What a difference!

Hi everyone!

I hope a lot of you were able to join us for the broadcast on Thursday, even though it wasn't 3D, the feedback I had during the drive from the directors chair was great! The picture you were saying was sharper and the difference in sound was amazing! Even I nearly fell off my chair when we heard the babblers calling! I was getting such a buzz when some of you even commented on being able to hear a vehicle drive next to us! Imagine that with the herd of buffalo we saw Thursday morning! Keep those glasses close, ready for the full 3D experience!

One thing I love about nature is that it keeps us guessing and I am so thrilled we are able to share these intriguing moments with you! During Patrick's morning drive on Wednesday, we managed to see Yambilu-Jordaan with none other than Induna, who is probably his son! I am becoming more convinced with every interaction this is true! He seemed tolerant of his son, albeit a bit irritated, twitching his tail and pulling his ears back, Induna kept a respectful distance! Amazing!

What a difference it has made with winter being here! The animals have become more relaxed in camp. Even Alex was enjoying the company of the female duiker who visits everyday and is getting use to us watching her! The nyala herd, baboons, hornbills and various other birds are making us of the small pan outside F.C. Myself and Afke were also amazed to see a slender mongoose drinking from it too! Sadly I didn't have my camera to hand!

Written by Tara

LIVE 3D safaris are here!

This is what we have all been waiting for! Come and join us on our first live 3d safari broadcast!

These are truly exciting times, WildEarth with Safari TV will be the first to broadcast live 3D safaris in the world. Can you imagine seeing an elephant reaching out towards you with his trunk, being surrounded by a buffalo herd, or have the feeling of being so close to Karula or one of the Majingilanes you could reach out and touch them? After watching the footage shot over the weekend, it really gave me goosebumps, this is now possible!

WE have always been on the cutting edge of technology and I am amazed at how far the WE family have come. Ever since 1998 with the worlds first LIVE water hole webcam installed by Graham, which refreshed every 30 seconds, and then the days when our first safaris where limited to only 80 people, to now! Broadcasting to thousands and on the verge of 3D!!

Along with the 3D viewing we have 3D stereo sound, which will also help to immerse you further into the African bush experience! Viewers need not worry, you don't need new monitors and you can still view in 2D, but if you want the full immersive experience all you need is a pair of the normal anaglyph 3D glasses with either red/blue, red/green or blue/yellow filters. The new WildEarth player will have a small 3D button at the bottom right hand corner and you will be able to select the type of 3D anaglyph glasses that you have, and watch in 3D, just like on YouTube.

The entire team have been so excited and all looks good for broadcasting this week on Thursday afternoon! I really hope you will be on board Gunda with us for this next incredible chapter in the history of LIVE safaris.

Written by Tara

The drama continues!

Hi everyone!

This weekend certainly didn't disappoint! As well as having Afke back with us, for a short while at least and the 3d testing going on, the sightings have continued to be exciting!

My self and Sebastien were in awe at having one of the golden Majingilane males walk less than a meter from jigga, giving each of us a momentary glance with his piercing eyes, which felt like it lasted a life time! What an incredible feeling, having such a powerful creature that close and acknowledging you!

This coalition has already given us intense drama and none more so than this week. We are still trying to piece together the puzzle about why they killed another lion, only this time it is possibly a female from the Styx pride. We have to wait to do a head count to find out which member of the pride it was.

Mixo was still determined not to allow Induna feed from his impala kill and I do wonder if this was a huge reality check for Induna. He was waiting patiently for his turn, but I doubt it came. Maybe Induna was the reason the herd of elephants were panicked yesterday morning. Both myself and Afke are still convinced it was a lion, but without being able to get a clear view of the cat they chased off, it will have to remain another bush secret!

Written by Tara Pirie

An incredible painted picture!

Hi everyone,

What a highlight this week! As Patrick sat with 2 White Rhino, listening to the buzz on the radio about the Wild Dogs, they seemed to know how much everybody was hoping to see them! Moments before, Patrick announced "they are heading this way"! Excitement levels were peaking, then suddenly we glimpse the first member of the pack! Incredible! Viewing from behind the rhino, watching the 4 dogs, what a picture!

Marc continued the amazing sights by finding Induna this morning, acting a bit strange. Leaving behind the hyena, who had been chasing impala, he followed. Loosing sight of him in thick bush, it became clear why he had been behaving oddly, with Mixo being spotted with a kill in a near by tree. Induna joined his brother in the hope of food, but Mixo having the higher ground, defended his prize well! I would like to know how this story will end, especially with the hyenas waiting patiently below!

And of course we can't forget about the lady herself! Karula graced us with her presence at the start of the week, keeping us all guessing where she has been and what she has been doing! We can only speculate!

With the boys around, possibly Karula and the Styx pride making an appearance, it looks set to be an exciting weekend!

Written by Tara Pirie

Birds Galore!

Hello everyone and hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

We are all busy here at camp still getting the 3D rig up and running. Will has been here over the weekend to assist Alex in working on the vehicle and things are coming along.

On the leave front Herman is still away and Jared and I will be going on leave on Tuesday for 2 weeks. That leaves Tara, Marc, Patrick who will back tomorrow, Alex and Sebastien in camp so it will be all hands on deck. Siphiwe is due for her weeks leave next week aswell.

Just before I sat down to write this I had spent about a half hour outside running after birds trying to take their pictures. We had a wonderful bird party outside with Chinspot Batis's, Puff back shrikes, Grey headed bush Shrikes, White Bellied Sunbirds, Yellow throated Apalis and Green Back Camaroptera as well. I love seeing all sorts of birds like this together - it refreshes my knowledge on who is what and also gives me a chance to run and around and take photos which is always a joy for me.

