The month of August is traditionally a windy month in South Africa. Dust is blown around the dry veld and there is a hint of desperation as the animals wind their monotonous way to the few remaining waterholes. Conditions have deteriorated rapidly as the hot sun hammers away at the remaining vegetation. Grass cover in the Balule Game Reserve is very limited and the animals are travelling great distances in search of fodder. Many of these animals have migrated towards the Olifants River and the areas that still have a little grazing. Conditions at Marc's Camp are only slightly better , with a large population of nyala now permanently found along the Klaserie River. On the positive side , the first buds of spring have appeared towards the end of August. This is great news for browsers such as giraffe and kudu who now enjoy eating fresh leaves.
On the game-viewing front, there has been a noticeable increase in numbers
of animals found around the watering points. It is not unusual to find herds of impala in excess of 50, while the congregations of zebra and wildebeest ensure a constant coming and going all day long at the waterholes. The buffalo herds are very large and kick up a great deal of dust as they move along , easily making their presence known to eager camera-clutching tourists and hungry lion prides alike.
Our guides have reported excellent game-viewing especially along the S 100 road. This road straddles the Nwanedzi river, which has now stopped flowing but has many pools of water along its course. On a recent safari, we counted (roughly) the following game along its 22 km course :
Impala : 200; Zebra : 300; Wildebeest : 120; Giraffe : 29; Kudu : 28; Waterbuck : 30; Warthog : 15; Baboon : 45; Monkey : 21; Buffalo : 350; Elephant : 38; lion : 7; Cheetah : 3; Crocodile : 3; Hippo : 14; Bushbuck : 1; Jackal : 2; Steenbuck : 3 and Duiker : 1. This amounts to over 1200 animals ! In summer , after good and heavy rains , we are unlikely to see so many animals on this same stretch.
Night drives have been good - we can almost always rely on elephants to show themselves . A few specials this month included aardvark , porcupine , civet and bushbabies. Bushbabies are being seen more regularly now that the cold weather is over.
Our bookings continue to exceed expectations. We are very grateful for the continued support of so many of our regular travel agents, without whom Viva Safaris would struggle to do as well as we are doing presently. We assure you of our commitment to maintain our standards and live up to our claim that we deliver " the best value-for-money " safaris in Africa!
NEWS AT TREMISANA
We often see elephants on the other side of the fence from the Tremisana Camp grounds. On the 29th of August, Delina was awakened by 2 huge elephants right outside her window but INSIDE the camp at 02h00. She called Sidney, Anthony and Marcel and they made enough noise to shoo the Jumbos away. The next morning, we saw that one of the elephants had been right up to the kitchen and just outside the boma. Apart from one or two broken Marula trees, very little damage was done . We have completed the rebuilding of the septic tanks. The well-watered garden is looking really good compared to the outside veld. Our first frogs have appeared and no doubt their calls for a mate will also be of interest to one or two reptiles of the serpentine persuasion. Some of our clients are concerned about the presence of snakes at Tremisana. We always assure them that there is no danger - all snakes will move away quickly at the first hint of human presence. Humans are not the natural prey of snakes. The staff at Tremisana check each and every room at around 16h00, before the arrival of our guests, so there is nothing to worry about.
NEWS AT MARC'S CAMP
We hosted Kingfisher School from Phalaborwa whose 14 grade 5 pupils
enjoyed a great bush experience ably led by Marcel and Lorraine. The Adventure Camp also provided overnight accommodation for 90 pupils and teachers from Masakona Primary School in Tzaneen. The treehouses have become extremely popular with our backpacker tourists. At the risk of being seen to be blowing our own trumpet, we include a few comments from the guestbook :( emails supplied to enable reader to verify authenticity )
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dsaltz2211@aol.com " Wow! Encroyable !"
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syrivera9@hotmail.com "I loved it here and I can't wait to bring my family here to enjoy it with me next time"
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frank18385@yahoo.com "An amazing experience! A REAL bush experience.I will be back and recommend it highly. Thanks Ronald"
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shindira1@yahoo.com "Thank you so much for one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I definitely will be back"
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speaktosteph@gmail.com "Fantastic stay -loved the tree lodges, fire pit, breakfast by the pond! Wonderful food, friendly helpful staff- good job Ronald - keep it up. Thanks for everything"
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ruthworld@hotmail.com " Thanks for sharing with us the spirit of Africa-it's been unforgettable !"
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ahutchinson833@hotmail.com "Great idea for a place-adds to the experience of safari. Even saw some wildlife round the camp"
Comments like these make our operation so worthwhile and our efforts so
rewarding.
NEWS AT CHEETAH INN
Our " Cinderella " camp is slowly and steadily advancing to the stage where it is standing on its own feet. We have poured a lot of money into getting the hotel and conference centre right. We have repainted the front entrance and have upgraded the pool area. We are hoping to launch a big marketing drive to get this venue as popular and successful as Tremisana and Marc's Camp. Along with McFarlane Safaris, we plan to introduce a novel family and student safari concept with base camp at Cheetah Inn. More on this exciting plan next newsletter !
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