http://www.djuma.com/blog/ The Djuma Weblog contains articles, photos & videos of the experience at our 5 & 4 Star Luxury Game lodges in the exclusive Djuma Game Reserve, South Africa. Game Drives, Game Walks, Spa Treatment... en-us Nucleus CMS v3.41 � Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.djuma.com/blog//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://www.djuma.com/blog/ http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=230
Aitzegagh: "Thank you so much for your kindness and enthusiasm"

Perrin/ Armandon wrote: "It is our first time in Africa and it's a lovely experience."

Debbie & Chris Canfield: "We were amazed at all the animals we got to see and how close we were able to get when viewing them. Thank you for the magnificant opportunity to enjoy God's wonderful creation."

Delora Ward & Linda Bertino: "the tracker's/guide's enthusiasm, knowledge, humor and patience were paramount in our safari experience. The camp staff were gracious. Thanks so much!"

Robbie & Genelle Jones wrote: "If there was a college of ranger & tracker knowledge Abel & Terrance would be professors! They are amazing and have their eyes and ears tuned to the environment for öur pleasure"Kim and Anet and their staff went beyond all to make our stay absolutely awwsome!"

]]> Guest Experiences http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=230 Mon, 8 Mar 2010 08:02:09 +0100 http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=228
The month started off with the building of the new dam which when full will look amazing! It has alot of natural features such as trees that will dry out and support bird life aswell as islands for when the hippo and crocs need to bask.Wishfull thinking but i guarentee it will happen.After the building of the dam the lodge re-opened on the 7th and with that came some really hot weather.
Temperatures soared to around 40 degrees celcius with the hottest day being 44 degrees in the shade! The elephant herds have also started coming back into the area for a favourite fruit of theirs which is very abundant here. The Marula trees were in fruit and they attracted large herds aswell as some big bull elephants.
These fruit are round and when ripe they turn yellow and emit a sweet smelling scent that fills the bush air. Very high in vitamin c, they also make a rather refreshing beer!
On the topic of lions, we had loads of lion activity around camp lately which was a pleasant change from horbs of Leopards!The Gejima male lions were seen again mating with another lioness from the Nkuhuma pride which means that we should be seeing lots of lion cubs in the near future. One morning i was busy having my usual cup of coffe down at the main lodge when i heard distress calls of a buffalo. I got really excited as there were also the snarling of lions. As we got out into the bush we picked up their tracks which were heading in all different directions. We were a bit confused at first,but what we saw and heard next made sense to us. We eventually found 4 of the Styx pride lions sitting in the road all looking in one direction. This was strange as the pride consists of 7 lions altogether. Then we heard 2 males calling very close by and immediatly knew that it was the 2 Mapogo males from the south of the reserve. These were bad lions as they tend to kill all other lions that are in their path. In a nutshell the Styx pride must have killed the buffalo,then the 2 Mapogo males came in and stole it,which split the pride up into all directions. All in all we calculated that we had around 20 percent of the Sabi Sand Game Reserves lion population in our traversing area.

On a lighter note, the mornings are cooling down as we near closer to winter which for me personally is very welcoming after all the heat.

Birthdays were had by only one of our guests on the 24th.
Suzzie Martin we hope you had a lovely day with us and we wish you many many more to come.
Staff birthdays were had by Abel and Linette both on the 9th and Andrew on the 13th. Happy Happy!

To all of those that were here in February, we trust that you had a enjoyable stay with us.
May the magic of Djuma be with you all!

Regards
The Bush Lodge Family. ]]> General http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=228 Thu, 4 Mar 2010 11:37:13 +0100 http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=226
During the four days they spent with us we saw so many lions it was as if we were on a lion farm! We worked out that we saw about 20 percent of the Sabi Sands lion population. With the Styx pride ever present at Bush Lodges Dam, 2 Mapogo males, 4 Nkuhuma females, and the Gejima boys!

White Rhino were also in full force as we saw crashes of up to seven Rhinos on our traversing. And who says the Sabi Sands have no rhino. In total we saw 12 different White Rhino over the four days.

