Two Little Owls on a Rock in Portugal

Tags:   Bird Birds Wildlife Wildlife Photography Little Owl Owl Portugal

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Sunset overlooking the old port and Le Suquet from The Splendid Hotel, Cannes -
Our room was on the 5th floor with double windows accessing a small balcony with south facing views over the Old Harbour (Le Vieux Port), Iles de Lérins, and the Bay of Cannes (Baie de Cannes). To the west from the balcony we had views towards the old quarter - Le Suquet with distant views of the hills of the Massif de l'Esterel beyond.

This historic hotel has been continuously open since 1871.

The 60 bed hotel is ideally situated, at the start of La Croisette, and just seconds away from luxury shopping opportunities and golden sandy beaches . Some rooms have balconies for guests to enjoy the sea views while others have vast south-facing terraces on the lower floors.

Rooms are comfortable and like many rooms in the town not big. Considering the location and the views many of the rooms have, it represent fantastic value for money compared with the 5 start establishments further along La Croisette.

Staff are always friendly and welcoming whenever we have stayed there. On each occasion we requested the same room on the 5th floor with a small balcony with the most stunning views over the old harbour, sea and the old town.
Rooms are comfortable and like many rooms in the town not big. Considering the location and the views many of the rooms have, it represent fantastic value for money compared with the 5 start establishments further along La Croisette.

Staff are always friendly and welcoming whenever we have stayed there. On each occasion we requested the same room on the 5th floor with a small balcony with the most stunning views over the old harbour, sea and the old town.

Tags:   Sunset Clouds Cloud Cannes Cannes, France France Town Harbour Night Photography Night scene Hills Mountain Place of Interest Boats Boat Coastline Seafront Seascape Sea Urban Urban Landscape City Accommodation Accommodation Views Côte d'Azur French Riviera Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

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Warthog family (Phacochoerus africanus) meet an Elephant (Loxodonta africana)

Derek and Etta, the owners/managers of our accommodation Dungbeetle River Lodge are qualified game/nature guides and we organised a full days guided tour into Addo Elephant National Park - worth doing to get the most out of your visit.

Dungbeetle River Lodge is a riverside property with terraced gardens that run down to The Sundays River with views across to a pristine riverbank and the Alexandria Dune Fields which cover the 3km between Dungbeetle River Lodge and the Indian Ocean. Formed almost 6½ million years ago, Alexandria Dune fields is the largest coastal sand dune field in the southern hemisphere.

Before we left, Etta gave us a very informative talk on the history of the park and general area.

After a short 10 minute drive we entered Addo Elephant National Park via Mathyolweni Gate. We then spent the whole day in the park with Etta who is a mind of information about the plants and wildlife in the park, if we had done the trip ourselves, we would have missed so much, also in a normal hire car, you are seated too low to view game.

Unfortunately for us, it was very hot on the day (38 degrees) and many of the animals were playing hard to find. Frankly I did not blame them. But Etta persevered and we were rewarded with some excellent viewing opportunities of elephants, black-backed jackal, warthogs, Zebra and assorted antelope and birds.

We eventually we left the park just as it was closing. Although I think Etta was disappointed that we did not see more animals, just the sheer beauty of the park was more than enough for us.

Tags:   South Africa South Africa Trip 2013 Greater Addo, Eastern Cape Addo Elephant National Park Eastern Cape Wildlife Nature Nature Reserve South African Nature South African Wildlife Safari Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) Warthog Phacochoerus africanus Elephant (Loxodonta africana) Elephant Loxodonta africana Big Five Big 5 Mammal African Mammal Game Drive South African Mammal Wildlife Photography Garden Route, Western Cape, South Africa

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Views of Knysna Lagoon from The Knysna Belle, Leisure Island, Knysna

It is named after a schooner, which regularly visited Knysna in the late 1800’s and all bedrooms are named after sailing ships with a history of visiting Knysna. This spectacular Cape-Cod style guest house carries nautical themes throughout.

The property was a private property owned by a family in Johannesburg, but was run as a B&B when they were absent. They had employed a couple of ‘managers’ and also a cook and cleaning staff, who were all very friendly.

