In the past years, I have always combined the December and following January news into one newsletter – see previous newsletters on www.vivasafaris.com
We now are contracted to send out a monthly newsletter, so it should be very clear that there is no peace for wicked people like me.
December was a great month – we had unbelievably good rains, our guides had very good game viewing, we were involved in a rewarding charity operation and, to top it all, we bought a new (very fancy) open Gameviewer!
Our fancy new Gameviewer!
Subsequent to my highlighting the poor water conditions of the Olifants River, there have been a number of articles in the local press regarding the plight of the Olifants River – I am glad to see that my little old newsletters have had some effect with the powers that be! With the good rains, I am sure that the water conditions will improve – it’s looking positive!
Not so positive are the projected figures emanating from SA Tourism. They are expecting a significant drop in incoming tourist numbers. It really is not very surprising: with the global economic problems, tourism and travel, like most other capital-intensive industries, will experience a readjustment. Nevertheless, I am confident that some positive outcomes will eventuate: tour operators that inflate their prices will be caught out very quickly as sensible tourists look for genuine value-for-money products.
GAMEVIEWING NEWS
BONGANI reports that the dense bush is making game-viewing very difficult.
He reports his adventures experienced on 2 December as follows: “We drove along the S 100 and stopped to look at some birds. Suddenly we heard loud lion roaring calls coming from all directions. One male lion emerged from the bush and walked on the road. Two other male lions appeared from the other side of the road and were promptly set upon by the first lone male. With much roaring and scratching, the lions had a full-on scrap right in front of us. The lone lion was outnumbered and after sustaining a few minor scratches, left the scene of the fight, closely followed by the two other males. We drove on to the S 41 where we saw two hyenas eating a baby impala. Thereafter we drove for almost an hour seeing very little. I took the tar road to Ngotso and at the dam, we were lucky to find elephants, rhinos and buffalos. A short distance further, we came across two leopards, mother and cub, hunting a steenbok. We did not see the actual kill because of the thick vegetation, but heard it. Shortly thereafter, the cub came out carrying the steenbuck in its mouth. The mother had been teaching the cub how to hunt.”
Another magic day was had on 22 December. Bongani reports: “Shortly after entering at Orpen Gate, we heard lions roaring and found them on the Kingfisherspruit turnoff. Two kilometres further on we found a leopard up a tree and before we got to Satara for lunch, we picked up elephant, rhino and buffalo to complete the very quick and efficient sighting of the Big Five”
THULANI reports seeing a herd of six buffalo at the Welverdiend waterhole on the Sweni road. They were lying under a large Umbrella Thorn in which a leopard was nervously sitting. The nervous condition was reversed two days later when Thulani and clients were charged by a different leopard.
Thulani’s other highlights included watching two black-backed jackals attempt a kill on a baby impala which cleverly ran to the herd ram which chased the jackals away; watching a 2,5 metre python swallowing a steenbuck; three lionesses stalking a big herd of buffalo; four hyenas cracking the skull of a dead giraffe; a large bull hippo charging a herd of buffalo at Girivana waterhole.
His Christmas Day sightings are reported as follows: “I started the day by conducting a morning drive at Tremisana. Right at the turnoff, less than 200 metres from the Lodge, we saw a large lioness moving in the direction of Tremisana Dam, which is now full. I then took my group into Kruger for the day. We saw the usual – elephants, rhinos, buffalos and at 18h00 we came across a mother cheetah with two small cubs on the tarmac road not far from Orpen. They were about 2 metres from the vehicle and showed no fear, with the cubs rolling on the mother’s belly. What a great Christmas present for my guests!”
TOBY submitted the following report:
“The rains seem to have finally settled in and although this makes game viewing a lot more difficult due to the fact that the vegetation is a lot thicker and greener and the animals do not need to graze so closely to the roads or waterholes, Toby reports that he had a great month full of some very special migrant bird sightings, some of Toby's best Cheetah sightings and also a very scary leopard charge!
