The new faces at Sunway Safaris

We have a couple of new faces here at Sunway Safaris. This week we introduce you to Robert Swanepoel and Jayne Harley. Robert (Rob as he likes to be known as) is joining us as an HR Manager and Jayne has joined the ever growing marketing department at Sunway Safaris.

Here is a small introduction to both Robert and Jayne.

In rob’s words, “I was born in Zimbabwe, but grew up in Zululand. It was my parents who first got me interested in conservation, wildlife and the big outdoors. During my school years I was involved in our schools wildlife society. After school I decided to study Business Management but ended up working in Hospitality in various positions, one of these was a Soux Chef at a lodge in Zululand this was where I realized that been a guide was far more interesting than being in the kitchen. I left the kitchen to pursue a career in guiding and worked for my father who owned a small tour operator business. From there I got a job for a large safari operator in Johannesburg where I guided for 8 years and was eventually promoted to lodge manager at 2 separate lodges for about 2 years.
I then decided to leave the safari business and try my hand at corporate life after all I had studied business, after a couple of years I realized that this was not where my heart was and took the leap and resigned from the corporate world. In January 2014 I joined Sunway Safaris as HR Manager for the guides.
When not working I can be found mountain biking, fishing on the coast or following my other love of photography.”

This is what Jayne has to say

“ I am an adventure traveler at heart, love meeting new people, inherent nature lover, have an insatiable appetite for knowledge and the African bush is my soul food. My travelling adventure started as a child and was the driving force behind me becoming a tour guide, guiding through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. I could not wait to get to know these countries more intimately and loved being able to share my passion and make the clients fall as deeply in love with Southern Africa as I am.  After guiding I did a brief stint in London, I then came back to Johannesburg and entered the world of exhibitions.  But, the travel industry has a certain allure and was calling me back! So I have followed my passion and returned home to the travel industry, only rather than on the road, through marketing. I spend my time with family and friends (home is where the heart is), planning my next travel adventure (close to home or abroad) and being as active as possible in a very busy Johannesburg. I am thrilled to be part of the Sunway Safari team!”

Young leopard in Etosha National Park

Kulani and Nicole have recently returned from a Namibia Botswana Desert and Delta Camping Tour. After many fantastic sightings they had one which stuck in their minds.

We let Kulani tell us about their tour:

“Etosha National Park is situated in the Kunene region of North Western Namibia. Etosha received its name from the Etosha Pan which is almost entirely in the park. The saltpans are the most noticeable geological feature in the park. These pans are normally dry but fill with water in the summer months attracting pelicans and flamingos in particular and of course the plentiful wildlife that Etosha is so well known for.

One of our many game drives we came across a young leopard in the branches of a Mopane Tree busy with a baby zebra that had recently been killed, Leopards stalk their prey silently then pounce on it at the last minute, and strangling its throat with a quick bite. The young leopard whom was probably close to a year old seemed unsure of the situation he found himself in. He was slowly moving the carcass up and down the branch of the tree most probably trying to protect his kill from the lion that were resting at a nearby waterhole.

Leopards are elusive and solitary animals. They are known for their climbing ability and are often seen resting on tree branches during the day. In search of safety leopards will often stash their recent kills high up in a tree, this is because leopards compete for food with other larger predators such as lions, spotted hyenas and wild dog. As there were lion nearby the leopard found himself in a potentially dangerous situation as lion will kill leopard for their kill as these two cats are competing predators.”

Sunway Safaris Gives to the SOS Children’s Village

For many years Sunway Safaris have supported the underprivileged children from the SOS Children Village in Ennerdale based in the south of Johannesburg.

We take groups of children to the Pilanesberg Game Reserve on weekend camping trips. For most of the children these camping weekends are the first time that they have ever left the city, and the very first time that they have ever seen wild animals in their natural environment. The wildlife in South Africa is a national heritage that we believe all South Africans from all walks of life should be afforded the opportunity to see. The sheer joy on the children’s faces when they see their first elephant is something very special.

To read more about our last Pilanesberg weekend, click here to view the blog, and the here to read the letter sent to us from one of the children who joined us for the weekend.

Apart from the game viewing, we also educate the children on work opportunities in the hotel, tourism and wildlife conservation industries. We arrange for guest speakers to come and talk to the children and of course our tour leaders teach them about the magic of taking tourists throughout Southern Africa and the reward of showing people from overseas this amazing part of the world.

In our continued effort to support the SOS Children’s village, last week Bruce, Shaun and I visited the village to deliver much needed non-perishable basic food items. With over 160 mouths to feed, the village is always hard pressed to provide nutritious and healthy food to the children.  Any donations no matter how big or small are much needed and appreciated.

