What a pity that most of our tourists are from the Northern Hemisphere and prefer their warmer climes during the period June to August. The gameviewing in our winter months is unbelievably good : the concentrations of game around the waterholes and river courses are getting larger and larger - we have seen 5 actual kills in the period 1 June to 31 July. We are certain that gameviewing this year is going to be the best ever , and is improving especially now as the dry season progresses.
Our guides are becoming a little blase about predator sightings. The success rate of lion sightings for June and July is now well over 90 % and climbing! It is indeed a reasonably unlucky day when our clients do not see lions. The concentrations of prey animals at the permanent waterholes and dams is very high : we are having great sightings at Nsemani Dam, Girivane waterhole ; the S 100 ( sand road along the Nwanedzi river ) ; Ngotso dam and Piet Grobler dam ( north of Timbavati picnic spot ).
Our tourists have been lucky with kills : 3 lots of buffalo, 1 wildebeest and 1 impala were killed IN FRONT OF our tourists ! We know of local South African tourists who have visited the Kruger Park on dozens of occasions and have never seen any kills. It goes back to what was communicated in a previous newsletter : If you are at the right place at the right time, then you will see the sights that documentaries are made of.
Our night drives have been generally good. Although there have been fewer lion sightings than in summer , on the positive side a group of 3 cheetah have moved into the Tremisana section. They have been seen drinking at Tremisana dam on at least 3 occasions as well as on the night drives.
Our 6 day adventure safari is starting to become popular . One of the highlights of this package is a 3 - 4 hour " hike" conducted in Kruger by Kruger Park rangers. There have been excellent reports from very satisfied clients. Our newly appointed chief guide ,Mark Jones , was invited to join a Viva Safaris group and reports as follows : " On July 18 , I was priveleged to accompany my 4 guests on a bush walk with 2 Kruger Park rangers. We were the only ones on the walk, so it was nice and personal. We were driven at 05h15 ( still dark ) to a spot about 15 km away from any roads. I found the senior guide very informative and knowledgeable and with a good sense of humour. During the course of the walk , we were shown trees, spoors and signs so as to give us a better insight into the workings of the bush. We encountered a huge bull elephant and moved quickly out of the way so as to be downwind of him. Not long afterwards, we encountered 2 white rhino bulls and followed them for about 400 metres, getting some great photos. Even if we had not seen these giants, the walk would have still been a great success: I felt greatly excited and humbled to be out in the animals' domain , far from any signs of humans. Seeing an elephant on foot always makes me feel so small and vulnerable. If I get the opportunity to do this walk again and again and again, I will jump to it - I can never get tired of such an amazing experience ! "
NEWS AT TREMISANA
We have appointed Mark Jones as senior guide. He has a FGASA 3 qualification as well as experience in training guides. He has had great practical experience having worked at Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre for 2 years. He spent the last 2 years as Chief Guide of the Umgeni Bird Park in Durban . We are sure he is one of the best bird guides in South Africa ! On the maintenance side, we have emptied all the sewage tanks and have dug a large hole to deposit litter. Most tourists do not realise that there is no such thing as refuse removal and water reticulation plants out in the bush. We have had to introduce overhead electrified wires to try to keep the elephants away from the staff accommodation and water reservoir. We trust that our guides keep everybody seated as we leave Tremisana on the night drives - no good decapitating or electrocuting our valued clients ! We need to accept that the elephants roamed this area centuries ago - long before Viva Safaris ever existed . We have been reassured that the Marula trees will regenerate in the Summer and the elephants will hopefully go and break down Marula trees elsewhere. Meanwhile the debate re elephant culling rages on with no solution evident as yet.
NEWS AT MARC'S CAMP
Hans left as soon as he settled his business and we have appointed Ronald, our resident carpenter, as acting Camp Manager. It is a bold move and in keeping with Black Empowerment tenets. Ronald is very well-read and has done a great job thus far! On the maintenance front , Ronald has supervised and personally replaced the reeds at the front entrance with wooden lats - it looks really stunning. We have replaced the boilers at treehouses 4 and 5 with electric geysers. There are 5 benches strategically placed along the riverfront affording peaceful breaks for relaxing while watching the animal life along the Klaserie River. The Klaserie dam is still over 50 % full , so we are assured of regular flow of water throughout the winter months. We had a visit from Unicorn Prep at our Adventure Camp. From all accounts the youngsters really learnt a lot about the bush. The clients report regularly hearing hyenas, jackals , thick-tailed bushbabies and the occasional leopard. We know of two male leopards that have their territories overlapping on Marc's Camp property. They are seldom seen, but their spoor and scats give us an indication that they operate along the river on a daily basis. They hunt impala and nyala - both species move down to the river in the dry season and are particularly numerous at the present time.
NEWS AT CHEETAH INN
The kingfishers have all but obliterated our mollies and smaller tilapia. Pearl tries her best to shoo them away , but they have become quite territorial now. We shall have to buy larger fish like koi , in excess of 20cm in length. Even the addition of more water plants has had no effect on the number of fish being caught. The front of the hotel has had a facelift in the form of a repaint. The Conference Room has been upgraded as well. The water tanks have been repositioned and the bar furniture has been upgraded. Long ago the Cheetah Inn boasted a 9-hole golf course - it seems like there is insufficient water to resuscitate this feature. Instead we are toying with the idea of a 9 hole Mini Golf ( putt-putt ) course. This will help the conference delegates destress as well as attracting more locals to the hotel.
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