June 2008 marked the 110th anniversary of the Kruger Park. In June 1898 the Sabie Game Reserve was proclaimed by the then president of the Transvaal Republic, Paul Kruger, after whom this wonderful conservation area is named.
A few other interesting facts : the first Warden was Colonel James Stevenson-Hamilton, in whose honour Skukuza is named. He was appointed in July 1902. On 31 May 1926 the whole area between the Crocodile River in the south and the Levuvu River in the north was consolidated into the Kruger Park. The first fee - paying visitors entered the Kruger Park in 1927. It is believed that the area was inhabited some 100 000 years ago by Homo Erectus as a number of cultural artifacts dating back to Stone Age man have been found throughout the Kruger Park.
Originally and even up to the present time the main aim of creating the Kruger Park was conservation. The development of tourist facilities was undertaken initially to try to convince trigger-happy farmers that conservation was a viable alternative. Today tourism necessarily is crucial to the preservation of Kruger insofar as the revenue generated provides the funds required for research and conservation.
Recently there have been leases granted to a number of big companies to operate their own private lodges within Kruger. At all times we trust that the developments will be done with the greatest of care and consideration so as not to prejudice the natural environment.
Viva Safaris was one of the special guests invited to the 110th Birthday celebration held at Skukuza on 14 June 2008. In recognition of the great contribution made by Ronald , Camp Manager at Marc’s Treehouse Lodge, we sent him as our representative. Ronald reports that it was a truly memorable occasion with some very good speeches especially by the Minister of Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk and the CEO of Kruger Park, Dr Bandile Mkhize. Ronald returned feeling very confident about the future.
I trust that the confidence is adjoined by a realization that there are many challenges ahead. I read an article last week about the horrific situation of game reserves in Zimbabwe where it is alleged that most of the game has been killed and eaten. The issue of land claims on Kruger as well as the ever present problem relating to poverty will need to be satisfactorily addressed. As the petrol price and food prices increase regularly, it becomes ever more difficult for the poor to survive. Of course, even people that are morally correct, when driven by hunger pains may consider poaching animals or worse still, resort to theft.
We advise our clients to give their valuables such as passports, travellers cheques etc to the camp managers to be secured in the lock-up safes. We also insist that money, cell phones and cameras etc not be left unguarded in the rooms. It is a great pity that we have to do these things, but totally understandable in terms of the harsh economic realities to which I have alluded. The treehouses specifically are easy to break into as the walls are made of reeds so our management makes a point of telling all the guests at Marc’s to be careful with their possessions.
Monkeys too have been problematic at Marc’s Camp. We ask all our guests not to leave foodstuff in the treehouses. With the shortage of natural food in the bush, the monkeys smell the food and cause great damage to the treehouses in their determined efforts to get in.
GAMEVIEWING NEWS
I am amazed at the excellent reports received this month. It must rate as one of the best Junes of all time!
BONGANI spent the first 3 weeks of June on long leave, but got into the swing of things immediately on the 21st . His fortunate tourists came across 5 lions on the S 100 road that were after a leopard. They chased the leopard up a tree and Bongani and his guests watched them there for half an hour. Bongani returned to the spot 5 hours later and nothing had changed : lions waiting patiently and leopard asleep in the tree - very African ! No-one knows how the saga ended as Bongani had to leave so as to make the gate closing time. Lions and leopards are competitors for the many impala on the S 100 road. It is clear that the lions intended to kill the leopard. Bongani finished an exceptional day by seeing an aardvark on the road from the gate at Marc’s to the main lodge.
On the 28th Bongani came across a herd of eight White Rhino along the Sweni Road about 1 km from two lions. On the 29th June Bongani and his group came across a pair of mating lions, hippo and a herd of elephant near Timbavati. The lions were rudely interrupted in their amorous affair when one of the elephant cows, probably the matriarch, chased them into the bush.
BERTUS has joined our operation on a full-time basis and we are very happy to have him. Not only has he been born and bred in the bush but he has an extensive knowledge of Balule. His father, Wynand, is Warden of Olifants West Game Reserve which contains Tremisana and his grandfather, Albertus, has been a landowner there for decades.
Bertus reports that he and his clients saw lions, elephants and buffalo on each and every safari. Other regular sightings are of a female leopard with a young cub at Nsemani Dam and a pair of cheetah near the Orpen Gate.
 Bertus reports an interesting wildlife experience at Piet Grobler Dam. A pride of four lions were resting on the bank when a herd of elephants appeared from the bush. The elephants chased a few hippos into the water and then turned their attention to the lions which were set upon with great gusto. These were scattered in all directions. The elephants then proceeded to drink and play in the water. Two yo ung calves started rolling around in the mud. Their mothers immediately pulled them out (perhaps they are aware of some big crocodiles that live in the dam). No sooner had the mothers looked away than the youngsters re-entered the mud. This happened no fewer than four times.
