Jay & Nicole's Adventures - Nottens Bush Camp - June 2004 
(click any picture to get enlargement)



This trip was the last opportunity we had to go to a Game Reserve before leaving South Africa.  

A friend at the local travel agency recommended a camp called Nottens, which was accessible via paved roads ... which was important since we had to take the Mini Cooper.


Approaching you can definitely  tell this place is in the bush


We stayed in a spacious private chalet with a nice garden. 



No electricity ... so there were many candles & lanterns.


Our deck was new, very big and private.


We had a nice undisturbed view of a grassy area & waterhole. 



The lodge has a series of nicely kept sand paths. 


The main meeting & eating area also had good game viewing.


We were able to relax at the pool, but it was too cool to swim. 



The terrain of the area was very flat with scattered trees.


You could see the Blyde Canyon hills in the distance.


Our Ranger, Joe, was able to answer any question asked.



On our first drive we got to see...


... the elusive leopard.


What a profile!



He sat up nicely for us ... 


... and gave us a bored look. 


Then he settled back down.



The giraffe are normally curious, but these just walked away. 


The impala also didn't seem to want their picture taken. 


This Blue Heron stayed around, but the lighting was not good.  



The tracker then saw some movement in the grass...  


... a pride of lions were taking their afternoon nap. 


This young male was cute and the only one who cared about us. 



At sunset you could see mtns ... 


... and the sky went to purple ... 


... and then to a brilliant orange. 



The next morning a Kudu ... 


... herd greeted us. 


Beautiful and nice horns! 



A leopard then came strolling ... 


... down the road ... wow! 


Then a little one joined her. 



He wanted to play but his Mom ignored him and kept on walking; we were surprised she didn't seem worried about us.


 The baby was very cute!


This was a very special sighting ... a mother and child during the day time ... thanks Nottens!



As we traveled we could hear a low rumbling noise. 


We came upon a herd of about 200 buffalo. 


They were noisily grazing as the moved along.



We stopped the vehicle and they passed right by us. 


This guy had the biggest horns and wasn't too happy with us. 


This one came the closest, but only to get some green grass. 



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There were quite a few calves, but they stayed with mom. 

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This one was a little bigger and curious, but still not brave. 



Tick birds helped keep the skin of the Buffalo free from ticks.


This Buffalo must really have had a tick problem .... 


... or was just a convinient place for the birds to meet. 



As we headed back towards the lodge we ran into the lion pride again. 


They all were quite a bit more alert; maybe because they were getting hungry. 


Mom seemed quite cozy with this youngster. 



At the end of the trip we were greeted by the warthogs. 


We enjoyed our last visit to a game reserve during this tour. 


We hope that someday we can return to find more animals... 



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