Tag: Aardvark

Aardvark

Aardvark

The Aardvark is an incredibly rarely seen animal. It is found on the savannahs of Africa, and generally lives well in and out of protected areas. It is quite a sizable aniimals, and has relatively high densities throughout its range (roughly 1 per square km in habitats that it is best suited to).

So why is it so rare to see this animal? They are one of the most exclusively nocturnal species that you can find. These are animals for which wildlife guides get excited.

The name, translated from Afrikaans means earth-pig. They are incredible diggers, and many of the burrows in the savannah are dug by them, who ever ends up using them.

The are insect eaters, and are well suited. Their claws are strong, allowing them to dig into the incredibly hard termite mounds, it has a long tongue of around 30cm, which they can direct down ant holes to get hold of their food. They have an incredible sense of smell and hearing to allow them to find the animals, and can shut their eyes and nose so as to avoid being attacked back.

Although rarely seen, there are places which have learnt how to watch them, giving you a great chance to see an animal few know about. Over recent decades, they have started appearing in zoos, with Colchester in the UK (should you visit, it is a species that needs patience, otherwise you are likely to just see a pile of aardvarks sleeping in their burrow.

It is at the top of animals I would like to see in the wild. Given, their range both in and out of reserves, I am hoping over time to build up plenty of places to see them out in the human world. Please get in touch if you are a farmer, who has these on your land.

Any of the savannah ecosystems on our wild places list will host these animals, however a great deal of luck will be needed to see them in the wild. However, we will add an special places we find where your odds are higher. For now, click here, if you want to visit a savannah ecosystem in the near future.

aaa Malamala reserve, Greater Limpopo transfrontier park – between Sabi sands and the Kruger

Malamala reserve, Limpopo Transfrontier park

Established back in 1927, initially as a hunting reserve, it has been purely with a camera since 1964. Relatively small, only covering 62 square miles, it is sandwiched between the Kruger and the Sabi sands game reserve. As such, the game is incredibly dense.

There most luxury suites in each camp is 10, across all three camps so  if every single one is inhabited, a large so called traffic jam would not stop you seeing the wildlife. Unlike in the Kruger itself, you are not restricted to roads, which means often very close encounters., it also make 62 square miles an enormous area to explore with your guide.

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Rare sightings, where even a wildlife guide gets excited Aardvarks and Pangolins – and seeing them in the zoo

When you go on safari, as with other places there are animals that while fascinating you can be almost certain you will not see.

This Aardvark lives at Chester zoo

I am not talking about Black leopards, or white lions – rare genetic mutations which are therefore not always present, and when they are, there might be one or two in the whole of an ecosystem. In recent times, when a black leopard was sighted, a British photographer flew out specifically to stake out the area it was in to get his shot. He did succeed, but spent a whole trip getting the picture (Will Burrard Lucas) flew to the part of Kenya where it had been sighted, and put up camera traps which caught the creature). These are almost impossible to see, as they tend to occur very rarely. The white Lions of Timbivati are very good for this private reserve as it is almost impossible to see wild white lions anywhere else.

No, the animals that are rarely seen (and perhaps for most would not feature on a list of 100 animals they would like to see) tend to be nocturnal. I am talking of animals like the Aardvark and the pangolin. Often these species are also extremely fussy eaters, which means that not only are they incredibly hard to see in the wild, but they are incredibly hard to keep alive in captivity – increasingly zoos are starting to get these fascinating animals, as the unfounded belief that pangolin scales can treat a variety of conditions has pushed all species nearer to extinction (so it is becoming increasingly necessary to have a captive population to back up the wild one).

In the UK, the only place that you can see an Aardvark is in Colchester zoo, where they have a group of them. Knowing this, Colchester zoo is one of those that I will visit as often as I get the chance, and spend a significant amount of time by the Aardvark burrow hoping to see them awake.

Our visit last week was incredibly lucky, as the Aardvarks had to be weighed, so they all had to wake up and be moved around. I hope to put together a video after the summer, with pictures of Aardvark burrows in the wild, and the animal in captivity. If I am very lucky, I will be able to add in some wild Aardvark pictures but this is very unlikely.