Bertus sees a rhino bull regularly on Balule Plains along the Tshukudu cutline. This particular rhino spends time every morning and evening defecating on the middens he uses to mark his territory. There was a disagreement between this rhino and one of the Tshukudu bulls and Bertus was amazed that the fence survived! Bertus reports one sunset drive on which his guests saw three different species of owl: White-faced, Pearl-spotted and Scops.
CHANTELLE has hade an excellent month. On 1st June her clients had a grandstand view from a lookout point (where we can get out the vehicle). A herd of elephants chased a large pride of lions out of the dry bed of the Timbavati River. On the 2nd June she came across c heetah on the main Orpen – Satara road followed by two different prides of lions with cubs - the first pride had 6 month old cubs while the second pride had 6 week old cubs. On the 4th June her clients were startled to see an impala convulsing on the side of the road in its death throes. Chantelle believes it was probably bitten by a snake. On 11th June her tourists witnessed a pride of six younger lions being chased by two big males. Later on that day a leopard crouched down right next to the vehicle and then moved off.
On the 18th June Chantelle was very fortunate to come across a pack of six Wild Dogs feeding on an impala. The Alpha bitch seemed to be heavily pregnant and Chantelle reckoned she was about two days away from giving birth.
On the 20th June her tourists witnessed something very scary : a full grown male leopard was stalking about 4 km from Orpen Gate. The item on the leopard’s menu was homo sapiens although I doubt “sapiens” is applicable here. Would you believe that a Mozambican refugee was the intended prey. Chantelle tried unsuccessfully to convince the woman to get into our vehicle. When she was shown the leopard a mere 20 metres away, she was very eager to get in. This type of behaviour causes problems. Anyone on a bush walk needs to stay close to our armed Viva Safaris ranger to avoid being taken. I reckon that this particular leopard has already had a human meal!
NELLY reckons that the 14th June will go down in his book as one of the most exciting days of the year. At around 09h20 his tourists were thrilled to see a leopard crossing the Rabelais road. At 11h30 they came across an impala carcass up a Marula tree near Ngotso Dam. After lunch at around 15h30 they saw a pride of 1 6 lions under the shade of a Leadwood tree. On the return trip at Nsemani Dam they had a good view of two big male lions fast asleep at the side of the road. At Nwamatsatsa bridge the group spent almost 30 minutes watching a leopard stalk and attempt to kill a baboon. The troop rallied once they heard the alarm call and our clients witnessed the leopard being ignominiously chased by the big male baboons.
On his bush walks at Marc’s, Nelly and his guests came across the newborn White Rhino calf I wrote about in last month’s newsletter. It was with its mother and both rhinos seemed very relaxed and in no way bothered by the presence of Nelly and guests.
STEVE sent me a brief report as he and Chantelle have taken a fantastic opportunity to do elephant research in Tanzania as of 1st July. I wish them both the very best and hope that on their return they will be able to make a positive contribution to our elephant culling questions. In his report Steve highlights sightings of cheetah near the vehicle, a spotted hyena under a tree in which a leopard was resting, as well as numerous lion sightings. He had excellent viewing on Balule Plains with 3 sightings of leopard and 3 sightings of cheetah along with numerous sightings of the other Big Five.
THULANI , our newest full-time guide, reports sightings of leopard, big elephant and buffalo herds on the Sweni road. His highlights of the month are as follows : Two lionesses and four cubs feeding on a young zebra not more than seven metres from the vehicle; an even closer sighting of two lions and three lionesses two metres from the vehicle (one of our lady tourists started yelling which made the lions cross the road in a hurry); a big leopard with its kill up a tree on the S 100; a pride of lions attempted a kill on a buffalo - actually getting close enough to jump on the back of the buffalo which charged off in a hurry; a leopard attempt to catch an impala near Satara and a very close view of a White Rhino family (bull, cow and calf) near Mudzanzeni.
NEWS AT TREMISANA GAME LODGE
The crocodile that Wynand has twice removed has returned again to the empty Tremisana Dam. Wynand now believes that the crocodile may be a female and that she has returned to check on eggs that may have been laid somewhere near the dam. Crocodile eggs are laid about 30 cm below the surface. A normal clutch is around 50 eggs and the incubation period is around 90 days - so if I am correct, the hatchlings should appear soon. An interesting fact about crocodiles is that the determination of the sex of the hatchling is temperature dependent, not genetically determined. Research has shown that if the average temperature during the period of incubation from day 30 to day 60 ( i e the second third of the incubation period ) is less than 31,7C or more than 34,5C then the hatchlings will all be female. So for males to be born, the temperature must lie between these figures - a fairly small range!
The other concern that I have is how the hatchlings will be able to survive without water, since Tremisana Dam is bone-dry. Nature has a solution. The mother crocodile can transport them to the nearest water by carrying the hatchlings ( which are about 30 cm long at birth ) in her gular ( throat ) pouch.
To the ignorant, seeing a mother crocodile taking the youngsters in her mouth is incorrectly seen as some sort of cannibalism - the fact is that she does not swallow them but is in the process of translocating her young to a safer haven!
