African Flame Safaris

Name: African Flame Safaris
Address: 468, Akasia Street, Hoedspruit, 1380, ZA
Telephone: +27640381385
Rating: 5

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African Flame Safaris

African Flame Safari is a tour company that specializes in African safari, travel, adventure and culture. We cater for the individual and small upmarket groups.
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African Flame Safari is a tour company that specializes in African travel, but with a broad base of expertize in nature, culture and adventure. Aiming to provide a unique experience for the discerning traveler. With a collective experience of 25 years as intrepid explorers in Africa and working in tourism, the partners, Henk Prinsloo and Cecilia Gouvea Prinsloo, are just the right people to cater

to your every need! One of the many services we provide is Portuguese as an alternative option to touring in English or Afrikaans (Dutch). Cecilia is a native Portuguese speaker from Brazil and also obtained a degree in History from the Campinas University (Unicamp). Cecilia is at her happiest however, with a bird book in hand and binoculars around her neck, she is also a published nature photographer. Henk has been a safari guide and explorer in both Africa (Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia, and South Africa) and Arabia and also has a passion for cultural and military history. We are ready for any adventure!!! African Flame Safari é uma companhia de turismo especializada em viagens pela África, mas com larga experiência em natureza, cultura e aventura. Nosso interesse está em atender a pessoas e pequenos grupos. Temos como objetivo providenciar uma experiência única ao viajante exigente. Com uma experiência de 25 anos como exploradores intrépidos da África e trabalhando com turismo, os parceiros, Henk Prinsloo e Cecília Gouvêa Prinsloo, são as pessoas perfeitas para atender a sua necessidade! Um dos muitos serviços providenciados é o Português como uma alternative ao turismo em Inglês ou em Afikaans (Holandês). Cecília tem o Português brasileiro como língua nativa, sendo também graduada em História pela Universidade de Campinas (Unicamp). Mas de fato, ela é muito mais feliz com um livro sobre pássaros na mão e um binóculo envolta do pescoço. Também é uma fotógrafa de natureza com publicações na internet. Henk tem sido guia de safari e explorador tanto na África (Moçambique, Botsuana, Suazilândia, Namíbia e África do Sul) como na Arábia, além de ser apaixonado por cultura e história militar.
… Estamos prontos para qualquer aventura!!!

26/02/2024

A favourite cat for many because of their beauty and mystery. Very shy and elusive, mostly nocturnal and solitary. All these attributes add to leopards being considered one of the most exciting finds on safari in Africa. By far, the most successful large cat in the world. They occur from the Southern tip of Africa throughout Africa, Arabia, large parts of Asia, in to the Southern regions of China. This powerful cat is an exceptional ambush hunter and is known to carry prey more than double their own body weight high up in to trees or in to dense thickets. Because they are solitary, they cannot risk injury fighting other predators like Lion, Hyena or even Wild Dog, for this reason, would avoid conflict. Only 2 to 3 cubs are born after a 100 days of gestation. They are very vulnerable for the first 6 weeks and the mother will carefully move them from one hiding spot to another till the cubs are strong enough to follow mum.

11/02/2024

The balance in nature is very fragile despite its natural evolution over millions of years. Every species of plant, mamal, bird, insect, fish has its place in making a biome function. Even fire plays its role. If Lions, Cheetah, Leopard, Hyena and Wild Dogs did not occur in the numbers they do in Kruger for intance, Impala, Giraffe, Zebras and other herbivores would just decimate the ecology to the point where even they would die because of the lack of food. Palatable grass and plants would disappear. With that insects and birds. Modern day pressures on natural areas, the loss of habitat due to human settlement, agricultural activity and even poaching of key species like pangolin and rhino is starting to cause serious cracks to appear in that very fragillity of nature. The duty is ours to now manage and protect nature with management techniques that remain as natural as possible so that we disturb as little as possible in the natural processes of ecology. Moral, responsible Tourism is of utmost importance to generate funding for conservation and also educate humanity about the challenges of saving those last vestiges of nature on mother earth.

08/02/2024

The black-backed jackal is a scavenger that is often seen on the fringes of a lion or cheetah kill, where it will wait for the opportunity to steal a piece. Also hunts hares, birds, rodents, insects, reptiles; will also eat fruits and berries. The fact that they can utilize a vast array of food sources makes them probably the most succesfull and adaptable predators in africa. Unfortunately they are also seen by many farmers of livestock and poultry as vermin and it is always hard to try make sence of the need to control their numbers. They are one of a few mammalian species that have a long-term pair bond. Few night sounds of the African bush like the iconic call of the Jackal.