Either way, a video will be coming in the Autumn – to our youtube channel. Do subscribe so as to not miss it (there are many more videos in the pipeline) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsz9rwvtlpsdQgB-52CY-_w

This link will take you to our youtube channel.

We have 2 trips planned in the next few months. Later this week, I am travelling to Spain in the hope of seeing bears and wolves, and over August, my family are travelling to Kruger national park. Our aim is to film many videos during these trips, and be able to add greatly to what is listed on the channel.

Camp Ndlovu

Camp Ndlovu

Camp Ndlovu bedroom
Camp Ndlovu room
Camp Ndlovu dining
Camp Ndlovu
Camp Ndlovu 2

Camp Ndlovu lies within the Welgevonden Game Reserve, and sits alongside the Marakele National Park in South Africa.

These protected areas and some other reserves are collectively called the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve, which covers around 4,000 square km of bush.

Sitting just two and a half hours from Cape Town, this is a perfect place to drop into for a few days during a Cape holiday. One of the big advantages of going on safari here is that there is no Malaria, which is rare for a safari destination.

As a Big Five reserve you will have an action packed visit (cheetah are also present).

For those interested in birds there are also over 300 species that are present including blue cranes.

Camp Ndlovu is a luxurious way to do safari, and with only guests of one of the lodges allowed onto the reserve the number of cars is kept relatively low. With just five suites (one of which is suitable for families, though children under 12 by arrangement only) even when the lodge is full, it will not feel crowded.

With each suite being very generously sized and being air conditioned, they will be a welcome refuge from the heat of the bush. Each has its own plunge pool and outdoor shower and bath. They each have extra long king sized beds, and a sitting room with a fireplace. Also included is a minibar and a nespresso machine. There is also a sizeable deck around the plunge pool with comfortable pool loungers, allowing you to relax in comfort and watch the world pass by.

Despite the camps remoteness there is also WIFI within the camp. They also have extras such as bathrobes slippers and forgotten toiletries.

Each air-conditioned luxury unit suite comes complete with its own plunge pool, outdoor shower and outdoor bath, air-conditioning and fan, king size extra length bed, a lounge with fireplace, Nespresso coffee machine with complimentary coffee pods, a mini bar, outdoor shower and bath and  an extensive wooden deck with pool loungers and private dining areas. Extras include bathrobes, slippers and complimentary toiletries and Wifi.

This coupled with a history of wildlife never having been legally hunted here makes for far more relaxed animal encounters than you can experience elsewhere. Anti-poaching efforts continue behind the scenes to make sure that this remains the case as much as possible.

Apart from those animals listed so far the reserve hosts around 50 mammals in total. Night time safaries are usually the only way to see them and brown hyena, aardwolf, pangolin and aardvark are present to be looked for on night drives.

With a long history of human habitation within the area, there are also 2 san rock paintings within the reserve. There is a booking/questions form below the video, and below this is pricing information in south african Rand (at the time of writing £1 is about 20 rand

 

To ask questions or enquire about availability or book please fill in the form below

Hides

Hides

There are many animals that are almost impossible to see. This is for a variety of reasons, but the most common is that the animal is nocturnal and or shy.

For this reason hides are very useful. They essentially consist of something that the people can sit in, so that they are invisible to the wildlife in the area, allowing the wildlife to approach without fear.

In the UK the majority of hides are set up for bird watching, though I have also visited badger hides. In Europe the majority of hides are set up to watch bears (many were once hunting hides), though if lucky wolves can be seen from these on occasion as well. In Africa there are all sorts of animals to be seen from a hide at night – generally animals rarely seen during the day, such as Aardvark.