On the game drive front, Friday morning began with Jared and myself going out looking for anything we could find. As the morning was incredibly cold we did not see much but toward the end of the drive we came upon 4 hyena walking up the road which was great! And we also saw lots and lots of Zebra throughout the drive.

In the afternoon Tara and Jared went out and saw some general game. And to end of the day Marc spent some time in Final Control with the viewers for a half hour doing his ReMarcable creatures and talking about insects he had seen on leave.

On Saturday Jared and I went out again in another very cold morning spell and found some lion tracks that we tried to follow up on. We looked high and low but to no avail, the cats were hiding from us. We moved onto the burnt area on Cheetah cutline and found a dazzle of Zebra. We watched a small Zebra foul run and play around charging and kicking up and down the road - very fun and sweet to watch such a small animal with such a spring to it's step.

The afternoon team headed out and had more luck with the weather having warmed up. Marc and Tara saw some elephant and spend a bit of time watching the 2 bulls they had come across. Meanwhile toward the end of the drive, I spotted a leopard at Gowrie dam and they were able to make their way there but the batteries on the Jigga gave out and we were unable to broadcast but everyone did manage to spot Induna on the wall for a couple of minutes.

All in all, the sightings seem to be picking up a little bit which is good and this will be my last Blog for the next 2 weeks. As usual I will be handing over to Tara who will keep you all entertained whilst I am away.

See you all in 2 weeks.

Kathryn.

General Game take the Stage!

Hi there everyone. Hope you are all well and looking forward to the weekend!

The weather is blowing hot and cold literally and with the wind comes the cooler or hotter temperatures. On drive this morning the weather was quite pleasant as we had this blanket of cloud covering Djuma keeping all the nice hot air bundled in close to Earth. But the winds are still howling outside so who knows what the weather will bring in the next few days.

Pictures taken of the new FC Carpeting

The sightings on game drive have been more about the General Game at the moment – which has been nice for a change as we have really been able to focus on the usual animals that we wouldn’t always spend alot of time on, with the cats and most pachyderms being absent.

Buffelshoek management has over the past week burnt firebreaks between Djuma and Buffleshoek area. And with the burnt grassy areas and still smouldering trees comes the birdlife. Driving on the roads along the burnt areas you get to see some amazing bird life that come into the blackened areas to eat the exposed grass seeds and insects that are around. Just the other day Marc and I saw the trio of Ground Hornbills on such a patch and after we had closed off for drive, one of them flew into a tree and grabbed a chameleon out of its branches. We both gasped as one rarity ate another but that is the way life in the bush is I suppose.

On Wednesday’s drives Jared and I started out on a very chilly morning with just some Kudu and a journey of Giraffe. The morning was a still one with not much game as I think they were hiding away from the bitingly cold air we were driving around in.

In the afternoon Tara and Marc spotted a really nice herd of elephant which they spent some time with and then to end off the day Tara did her fireside chat with Marc this time, as a guest, chatting about Leopard Identification. Mostly talking about Karula and her boys and the now very talked about Mixo / Tara and Marc encounter on drive.

Tara at the Majingilane Sighting

Thursday morning the chaps out on drive saw some Elephant again and a really nice herd of Kudu. It was another chilly morning out there so once again the animals seemed to be hiding.

In the afternoon Tara and myself went out and found a journey of Giraffe near Gowrie dam and tried to follow up on a leopard that had been seen around the dam by Graham (The Gowrie Gang) earlier in the afternoon. No such luck unfortunately.

Patrick will be returning from leave on Monday morning and Jared and myself are due to go on leave this Tuesday coming. So the wheel continues to turn as they say.

From another windy day down here at Sabi Sands I say cheerio for now.

Kathryn.

The cold front is back!

Hello everyone from another cold and windy day at Sabi Sands. The cold front has arrived from the South Coast and our wonderful warm days of ‘summer’ weather are gone, but we are in winter, so I suppose the cold weather is bound to hit us from time to time.

Herman has left on his leave and was jet setting off to Cape Town yesterday. Alex is back and is working fiercely on the 3D rig to get it up and running!

The rest of us in camp are going about our daily duties and myself, Jared and Siphiwe are installing in the new Final Control, carpeting, which Alex kindly brought back from Johannesburg with him. I will take photos and post it as soon as we have finished putting it down. What a difference it is making already to the looks and to the sound in the building!

Monday’s game drives started with Marc and Tara going out. They found some Hyena around Quarantine area and a great herd of Elephant. They also had a sighting with Mixo who was after some remains of a kill left behind. The footage and story that unfolded from there on everyone knows. Mixo did some snarling and hissing at Marc and Tara as he was very close to the vehicle because Marc had unknowingly parked on top of Mixo’s meal. There are lots of photos and hot spots about the sighting!

In the afternoon Jared and I found a small herd of Elephant on our way to Buffelshoek dam so we spent some time with them and one particular female elephant got very close to the vehicle and put out her trunk so that we could almost touch her as if she were saying hello.

Tuesday morning with Marc and myself saw some hyena right at the start walking down to Gowrie Dam. We then later on in the drive went to Buffelshoek dam and found a large herd of Buffalo drinking! On top of that there were some great birds to be sighted! And at the end of drive we found the trio of Ground Hornbills roaming around the newly burnt firebreak area on Buffelshoek Cutline. Excellent end to a drive.

In the afternoon Jared and Marc went out and found a buffalo and rhino together – very unusual behaviour toward each other. And then at Buffelshoek dam later on Mixo sleeping with a beautiful sunset overlooking the dam.

What a great day at Buffelshoek Dam – the place to be!

See you again in a couple of days from a bitingly cold safari.tv camp.

Kathryn.