As we all know, Toby is a keen bird watcher and December has brought him and his guests a lot of special sightings with some migrants returning for the Summer. Throughout the month, Toby reports that the Diderik Cuckoo has been waking him up every morning, with its beautiful call, just outside his bedroom window. The Burchell's Coucal (also known as the rain bird) has been summonsing the rains with great effect and has been seen throughout the Park on a regular basis. The Southern Carmine Bee-eaters and the European Bee-eaters have been out in full force with the emergence of Termite alate (Winged Reproductive Termites) and on the 31st, Toby and his guests watched a flock of over 60 European Bee-eaters feasting on these termite alate that were flying from the nests in response to the rains.
Prior to starting work with Viva Safaris, Toby used to work on a Cheetah Breeding Project and had only ever seen Cheetah twice in the wild. This month was extra rewarding with 6 individual sightings! On Christmas day, Toby and his guests were about 5 minutes away from the gate when they watched a Cheetah stalk and chase a young impala lamb. The Cheetah stopped the chase before catching the Impala, and as Toby pulled up alongside of the Cheetah that was sitting next to the road, another Cheetah came racing across the road after another young Impala! This Cheetah also stopped the chase short of catching the Impala, but what a Christmas Present to Toby and his guests!
On the 23rd, Toby was also fortunate enough to drive alongside 2 young male Cheetahs for 25 minutes while they were busy re-marking their territories after the rains.
The 17th was to be very rewarding for leopard sightings. Not 30 minutes into the Park and Toby's wife, who was visiting on holidays, spotted a leopard lying right next to the main road between Orpen and Satara. While stopped next to it, Toby noticed that the leopard was acting quite disturbed and on further investigation, he saw that it had just killed a warthog. Obviously wanting to protect its prey, the leopard wasn't happy with the vehicle’s presence, so Toby asked his guests to please stay very still while he would move a bit further away to give some comfort to the leopard. As the guests turned in their seats ready to drive away, the leopard charged at the vehicle! What a fright the guests got!! One of the young ladies on the vehicle was kind enough to allow us to publish this photo in the newsletter, but added: "I apologise for it being fuzzy, I was so scared I couldn't hold the camera still".
Not a happy chappy!
BERTUS reports as follows; “December game-viewing on Balule started on a high note right on the first of December with a leopard on the afternoon drive. Toby was with me on the drive and we were watching the first baby impalas of the season when they all started running. Toby then spotted the leopard. We were just as surprised as the impala were.
The walks have been great with all the new plant growth and the insects. The veld is full of wild flowers as well. Lion sightings were in abundance and the best one of the month was of a lioness that was stalking a wildebeest. She was not successful but could have been if the five males with her would have joined in. The one lion did come to the vehicle to inspect our left front wheel. I thought that we were going to sit with a flat tyre in the middle of a pride of lions.
The rains this last week were great for us and it is amazing to see that all of the dams have filled up in a matter of just 2 days. There is also a hippo that has been seen on the 30th in the dam near Nonwane. We also ended the month on a high with two male lions that were sleeping close to the road.
Kruger sightings this month were very good as far as leopard sightings go. The most notable days were the 25th and the 29th when we saw leopard twice every day. On both days we had a leopard in the distance and a leopard really close by. We also had a Christmas day present: a black rhino on the Trichardt road.
Other game is getting more spread out and it makes viewing interesting and sometimes frustrating. We have seen a huge amount of baboons lately on the roads as well as a lot of raptors that are after the termites that emerge from holes in the sand.”
NELLY managed to get his report to me on time this month. Well done!
His December highlights included seeing a leopard with kill up a Marula tree; 16 lions on a buffalo kill at the Nwanedzi lookout point; two bull elephants “engaged in a big fight” on the S 100; lions hunting a kudu on the Sweni road and cheetah and rhino near Mudzanzene.
