2003 started with great excitement as the tourguides were looking forward to conducting safaris on our newly-acquired open gameviewers. Feedback from our clients has been very positive. In fact our guests have been raving so much about the experience that management decided to invest in a fourth open gameviewer. We are now in a position to consider offering guests at nearby lodges places on our open gameviewers should these be available.
Gameviewing in the Kruger has been excellent. The whole Satara/Orpen/Nwanedzi regions have had enough rain to sustain grazing but insufficient to have excess water for drinking. As a result, the game has been concentrating around the permanent rivers and artificial waterholes.
Sightings of the Big Five have never been better in January/February. Lions are seen almost every day. In fact, we missed lions only once in 26 safaris! Elephants have been seen on every trip. Rhino sightings have become a lot more frequent and a herd has taken up residence near Ngotso spring where they are often seen. Buffalo sightings have not been as good as in December, but the herds seem to have become far bigger. Recently we encountered a herd of about 600 between Letaba and Phalaborwa. The most difficult member of the Big Five to see is normally the leopard. We are still amazed at the frequency with which we see the leopards at Nsemani waterhole. A young male has become extremely tame there and even used the Viva Safaris open vehicle to stalk an impala. Our guests have been taking some stunning photos of leopards.
In an effort to boost our marketing program in Cape Town, we have employed Anthony to assist us. Initial reports have been very favourable. Our marketing relies significantly on word of mouth referrals and we hope that our satisfied clients pass on good news about Viva Safaris to their friends and families.
NEWS AT TREMISANA
The lions are back! After an absence of about a month, Pieter saw a pride on a recent night drive. The shortage of grazing around Tremisana has had an effect on gameviewing – the bulk of the animals moved down to the Olifants River. After the rains the fell at the beginning of March, they have now returned in greater numbers.
Our elephants also went to the Olifants River and returned with a vengeance. Not only did they again cause havoc with our water supply, but they went one further this time. At about 02h00 in the morning, guests in chalet 1 and 2 were woken up by cracking of trees in the camp. Camp manager Ziggi was awakened and guess what: a herd of elephants were calmly eating all our palm trees. They also destroyed the Strilizia at the swimming pool, along with pipes to the pool pump. Ziggi and Thomas managed to shoo the elephants out of camp but not before extensive damage was done to our beautifully manicured garden. Anyway, at least the guests had something very unusual to write about in our visitors’ book.
The boma at Tremisana has been upgraded so as to cover the open section with reeds, thus affording complete shade at breakfast time. It can get very hot in January/February, so we welcome this new addition.
NEWS AT MARC’S CAMP
Matthew and Tara from Tala Game Reserve have joined us and have made quite an impact on Marc’s Camp. Matthew was Head Ranger at Tala and has brought some very exciting ideas with him.
Gameviweing has been good – our regular sightings of nyala, bushbuck, impala, kudu, waterbuck, wildebeest, warthog and giraffe continue on a daily basis. The buffalo herd is seen amongst the reeds in the Klaserie River. Hyenas are still heard regularly at night.
A new 24-delegate conference room has been built along the river near the rocks. We are adding the finishing touches and hope that the center will be available for groups by 1st April.
The treehouses have also had an improvement made to them. As a result of concerns of some of our clients that snakes could make their way through the reed walls of the treehouses, we have added canvas screens to the interior of each treehouse. The canvas is about 1,3 metres high and has also been added to the en-suite bathrooms. The canvas will also help in keeping out the cold in winter.
Treehouse 5 (our highest treehouse) has had to be reconstructed. The tree on which it was built died some time back. Recently there were signs that its root system was not as sturdy as before and we weren’t going to take any chances, especially with some of our honeymooners who love this treehouse.
The Adventure Camp is looking good. Apart from numerous educational displays, we have various live specimens on show for our clients: earthworms, termites, tortoises, snakes, fish, spiders, frogs, dung beetles and millipedes.
The obstacle course items have all been varnished. We are receiving the students from the international school in Maputo in mid-March and hope that they enjoy the experience.
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