With all the lion activity over the past few days Leopard were a bit scarce. Having seen four different individuals in the form of Nkarula,Luangwa,Kafue and Mafufunyane. All were quality sightings, seeing hunting behavior from both young and older Leopards and lots of olfactory behavior in the form of scent marking,flehman and scuffing.

A big bonus again were our group of four male Cheetah who were lying in the shade of a beautiful Umbrella Thorn Tree that we got on one of the morning drives.

The last night of their stay was truly awesome as we had Bush dinner under the stars with the two Mapogo male lions roaring into the night as the full moon shone down on us.

All together we had a magical Djuma time
]]> General http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=226 Thu, 4 Mar 2010 09:43:39 +0100 http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=224 The 8th ushered in an appearance of the Styx pride seen on the western section of Gowrie. A lucky day as a lone lady cheetah was sighted at champagne pan on buffelshoek. The two grumpy male lions were also sighted on the same drive with two of the Huma lioness', hopefully we will see the rebirth of this pride once again. There were two rhino seen in the same area as the styx girls. Who spent the whole day sleeping where they were first fouond that morning. But as usual they later headed off to the south. The only additional sighting for that day was a large herd of buffalo, finally they have returned.
The morning of the 9th of Feb started off with a rhino bull seen up on the northern section of our area. Elephant herd had moved off to the central area and Karula was seen with her two boys close to the area she had been spotted hunting impala the day before.
In the afternoon karula was found at tree house dam taking a break from motherhood. Not to far off from her was a rhino and her calf enjoying an afternoon mud wallow.
The morning of the 10th started off with Luangwa and Kafue, were found messing around in the same area their mother had left them the day before. The buffalo herd had moved further into our area but were left moving east towards the KNP boundary. The morning finished off with four ele bulls munching down marula fruit on quarenteen. Karulas boys were once again found on the afternoon drive crashed up a jackal berry tree, with some more rhino sighted for good measure.
The 11th started with a huge bonus of 5 wild dogs, dogs that had been missed by the low life wildlife traders. Mafufunyane made a welcome appearance on western gowrie. Has been a while since he last popped round onto our turf. The same four ele's were still in the area throwing back maulas. With some buff bulls being seen enjoying a wallow up in the north.
In the afternoon the buffalo herd was back from theri stint in the KNP, drinking water at gren pan just off the KNP boundary, with a herd of ele's in the same area and a bull rhino just up the road. Karula had hooked up with Kafue and Luangwa and had moved them to buffelshoek dam area, where they spent the afternoon enjoying the hippo viewing from their vantage point.
The 12 of Feb began with two young bull rhino's having a slow and sleepy start to their day. The two grumpy boys from manyaleti and two ladies of the huma pride made another appearance in the north, when are they going to start wacking buffalo? The buffalo herd were again seen near their water source from the previous day. The afternoon began with a welcome sighting of the local four brother cheetah, heading up to the north. One has been missing for a while now. Amongst all o this there was a sighting of one of the local male rhino and a bull ele thrown in.
The morning of the 13th began with a crash of four rhino enjoying a mud bath. Later on one of the guys found Karula and her boys moving south away from Buffelshoek dam. The buffalo herd were still in attendance, moving down the clearings. Dont know what the marketing boys were up to but we had no guests till the afternoon of the 15th which greeted us with the breeding herd of buffalo having moved deeper into the property. A herd of eles gave a great spectacle once they were foound swimming in Buffelshoek dam. Karula was picked up still looking for her next meal to the south of Vuyatela.
Rain stopped play on the morning of the 16 but hte buff herd was still around for the afternoon entertainment. Everyone else was probably getting their hair done after the rain.
The 17th was a good morning as whitecloth and her cub were seen moving to the north, such a darling cat. The buff and the rhno's put in an appearance. In the afternoon the two huma girls were seen at gowrie dam, unsual as they don't come down to this area that often.
The 18th brought in Karula sleeping up a marula tree close to the lodge, great when she does things like this.
The Grumpy male lions from the north had obviously come down to collect their woman before the mapogo's ran off with them. Tehy spent the morning in the south nad were seen again in the afternoon heading north with their woman in tow. Karulas boys were seen to the south of vuyatela haning around waiting for mom to come and collect them for take aways.
The morning of the 19th blessed us with another sighting of whitecloth and her cub in the area of second rock. There was also an appearance of some old buff bulls, with the grumpy males from manyaleti having moved back to theior usual haunt up in the north. The two huma girls had managed to escpape their company and were found lying down resting a good few kilometers from them. The afternoon was spent mainly being entertained by karulas boys, who had moved closer towards thecamp that afternoon.
The area close to Vuyatelaseemed to be in full swing on the morning of the 20th, with malunda, beacon females mlae cub from 6 years back, making a long awaited appearance. Luangwa and Kafue were seen close to the lodge still waiting for their food. Like us were watching a breeding herd of ele's which were close by. The most beautiful leopard in the world was spotted in the afternoon, thandi, one of karulas girls from her last litter, with more rhino in the swing of things. The styx girls were seen near to bushlodge that same afternoon.
