spassvogel

Uih - just "around the corner" from where I live

Happy travels!

SV

gigib

Another thanks for all this detail! I'll certainly refer to it for our next trip. Our maiden voyage to Africa was last September, with 2 nights as a treat at Djuma and 9 nights in Kruger, including a wilderness trail. We completely fell in love with everything and cannot wait to go back, I have no other Kruger comments to add. I am interested in the trip to Mozambique -- the lodge there looks pricey, but it seems like they all are. What is the airfare like, are you flying into and out of JNB or one of the Kruger airports?

Has anyone looked at wildearth.tv? This is a live video with one program based at Djuma. The camera crew takes you on several "game drives" a day. The fun part lately has been following the lives of three leopards, mom Karula and her sons Induna and Mixo, who are about 14 months old. We saw these guys live at Djuma, so it feels like they are "our" leopards. Poor Induna just had the tip of his lovely tail bitten off, presumably by a hyena!

Lillipets

gigib
I know many of us here are avid wildearth tv watchers. Are you familiar with another web cam in Botswana at a place called Petes Pond? Google Pete's Pond and you'll find it.
There is also Africam.com which is another camera at a lodge in Sabi Sands called Nkhoro. You probably drove by it when you were in Djuma and didn't know it!
Happy viewing! I know they provide a much needed "fix" for me!

christabir

Pete's pond has been so active lately. It's been fun. Can't wait to get back to Mashatu.

pixelpower

Gigib,

If I find the time I'll list all stuff that I know about Mozambique as well.

Ciao,

J.

Treepol

Pixelpower,

its a tough call to list a few favourites. I have 75 wildlife titles in my library, most of which are Africa-related. Favourites, based on those titles I can recall without going to the shelves:

Bennun, David - Tick bite fever
Fuller, Alexandra - Don't lets go to the dogs tonight
Henderson, Sally - Ivory moon
Ridgeway, Rick - The Shadow of Kilimanjaro
Clark, June Vendall - Starlings laughing
Owens, Delia and Mark - Cry of the Kalahari
Drayson, Nicholas - A Guide to the birds of East Africa
Huxley, Elspeth - The Flame trees of Thika
Jonathan Scott's works

Cheers,

Pol

pixelpower

Thanks for the list Treepol! I'll send you mine in return.

Seems we share some favourites (Shadow of Kili, Cry of the Kalahari, and indeed the Scott's...)

Here are some of mine:

The Trouble With Africa - Vic Guhrs
Whatever You Do, Don't Run - Peter Allison
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun - Peter Godwin
In Bushveld and Desert - Christiaan Bakkes
Wildlife Wars - Richard Leakey

Ciao,

J.

kimburu

This is a great thread. Thanks to pixelpower and everyone else who contributed.

hipvirgochick

Tagging on this thread for future reference. Thanks!

tockoloshe

Thanks J for this research, I'm sure I'll use your list as a reference point in future ('affordable' being my middle name!).
And also thanks for booklist, I've been working my way through the list which came up on the forum a few months ago (also thanks to Pol for that) but I can't get my hands on three of your top 5 -'The Trouble With Africa' is no-where to be found, and this year I tried all the bookshops in Windhoek and JNB airport for the Christiaan Bakkes book with no luck, (I say 'all' but there aren't so many!) but I've just tracked down a second-hand copy of Wildlife Wars which I hope to get into soon!
Thanks again for sharing all your knowledge!

cary999

T - have you tried Amazon, I buy a lot from them, easy, quick, reliable
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?ur...rica&x=17&y=24

regards - tom

pixelpower

Or Kalahari.net; very good for "our" favorite books as well! ;-)

@All; very nice to see that my info is appreciated. I hope more people start doing the same for other regions (personally, I'd like to know more about affordable safari itineraries in Namibia and Zambia).

