News May 2010

It appears as if there will be no Autumn in the Kruger bush this year.

The bush is the greenest I have ever seen it in May since May 1962 !!!!!
The thatching grass, in some places, is as high as the open vehicles and the leaves on the Marula trees are green and glossy. There have been other consequences of the late rains : On my visit in mid-May, I saw no fewer than 5 snakes despite the cool conditions. I even came across a totally confused Weaver bird that had started building a nest !

The impala rams appear to be a little quieter this year. It is rutting season and the rams go about their business of collecting available ewes into their harem. Perhaps the thicker foliage on trees has muffled the impala rams’ grunting and groaning more than in previous years.

The impala is such a common animal in Kruger that after the first hundred or so, our clients tend to ignore them. In fact, I have to constantly tell our guides to avoid making such crass and undeserved statements such as : “ We won’t stop to look too long – it’s only impala ”. These are truly remarkably beautiful animals and deserve more of our viewing time, regardless of how common they may be.

Impala have adapted so well to their environment that fossil records indicate that they have remained relatively unchanged biologically for millions of years. Impalas are predominantly browsers but are able to graze when there is a shortage of leaves. Their ability to adapt and even thrive in marginal vegetation zones guarantees their survival.

Impala have adapted so well to their environment.

In Kruger the numbers are estimated at over 100 000 so it is no surprise that impala is the primary prey of a wide variety of predators. They make up the majority percentage kills of Wild Dogs, Leopards and Cheetah. They are actively hunted also by Martial Eagle, Black-backed Jackal, African Python, Crocodile and Hyena. A ram has a mass of about 60 kg while ewes weigh in at about 45 kg.
 
This cannot represent more than an ‘ antipasto ’ ( starter ) for a full grown lion. It is very rare to find a lion pride on an impala kill as a pride of 3 lions will polish off 60 kg of meat in a very quick time.

GAMEVIEWING REPORTS FROM OUR GUIDES

I had some excellent game viewing towards the latter part of May. As the month wore on, the veld dried out and the game viewing improved. I enjoyed having the lions on Tremisana for most of the week I spent there. In one particular case I was amazed at what happened with a group of tourists from Brazil. They had spent the entire day looking in vain for lions in Kruger and were somewhat disappointed at dinner time. We had just sat down for dinner and were savouring the Sweetcorn Soup. We had a call from one of our rangers indicating that there was a pride of 15 lions less than 150 metres from where we were sitting down for dinner. Delina, please understand that we temporarily abandoned your delicious soup only because the lions were so close.
 
I also had some good lion sightings at Tshukudu. Below I post a great photo of a big lion taken at Tshukudu by our friends Anne and Noel Macleod who joined us on safari :

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Big male lion spotted at Tshukudu.

BONGANI has emailed the following :
 
01-05-10

We still have the hippo at Tremisana Dam. At night it comes around the lodge. We see it every day, usually quite close and people take beautiful photos. Most of the time it is seen walking on the road. Many animals are presently visiting our lodge. We have daily visits from impalas, giraffe, blue wildebeest, zebra, kudu and monkeys. The monkeys are sleeping inside the lodge grounds because it is safer and they manage to steal food.

I enjoy working on Balule as is easy to find animals - we track them. On our walks we often come across herds of elephants. One morning, we spent almost an hour watching them. We kept very quiet and we heard lions calling near us, but we did not see the lions. On our way to the Landcruiser we saw fresh lion spoor ( over our car tracks - so really fresh ) and we started to track them. After a few minutes we encountered a lioness twenty metres away from us. She was looking at us, but was relaxed. She walked away without any problem. The following day I conducted another walk and saw different game. We found fresh spoor of white rhino and we started to track them. We followed the spoor for an hour and finally we found three rhinos together. It was a beautiful sighting and the clients really enjoyed it. The most exciting sighting was of a leopard on Nonwane property. The leopard walked along the road for a long time and it too was relaxed.

On 17-05-10

While driving on our way to the area where we walk, we found two big male lions lying on the road. On the eastern side of Nonwane a big herd of elephants came down to drink water and kept the lions away from them.