06/02/2024

Did you know that adult hippopotamus cannot swim and lose the ability once they grow over a certain age? Known as the River Horse, the hippopotamus, or hippo, is considered the most dangerous animal in Africa, responsible for approximately 500 human deaths per year. Unfortunately, human beings and hippopotamus are often in conflict around rivers and lakes in Africa because so many people are still relying on rivers and lakes for water, washing, fishing, etc. They spend most of the day in water, especially on hot days as they are quite susceptible to sun burn. But they are often seen out of the water and grazing on cooler days. They may appear pink in colour because they excrete a natural sunblock which is an oily substance that often has a reddish/pink appearance. They are actually nocturnal and would spend most of the night grazing. The males are extremely aggressive and dominate pods of several females and youngsters, guarding their territory jealously against other male hippos (or anybody else).

05/02/2024

Today we introduce one of the most important but misunderstood animals in Africa, the Spotted Hyena. This highly intelligent and very social creature has unfortunately been depicted as villains by many different sources, including Hollywood. But the African bush relies on them for a healthy balance. Not only are they the only predators that compete directly with lions (they hunt too), but of course in conjunction with vultures, they are the ultimate cleaners of carcasses in the African bush. With jaws so powerful that they can sever major bones from an Elephant carcass and a very effective digestive system that can neutralize and digest even the most bacteria or virus laden meat. Did you know that Hyena (a bit like in human society) is female dominated? The females, especially the alfa female, dominate all the males within the clan. These animals are caring of one another, often playful and very intelligent, deserving of protection and respect.

04/02/2024

Giraffe, the most elegant of all animals in the Kruger, has eyelashes to make any lady envious. Feeding off thorny trees and bushes, their long eyelashes protect them against the thorns damaging the eyes. Did you know that the long elegant neck only has 7 neck vertebrae, the same as a human. They also are virtually silent and would mostly communicate through body language, posturing and touch. Because a giraffe’s head is so high above its heart, a giraffe’s veins and arteries have special adaptations to maintain a constant blood pressure and also to prevent a rush of blood to the brain when they lower their heads to drink. Drinking water is an action that leaves a giraffe vulnerable to predator attack. They take forever to drink, making sure they are safe before they bend down. The strangeness of giraffe does not stop there. Their tongues, for instance, are 45 cm or longer, prehensile and as tough as leather to grab those leaves with spiky thorns. A poor baby giraffe falls up to 2 m to the ground at birth as the mother gives birth standing up.

03/02/2024

One day, I asked Henk if we could have an Elephant, “just a baby elephant”, I said, that would do. I love them!!! Known as “gentle giants”, an encounter with them is a breathtaking experience in the Kruger National Park. These mammals are of course the largest land mammal in the world, especially the African Savannah Elephant which is the largest of all known elephant species on Earth. Despite them loosing habitat and numbers being affected badly by ivory poaching, they ironically have managed to come back in great numbers in Southern Africa bacause of conservation efforts and effective antipoaching measures. An elephant trunk is an amazing organ, with more dexterity than a human arm, which is composed of 50 000 muscles. It is able to carefully select leaves from among the thorny branches of a thicket, to touch, to smell (the elephant has 2000 genes related to smell), to drink, to sq**rt. They get 6 sets of molars through their lives. After the last set has worn out, an Elephant dies of hunger. Elephants can communicate over vast distances by producing low rumbling sounds at such low frequency that the sound travels many miles. The frequency is so low that humans cannot hear most of it.

31/01/2024

The Kruger National Park was officially established in 1898, that makes the Kruger 126 years old, one of the oldest national parks on Earth. The Kruger National Park is 2 million hectares or 4.4 million acres in size. The park’s altitude averages between 200 to 400 m above sea level. There are at least 1190 species of plants, 53 of fish, 35 of amphibians, 114 of reptiles, 530 of Birds and 155 of mammals. The park consists of 3 billion-year-old geology exposed as the continents separated. This diversity is exceptional of any park in the world. Only rivalled by reserves on the Equator for total diversity but unchallenged in mammals with 155 species.Today, the Kruger Park hosts over 2 million visitors a year, one of the greatest parks in the world, a true world heritage site.

30/01/2024

Cheetah or “Guepardo in Portuguese”. My favorite cat. Because of its rarety, I have only a few good photos of this amazing animal. Perhaps only 7 to 10,000 of these big cats remain in Africa, with only approximately 200 in the Kruger National Park. Cheetahs are under great pressure as open grassland they favor are disappearing throughout their natural habitat because of human settlement. They are designed to be the Ferrari of land mammals: small head; elongated body; lightweight bones; a rib cage that house a set of lungs of great capacity to absorb lot of oxygen; wide nasal passages; excellent day vision; long legs to facilitate long strides; long tail to increase stability, serving as a rudder for fast cornering; elastic spine; paws with dog-like non-retractable claws that provide continuous traction and allows the cheetah to make quick turns at top speed. It can run at speeds of up to 113 km/h and accelerate from 0 to over 100km/h in 3 seconds.