Ciao,

J.

tockoloshe

Thanks Tom, Amazon is always my first stop, but Amazon UK wants about 80USD for 'The trouble with Africa' for some reason, and I've used Kalahari.net, thanks J, although postage tends to cost more than the book - anyhow I'll keep these on my list!
I'd like to help with Namibia after all the advice you've given me, but we've always done self-drive and I know you're not keen. You mentioned walking safaris, I've heard good things about Mundulea Nature Reserve in Namibia but haven't been myself (yet!)- anyone else got personal experience? This page from a tour operator's website gives some ideas for walking safaris in Namibia:
http://www.expertafrica.com/special_...ng_safaris.htm
- maybe for your next year's trip! But sorry, maybe I digress too much, you're talking about Kruger 2010 here!

MyDogKyle

Wow, what a great thread. Thank you so much for sharing this information!

christabir

pp-

Thanks for all the info. I wanted to bring the thread back to the top so more readers see it. Next trip I'm sure will be another $ saver, so this is excellent info. Some deals exist all the time, so if there are more posh camps anyone would like to go to, they should ask a TA, post here, or check mtbeds.co.za in case there's anything available for non SA citizens.
e-gnu.com also has a very comprehensive list (not as good as yours) with prices - I just don't know how accurate it is.

The only problem with the list is there is no way to evaluate guides and the safari experience. I know there's no way to do it, but if someone can help that would be great. We also need some recent feedback of the private reserves other than Sabi Sand to see if as the game reserves are aging (in a good way) if there is more wildlife as time goes on.

I use netbooks.co.za for African books. So many titles we can't get here, especially some of the local wildlife titles. DVD's don't work on US players. The shipping can be expensive, but since it's in ZAR it is still much less than you would expect. I adore the Alexander McCall Smith books. It's just great fluff. I also want to read Invictus and Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. (he's my hero)

I loved Arathusa. I also thought it might be a better value than EP's higher end accommodations because their traversing rights are larger.

So I am trying to get this posting all organized for my personal use so all of the responses that have useful info in them are included. It's a great list and great feedback!! Then I can add other countries/areas as time goes on. Thanks again.

cary999

Agree with you christabir.
We need someone to become a roaming safari camp reporter for us. To spend say 3 months a year visiting South Africa safari camps and updating the camp info like you say. I volunteer our very own -atravelynn- for this!!!! So step up Lynn, take a curtsy and off you go!!!

The reason other countries DVDs don't work on USA players is the "region code"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code
Why region codes? More money for studios - so they think.
BTW, whether DVD is NTSC or PAL TV format makes no difference on the DVD players I've used.

Many DVD players can be hacked to become region free. Hacking usually involves using the DVD remote to enter a string of digits. Here's a web site that provides code entries for many DVD players. There are other similar web sites.
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

regards - tom
ps - if you have a DVD that is the wrong region for you, I can/will make a copy for you that is region free. email me.

PennyinSA

Trophy hunting! Are these substantiated claims that trophie hunting is taking place on these reserves?

pixelpower

Hi Penny,

For Sabi Sands and Manyeleti I am sure hunting is forbidden.

For other game reserves around Kruger it is often not so clear.

I found at least one hunting business in Timbavati after 2 mins on Google. Idem with Klaserie.

But you should not dismiss these reserves because of that. By doing so, you are achieving the exact opposite of what we all want. We'd put safari-operators out of business, and more would be compelled to start a hunting business.

Things are going the right way; eco-tourism is on the way up. Like Klaserie GR for example; there's at least a big part of it where some lodges have formed some sort of reserve-in-reserve and where it is again strictly forbidden to hunt: the focus is 100% on eco tourism. We all need to support this trend!

Ciao,

J.

christabir

Tom-

Yeah! Let's send atravelynn. I'll tag along if she wants the company. If I win megamillions tonight I'll even foot the bill.

Thanks for the info on DVD's. I just thought they were in a different format. I didn't buy any for that reason.

Penny-

Unfortunately I don't think there is anywhere that animals live that is 100% trophy hunting free. For some reason that I don't understand, we like to shoot things. Just do the best you can to find locations that reflect your values. Remember no game reserves would exist without hunting - it's how they all got their start.

boudecca

Safari Club International is an organization of trophy hunters. Their January 2010 convention in Reno had a large number of exhibitors vying for this business. For those of you who wish to do more research on this topic, go to SCI Convention web site.

http://www.showsci.com/content/index...ontent_id=1703

boudecca