He reports his best day as follows: “Even before we got into Kruger proper, we saw a leopard on a tree (I told the guests the sighting was for free). Just in from Orpen we came across eight Wild Dogs on the tar road – three females and five pups. Further on, towards Tshokwane we found three lionesses surrounding a buffalo which they had wounded. The buffalo kept them at bay the whole time we were there. Unfortunately as it was getting dark and the gates were to be closed, we had to leave the scene. The next day I returned to the place and did not find any signs of the buffalo – dead or alive!”
NEWS AT TREMISANA GAME LODGE
Tremisana Lodge is looking absolutely stunning! The abundant rains have really succeeded in bringing out the beauty of the gardens. Tremisana Dam is 100% full. The dam was deepened in the winter and we are expecting the water to last until August 2009.
Tremisana Dam is 100% full
We were part of an initiative headed by Merle Bratusha of Olifants West Game Reserve to share our animals with underprivileged children. On 3 December Sidney, our mechanic, drove one of our Landcruisers with some of a group of about 60 underpriveleged kids. They had a party at Olifants Game Reserve and Father Christmas made sure it was a day they will never forget! It was very rewarding to see the sheer delight of the children and we hope that this will become an annual event.
It was very rewarding to see the sheer delight of the children!
NEWS AT MARC’S TREEHOUSE LODGE
Marc’s Treehouse Lodge has also had a record December rainfall. Ronald reports that all the dams are as full as the last “floods” in 2002. All the treehouses survived the heavy rains and it would appear that the rethatching of the roofs was well done.
The roads have been graded and Ronald reports that the number of young impala and young nyala must also be a new record.
We have bought a new double-door upright glass refrigerator – with the extreme heat, it is important to be properly stocked with ample beer supplies!
NEWS AT THE CHEETAH INN
Cheetah Inn had a busy December. Besides the increase in day visitors, we also experienced a significant increase in bookings over the festive season. The return guests were very happy to find air conditioners in all the rooms!
The good rains have also had a very positive effect on the gardens – everything is very green and very lush.
NEWS FOR OUR TRAVEL PARTNERS
We have bought a new Open Gameviewer. It will be based at Tremisana.
As mentioned earlier, we are very aware of the issue of value-for-money for our guests. I believe that our products offer the very best value in Kruger Park safaris. Our 2009 tariffs are available on our website: www.vivasafaris.com
We undertake to keep these rates fixed until 31 December 2009.
I include a couple of entries for December 08 in our Guestbooks:
Marc’s Treehouse Lodge:
Anna Krosvowska: “Hard to express my gratitude in a few sentences. This experience will be memorable forever. Thanks to Toby (I can’t understand where he got all his knowledge – like a lexicon) – and to Lauren who, with her warm smile, makes people feel welcome. I thank you and all the staff for a wonderful 10 days! I do not want to leave….”
Kirsten Olsen: “I had such a fantastic time here! The highlight was seeing the Black Mamba on our early morning walk! I learned lots and loved talking about the animals with all the guides. Thank you. Hopefully I will be able to make it back soon.”
Tremisana Game Lodge:
Lina Karstron: “Thanks so much for amazing hospitality. We felt right at home in the African wild with your home-cooked soup. We’re glad we booked Tremisana and will definitely tell all my friends back home in Singapore about Tremisana and Viva Safaris. Thank you for the most amazing experience. It has been an unforgettable holiday. All these wonderful memories will be with me for the rest of my life!”
Jean-Marc, Julie, Melanie, Isabella and Audrey Fellay: “What a great time! We saw all the Big Five! Thanks Bongani for your 20/20 eyesight. This was truly an amazing experience and our family will have wonderful memories of Kruger Park forever.”
I wish to express my grateful thanks to the staff of Viva Safaris for your hard work in 2008. The comments in our Guest Books are ample and irrefutable proof of your dedication and industry. We are fortunate indeed to have such high calibre people in our company!
I take this opportunity of wishing everyone a successful and prosperous 2009.
With kind regards,
Piero
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