Guide Pangannai Moyo reflects on an exciting early morning game drive in Kruger on the Zimbabwe Botswana Game Tracker tour..

Click on the links for the animals sounds to make you feel like you were there, in the moment)

“For me, one of the most exciting seasons to be in the African bush is when everything is lush and green, either during or after the rainy the season.

I was really looking forward to this Zimbabwe Botswana tour as you get to spend so much time in the bush, game viewing. You’re not rushing because you only have limited chances of seeing game, you can stop, listen and wait and this is when you end up seeing the best sightings.
On our second day of the tour we took off at dawn after a quick breakfast and drove along the famous Letaba River in the northern part of Kruger. We always leave as early as possibly because dawn and dusk are really your best game viewing times and as you will read, we were not disappointed.

We drove looking at tracks and listening to the early morning sounds of the bush. The Francolins and Guineafowl were calling and running through the green grass – their calls are some of my favourite. Everyone was wide awake and keenly scanning the bush, everyone (including me) wanted to be the first person to spot something!

Before we could spot anything, we heard a hyena call, “whoooop” as we came around the corner we were rewarded with an awesome sighting of a pack of well fed vocal hyenas heading to the den before sunrise. We sat and watched them until it was time and to move and when we started up again, it wasn’t long until there were heard a group of Francolin and Guineafowl alarm calling. We stopped, wondering what the commotion was all about. There were also few impalas who suddenly took notice of the noise and it wasn’t 2 minutes and a stunning leopard emerged from the long grass, only meters away from the impala.

Kelwan Kaiser is a new guide at Sunway Safaris and has just completed his first tour, the Botswana Wildside camping tour. He tells us all about the Chobe River cruise the group did.

“On a typically hot, but glorious Botswana afternoon we boarded a small private cruise boat and headed south down the Chobe River. This was my first time on the Chobe River. I had heard so much about the game viewing from the boats and couldn’t wait to see what was in store for the group (and me). The banks of the river were littered with herds of Impala, Egyptian geese, egrets and a small herd of elephants, gently flapping their ears enjoying the shade from a cluster of trees, waiting for the afternoon to cool down.

We heard two Pied Kingfishers noisily alarm calling (typically noisy birds) and when we looked closer we realized there was a flock of White-fronted Bee-eaters flying towards them. We think they were alarm calling because they felt threatened by the Bee-eaters - possibly they thought their nests might be hijacked. While this is not 100% certain, both birds are hole nesters and nature is unpredictable and often opportunistic. We couldn't see any other threat to the Pied Kingfishers, so this was our most logical explanation. Once the Pied Kingfishers had settled down we heard another sound and saw a juvenile nile crocodile snapping its empty jaws closed while sunning himself on the bank of the river.

As we continued our journey down the river we noticed a young elephant bull knee deep in the water mock charging another boat. We could see he wasn’t really serious and so our skipper slowly headed off in the direction of this young elephant bull to see what he was up to. By the time we got to him he was relaxed and starting to submerge further into the water. He had a wonderful bath in the river, cooling off, pulling reeds and grasses out and feeding on them. The bull seemed oblivious to the fact we are even there as he happily went about his afternoon swim. Elephants love the water and you can regularly see them swimming, bathing and playing in the water. This was a definitely highlight for me. I think most of us are fascinated by these beautiful and intelligent animals. Their feeding normally takes place in the morning, afternoon and evenings and they can consume up to 40L of water per day!

We had such a wonderful afternoon on the river and ended our cruise with an amazing sunset. The afternoon was full of great birding and game viewing and I can’t wait to go back with another group and share the magical experience with them.”

During the tours “Cape Town to Victoria Falls Explorer” and “Namibia Botswana Desert and Delta,” Sunway Safaris takes you to the breath-taking and magical place known as Spitzkoppe. Translated as pointed dome in German it is situated about 200km north of Swakopmund in western Namibia. These enormous and foreboding red granite outcrops are over 700 million years old and reach a height of about 750 meters above the desert floor.

The settings of the campsites are simply unparalleled as you pitch your tent so it is nestled at the foot of these enormous red domes that dominate the sky.

Zimbabwe is a country steeped in history and wildlife and we have two tours that visit this amazing country. The Zimbabwe Botswana Game Tracker is an accommodated tour and the Zimbabwe Game Trail a camping tour, both tours explore the amazing culture and natural beauty of these countries.

Gerrit has recently returned from a Zimbabwe Botswana Game Tracker tour and here is his account of Great Zimbabwe, a ruined city in the South Eastern hills of Zimbabwe. “A highlight on the tour is our visit to the Great Zimbabwe ruins, located near Lake Mutirikwe and the town of Masvingo which was known as the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe during the countries late iron age.

Construction of the monument started in the 11th century and continued for over 300 years spanning an area of over 700 hectares. The property is divided into 3 groups the Hill Ruins, Great Enclosure and Valley Ruins. The Hill Ruins is considered to be the ‘Royal City’ where the chief and his warriors lived, this complex was built in a defensive view with narrow corridors which could be defended by one warrior and easily defendable rooms. Six steatite upright posts topped with birds have been found these were considered to serve as a ritual purpose. The Great Enclosure comprise of huts built within stone enclosure walls, which marked off each families area. The Valley Ruins a series of living ensembles scattered throughout the valley dating back to the 19th century. With each ensemble having similar characteristics, many of these constructions are built in brick and drystone walls.