On 19-05-10

I was very lucky with many animal sightings in Kruger Park. At the Orpen gate there are always lots of general game like zebra, impala, blue wildebeest and jackal walking around near the waterhole. I drove to S106 where we had a sighting of a big male lion eating an impala but it was not enough for him. I was given advice by a random tourist to drive east of Satara to see hyenas along Nwanedzi road. We found them outside their hole lying on the road : the young were drinking milk from their mother. At the intersection of the Satara and Nwanedzi roads there was a white rhino. On our way back to the gate we drove via the S12 where we come across cheetah walking on the road. A few metres on, we had a sighting of vultures on the ground eating a dead impala. Some people at the sighting said the cheetah had killed the impala the previous day and the vultures were there to finish the leftovers.

On 29-05-10

We had four of the big 5 - we did not see the leopard. We managed to see eight white rhinos and a few metres further on there were two big male lions eating a bushbuck. Some other lions were roaring in the bush. At Nsemane Dam there was a big herd of elephants drinking water and also a herd of buffalos. The elephants were swimming in the dam. The hippos were not very amused and were making lots of noise.

Mark will write about lions that killed a blue wildebeest

I wish good luck to all newsletter readers and a good world cup.

MAYNETH reports :

“ On 2 May we entered at Orpen and drove towards Talamati. The bush is very overgrown and thick. 20 kms in we had a sighting of 2 lionesses and a lion on a buffalo kill. We then took the S 37 and found 3 lions feeding on a Wildebeest that had just been killed. We drove the S 100 towards Satara and encountered 2 elephants that were chasing each other. One elephant came headlong towards our open vehicle like it was intent on knocking us. I stayed calm and the elephant pulled up about 5 metres from us. He seemed very angry and was trumpeting. He then started at us again. I switched on the ignition quickly and revved the engine loudly so as to frighten him. He stayed his ground and I was not sure what he would do next. Luckily he settled down and walked off calmly into the bush.”

“ On 3 May we had great sightings of big herds of elephant and buffalo along the Orpen – Satara tarred road. I made my way to the S 100 which at the moment is easily the best and most productive game-viewing road in the region. Within 14 km we had 4 sightings of lions!
On the return trip we had a great sighting of a male leopard that was on the road near Bobbejaankrans. ”

“ On 26 May, we got brilliant sightings of buffalo and elephant at Nsemani Dam. From there we drove towards Timbavati and found a pride of 10 lions feeding on a buffalo very close to the road. Excellent photographic opportunity ! ”

“ On 27 May, we had excellent sightings of all Big Five. We saw 2 White Rhino at Girivane Dam. Near Satara we found many herds of Buffalo and Elephant.
I was told by a generous driver about a lion kill on the Satara-Tshokwane road and we duly saw a lion and a lioness on a young buffalo kill about 5 metres from the road. After lunch we came across a big herd of Rhino, 7 in total. About 6 km from Orpen we completed our sightings of the Big Five when a large leopard walked across the road right in front of the vehicle. ”

MARK has joined the staff as of 22 May and has sent the following email :

Hi Piero,

You have received the lion photos that I sent, so I guess that that will do for now. Although I have only been here for a week, I have already had loads of highlights and it is difficult to come up with just three.

Highlight 1
22 May 2010 : Well, this was the day of my arrival back in the bush, and that is most certainly a highlight for me. I came in, exhausted, as I had not slept for over 24 hours. My eyes felt like they had a whole beach front in them, but going out on that first night drive was fantastic. We did not see much out, but it felt good just to soak up the feels and smells!

Highlight 2
23-25 May 2010 : I know you have asked for a date and time, but these lion sightings happened over three days, and I thought you might like to see the whole picture. On the nightdrive (23 May), we saw the lion pride just outside Tremisana, after having a pretty quiet drive with nothing other than a chameleon as a special. There were about 16, without the two males around. The next morning (24 May), on the way to the morning walk, we encountered this pride on the airstrip with a wildebeest kill. I won't go into detail as you were there with us for that one. The next morning (25 May), I was out on York trying to learn the roads. I encountered this same pride again on the Marula loop near the Marulani cutline. They were on another wildebeest kill. The two big boys were lying together a bit away, looking well fed. I have taken some photos but unfortunately I am old school, I have a film camera and will not see these photos for a while.

