Our Sabie Park House

This charming thatched bungalow, is situated on the banks of the Sabie River, in a private nature reserve, overlooking Kruger National Park. It is a delight, for anyone who loves nature and the great outdoors.

Our little house, seen from inside

 the Kruger National Park.

Photo courtesy of Dave Clark.

The very scenic Sabie River borders our property.

View from the house (in summer),

 looking into Kruger National Park.

Carol, birding in the garden in winter.

Hogwarts is an anagram of Warthog,

here seen just outside our bedroom!

Looking along the verandah in winter.

The rear of the house, facing woodland.

The bungalow is very comfortable, sleeping up to eight people, in four bedrooms. Two bedrooms have a double bed and both are en-suite. The other two bedrooms have two single divan beds in each bedroom. These two bedrooms share a toilet and bathroom.

Master bedroom.

 

The front of the house in summer.

The front of the house (in winter),

which overlooks the Sabie River.

The living room

The living room is large, and a particularly attractive feature, is the raised thatched roof. This living area opens on to a verandah, which is shaded, and overlooks the river and Kruger National Park. It is a great place for entertaining/eating or just watching the animals come down to drink in the late mornings and afternoons. Many of our guests find they spend the majority of their time, just in this one spot!

The best view in the house!

 

The kitchen

The kitchen has a gas cooker, (with oven), a small chest freezer and a separate fridge with a small freezer compartment. All are run on gas. There is a very attractive split stable door, which leads to the side of the house and the lapa. The lighting throughout the house is solar powered and extra lanterns are provided if needed. This makes for a very relaxing, romantic, safari style atmosphere and is definitely a bonus feature.

This beautiful private game reserve is totally secure and guests may drive slowly, or walk freely, along all the roads and paths throughout the reserve. A wide variety of non-dangerous game can be seen in a mornings stroll. These include: Blue Wildebeest, Zebra, Giraffe, Impala and many more. Over 300 species of birds have been recorded. A separate bird and mammal list is available on request.

Our driveway to the house.

One of our frequent guests!

The verandah, is a superb place to BBQ (brai), entertain friends and watch the wildlife. From this vantage point, herds of Elephant (and some magnificant lone bulls), Buffalo and Hippopotamus are seen daily, as well as a great variety of the commoner game species.

View from the picnic site, looking into KNP.

The fantastic animal & bird hide

 overlooking the Sabie River.

The hide gives great, elevated views of the entire area.

Viewing from one of the hides at the picnic site.



A mature bull Elephant.

A young male African Elephant

Another young bull, seen from the picnic site.

Hippos are common along the river.

A pack of Wild Dogs seen on the road
 opposite the house.

Male Lion.

It's not all action in the bush!

One of the many females in the pride.

Up to seventeen animals are in this large pride.
They seem to be a successful unit,
 as cubs are seen every year.



 A pride of Lions is seen periodically. They tend to be seen for several days, sometimes hunting on the far bank of the river and then move off for a few days, before returning. This is a large pride, with two dominant males and cubs are often seen.

 Leopard is also seen from time to time, but are secretive and you have to be lucky. Leopard is periodically  present on our property & can be seen from it.

Male Leopard.

Hunting, quite close to our property.

On the track, next to the river.

He posed like this for five minutes,
before walking off into the bush!

Spotted Hyaena can be seen in the late evenings. A large female lives here all the time & every alternate year rears cubs.

One of her cubs.

Our little Spotty Dog, laying by our dustbins!

Just in case there is a snack going!

Same animal at night. Still by the dustbins!

A young cub, coming on to our verandah at night!

The whole family together

Young Spotted Hyaenas are very curious and allow for great photographic opportunities.

This is a perfectly safe place to enjoy your game viewing, as there is an unobstrusive, electrified fence separating you from the more dangerous game along the river.

Three hundred metres away is a communal picnic area, shared by all the owners of the nature reserve. It has wonderful old, imposing trees, giving ample shade, large grassed area and plenty of BBQ pits. Wonderful views are enjoyed from here and close views of both Hippo and Crocodiles are almost guranteed!

Looking over the Sabie River, from the picnic site.

Picnic spot, next to the swimming pool.

Carol roughing it in the garden!

At the entrance to the reserve, is the headquarters, wardens house, beautiful communal swimming pool and tennis courts. There is also a laundry service, small shop and a secure facility for charging all your electrical appliances. Wifi, is available here.

Swimming pool area.

This reserve is just over one kilometre from the entrance to Kruger National Park and a one hours drive from all the attractions of the northern, Drakensburg Mountains, including Graskop; Sabie and Pilgrim’s Rest. The stunning Blyde River Canyon is a little further away, but easy to visit on a day’s drive along the Panarama Route.



From Stevenson-Hamilton Memorial.

Views from Mathekenyane. .

One of the stunning views inside KNP,
just a short distance from the property.

 

 

 

How things have changed!