The styx ladies were again picked up on the morning of the 21st and Karula was seen close to vuyatela having a snooze. In the afternoon one of karulas boys was seen at gowrie dam. The kijima males were found in the northern section of the area. The breeding herd of ele's were back that day and a crash of 6 rhino was a great spectacle.
The 22nd brought more rhino sightings with karulas boys found messing around somehwere on western gowrie. The afternoon was petty much a mirror image of the morning with the same players milling about in similar areas to where they were found in the morining. Th 23rd the 2 kiima males were seen doing theri rounds at buffelshoek dam. One of karulas boys was hanign around the dam again. The afternoon began with great viewing of the four cheetah. Karula had hooked back up with her boys again. The rest of the afternoon broken up with more sightings of the ele herd and some rhino sightings.
The morning of the 24th saw karulas boys waiting for food being over as mom had whacked a duiker which she shared with them. One of the grumpy boys was spotted moving to the north. The rest of the day was inundated with pachyderm sightings at various loacations on the property.
The morning of the 25th began with more rhino sightings and karula back on the hunt after her boys demolishing their duiker kill. One of the grumpy male was seen mating one of the huma girls, must have lowered her standards. The breeding herd of ele's was still in the land which is always great. One buffalo bull being seen the whole day.
The 26th saw the styx girls back down in the area of bushlodge, with another great sightin of the ele herd.
That afternoon Malunda was seen on quarenteen again. The two girls from the huma pride were found on torchwood area sleeping not to far away from a breeding herd of ele's. There was an unexpected sighting of beacon's newest cubs up on buffelshoek. Pity we dont see more of them.
27th brought in a sightin of a crash of 9 rhino, the styx girls were back infront of bushlodge this time being joined by 2 of th mapogo's. They spent the whole day there. A crash of 6 rhino were seen drinking at buffelshoek dam.
28th was a geat start for us with another sighting of the four cheetah brothers who killed an impala only to loose it to one hyena. Karula was seenw ith one of her boys moving to the north. The 6 rhino were spotted again and the styx girls along with the mapogo boys hadn't moved far during the night and were found not a long way off from where they were the day before.
They must like it there as they were again found in the same area on the morning of the 1st of March, either that or just lazy. The buffalo herd was still cruising the area. with, with lions to the north of them and the south. Probably a good place to be. Over all a great months viewing. Stay tuned......]]> Game Drives http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=224 Tue, 2 Mar 2010 08:59:38 +0100 http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=220 When Dixon Mkansi arrived in Djuma Bush Lodge’s lounge for an interview he proved to be every bit as professional and experienced as his cousin Abel had predicted. Dixon had been in the business for many years, as a tracker and a guide, and - with a slight American - accent recalled his experiences enthusiastically. Jurie and I were amazed to learn he had only had formal schooling for a couple of years, after which he had spent his youth as a cattle herder for his father. Although this meant he was practically illiterate it had made him into an expert on bush lore. He told us that in those days the worst thing that could happen to him was for him to return home to his father at the end of the day with a cow injured, or, worse, with one missing! In time to come we heard many stories about his days of defending cattle from venomous snakes and large predators. It did seem that facing his father’s wrath was always far worse for him than any encounter with threatening animals. What tweaked our interest most was Dixon’s account of his twelve years of experience in the game lodge industry. He had worked his way up from waiter to tracker to game ranger. During his interview with us Dixon pulled out several photos and letters from foreign guests, who waxed lyrical about his skills and how they had loved their safaris with him. With that cherry in place on the top, the deal was signed, sealed, and delivered, and within a couple of days Dixon had joined the expanding Djuma team. He started as a tracker, but Jurie quickly recognised the rapport Dixon easily established with guests, and before long Dixon was doing the guiding, with a ‘new and improved’ Abel tracking from the bonnet of the vehicle.
Dixon’s practical experience was vast, and very much more suited to the needs of the guests than was Jurie’s scientific knowledge. Most guests were interested in ticking off the Big 5, seeing as much plains game as possible, and hearing a few true wild stories from their ranger. Every now and then we would get guests that did feel the need for a deeper experience and then Jurie and Dixon would combine their knowledge to meet the guests’ expectations. A profound trust and respect developed between the two men.
Dixon and I hit it off from day one. First of all, he loved gardening, and the two of us started a great little vegetable garden next to his hut. We spent hours there lamenting the problems of gardening in the bush, and making plans to outfox monkeys, hares, birds, and rats from sharing the fruits of our labour. The veggie garden looked like a huge wire cage (which it was), the frame and door made from knob thorn stumps, and the roof from stretched shade cloth. It also had a rudimentary irrigation system that never really worked, but made us feel more professional about our market-gardening endeavours. We may not have produced as many veggies as we intended, but our relationship strengthened during time spent together in “the cage”. I was still coming to terms with living in the bush. Dixon and his stories helped me to relax somewhat and accept that I had to share my life with wild creepy crawlies.