Lion activity around the camp has been constant – we hear the roars virtually every night. On 6th June the pride killed three impala on our property.
Our maintenance staff have been busy: We have upgraded two of the three rooms designated for physically challenged tourists and are awaiting the delivery of new rails for the third chalet. All headboards have been revarnished and the swimming pool has been reserviced. The outside bush shower and toilet have been upgraded and new reeds and lats have been added..
NEWS AT MARC’S TREEHOUSE LODGE
The buffalo herd is seen on a daily basis and is showing little or no concern for the proximity of humans. They drink daily from the dam and are often seen along the pathways.
On one occasion this month, a buffalo fell into the swimming pool at the Adventure Camp. We had to call out the local vet to assist in getting him out. We are now contemplating building steps so that the buffalo can extricate themselves if they repeat their little swimming exercise.
White Rhino are being seen very often now and they are adding an extra thrill to our clients’ experience of the Bush Walks. They are fairly placid beasts. No signs have been seen of the less placid Black Rhino yet. Ronald has offered to accompany any of our guests back to their treehouses with his rifle if they feel nervous.
On the maintenance side, we re-fibreglassed the swimming pool at the main camp. All the treehouses have had chicken wire added to the thatch roofs so that the damage caused by monkeys and baboons is limited. We have upgraded the assistant manager’s room by adding new aluminium windows and repainting the whole area.
NEWS AT THE CHEETAH INN
A leopard has made the lives of our resident monkeys and mongooses quite difficult. It operates between Cheetah Inn and Marc’s Treehouse Lodge. We were first alerted to its presence when a passing motorist drove into the grounds to inform us that he had just seen a leopard chasing warthogs inside our fenced area. The spoor indicates that he is a large male and that he enters Cheetah Inn property almost every evening. It has been seen by quite a few of our guests and thankfully has kept away from the hotel rooms and chalets. We have added a new spotlight to the parking area for the benefit of our local visitors who frequent the bar.
Maintenance is also in full swing at Cheetah Inn. We replaced the main water tank and have serviced all the fans and airconditioners. The termites have created a problem in one of the outside rondawels and we had to call in the environmental and pest services people. What we really need is another pair of aardvark, but with the leopard around it’s not such a good idea.
NEWS FOR OUR TRAVEL PARTNERS
We have signed two contracts with operators who wish to use Cheetah Inn. They will be bringing coach tourists as of the latter part of 2008 onwards. Our understanding is that the Kruger Park has already allocated and sold all its beds for June 2010 (Football World Cup time) to operators. This makes us realise how lucky we are that we own our accommodation establishments!
The Cheetah Inn has also hosted a number of groups that are doing volunteer work in the Acornhoek area. These groups consist of caring teenagers who have given selflessly of their time and money to upgrade the schools nearby. They have also interacted with the local schoolchildren. In June we have had a group from the USA and another from Canada. We are pleased and proud to be associated with this outreach program.
Again my thanks is extended to all the staff that go the extra mile to please our valued guests. It is clear that word of mouth referral is by far the best marketing tool.
The following are the comments selected from our guest books:
Tremisana
09-06-08 Peter Collins petercollins@telkomsa.net “Thanks for the extra couple of kilos gained. Great game viewing. Great time ”
18-06-08 Globe Students Lebanon “We had a wonderful stay. We saw the Big Five and had a lot of fun at the lodge and on safari. This place became a home away from home. Hope to see you again”
26-06-08 Timothy and Ann Hunt timothyann@cox.net “Lovely stay and Pearl is an awesome hostess come companion and ‘ jack of all ’ ”.
Marcs
17-06-08 Alison Alison.fergusson@btopenworld.com “Brilliant time - accommodation was great and everyone looked after us really well. Will recommend ”
19-06-08 Alexandra lexytaylor@cocego.ca "Excellent staff - were all friendly and helpful ”
30-06-08 Egil Asen gardintrappa@gmail.com “It has been great - an experience of my life ! Thank you ! ”
I have been asked by some recipients of these newsletters for further news - I can only refer you to our website www.vivasafaris.com where you will find posted the newsletters dating back to May 2002
An email received from guests Jim & Linda King of Georgia, Dallas:
"My husband and I were there 10-13 May 2008 and had an unbelievable time and want to go back. Pearl is truly a gem and made sure we were always on time for all our adventures. Our guides, Steve and Bertis made sure we had ample opportunities to view the surroundings and see as many of the animals as possible and their knowledge of the plants, animal habits, etc. was truly remarkable. They even kept us safe when, on our 4-hour walking safari, we were "stalked" by a mad elephant - they both kept their cool - which we all appreciated. The day in Kruger Park was more than we ever could have wished for - except it would have been nice if the lions and the leopards woke up!!! We wer e in South Africa for three weeks and the safari was our final adventure before returning home - we are glad it was, for everything else we did, while exciting and enjoyable, pales in comparison."
Regards and best wishes,
Piero
|