Highlight 3
25 & 27 May : You are going to moan at me, I know, but right now everything is a highlight, so I will let you make a choice on this one. On the night of 25 May, about 10pm, I got to watch 3 honey badgers roaming around Tremisana camp. Two of them were digging in the bin just behind the lounge and I stood pretty much 2 metres away and watched them. It was lovely to see, such an amazing animal! On the night of 27 May, I did my first official night drive on York. Here is where I was hoping my practice runs around there the last 3 days paid off and I hoped and prayed that I wouldn't get lost. Thankfully I didn't. Well, it was a quiet night with no big 5, but I did spot 3 chameleons, I think it’s becoming my trademark for nightdrives as I have now had 4 in 2 night drives. I managed to get hold of the first one to show a bit closer to the guests.

Like I say, this whole week has been one highlight after another for me. Working in the UK, I was privileged to work with some amazing species. Amur tigers, Barbary lions, Brown hyenas, African wild dogs, Iberian wolves, Brazilian tapirs and Crowned lemurs to name just a few. At the end of the day though, there is nothing better than that feeling of encountering an animal in its natural habitat. I am itching to get back into the Kruger now and I am just praying that my fingerprints required for my PDP ( professional drivers permit) come through soon.

Take care of yourself Piero and see you next week. It’s good to be back.

Regards,
Mark


RAYMOND has had a good month. In fact he wins the sighting of the month award for seeing a lioness pull down an impala.

He reports as follows : “ We were on the Timbavati loop when we stopped to look at 2 lionesses. It was hot as it was midday. The lionesses were about 4 metres from the vehicle. The lionesses saw an impala ram on the other side of our open vehicle. They actually crept up to the open vehicle using it as a cover. Of course my clients were very nervous but once they realised that the lionesses were interested in the impala and not humans, they felt a lot better ! Anyway the lionesses crept up past the vehicle and slowly got closer to the impala which never had any idea that he was being hunted. The final 10 metres was a blur as the one lioness simply ran up and grabbed the impala by the throat. After it died, the lionesses pulled the impala about 20 metres from our vehicle and started eating.”

Pearl, on behalf of OSCAR has emailed the following :

Highlight 1
9 May 2010 : 11 buffalo bulls chasing a buffalo cow for mating. This was on the S90 gravel road close to Satara. Males running at high speed dumping on female ( I take it this means trying to mate?) while running apart from the herd into the bush for about 5-10 minutes and from a distance they come back. Was amazing and you must ask yourself if this female can cope with this kind of behaviour. Some other males joined in the chase for the female.

Highlight 2
28 May 2010 : On the S100 road at 11h50. With 3 guests, we saw an elephant breeding herd coming out of the river in our direction. Suddenly a cow came out with a little baby, still with an umbilical cord attached. It looked to be less than 4 days old. We saw the baby drinking milk from its mom, while she was trying to protect it from us.

Highlight 3
28 May 2010 : Also along the S100, at about 12h30, a lioness was stalking a male impala. There were lots of cars. Initially, the lioness was lying down by a tree. Then she saw the impala coming out from the bush to the open area near the road. She decided to use the cars as to go close to the impala. Lying down for a few minutes to watch, the impala carried on eating. She went closer and closer while the impala was staring at her. She pretended as if she was doing nothing and then the impala ran away.

Lioness stalking an impala

NEWS FROM OUR LODGES

There is a buzz around all the lodges as we worked frantically during May to get everything up to scratch for June and July.

TREMISANA has the three new units looking absolutely fabulous. Congratulations to Pearl and Sandy for having chosen such beautiful colours from the floor tiles via the duvets and onto the curtains – an outstanding exercise in how to match and blend in a subtle unobtrusive way !
 
