2015 Big Trip
Blog #01
Jejane Private Nature Reserve
Hoedspruit, South Africa
Simon Shee
simonrshee@gmail.com
simon.shee@icloud.com
16/07/2015 - 25/07/2015
Jejane is a private nature/game reserve to the West of the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve and the world renowned Kruger National Park.
It is a private, non profit conservation reserve, and home to the Big 5, as well as a huge variety of Fauna and Flora.
"The Farm" as it's known, lies in the Lowveld, with breathtaking views of the Drakensberg Mountain range to the West.
Contact details
P.O. Box 894
Hoedspruit
1380
Tel/Fax: (015) 793-2333
My travelling companion, Niall Houston, has a time share in house No 27. This gives him 10 weeks per year.
Departed Pretoria at about 10.30am on the 16th July and set off for Hoedspruit. The vehicle is Niall's old but reliable Toyota Hilux 2.8l 4x4 which is the same vehicle we used for our big trip in 2013. Thankfully it now has new tyres because last time we were plagued by punctures. On the way stopped at the Blinkwater Butchery to buy a supply of fillet steak for our trip through Mozambique to the Serengeti Plains. Purchased 10kg fillet for R109.00 per kg - the equivalent of AUD11.90 per kg. not a bad price! Whilst there stocked up with kudu biltong to keep famine from the door. Stopped at PicknPay in Hoedspruit to buy a few groceries. Arrived at Jejane in the evening and saw several buffalo as we drove into the house. We unpacked the vehicle and had a light supper.
No. 27 is basic but comfortable. It has four bedrooms, one with a double bed and the other three bedrooms with two beds apiece. There are two bathrooms, one with a shower and the other with a bath. The large living area - kitchen is furnished with a dining table and chairs and comfortable sofas and arm chairs. It looks out onto a large covered verandah which faces onto a cleared area with a braai lapa (BBQ area). There is an elevated game viewing structure which has a view over the surrounding trees. The house is very private being surrounded by thick bush and trees such as knob thorn and marula trees.
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| No 27 Jejane |
Went on several game drives. The bush is very dry and some of the dams are totally dry. Despite the aridity, the farm contains a great deal of game. Elephant were observed a few times including a group of seven drinking from Snare Dam. Giraffe were plentiful and an interesting sighting was a crèche of three young giraffe alone without an adult to oversee them. Apparently the adults can roam as much as three km from the crèche. Unusually there were more buffalo than Impala. Other sightings included kudu, zebra, steenbok, common duiker, dwarf mongooses and tree squirrels. Our neighbours reported seeing lion, buffalo and a rhinoceros the previous night on a game drive.
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| Buffalo bull |
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| Baby Giraffe |
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| Elephant at Snare Dam |
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| Elephant at Snare Dam |
Birds were quite scarce with the exception of the Yellow-billed Hornbills and Red-billed hornbills. There have been up to eight species at a time at the house but all were common types. Our total at present is 55 species.
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| Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill |
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| Southern Red-billed Hornbills |
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| Crested Barbet |
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| Burchell's Starling |
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| Kurrichane Thrush |
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| Brown Snake Eagle |
Dinner was a braai every night and the weather was perfect. Clear, starry nights which gradually cooled down over night. Nothing beats the smell of grilling meat while drinking cold beer and listening to the sound of the bush at night. One night I heard a crashing noise of large animals walking past the braai lapa in the dark. The torch revealed a herd of buffalo about 10 - 20 metres away with their eyes gleaming in the torchlight. Most nights hyena called close to the house - a lovely sound that lets you know that you are really in the bush. The next night while up in the game viewing platform photographing the sunset and moon, three buffalo ambled by. Two stopped to drink out of the bird bath and virtually drained it!
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| Sunset |
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| The Moon |
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| Buffalo drinking from the bird bath |
One of the great advantages of staying in a place like Jejane is that one can go for night drives whenever one feels like. On one night drive animals seen included a very large herd of Impala, a few jackals, scrub hares, and several lesser galagos (bush babies). One of the galagos gave a great show leaping from bush to bush and hopping around on the ground. He made prodigious leaps for such a small creature. There was also had a brief encounter with a large lion who was lying on the dirt track as we drove up to it. It got up and slowly walked off into the thick bush on the side of the road and disappeared. A bit later we heard another lion calling from further away. On arrival back at the house a hyena was waiting on the driveway. Other night drives were less interesting with only a few impala, duiker and bushbabies.
Occasionally other animals appear at or close to the house. Impala and warthog drink from the bird bath while other times dwarf mongooses, tree squirrels, vervet monkeys and zebra make an appearance.
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| Dwarf Mongoose |