29/01/2024

The African or Cape Buffallo is one of the iconic Big Five of Africa. These animals are very impressive in size and bulk, very social and found in large herds roaming and grazing mostly grassy savannah in Africa. Although they are “wild” cattle, there is nothing domestic about them. These animals are very inteligent and fierce. Male Buffallo especially develops a massive set of horns with a large helmet like boss central structure designed to absorb the impact when bulls colide during fights. When old bulls can no longer compete with the younger ones, they separate from the large herds to form groups of male retiarees. These old Buffallo are known as Dugga Boys (mud boys in Zulu), considered by many as the most dangerous of the Big Five. Nothing gives Buffallo more pleasure, especially the old bulls, to lay in mud and water for cooling off and getting rid of those pescky parasites and flies. Here attached a special photo taken by Cecilia of a old Dugga Boy fighting for his life with a lioness on its back.

28/01/2024

The Blue Wildebeest is a member of the Hartebeest family of antelope. This means that both male and female have horns, with the male’s horns slightly heavier. The basic head and horn structure resembles that of a cow. Wildebeest are known to be very fast and athletic. They are highly social and is known to occur in groups of 30 or more with a bull in charge. Also known for long migratory patterns. Very often they are associated with zebras because they are also grazers and for mutual protection. Poor old gnu/wildebeest, according to some African folk law, was made up of spare parts hence their horse/antelope/cow like appearance with a goofy nature on top.

27/01/2024

This magnificent large antelope is named Waterbuck because they are always found close to lakes, rivers and water courses. They caracteristically have long, shaggy, grey to chestnut coats with a perfect round circular “follow me” marking on their rumps. It is said 😊 that the Waterbuck was the first animal to use the freshly painted toilet seats on Noah’s arc. The males are endowed with large, forward facing horns. They habitually flee in to water to avoid predators. Waterbuck has a unique deffense against ectoparasites with a series of glands under the skin that produce a musky chemical that repel parasites. The musky smell can be so pungent that a practiced nose can detect them from quite a distance.

26/01/2024

Steenbok is monogamous and mate life-long. Mostly found in open grassy savanna and open plains, this cute, shy, little antelope will go to great lengths to hide their presence from predators. Their first line of defense, because of their vulnerability and small size, is to lie dead still in long grass or thickets to avoid predators. They would even go as far as digging a hole to deffecate in and then cover it up to camuflage their presence.

25/01/2024

Palanca Negra is the name that the Sable antelope is known as in Angola. Not only their national animal, but also a symbol used for everything from their national airline to their national soccer team. Probably one of the rarest finds in the Kruger National Park is the spetacular Sable antelope, with its caracteristic curved horns. Unlike the spiral horned antelope of which only males have horns, with Sable antelope both sexes have horns. These horns are effectivelly used to fend off large predators, even lion. The scimitar-shaped horns can reach all the way to their rumps which makes for very good protection (predators usually prefer to attack their prey from behind). There are 4 subspecies of Sable of which all are threatened, which makes an encounter in the Kruger Park even more special.

24/01/2024

The Nyala is overall perfection, the combination of colours and appearence, makes the Nyala the envy of any fashion week in the world, even in Milan. The females however, unlike the males, are unfortunately very drab and of a rusty-brown colour. They are also the gentleman of the bush. When the males have a territorial dispute, they try to settle it first by displaying their size and magnificence (their manes erect would increase their size) to the other. Hilariously, they would walk in circles around each other for hours till a circular path emerges in the brush. In some cases however, the things become more serious and they will fight to death.

23/01/2024

To encounter this magnificent antelope is quite a breathtaking experience. The male adult Kudu grows a big set of spiral horns. The amount of twists in the horn indicates the age, with a bull in its prime up to 3 turns. During a dispute between 2 males, the horns might get entangled and can lead to the death of both animals. They are magnificent jumpers and can easily clear a 7-foot game fence. These “grey goasts” of the bush, as they are known, are very secretive and shy animals, often browsing silently along. The Greater Kudu is the second largest antelope in Africa.

22/01/2024

From the very top of rocky outcrops, this antelope causes envy for any girl wearing high heels. Nothing better for a Monday, don’t you think? Being the only antelope that lives on cliffs and rocky outcrops, the Klipspringer walks on specially designed hooves that help it to move across rocky terrain and up steep, rock-covered slopes with agility.

21/01/2024

Today I will introduce you to the Impala. Because of their large numbers, they are always taken for granted, but they are beautiful animals and, as each and every other animal, play a very important roll in the ecology of the Kruger Park. Frequently called the fast food of the bush because of a M/”follow me” marking on their rear reminicent of a very famous fast food company, they are the mainstay prey of all the predators, being approximately 78% of a leopard’s diet. The females await the right conditions (according to rain and availability of food) to give birth, causing an “explosion” of lambs usually in November, but as late as in January.

Address

468, Akasia Street
Hoedspruit
1380

Telephone

+27640381385

Website

http://www.africanflamesafaris.com/

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