We have completed building of Mark’s room and have also added more packing space in the store rooms, laundry and kitchen. We have bought a completely new set of cutlery and crockery for our World Cup tourists.

The interior of new unit.

The three new units at Tremisana.

The hippo is still around and regularly visits the waterhole in front of the Lapa. Our giraffe herd has grown to 7 and their presence around the front gate area at about 16h30 every afternoon is almost uncanny – so many tourists cannot believe that they are seeing these gentle giants just as they arrive at the camp !

MARC’S TREEHOUSE LODGE has had all units experience a good pre -World Cup clean up. The new tents have had wooden barriers built around them just in case the buffalo and rhino stumble into them. We have added new benches to the wooden viewing decks of most of the treehouses. These are made of compressed plastic and blend beautifully with the wooden decks. It is good to be able to have plastic introduced into our camps in a non-polluting way ! There are a large number of young Nyala around the camp – there has been a peak in births in late April and early May.
 
MARC’S ADVENTURE CAMP has had a complete makeover and is looking very good. Thanks to Ronald and Christo, one of our new guides and who is also a competent handyman, for their hard work in getting the Adventure Camp to look so good. We can accommodate 26 guests in the eight en suite units. The Nyala move between the chalets and add a lovely dimension to the camp. While I was there we had a herd of Buffalo pass through the camp as well.
 
CHEETAH INN has also had a lot of work done on it. The rooms have all been repainted and the new duvets and blankets are very welcome additions. The Boma area is looking really good and we have moved more tables and chairs there in anticipation of the large numbers of tourists we have booked over the World Cup period. Cheetah Inn has a total of 22 rooms which can accommodate a maximum of 52 guests.

NEWS FOR OUR TRAVEL PARTNERS

We had a good time at Indaba. We saw all our regular friends and made some new ones. I was finally coerced by Trevor and Anthony to attend my very first SATIB party – even though we have been one of the first operators insured by them since 1996. It was held at a place called Joe Cool’s which I recall my teenage children used to frequent. Quite a party !
Overall we believe that the Indaba show was well worth the expenses. Thanks go to TREVOR who did a great job. My gratitude also goes to Ronald and Anthony.

Our World Cup period bookings are going extremely well – we have had excellent support from all our valued travel agents – thank you ! We have had to hire a number of transfer vehicles and a number of open game viewers to accommodate the very large numbers of tourists. There are very few spaces left.

I interviewed many prospective tourist guides – only a small fraction of those who sent me their CVs were invited for interviews – and am pleased to report that we have appointed 10 excellent guides to assist us in June and July. We have also added more Lodge staff to assist us in ensuring that our standards are maintained over the busy World Cup period.

What are my ideas on the World Cup ?

Firstly we are grateful that we have been given this opportunity to showcase our beautiful country. Many tourists will be here not only to view our wildlife, but to bask on our beaches and imbibe the culture, history and wine of a land of extraordinary beauty.
 
Secondly we expect that the additional security forces that are laid on to protect our valued visitors remain in place after the World Cup. If secure protection can be provided for foreign tourists, why not for local citizens ?
 
Thirdly we expect that infrastructure development and maintenance be prioritised even after the event. The construction projects were a timely economic boost in times of slowing financial activity and attendant unemployment.
 
As a closing comment : If , through a successful World Cup, South Africa can change perceptions of itself, and, by extension, the rest of Africa ( often perceived as exemplifying all that can go wrong in the world ), we will have done a monumental service to this continent.

I assure you that I will encourage the Viva Safaris team to rise to the occasion !
 
 
Letters received from our guests:

Dear Piero and Sandy,
 
We really appreciate your generosity and kindness! Our 3 days spent with you at the lodge were most enjoyable. The smells and sounds of the bush together with good company are truly food for the soul. One of the highlights for us was attending the beautiful Communion Service – it was a very special experience.

We have attached some photos from which you will hopefully find the ones you had selected.

As a small token of our appreciation, we have had some Masses offered for you and your family. The intention stated in the bulletin is merely “Special Intention” except for the Mass on 6 December, celebrating your 30th Wedding Anniversary.
 
