We flew from Cape Town to Hoedspruit and stayed at the Viva Safari’s Tremisana Safari Lodge in the Balule Game Reserve which was just north of the town of Hoedspruit. Tremisana Game Lodge was a founder member of the Balule Game Reserve and is the largest and leading lodge in this section, having a total of 12 chalets plus a two-bedroomed guesthouse. Our room was a simple cottage in the beautiful grounds of the safari lodge which had a communal dining area and a small swimming pool.
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Soon after our arrival we headed out for the late afternoon safari drive in the private game reserve and during this short drive we saw elephants, kudu, impala and a hippopotamus lounging in one of the water holes.
Later in the evening we took a night drive out into the bush with our guide Elias (aka Smiley) followed by a barbecue dinner in the bush. During the drive we spotted elephants and then some lions walking along the dirt road. At the barbecue site as we ate our dinner we had a visit from some hyenas who were no doubt looking for some left over food.
Early the next morning we headed out for an early morning drive followed by a bush walk with Marc, The Assistant General Manager of Tremisana.. On the drive to the start of the bush walk a small elephant made a charge at our Landcruiser giving us our first real animal encounter.
We parked the Landcruiser and then headed out on foot on our bush walk led by our armed guide Marc and his assistant guide/tracker Andy.
During the walk Marc pointed out animal tracks and animal droppings ….. then pointing out some impala droppings on the ground he had us participate in a competition to see who could blow the impala droppings the furthest after putting the small spherical pellet in our mouth.
We continued the bush walk heading down towards the river.
Down at the river we saw numerous hippopotamus lounging around in the water curiously looking at us as we walked along the river bank. We also spotted a crocodile sunning itself on a sandy bar in the river.
Here we took a short break by the river for some drinks and snacks while enjoying the peaceful sounds of the river.
We then headed back along the river again and continued our walk through the bush. Coming across a large termite mound our guide showed us how to catch the termites using a long blade of grass and we sampled eating these as they are an excellent source of protein.
After returning to the game lodge and taking our breakfast we rested for a few hours and then went out again on an afternoon/early evening drive seeng the routine and numerous impalas, elephants, giraffe, a large rhinoceros, roller bird and the beautiful hornbill bird. As the sun set we stopped for some welcome sundowner drinks and snacks.
On our very last day at Tremisana we headed out on the early morning drive trying to see the elusive leopard which was the last of the Big 5 we had not seen. A leopard had been spotted with a kill up a tree the evening before so we headed out to that spot in the darkness before dawn to see if it was still there. It had left the tree and our guide thought that the leopard may have headed to a water hole to drink after feeding on its kill. So we drove to a few of the water holes and only at the very last water hole did we then spot the leopard down by the water drinking. It was so well camouflaged it was difficult to spot at first but we drove closer and got a great view of this magnificent animal taking its morning drink. After drinking it walked right up and very close to our land rover giving us an incredible view of the leopard at close quarters.
We left that day to head to Johannesburg by mini van and just after leaving Tremisana Safari Lodge and a few hundred metres up the road to Hoedspruit we noticed a stopped vehicle with many people out taking photos. We also stopped and was amazed to see a cheetah walking down the inside of the fenced area next to the road. A fitting end to our safari visit.
Passionate Photographer …. Lost in Asia
Stuart Taylor of HighlanderImages Photography has been making images for over 40 years focusing on Asia with a documentary/photojournalistic style.
Stuart is available for a variety of assignments in subject areas of photojournalism, commercial, architectural, real estate, industrial, interior design, corporate, urbex, adventure, wilderness, and travel.
E-Mail : staylor@highlanderimages.com