Some hides have beds so you stay in them throughout the night, others are used just in the evening or the morning. Also of interest is where the hide is, for instance if the hides below lies in Sweden. Due to its latitude, during the summer months it is bright enough to see for much of the night, which obviously makes visits more valuable. Other hides will have night vision googles, still more will mount infrared or visible lightsi

Here is the wildSweden bear hide. Other than bears (we saw 6), our visit included a wolf, badger fox squirrels an various birds

If you own or operate a hide and would like to be listed on this page please click here

Fitzpatrick at Jock

Fitzpatrick at Jocks

Lounging in camp, with a view
Sun downer drinks in the wilderness
Luxurious room furnishings
Beautiful furniture
Wonderful decoration

Fitzpatrick at Jocks is a small lodge perfect for groups and hired exclusively to one group at a time. Consisting of 3 Luxurious suites each with its own viewing deck. This allows people to enjoy the luxury of a lodge, but with the intimacy of being just a small group.

Lying in the game dense south of the Kruger national park, this private concession covers around 23 miles which only your group and the main lodge will have access to. The lodge is built on the river bank, which means that often the wildlife will come to visit you so you can enjoy watching the world go by from the comfort of your suite.

Beautifully equipped and set up for a group of up to 6 to share, this is an incredible place for friends to go together or for family time away from everyone else.

With places to eat inside and out, and with its own staff, a visit can be fully molded around the group visiting- both in terms of food preference and activities.

Things to do include bush drives, bush walks (which will include learning the beginning of tracking) sun downer drinks in the bush, as well as time simply relaxing in the lodge.

Being in a game rich part of the park, it is also wonderful to lay back on a lounger and watch the animals move past.

The above video gives you a good introduction to the lodge and the area around it.

Below is a more detailed look at the lodge and the feel of the place.

Fully inclusive pricing starts at

If you are interested and would like to book or enquire about availability fill in the form below.

Silvan Safari Lodge

Silvan Safari Lodge

Patio with a view
Comfortable room, with a view
Full suite
Sitting area onto patio
Swimming pool and seating
Main sitting room

Silvan Safari lodge lies in the northern portion of the Sabi Sands private reserve.

It is the newest luxury lodge, sitting within the Leadwood forests and beside the waters of the Manyeleti River. It also won the leading world lodge in 2019 from world travel awards.

The Sabi Sands is particularly game rich, especially with the big cats. While you will definitely see these on game drives, you may also spot them walking past the lodge.

With just 6 spacious fabulous suites, and a family unit, even when full it is never going to feel crowded, and giving fantastic views out into the bush around it.

With places to eat the incredible food both inside and out, and afterwards plenty of space you can choose how to spend your evenings. 

Also expect incredible food and drinks sun-downers out in the bush on your evening drives

Lying in the northern sabi sands, this is a less densely visited area. While this means that there are fewer people so it will feel more truly wild, it also means there are less other cars to direct to wild animals.

However I would always choose fewer people. If your vehicle is the first down a road in the morning, or for a long time there will be many tracks to spot, as well as on occasions lions stretched out on the ground. As there are few people in the area it is also highly likely that you will often be in the first vehicle on the road each morning on your morning game drive.

The “rooms” are individual suites (6 standard and one family suite) stretched out along the banks of a dry river bed (apart from perhaps after extreme rain, although the water is not visible much of the time, there will be water underground. This means that there will be many large trees around this area- attracting many animals to eat and leopards to rest up in the trees.. 

Below is a video of one of the suites, There are a few videos of silvan safaris including other suites that are available.

From delicious food, and incredible accommodation, to incredible trips out on foot or in the car, and with the ability to tailor your visit to meet your interest. With all of the luxuries available but surrounded by the incredible wildlife of Africa.

Each suite comes with a plunge pool allowing you to soak during the hot periods of the day, as you watch the wilderness wander past.

The pricing starts from for this luxurious destination. 

To ask further questions or to enquire about availability and book, please fill in the form below and we will get back to you.

If you wish to return to the Limpopo transfrontier park click here

Madikwe Game Reserve

Madikwe Game Reserve

Madikwe game reserve is the 5th largest reserve (it covers 68000 hectares) in South Africa, but far less known than most other national parks.

Containing the big 5, as well as cheetah and wild dog there is plenty of wildlife to be seen. With a variety of biomes, including grassland, forest and the rocky Tshwene hills, the reserve plays home to a variety of wild animals. These include the big 5. The reserve also has a population of  wild dog and cheetah, animals often not seen in smaller reserves such as this.