We trust things are going smoothly despite being hectic! Piero, don’t going moving furniture etc! Remember, Sandy has eyes in the back of her head!
 
We look forward to having you in our home to share a meal once your FIFA 2010 rush is over.

May God richly bless both of you.
 
Fond regards,
Noel and Anne
 
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Hi Piero,

I trust you’re well and that you had a successful Indaba.

On behalf of my guests we want to extend a very big and genuine THANKYOU for upgrading our accommodation at the weekend – it was most unexpected. The guests were very impressed with the accommodation and even more so once they had realised that they had gotten a whole lot more than what they had paid for. I have to say that apart from the couple of complaints which are not noteworthy, everyone had a great stay and a great weekend. The accommodation, the weather, the sightings were all above expectation.

It probably goes without saying that Marguerite is an absolute gem – always there, always smiling, sorting out minor problems, saving guests from being “attacked’ by defenceless insects and trying to train the new lady all at the same time. She truly deserves all the accolades that can be bestowed on her. Both Mayneth and Isaac were equally helpful and knowledgeable although it is to be appreciated that Isaac still has to find his way around.

So all in all it was a good trip and I was pleased that I could get an opportunity to visit your facilities and hope to send you many more guests in the future.

Go well.
Kind regards,
LAURINDA SUMARES

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Hello Tremisana and Pearl !!

A proof of life from Norway finally - Pål and Randi – Helle and Hanne Bredesen

Its now 8 mnths since we stayed at Tremisana for four wonderful eventful days. Shoul have mailed you before but your adress was gone until now.

We came 8 persons – four adults and four children going on our two weeks journey to South Africa to see wild animals, nature and people.

And so we did!!

Tremisana and you gave us a great start. Your hospitality was warm and close!! And the fact that you had considered and planned how to ”room us in” at Tremisana was perfect for me as ’mother hen’ – with great problems in letting my children out of sight… ;-) Giving the children the guesthouse was perfect!!

We are every week still taking about things we saw, discovered and smelled in Africa.

The children always and often talk about the angry mammaelephant that almost attacked us(the car) in the bush… with Bongani.

We have a perfect video of it all and we look at it sometimes…. Its still gives us a bit adrenalin when looking at it…

The video has been sent to Germany to a couple that was with us on this safari this day.

We talk about the evening when the monkeys made noise and Bongani told us it was only a snake… – but the next day we saw liontracks outside the Lodge…. (hmm… calming women and children…?? ;)

We talk about the time we saw two WILD elephants by a waterhole in the Krügerpark – throwing water all over themselves… and the smaal Ginnyfowls that the children said: looked like small old ladies on shoppingtrip……incredible moments that are stuck with us forever…

And the Rhino who impressed us by smelling the shit in the road and then turned around slowly and made on himself in the middel of all the shit, in the middel of the road… and then wander on as nothing had happened …what a behavior….hahahah and what a laugh for us…

Then there was the African light and the sunset in the evenings… and the sunrise at 5 in the morning on the porch with a cup of tea, and the smells and the qute monkeys, and the dark African night with all the sounds …. And the BREAD – the sweatened bread was really good.. !! and the soups was perfect!!

As you see – the four days we stayed at your place has made us richer on experiences !! And with all this with you, we still had 10 days left to explore this wonderful country of South Africa. A truly special and uniq country with big resources and fantastic landscapes.

We drove 2800km on this journey.

Here in Norway we have had a hard winter. We did not have plusdegrees from 1.dec to 15.march. This is terrible and the minus was very often down to 20 – brrr…

We’we had a lot of snow too. You can be sure that we had the best christmascard-christmas ever… J But now it is spring and the warmth is back…. Jeiiiii!!

And then all of the cold winter is forotten – thats how we are made up here, because there will be another one..

Life is back to normal but our holiday has made us more relaxed- more hakuna matata….

Give your staff our best and hope to hear from you !!

Regards,
Randi Hansen and Pål Bredesen and the girls. With my best wishes


Until next month...

With kind regards,
Piero
General Manager
Viva Safaris