When I contacted the village to find out what they needed most, they asked for vitamin enriched baby powdered milk for the really small kids and tinned meats for the older kids in order for them to get much needed protein.  Apart from this we also donated sugar, milk, tea, cooking oil, rice and Maize Meal (a firm favourite of the kids and also our guests on safari).

The actually handing over of the food was a very low key affair as it went straight into the kitchen and some of it was probably on the dinner tables that night.

What was really interesting for me was the amazing work and support to the surrounding community that the SOS village provides. The village takes children from broken homes and places them in a family unit with a “Gogo” (Zulu for grandmother) who then raises these children as her own. Each Gogo looks after 10 children, and in all cases brothers and sisters from broken homes are kept in the same family unit in order to keep the family structure as normal as possible.

Many of the kids come from either single parent families where the parents cannot look after them or from families where the parents have died from HIV / Aids and their extended families cannot support them.

Once the kids have grown into young adults, they are moved across the road to another section of the village where they are taught much needed life skills. These includes work skills development so that they are equipped to enter the work force with some form of skill.   Coupled with this, the kids are given monthly pocket money and they are taught how to budget. Even though the children are taken out of their family home they are only a short walk away from their Gogo’s so that that family structure is still maintained.

The village does rely heavily on public and corporate donations but the village does try to provide for itself. They have a large veggie garden which has recently been planted with summer veggies and there are plans in place to enlarge the garden to include fruit trees.

I felt very privileged & humbled to be taken around the village by Jannine Van Wyk who is in charge of the SOS Village Fund Development and Communications.  We were introduced to all of the kids, shown into classrooms, family homes, kitchens and the homes for the retired Gogo’s.

Of course the highlight of the day was the interaction with the kids. Even though their living conditions are not easy, the joy and excitement that they have when they meet you is a delight and it is hard to bring yourself to leave. When I did leave I left with a heavy heart knowing that our contribution, while greatly appreciated, would only help in a small way in overcoming the daily challengers that village faces on a daily basis.

If you would like to help the village, please feel free to contact Jannine directly on janinevanwyk@sos.org.za. Please tell them I sent you 🙂

Richard White

Marketing Manager

Sunway Safaris

LESSER SPOTTED FLAMINGO

On our last “Namibia & Botswana Southern Circle” accommodated tour we were on our way from Swakopmund to the Namib Desert where we do a short stop in Walvis Bay, which is situated 30km south of Swakopmund.

Walvis Bay has a very famous lagoon, which is considered as one of the richest and most important coastal wetlands of Southern Africa with innumerable sea birds, pelicans and flamingos. In the summer season it provides a feeding ground for up to 250.000 birds of 50 species including flamingos, the chestnut-banded plover, Damara terns, pelicans, cormorants and sea gulls.

The Lagoon is also one of the best flamingo viewing localities in the world. During a few months of the year the Greater and Lesser Flamingo move from their breeding spots in Ethosha and the Sua Pan (Botswana) to the lagoon in Walvis Bay. Sometimes you can find up to 40.000 Flamingos here.

But as mentioned it is very rare to find these Flamingos as they are only there at a certain time of the year. So it was a big surprise for us, when we arrived and saw the Flamingos being there. We took a walk along the beach and found more and more of these beautiful pink birds. It was very interesting! We observed them while fishing, feeding and flying and of course took lots of pictures of these numerous stunning birds. What a great moment!

Larissa

Larissa Walter

WALKING SOUTH AFRICA SAFARI

We were guiding the Walking South Africa Tour and one of the highlights would be visiting Hluhluwe / Umfolozi National Park. Hluhluwe is much smaller than The Kruger National Park but also includes the Big Five and the topography and vegetation of the area make it an exciting place to visit in South Africa.

On our game drive in Hluhluwe (pronounced shlashloowee) we came across plenty White Rhino. The first sighting we cautiously followed the rhino as they were nervous and kept hiding behind the thick vegetation.

The second Rhino sighting was at a large mud bath in the afternoon. The Rhino were much more relaxed. Four Rhino lay resting and cooling in the mud on the far side and another two stood up out of the mud bank and walked around grazing. It was such a pleasure to see these large beasts just doing what they normally do on a daily basis without disturbing them and we could snap away at ease.

Bath time

This mud is so great for my skin….. health spa natures way

White Rhino differ from black rhino in their the feeding habits and therefore their habitats differ to. There is no difference in colour but rather the shape of the lip. The White Rhino is wide lipped ( “wyd” lipped, a Dutch word for “wide” misinterpreted as “white” ) and there after the black Rhino was named. White Rhino are grazers and therefore need grassland. Black Rhino are browsers and prefer thicker bush. Hluhluwe / Umfolozi is the oldest game reserve in South Africa, originally the royal hunting grounds reserved for the Zulu kings, namely King Shaka. It was set aside in the early 1900’s specifically for Rhino conservation.

