In South Africa, August is known as the ' windy month ' . This year was no exception. We had cold weather with near gale-force winds in Cape Town for a large part of the month. These conditions continued into the interior of the country and the Kruger Park was also buffeted with strong winds bringing cold conditions. Our experience with game-viewing under cold and windy conditions is that the animals ( like humans, I suppose ) look for shelter. As a result , gameviewing on cold and windy days is generally poor. Nevertheless the guides have supplied the following stats on percentage success sightings of the Big Five for August 2006 : Elephant : 100 % Buffalo : 100 % Lion : 80 % Rhino : 40 % Leopard : 35 %
It is interesting that the rhino sightings have dropped a little since July. We believe it has to do with the windy conditions . The rhinos find a secluded sheltered spot and lie down for most of the day. On the other hand, buffalo sightings have increased since last month up to a 100 % record. We have seen some really big herds - up to 500 animals at a time. These herds are moving great distances in search of fodder. It hasn't helped their cause that the authorities have burned large tracts of bush. Only once there is some precipitation will the new grass appear. We are hoping that the short shower that we had towards the end of August will result in the appearance of new green shoots.
The dry season brings a fair amount of stress into the lives of the animals. Elvis reports seeing two serious fights in August. At Nsemani Dam, a difference of opinion regarding the best spot to drink led to a fairly serious fight between two bull elephants. The loser was quite seriously injured , but luckily was able to run off without the victor in pursuit. He was seen the next day looking a little out of sorts but having survived. Not so lucky was a rhino bull that died on the 27 August on the main Orpen-Satara tar road after a territorial fight with another bull. Our guests were a little perturbed when they saw the Section Ranger had removed the horn. This is done to avoid having unscrupulous tourists remove the horn and add to the problem of further poaching. Similarly, when elephant carcasses are encountered in the bush, the section rangers remove the tusks so as to limit any illicit trading in ivory. Things became so bad in terms of tourists removing plants and animals that the Park authorities have had to employ a security company at all the gates. These security guards have the right to ask any tourists to open the boot of their vehicle so that the guard may check to see if anything is being illegally removed. What a pity that human greed allows for such eventualities!
With the warmer weather, the guides report an increase in the number of snake sightings. Elvis reports seeing boomslang fairly often. On one particularly lucky occasion, the clients were watching a boomslang crossing the road. All of a sudden a Bataleur Eagle appeared from nowhere and in one athletic swoop picked up the snake with one talon and flew off. This is no mean task as boomslangs move fairly quickly . The name " Bataleur " derives from the French word for acrobat and there was no doubt among any of our clients as to the aptness of the name.
Snakes tend to frighten some of our guests. Even from the safety of the open vehicle, we often find that some clients are really terrified. Snakes do not regard humans as their natural prey. In all our experience in the bush, we have never once been attacked or charged by snakes. If they feel threatened , then snakes may become aggressive. We ensure that our cleaning staff check every chalet at Tremisana and every room and rondawel at Cheetah Inn before the arrival of guests. We have illuminated the pathways at Tremisana and Cheetah Inn to ensure our guests are confident when walking from their chalets to the boma and reception areas. At Marc's Camp, if a snake gets in, it knows exactly how to get out, so there is no problem. We need to remind ourselves that we are intruders in their domain and we cannot simply kill every snake we come across. They do invaluable good work in keeping the rodent population in check.
We had an interesting experience in this regard in early August. Tremisana has beautiful gardens and these are kept well-watered by our spray system. The result at this time of the year is that Tremisana is a veritable oasis. On the outside of the security fence, the veld is dry and brown; on the inside the gardens are green and luxuriant. The end result is that the abundant greenery attracts frogs and birds and mice and......snakes. On 8 August, Delina and William noticed a puff adder approaching the bar. It would have been a simple matter to dispatch the snake (by killing it). However the staff all know the commitment Viva Safaris has to conservation so Delina called the Warden to attend to the matter. It took 2 hours to finally extricate the puff adder from behind the bar. We believe these snakes are territorial so simply throwing them over the fence would have served little purpose. We had to drive it 25 km away and release it there, none the worse for wear.
SUNSET DRIVES
With the lenghthening of the daylight hours, we will be extending our sunset drives by about half an hour. On the whole, we have had good sightings, except on those days when the wind has been blowing like mad. Bushbabies are being seen more regularly and a resident civet frequents the area in front of the Guest House where it forages on leftovers Delina puts out from the kitchen. The crocodile at Tremisana Dam is still around and we are pumping water to ensure it has a pleasant stay. Lion activity is good - we hear them most nights. We also hear hyenas regularly which is a good sign. Elephants are seen regularly and the damage to trees is unfortunately on the increase. On a night drive on 25 August we came across a bull in musth. With the dryness of the ground, the trees have their roots less firmly entrenched in the ground and this elephant was uprooting the red bushwillows with an absolute relish. The ease with which he uprooted fully grown trees not only demonstrated the immense strength these animals have but also is a stark reminder of the problem we have with excessive elephants. To date, we have not heard any news re elephant culling, but expect the matter to be brought to finality very soon.