Best of all were the times Dixon and I used to spend in the bush. Okay, I also loved being out and about with Jurie, but I had a lot more trust in Dixon should we get into potentially dangerous situations. Jurie was great for explaining the inner workings of symbiotic relationships between, for example, specific grass types and the grazing techniques of antelope, but, as far as I was concerned, I needed practical knowledge concerning what to do if, say, charged by an elephant. Dixon could read spoor like I never thought possible, he taught me the various smells of different animals, and how to act and react in specific situations. One afternoon we were on a drive with Dixon on the tracker’s seat, Jurie behind the wheel, myself in the passenger seat and six French-speaking guests seated behind us. We were moving through some fairly thick scrubby bush when we came across an elephant in our path. Dixon had told Jurie never to back down from an elephant because that often encouraged a charge. It is better to stand one’s ground and make the elephant think twice about one’s presence; it should back off in its own time. There we were, faced with an elephant, ears outstretched and head raised – not the best situation in which to be, with the surrounding bush was too thick to turn in. Jurie revved the engine to announce our presence, but the elephant reacted to this as a gesture of dominance and charged! I can assure you that, at the moment of a charge, one cannot tell the difference between a mock charge and a full on charge. Only the outcome decides the issue. There was Dixon in the most vulnerable place of all, perched on the front of the vehicle, and he had the presence of mind to stand up on the footrest of the tracker’s seat and wave his arms, clapping his hands at the elephant as it closed in on us. Most astoundingly the elephant stopped a few meters from of the car, turned around, and went off, leaving us quite breathless and bewildered!
Another time I was wowed by Dixon was during sundowners near Green Pan on eastern Gowrie. You may remember Green Pan from an earlier account of when we drained the vehicle’s battery watching a lion kill with a spotlight. On this occasion we had stopped and climbed out of the vehicle. We wanted to have a drink on the lovely plain that glowed in the golden light we would get in summer just before the sun goes down. A few minutes later Dixon spotted a rhino a fair distance off. We all had our drinks in hand, and Dixon said that, if we were very quiet, he reckoned the rhino, out of curiosity, would walk right up to us. Rhinos have poor eyesight, but good senses of hearing and smell. Dixon knew the wind was just right. Sure enough, within a few minutes the great beast started moving towards us, and shortly was very close to where a guest and I were standing together a little way away from the vehicle. Dixon calmly - but convincingly - told us to walk backwards to the vehicle, very slowly. It was only then that the rhino gave a snort, and with tail curled, turned and trotted off.
On several occasions during night drives I saw Dixon catch nightjars by hand. This is by no means an impossible feat, but he managed it so effortlessly, and would then have the small birds perch on his finger while showing guests their gapes and the strange whiskers that enabled them to catch prey on the wing.
There was always a certain artistry in the way in which Dixon added to our guests’ total game experience. For example, he would never cram the first part of the drive with sightings, but would space the sightings over the full three hours, or even over a few drives. On one night drive the spotlight lit up some lions on a kill just behind Chitwa’s dam wall. It was a fabulous sighting, lots of noise and drama as the lions squabbled over titbits and we watched from close quarters. After some time of being entranced by the sighting I suddenly realised that the spotlight was no longer focussing on the lions. Dixon had the guests absorbed in stargazing! After about ten minutes of identifying the Southern Cross, Orion’s Belt and the Milky Way the spotlight swung back on down and there were the lions still at the kill.
On the lodge front Dixon brought us up to scratch quite fast, insisting on uniforms, blankets, and other amenities for the vehicles, and many other general improvements he considered essential. As far as uniforms went we had thought clothing, in various shades of brown and khaki, from the army surplus store in Johannesburg was good enough, but Dixon was right. We needed proper bush gear and good shoes in order to present a more professional appearance. Jurie hardly ever wore shoes at all, but that, too, was changed. Dixon somehow also got me into khaki ‘Teesavs’, with epaulettes to boot! I remember printing our first epaulettes, once again putting my art-school skills to good use.
As far as our game-drive vehicle was concerned, some finer details were added. These included a first-aid kit, toilet paper, a spade, mosquito repellent, a bird book, and various spoor and mammal identification guides. The most valuable of these reference books were those that had some info in German, French and Spanish for quick translations for foreign guests. The addition of blankets to the vehicles not only made their benches more comfortable to sit on, but were also practical in another way, in that there was something warm to wrap up in when the weather cooled down.
To read previous chapters of “Our African Way”, please click the following link:

