very professional and helpful with all needs and questions
Abby, UK
We are just back from a 3 day safari trip using viva safaris, any questions or needs I had sent via email got replied to extremely fast which was very helpful and professional, during the safari the food was great, accommodation was great, the staff were very welcoming it felt homley ( which is needed especially if you are travelling far it’s refreshing to have friendly faces) during the safari we got a good amount of knowledge about the animals. Definitely recommend this company. I also left something personal behind at the lodge and the staff have been extremely helpful in helping getting this item returned to me which I extremely appreciate! This shows the staff at viva safari care about you as a person throughout the experience and afterwards also!
Extensive full safari program with super nice and competent guides ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steven S, USA
My wife and I had booked the 5-day tour with accommodation at Tremisana Lodge. We were picked up almost on time at our hotel and had collected two more tour guests on the way. The transfer trolley was clean and equipped with air conditioning. After about 1.5 hours then the first stop at the rest area Azul and there we got to see rhinos directly and were very surprised about it. After another hour of driving there was lunch and the driver and the vehicle were changed. Another 3 hours later we reached the Tremisana Game Lodge. The rooms are from an older semester and rather spartanly furnished, but clean and everything worked. There was air conditioning that still worked at 35 degrees and the shower gave off hot and cold water. There was also a fridge. What we had missed a bit were sockets, whereby we had here simply used the one existing multiple socket behind the bed. Achja and the wifi at least does not reach to our side of the complex, which was now also not too far from the reception. Wasn’t bad though, as we organized a sim card with data volume before, which was really cheap. The facility also made a good impression and was very green, which also provided enough shade. In addition, you are occasionally visited by little monkeys or for dinner by hyenas (who loiter in front of the security fence). Speaking of dinner! The food was freshly prepared on site by the ladies and was very delicious. Only the choice of dishes could be criticized… because there are none. Didn’t bother us though, because everything tasted good.
The next two days we were on the road with the vehicles in a rather tight program in the surrounding terrain. The guides have shown a very good knack for showing us giraffes, lions, elephants and much more up close. The bushwalk on the second day was also very nice. However, this should have been a little longer for our taste.
On the 3rd and 4th. The day we went to Kruger National Park at 7:45 am (about 1.5 hours). Directions). There we saw, pretty much all the animals you could see. Only leopard and rhinoceros were not granted to us on both days, but this bothered us little, because the nature looks so beautiful green in the rainy season that it more than compensates for it.
On 5. Day we went on a morning tour at 5 am with a beautiful sunrise a la Lion King and again many animals. At 7am breakfast and then the departure with luggage to Canyon Viewpoint. The journey there took about 2 hours. Stay were then also only 30min but the view was fantastic. Afterwards we were taken back to Johannesburg to our hotel.
We would book this tour again and again and enjoyed the friendly company of the staff and guides very much. Also our group was really cool and worked very well together. The few complaints mentioned were completely irrelevant for us and the whole tour was more than worth their money!
So if you are looking for a safari provider in Kruger National Park, we recommend Viva Safari.
We wish you a happy and holy Christmas and a successful and rewarding 2025.
With kind regards,
Piero
General Manager
Viva Safaris