NEWS AT TREMISANA
In keeping with our policy of being eco-friendly, we have decided in future to take all our non - biodegradable refuse to a dumpster which will be built near the main gate. We shall also take all remaining bottles and metal tins at the present dumping site to the dumpster. Despite the dry conditions, both our boreholes are still doing very well and we are watering our gardens on a daily basis. The monkey troop is now resident in the camp and they roost in the trees outside chalet 1. Their alarm calls have alerted our staff to the presence of snakes . As mentioned earlier, our policy is to ensure that there are no snakes anywhere near the guest facilities and whenever necessary, we catch the snakes and drop them off far away. With the looming onset of the warmer weather, we have been servicing our fans and airconditioning units. Delina has arranged to use two candle-displays ( 6 candles apiece ) at dinner time. It adds a touch of romance to the place and despite the windy conditions, has been favourably accepted by our guests.
NEWS AT MARC'S CAMP
The buffalo breeding herd that was kept in the fenced enclosure near the gate has been released by the new Warden. We understand the reason for this is to allow them to graze on the grass cover which is still quite good in places ( no doubt saving on the Lucerne bill ). These buffalo have become accustomed to humans insofar as they were fed and watered regularly. It came as a huge surprise when a buffalo cow ( with an identifying yellow tag ) came strolling up to guests at the main lodge. She stopped literally 1 metre from them . Some excellent photos were taken. The warthogs and nyala are polishing off all the plants and grass around the swimming pool despite Ronald's vociferous protestations. They come late at night so he has no chance of winning this one. We have fitted a pump to the new borehole and are now pleased that our water supply is better guaranteed. Both boreholes will be able to supply water to both the Treehouse camp and the Adventure camp.
NEWS AT THE CHEETAH INN
August saw a number of building operations progressing at the Cheetah Inn. The front gate is in place and is locked every night. A room has been built at the gate and Andrew has the responsibility of keeping control after hours. New wooden banisters have been erected at the front entrance to the hotel proper as well as along the paths leading to the front doors of the outside rondawels. Construction has commenced with 2 new rooms near the pool. We have engaged a professional to solve the termite problem - we really should import some aardvark but were unable to purchase any - they are a rare species ! We had an interesting provisional booking made by someone for the national Minister of Tourism, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk - although we are not sure if this is genuine. Our main borehole has been cleaned and is pumping between 4500 and 5000 litres per hour - even putting Tremisana's main borehole to shame !
NEWS FOR OUR TRAVEL PARTNERS
ANIMAL NUMBERS IN KRUGER
We have received latest figures of the census 2005-2006 for your information : Impala : 98 000 Giraffe : 7 700 Wildebeest : 8 100 Kudu : 13 400 White Rhino : 8 900 Waterbuck : 5000 Zebra : 32 900
Figures for buffalo and elephant are not available as yet
What is very worrying is the decline in the number of wildebeest which has dropped from about 13 000 in the 2004 census.
EMPLOYMENT OFFERED
There is a vacancy for an honest barlady at the Cheetah Inn. Applicants must be wildlife enthusiasts. It is strongly recommended that she be a BLUE BULLS supporter !
BEDS AT OUR ESTABLISHMENTS
For your information, we include info re the number of beds at our establishments :
Tremisana :
Chalets :
FIVE 2-bedded units ; THREE double-bedded units ; ONE 3-bedded unit ; ONE 4-bedded unit ; TWO family units ( 1 double bed and 2 single beds ) Guest House :
2 en-suite bedrooms , one with double bed and bath , the other with 3 single beds and shower
Marc's Treehouse Camp:
FOUR 2-bedded units ; THREE double-bedded units ; THREE 4-bedded units; ONE 6-bedded unit and ONE family unit ( 1 double bed and 2 single beds ) Adventure Camp ( Self-catering ) : FOUR 6-bedded units ( 1 double bed and 2 double bunks per unit ) and FOUR 8-bedded units ( 4 double bunks per unit )
Cheetah Inn:
TEN 2-bedded units ; FOUR double-bedded units ; ONE 3-bedded unit and TWO 4-bedded units
By year-end we will have completed a new guest-house at Marc's Camp . It comprises 2 bedrooms both en suite with double bed in one and 3 single beds in the other. At Cheetah Inn we will complete 2 more en suite rooms each with 2 single beds .
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