Starting the drive early on this particular morning, my aim was to find the pack that was seen the day before in the north of the park. I let my guests know that they shouldn't hold their breath as it's notoriously difficult finding these animals, which can travel very long distances in a short period.
The first hour of drive was rather quiet only seeing some general game like impala, zebra, springbuck and kudu; I thought this was going to be a tough morning, but knowing we still had to get to the area where the dogs might be I felt confident we’d find them. As we approached the area where they had been the previous day, I realized that they were still there and had killed not one but two impalas. Judging by the amount of the kill still left, I reckoned they’d killed it about 10 minutes before we arrived. A pack of 20 dogs will finish a impala in about 20 minutes – they eat very fast trying to spend as little time as possible on the kill to reduce the chance of them being caught by a larger predator like a lion or hyena, which will steal the kill from them.
This was an amazing sighting; we were sitting with half the pack of dogs and a kill with us and about 100m down the road the other half of the pack was feeding on another impala. Every now and then some of the dogs would swop kills, and we watched them running up and down from one kill to the other. As a guide you always try and push through the facts to your guests about these special animals and try to let your guests know just how rare and special it is to see these dogs in the wild!
These animals have been under pressure for over a century now because of habitat loss and there are only about 350 dogs left in South Africa, in a few isolated pockets, with the Kruger National Park holding the largest number of around 125 dogs. As only the alpha male and female normally breed in the pack that means that there are only 35-40 breeding pairs of dogs in South Africa – a very scary statistic! Rhino poaching may be at an all time high but clearly rhinos are not alone in the battle for survival.Did you know that Imbali Safari Lodge is a great base from which to explore the Kruger for wild dogs? Learn more about the lodge here.
Anja Mayer was extremely knowledgeable, patient, prompt with her responses to questions, and always very helpful. She was also a pleasure to work with. I would highly recommend to anyone that asks that Anja is the right person to contact if they are interested in travelling to South Africa or Botswana.
Lewis Warren
,
US
Dec 12, 2024
Anja did a fabulous job!
Anja was knowledgeble, patient prompt with her responses to questions and always very helpful. In addition, it was a pleasure working with her. I would recommend her to anyone without any reservation.
Lewis Warren
,
US
Dec 10, 2024
Mel du Toit was the perfect person to…
Mel du Toit was the perfect person to arrange and organize our trip!! She was on the ball, made sure everything was in place and travel arrangements secured! I highly recommend her!!
JUDITH ANN
,
US
Dec 9, 2024
Great support from Shann
Shann made the booking experience seamless - provided very helpful information to ensure we fully understood what the experience would be like and made sure we felt safe with experiences we have booked.
SUE And Bryson STEIN
,
AU
Dec 9, 2024
Quick & efficient
Very fast response, polite - impressive
Eduardo Rocha
,
BR
Dec 7, 2024
Went through Newmarket travel and Hays…
Went through Newmarket travel and Hays travel ..information about flight changes hard to get..but on arrival the holiday was taken over Safari.com..amazing ..experience everything was fine tuned and the staff ..guides drivers fabulous and friendly ..lots of knowledge..lots of fun and the surprises they did was so lovely ...loved every minute ..Paris our guide was amazing..10/10 and Eric driver ..the waiters and waitress every and everyone in the hotels .smiling and friendly..Best holiday of my life
Gillian Dodsworth
,
GB
Dec 7, 2024
Anja at Safari.com was a great partner to work with!
Working with Anja at Safari.com was great. She was able to work some magic and got us a few nights at the safari lodge we really wanted, Ngoma. Unfortunately, our flight from the USA to South Africa was canceled and we were rebooked a day later but Anja was great about making sure our lodge and the transports knew about the change in plans and made sure we got to our trip as soon as we could.
She was a great partner to have and communicated quickly whenever we reached out. I would highly recommend using her when planning a trip to Africa!
Joanna
,
US
Dec 4, 2024
Prompt & knowledgeable
Prompt & knowledgeable
Scott Millar
,
ZA
Dec 4, 2024
Great service from Denise at Safari.com
Denise from Safari.com was extremely helpful. She responded promptly, provided good advice on safari lodgings options and worked up a couple of itinerary options to suit our budget. Denise also organised flights and transfers very quickly so that we could finalize our booking in a short time. Much appreciated.
