Dreamfields Guesthouse

Air support for anti poaching unit

Tina — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 07:05:16 +0000

December is a month of gifts, but the ranger corps of the Kruger National Park received this year a very special one.
It was not Santa Claus, but members of the Ichikowitz Family Foundation who teamed up with SANParks at the beginning of this month to hand over the Seeker Seabird.
This state-of-the-art surveillance air craft will have its home base at Skukuza airport and will be a big support for the rangers in their fight against poaching. It is equipped with highly sophisticated technology such as infrared detectors making it very difficult for poachers to hide.
Mr Ivor Ichikowitz said:”Our world-class electronic systems technology brings expert navigation and surveillance solutions to the force to help in the search for suspected rhino poachers throughout the Kruger National Park”.

A snake in the car bonnet

Tina — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:57:01 +0000

Because nature is unpredictable, people always have new stories to tell when visited the Kruger.
A South African couple can ad quite an interesting story to their list after visiting the Park recently during their vacation in Hazyview. They were hoping to see a pride of lions but instead they had a far more spectacular encounter with a python near Skukuza.
Together with other tourists in vehicles they were looking at the big creature near the road when it sailed out of the grass towards their car and disappeared underneath it. A few minutes later one of the safari operators informed the couple that he saw the snake ‘going up’. With a convoy of vehicles they drove to the nearest picnic area where one of them opened the car bonnet and found the python on the engine, eyeballing all the commotion around him. After patting the snake a bit, it exited the same way it came in, luckily unharmed and leaving the couple (and their ‘guests’) with very impressive pictures and an exciting story to tell.

Sad update on rhino poaching

Tina — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 13:50:47 +0000

During the last World Rhino Day (September) we asked everyone again to be aware of the increasing problem of rhino poaching. It is sad to report that we’ve already exceeded the numbers of poached rhinos this year compared to last year. The latest statistics show a total number of 570 rhinos killed in South Africa of which 347 in the Kruger National Park. In total 230 arrests were made (including 10 receivers and 18 couriers) and also this year quite a few rangers/patrollers and poachers were killed during the ‘rhino war’ in the Kruger.

Heron goes fishing

Tina — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:36:35 +0000

A lot of our guests experience impressive and sometimes rare sightings when visiting the Kruger.

This time, Ilse and Robert-Jan (from the Netherlands) went in at Phabeni gate and drove to Lake Panic bird hide to try and make a few nice pictures. A goliath heron was fishing and Ilse had her camera ready to snap this bird catching a fish. She was surprised however to see the heron catching a big fish and Ilse and Robert-Jan were even more surprised when they saw how he managed to swallow the fish in one piece.

Another battle at Kruger

Tina — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:36:33 +0000

Not far after entering the Kruger National Park , a tourist couple recently came upon a very unusual ‘battle at Kruger’: a leopard was stalking a three-meter long python.

The leopard planned its attack for several minutes and then bit the huge reptile in its thick neck, just behind the head. After a few minutes of biting, hissing and curling, the snake was able to shake off its enemy and escape into a nearby waterhole, leaving the leopard in confusion and desperation behind.

When returning to the scene a few hours later, the tourists found the leopard in a tree near the water where the battle was earlier that day. It was eating something and a piece fell down from the tree. According to one of the tourist, it looked like a snake’s head…..

Source: Witness

Click here to view the embedded video.

World Rhino Day 22.Sep

Tina — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 05:00:42 +0000

Today is World Rhino Day, a day when we ask everyone to be aware of the facts and figures regarding rhino poaching.

The rhino has existed on earth for over 50 million years. As mega-grazers, they have a critical impact on the ecosystem by clearing vegetation, maintaining grasslands, reducing fire hazards, fertilizing soil and dispersing and germinating seeds.
A mature rhino has no natural predator, except for humans………….

In 2011 over 450 rhinos were killed in South Africa and this year in August the Department of Environment Affairs states that already 312 rhinos are poached. This makes South Africa the poaching epicenter of the world.

Most rhinos are killed for their horns which are made of keratin (like your hair and nails) and are used in traditional Chinese medicine believed to cure fevers, headaches, skin diseases, heart and liver trouble and a lot of people still think that the horn is a kind of aphrodisiac.
You won’t be surprised that most experts question these old traditions and their effectiveness …….

In 1975, the first international ban on the commercial trade in rhino products was enacted, but today there are still some countries which allow the trade of rhino products and trophy hunting.
Most horns leave South Africa for China and Vietnam, the biggest markets for rhino products.

More and more people and organizations realize that this magnificent and pre-historical mammal needs our protection against humans. Funds are raised to train rhino reserve managers, train and equip rangers and anti-poaching patrols and to make the whole world become aware of what is happening with the rhino in South Africa (amongst others).

Dreamfields Guesthouse would appreciate your thoughts for the rhinos on World Rhino Day, but would even be more happy if you visit http://www.stoprhinopoaching.com/ and add your voice and donate funding.

Unusual sighting with ‘Battle at Kruger’ guide

Tina — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:12:30 +0000

We like to book our guests for a game drive in the Kruger National Park with Frank Watts, guide of the ‘Battle at Kruger’ YouTube video (with almost 68 million views!). Of course Frank cannot control ‘Mother Nature’ but with his knowledge and experience he can often ad something special to a safari in our world famous park.

Like a week ago when Dreamfields guests visited the Park with Frank and saw a big Rhino bull on the way from Phabeni gate towards Skukuza. Most visitors made a nice picture and moved on, but Frank turned his open vehicle and drove to a spot near the road he saw earlier that morning. A few minutes later the Rhino bull came to that same spot and started scraping his feet and spraying urine. This is how dominant Rhino bulls are marking their territory and they tend to do so 10 times an hour while patrolling it. For our Dutch guests this was again a very interesting and unusual sighting.

Dreamfields guests support anti poaching

Tina — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 12:11:53 +0000

Of course we all support the anti poaching of our beloved wild animals. But our guests paid a special contribution to the anti poaching. On their drive in the Kruger National Park, they reported the sighting of an impala with a huge lump and a snare around his neck to members of the anti poaching unit on patrol.
After driving the patrollers to the spot, unfortunately they couldn’t find the impala anymore but they did find two new snares in the bush which they removed. Due to the attention and efforts of our guest, at least two animals were saved from a painful death.

A visit to the SPA

Tina — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 10:23:20 +0000

Next to its proximity to the Kruger National Park and the Blyde River Canyon, Hazyview offers a wide choice of outdoor activities such as Skyway trails, river rafting, interaction with elephants and much more.

Hazyview also offers various SPAs, where you can pamper yourself . My personal favourite is Summerfields due to the direct location on the Sabie River. Often one can even see hippos! It is worthwhile in any case to allow yourself a few hours of self-indulgence.

Tina – Owner Dreamfields Guesthouse

The Greatest Shoal on Earth

Tina — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:54:52 +0000

The ‘greatest shoal on earth’ is currently taking place along South Africa’s coastline. You’ll want to add diving with the sardines to your bucket list after viewing this amazing HD video!

The annual Sardine Run is part of South Africa’s seasonal calendar and provides tourists, photographers and most importantly the local fishing community and the poor and unemployed individuals along SA’s east coast a boost each winter.

Dubbed ‘the greatest shoal on earth’, the Sardine Run occurs between May and July when millions of sardines – spawn in the cool waters of the Agulhas Bank and move northward along the east coast of South Africa.

Click here to view the embedded video.

More info: Sardinerun