Yesterdays calling Little Crake got me thinking about how birding & birders have changed over the last 50 years, since I entered the fray. I have just totalled up my birding mileage (kilometreage just doesn't sound right)! 19,620 kms on my birding trips so far this year. This doesn't include my daily run to & from work, when I am not birding. Whow!

WUV 805 was the registration

 of my Dad's car. It was just like this one!



 In 1962, cars were a little different & certainly not as reliable as they are today. Roads were much slower and even trips to the coast, which as only 100kms away, could take hours! I still remember the first heaters inside cars, what luxury! Birding trips of more than a few miles from home were anticipated as a great event. A trip to Spurn, or Gibraltor Point was often the highlight of a whole year!

Spurn Point - one of my earliest hunting grounds.



We often got together and organised a bus to take us birding, as few people owned cars back then. I remember these trips very well indeed (for contrasting reasons)!

Nice seat covers!



Most of my birding was on foot or by bicycle. I cycled miles on my quest for new species. 50 or 60 miles was normal. I was young, fit & very thin! A birding circuit of my beloved Thorme Moors, could be well over 16 miles! All of it on foot. I thought it was normal. I learned later, it wasn't!

Flooded former peat extraction area

 on Thorne Moors.



Money was in short supply, these trips had to be saved for, often for weeks of doing without lifes little luxuries. We made sandwiches for the day. I existed on Apricot jam sandwiches for several years! It was one of the cheapest options you see. I still can't eat Apricot jam to this day without a suddder! Oxtail soup in a flask for those cold days was a rare treat!

Errm!



  I remember saving up for ages for a pair of wellington boots, so I could see those bloody snipe which hide in those marshes! For a few months everything went to plan, my boots were perfect for the job. I kicked up loads of Common Snipe + the odd Jack Snipe too. Brilliant!

Wonderful Jack Snipe!

 Rare, but regular in South Yorkshire.



But then I punctured one of the boots climbing over a barbed wire fence. That winter I struggled on with freezing cold water flooding into one boot. My toes got used to being numb. I experimented with trying to repair them with a puncture outfit from my bicycle, but it didn't last very long. I used to sit and ring my socks out after every excursion into the wet. I learned quickly to bring an extra dry sock as well, but those toes still ached! Then disaster happened. My feet slowly but surely, grew too big for my boots. I hobbled around for nearly a year, in a lot of pain, but in the end, my boots won the day. For several months I couldn't go into the marshes.
My most treasured posession was of course, my binoculars. I had worked & saved long & hard for them. They were fantastic, but had limitations. One of my birding haunts was Southfield Reservoir, in South Yorkshire.

Southfield Reservoir - on a nice day! 



This reservoir is two rather large sheets of water. Those black specs at the furthest end were ducks and grebes. Most went unidentified, because of the distance involved. But then a minor miracle happened - I got a telescope! It was mine, all mine for free!

Similar to mine!



 My dad said he knew someone with an old brass telescope that he didn't use anymore & that he was giving it away to someone who would look after it & use it well. Many years later, I found out that this was a little lie for my benefit. My dad had bought it for me, but for some reason didn't want me to know he had done so. I loved that telescope! It was huge! It magnified a dizzyingly high 20x. I could now see those ducks! One day stands out above all others, regarding my telescope. It was late December, just before Christmas. There was snow on the ground. I was peering rather gingerly, over the bank at the reservoir. There were hundreds of ducks of mny pecies packed close together at the far end. I crawled to the top of the banking & lay down in the snow. The cold seeped up to meet me & started to enter my body. I had to lay down you see, to balance the large brass telescope on my knee. It had a long drawtube, which you had to pull out & balance. I peered down this piece of glass, I could see the ducks! Drake Pintails drew my attention first, then Wigeon and the commoner dabblers. A few drab Gadwall were at the back.

Northern Pintails - an uncommon duck in Yorkshire.



The next pack were diving ducks, I started to wade through them, tons of Tufted Duck & Pochard, but nothing too unusual. Then I saw something shining, slightly to one side. It was quick moving & it dived. it looked almost white, with some grey & black on it. I saw it again! It was a ghost! It was a ghost from the far north, the frozen north. Ice thickening over Scandinavian lakes had pushed this bird that little bit further south. The dazzling male Smew was in my beloved telescope! The first Yorkshire record for many years.

My ghost from the frozen north!



 I couldn't tear my eyes away, but eventually I had to. I was starting to freeze! But how to get the news out? No mobile phone in those days. In fact, the nearest phonebox was miles away! And I was on my bicycle! As I was thinking about this situation, a winter Merlin flashed by down the side of the hedegrow. A few minutes later, I saw a man in the distance. I knew his shape well. It was Reg Rhodes, one of the few & probably the best birder around, in those days. I lost no time in telling my tale. He was sceptical! He also has a large brass telescope, we both went back to our cold friend, the snow. Then I heard him exclaim! He had found the Smew! Later on, back in the city, there was no mention of my part in this little saga. Reg had found the Smew! There was no mention of me & me telling him about it. It was his find. This was my first introduction to birding politics!