Guests had the use of a stunning sitting room with views over the lagoon and a swimming pool in the rear garden.

We had booked a room call ‘The Emu” which was a lagoon facing suite with spectacular views. The room was at the front of the property on the raised first floor. The room was large, with a queen-size bed with shower en-suite, air-conditioner and double doors opening onto the private patio where we could enjoy the changing view of the lagoon.
The guest house was located on the shore of Leisure Isle which is a island in the centre of Knysna Lagoon and connected by a causeway. The island was easy to either walk or cycle around, and there was a small reserve to one end with some excellent birdwatching, there picnic area on the left as you get onto the island also provided some good birdwatching.

There were a couple of coffee shops on the island, but otherwise you needed to cross the causeway and either try the couple of cafes/restaurant at The Heads or into Knysa Town, which was a short 10 minute car journey away.

Tags:   South Africa South Africa Trip 2013 Knysna Knysna Lagoon Knysna Belle, Leisure Isle, Knysna Landscape Seascape Sea Water South African Landscape South African Nature Accommodation Views Western Cape Knysna, Western Cape Coastline Garden Route, Western Cape, South Africa

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Male Lion (Panthera leo)

SIBUYA GAME RESERVE - Kenton-on-Sea, Eastern Cape

A number of things attracted me to book at Sibuya:-

Location - Sibuya's reception is located in Kenton-on-Sea, Eastern Cape, about 140 kms (80 miles) from Port Elizabeth and provides a natural extension to any trip on the Garden Route.

The 30 minute transfer by boat to the lodges and the description of River Lodge which is the smaller and more intimate of the two camps at Sibuya with just 4 units provided a sense of adventure and escape.

The wildlife (in particular the birdlife - nearly 400 species). The Reserve offers Big 5 game viewing over 3000 hectares in beautiful fertile vegetation over very varied, and sometimes steep, terrain leading up to a high grassy plateau.

During our 4 game drives we saw 4 of the ‘Big 5’ (Leopard proved elusive) but we saw good numbers of Elephant, Buffalo, white Rhino and plenty of Giraffe, Zebra and various Antelope together with some great bird sightings. We also saw Lions and Cheetah - however these are kept in a separate very large enclosures.

We arrived and were immediately taken in by the privacy of the location and sense of utter calm and peace with just the sounds of the river and birds to disturb us.

The well spaced out luxury tented accommodation nestles in riverine forest on the banks of the Kariega River. Wooden walkways (lit by lanterns at night) guide you through the forest from the main lodge to your accommodation. It is advisable to take a torch with you as well.

Our luxury 'Tent' was enormous, some 75sqm and felt very light and airy, despite being set amongst the trees. The tent had 3 canvas sides (with large mesh windows and curtains) the front of the tent had large glass sliding doors under an all-weather roof. It was furnished with a huge comfortable bed, large sofa, desk, rack for clothing and wood-burning stove, there was a generous en-suite bathroom with separate walk-in shower and freestanding bath.

Outside there was a private decking area surrounded by trees and partial views of the river to reduce the environmental impact on the landscape. Sunken benches with cushions provided a lovely shady place to sit and watch/listen to the surrounding birdlife and read a book.

The camp runs on solar power (with back-up generator) so do not expect air-conditioning (a bit pointless in a tent), fans or hair dryers, best of all there are no TVs.

I felt the camp would offer us ‘city slickers’ a bit of an adventure, sleeping under canvas with only the sounds of the forest to lull us to sleep.

Each game drive started and finished with a short boat trip to the opposite banks of the river. It was a lovely way to start your day and finish your game drives.

Tags:   South Africa South Africa Trip 2013 Eastern Cape Kenton-on-Sea Sibuya Game Reserve River Camp, Sibuya Game Reserve Game Drive Game Reserve Wildlife Wildlife Photography Nature Nature Reserve South African Nature South African Wildlife Big Five Big 5 Lion Panthera leo Lion (Panthera leo) Safari Safari Lodge Mammal African Mammal South African Mammal Garden Route, Western Cape, South Africa

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