SUNSET NATA STYLE

On day 18 of the Cape to Vic Falls Grand Explorer accommodated tour we visit Nata. We do sunset drinks on the Makgadikgadi Pans.

Hearing from the Lodge staff that the Pans are filled with water, we were all anxious to see the Pans. Even for us tour guides, as it is very seldom that the Pans fill with water.

On arrival we were welcomed by flamingos and pelicans before we even reached the parking.

Our view on arrival

The view was amazing, I would have never thought of seeing the Pans in such a state. They were filled till the sides, not very deep but by an area of 5.000 square km a large amount of water. It is one of the largest salt flats in the world. The pan is all that remains of the formerly enormous Lake Makgadikgadi, which once covered an area larger than Switzerland, but dried up several thousand years ago.

A little dip

Kalahari Ferrari’s in the sunset

The moon and sun meeting

The pans fill up after heavy rainfalls, as the naturally flowing rivers of the Nata river are dammed and don’t reach the pans any longer.

SUNSET SESRIEM STYLE

It was late afternoon, then sun setting to the west as we descended the 30m into the Canyon floor.

As we walk down the walls on either side tell a story of a bygone era. It is a natural canyon whose sedimentary rock has been craved away by the Tsauchab River.

The rock has different layers of larger and smaller rocks. The larger rock suggests a period in time where the waterflow was stronger and the smaller rocks suggests a period of a weaker flow.

The canyon itself is a little over a kilometre long 30 metres deep and at some places only 2m wide. A portion of the canyon has permanent water pools. These pools are home to catfish official name Clarias garlepinus, which can survive in these small pools for months until the new rains arrive. These pools are also a very important water source for the Oryx, Springbok and Chacma Baboons to name a few.

The name Sesriem is an Afrikaans word meaning ‘six belts’ which the early settlers of the area gave. They had to attach six belts of Oryx hide in order to reach the water in the Canyon with a bucket.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset at the Canyon and watched the sun disappear into the Namib Desert.

Adriaan Smit

BATHING IN MUD

We were guiding the Walking South Africa Tour and one of the highlights would be visiting Hluhluwe / Umfolozi National Park. Hluhluwe is much smaller than The Kruger National Park but also includes the Big Five and the topography and vegetation of the area make it an exciting place to visit in South Africa.

On our game drive in Hluhluwe (pronounced shlashloowee) we came across plenty White Rhino. The first sighting of Rhino, we cautiously followed as they were were nervous and kept hiding behind the thick vegetation.

The second Rhino sighting was at a large mud bath in the afternoon. The Rhino were much more relaxed. Four Rhino lay resting and cooling in the mud on the far side and another two stood up out of the mud bank and walked around grazing. It was such a pleasure to see these large beasts just doing what they normally do on a daily basis without disturbing them and we could snap away at ease.

White Rhino differ from Black Rhino in their the feeding habits and therefore their habitats differ to. There is no difference in colour but rather the shape of the lip. The White Rhino is wide lipped ( “wyd” lipped, a Dutch word for “wide” misinterpreted as “white” ) and there after  the black Rhino was named. White Rhino are grazers and therefore need grassland. Black Rhino are browsers and prefer thicker bush. Hluhluwe / Umfolozi is the oldest game reserve in South Africa, originally the royal hunting grounds reserved for the Zulu kings, namely King Shaka.

It was set aside in the early 1900’s specifically for Rhino conservation.
In 1929 there were 150 White Rhino in the reserve, there are now over 2000 thanks to strict conservation practice. We hope this will continue as Rhino’s are increasingly threatened by international poaching syndicates.

Seal Colony at Cape Cross

Cape cross is home to about 80 000 to 110 000 Cape Fur Seals. Cape Cross is one of 26 seal colonies along the Southern African West coast. At a certain time of the year there can be up to 200 000 seals at Cape Cross. This is one of their breeding sites where they come to breed each year.

The stench of the guano and dead seal pups at this site hits you in the face as soon as we opened the truck doors. There is nothing you can do to make the smell any less. It was quite funny to see everyone’s expressions and reactions as they got of the vehicle and it made for a few good laughs.

Mom where are you??

We were there at the end of the birthing season so there were thousands of pups around. We saw some jackals in the distance scavenging on some dead pups.

The bulls were very loud and fighting with other bulls over females and territory. About seven days after birthing the new breeding season starts and there was lots of interaction and activity among the territorial males.

I am the boss