Exercising

Since about one and a half year I go two or three times a week to an exercise class. It is perfectly timed with Niels’ school, I drop him at school and then at half past seven my class starts. This movement class, as it is called, lasts 45 minutes and is varied. The exercises are a mix of pilates, yoga, steps and workout with little weights. It is designed to improve your posture en, develop your muscles and to keep you moving. Our teacher, Vinnie, is not only a good teacher who knows what he is doing, but he has a lot of humour too. Therefore we regularly have, besides exercise,  a good laugh in our class that is mainly composed of women.

Because of illness (first the kids and then I got sick too) and school holiday of Niels it had been over a month

giraffes and zebras

A few days ago we had giraffes drinking at our waterhole.

There was a family of warthogs too.

African folklore

The local people of Africa have many fables and legends about the origin of life and about the animals. On one of our trips the guide told us this story around the campfire;
Why the hippo spreads its dung

In the beginning, when the world was young, the hippo lived in the water but instead of grass he ate fish. With his big mouth he could eat a lot of fish and soon he became bigger and rounder.

One day the Creator said to the hippo, "You are too greedy, you will eat all the fish!” The hippo promised to eat not so much

Two amusing good books about the life of a safari guide

Peter Allison is an Australian who gets stuck in Africa during his travels at the age of 19. He is offered a job on a lodge in one of the private reserves on the western boundary of the Krugerpark in South Africa and wrote two books about his adventures as a safari guide.

He writes with a lot of humour and his books are easy to read and funny. Each chapter is a story of an adventure and can be read separately. In Don’t Run Whatever You Do and Don’t Look Behind You Peter tells

Pirates in the bush

It is still school holiday so I had to keep the kids busy. To practice for Niels' birthday (he wants a pirate party) I painted their faces.

Ten different ways to see animals on safari

When you think about safari the first thing that comes to mind is game viewing from an open vehicle. Besides that there are other possibilities, here ten ways to see game.

1.       Visit the Kruger Park. Go out in your own (rental) car to find game or book a daytrip to Kruger Park with a guide.

2.       Explore nature by foot accompanied by an armed guide during a bush walk. The emphasis lies on the small animals, trees and tracks, since the bigger animals are difficult to approach on foot. In the Kruger Park you can do walking trails of several days.

3.       You can do an elephant back safari. On the back of an elephant you go for a walk in the bush in a Big Five reserve. A unique experience that gives you the opportunity to see the bush from a different perspective and also brings you in close contact with these special

Kobie Kruger, Mahlangeni and All Things Wild and Wonderful

In the eighties Kobie Kruger lives with her husband, who is a ranger, and their three young children in the Kruger Park. She wrote two books about her life in the African bush. With a lot of love for nature and a good dose of humour she describes her life on a remote ranger post. They regularly have adventures with animals and she even raises a lion cub. The books are a must read for anyone who loves stories about Africa and the animals. On Todio you can find an elaborated review of the books.

Since we live here in Balule in our own piece of African bush, I sometimes feel

school holiday

Niels is only in pre-school, but I have already noticed that the South African schools have more holidays than the Dutch ones....
It is now winter heer, but Niels has a whole month holiday! Since it is quite busy on the lodge as well it provides some chalenges to keep the kids busy.

The elusive leopard

The leopard is one of the “Big Five”.  Since leopards are solitary and shy animals that are most active at night, it can be difficult to find this elusive animal. The best chance is early in the morning or late in the afternoon, unless you are lucky enough to find a leopard in a tree, where he is taking his afternoon nap. Leopards live solitary and are excellent hunters. They stalk their prey till a distance of 5 to 10 metres before they jump at it. They like to live in rocky areas and close to densely vegetated riverbeds where they can hide. Leopards can climb well and often

new update wounded cheetah

The gamewarden reported that the wounded cheetah was seen again. Her leg seems to heal well and she looked alright. Apperently she manages to get some food.
We are glad she is recovering on her own.

Ten things to do in and around Hoedspruit

This area in South Africa is known for the Kruger Park and the bordering private reserves. But other then safari, there is much more to see and do in and around Hoedspruit. Here ten things that you can go see or do.

1.   Visit the Moholoholo rehabilitation centre for animals. Here they take care of wounded and orphaned animals and they try to rehabilitate them.

2.   Make a boat trip on the Blyde dam. The dam is located in a beautiful nature area and you can see hippos, crocodiles and water birds amongst others. You get another view on the canyon and there is a rare tufa-waterfall.

3.   Visit the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC), also knows as the Cheetah Project. They breed here with the endangered cheetahs and the centre has other endangered species like wild dogs and ground-hornbills.

4.   See the Blyde Canyon with all its beautiful waterfalls

Lions, the king of beasts

For many people, seeing a lion is the highlight of their safari. Especially the male, with its impressive manes, looks majestic. Although you always need a little luck to see the big cats, the lions are seen regularly here in Balule on the game drive. On our lodge we regularly hear them roar. When they are very close Corné takes the guests in our Landrover to look for them. At several occasions we found them and had them right next to the car, like you can see on this movie. From the lodge we have

Saying goodbye…

Saturday morning we said goodbye to our beloved dog Dusty.
Dusty was a Scottish Collie and more than thirteen years with us.

When we came to Africa seven years ago, he came with us and although he was almost blind, he adapted well to his new life here on the lodge. With an age of over thirteen years old he was very old and the last year he slept most of the day. But he was still healthy and didn’t have any pain. He regularly came to me for a cuddle and ate all the crumbs that our children dropped. Saturday morning he quietly died.

Elephants, gentle giants

Elephants are one of the ”Big Five” and are beautiful creatures. The females and young live in herds, while the males wander around alone or in small groups. The giant animals can move through the bush without making a sound. It regularly happens that suddenly an elephant appears at our waterhole. Only when he starts eating or drinking, you hear him and all of a sudden see him standing there. At the lodge we had some adventures