The reserve’s grassland, forest and rocky Tshwene Tshwene hills are home to a variety of wildlife and you can spend hours watching the local wildlife. Hundreds of bird species include ostrich, vultures and the large kori bustard. Animals often gather at the Madikwe Dam to drink at sunset.

It sits just 40km from the Botswana border.

Jamala Madikwe Royal Safari Lodge

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Jamala Madikwe Royal Safari Lodge Is set  in the Madikwe Game Reserve, a reserve covering 290 square miles. This malaria free reserve contains the big 5, as well as a range of other interesting animals waiting to encounter you each time you venture out of the lodge. It was used as a cattle ranch until 1991 before being transformed into the wonderful reserves that is there now. The big 5 are present, as well as some wild dog if you are lucky.

The lodge is well known for its fantastic food, it also has a wonderful location, right beside a watering hole. This means that even when not on a safari drive, there is a constant flow of animals nearby, so it is possible to sit in a chair and watch the as the animals come to you. As this is a private reserve, you can be sure that there will be few few other guests and that you will therefore experience the wilderness away from the crowds.

In terms of the lodge itself, it only has 5 villas each for two people. If you are travelling as a group the lodge can be booked for private use, but this is not necessary to have a fantastic time. The lodge is big enough for groups to spread out and have their own space if they wish.

If you don.t feel like leaving the lodge, you can sit in the shade, in the heat of the day as you watch the animals coming for a drink. Indeed some have said it is among the best “sofa safari ” destination there is.

With fantastic chefs, the food and drink you will eat will be impressive and will make you forget how wild a place you are in.

To see ask a question, there is a form below the video. Below the form is pricing information. Please note that while all efforts will be made to keep these up to date, pricing should be checked on booking. Pricing is in rand, which is currently valued at roughly 20 to a pound (14 to a USA dollar) though this will get out of date quickly.

Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa

Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa

Elephants come to visit
They even drink from the pool
Comfortable Safari vehicle for trips out
Going on walks
Lodge sitting room
Relax overlooking teeming plains

Mhondoro Lodge and villa is set within the Welgenvonden Reserve and is set on a hill looking out across the plains.

There is a watering hole in front of the lodge, and uniquely this is connected to the lodge by an underground tunnel allowing guests to visit the hide in safety, without disturbing the animals they are there to see. This allows incredibly intimate views of wildlife that is completely relaxed

The main lodge has 5 suites, two deluxe rooms for 2, two deluxe suites with 2 bedrooms each, perfect for families or friends travelling together and the separate Villa, which sleeps 6 (the Villa comes with its own staff and can be completely separate from the lodge).

Despite being in such a remote place, you can expect to be pampered during your stay, with fantastic food and drink, incredible wildlife encounters and a comfortable place to sleep. With a fantastic team of chefs and quality food and drink the wildlife is not going ot be the only thing you remember about your stay.

However, while your stay will be luxurious, that is not the reason you come to africa. As you see from the video above, there is significant amounts of wildlife that live on the reserve including the big 5 though there are 60 other mammals to look out for.

One of the advantages of a private reserve like this, is often you stand a greater chance of seeing rarely seen mammals, such as aardvark and aardwolf and brown hyena (an animal almost never seen in the Kruger)

Jock Safari Lodge

Jock Safari Lodge

View of the lodge
Sitting area with a view
Luxurious bed
Impressive sized rooms
Buffalo on a game drive

Jock Safari Lodge lies in the south west of the Kruger national park, on a 6000 hectare exclusive concession.

This part of the park is one of the most game dense within the park. However, coupled with the exclusive rights given to guests of the property, you can experience them without the traffic jams that occur on the roads in the surrounding area.

This leads to a wonderful laid back life. Whether sitting in the lodge or out on a drive or on foot, you never know what is going to happen next.

With incredible views in all directions, the house has been designed with plenty of places to sit comfortably and watch the world go by, when you are not out exploring the park

The price for this place is all inclusive

If you have any questions, or would like to enquire about availability or book fillin the form below.

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