Our African Way

]]> Our African Way http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=220 Mon, 1 Mar 2010 19:06:38 +0100 http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=219 ]]> Guest Experiences http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=219 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:49:32 +0100 http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=217

Handry has been with Djuma for nine years now. He began work as a gardner for the staff quarters. He has worked himself up to being a guide which our guests love. He has excelled in passing all his exams for F.A.G.A.S.A. and is great at delivering our guests a great time. He was born and grew up in Hluvukani.]]> General http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=217 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:48:54 +0100 http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=215

Ephraim has been working with us as the guide at Galago Camp and has been with the company for around 8 years now.
Him and William are feared due to their phenomenal hit rate when it comes to finding leopard. A trait which the guests love and makes all us other guides jealous.]]> Ranger Profiles http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=215 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:42:47 +0100 http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=213

William has been working with us at Galago Camp for 8 years now. Following in his brother Handry's foot steps. William was born in Hluvukani, where he grew up and completed his schooling before moving into the bush. He and Ephram make a formidable team, whipping the rest of us when it comes to finding leopard.]]> Ranger Profiles http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=213 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:35:52 +0100 http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=211

Lots has been working at Vuyatela for going on 12 years now. He started out with general maintenance and has worked his way up to position of tracker. Lots grew up in Hluvukani wheree the best potato chips in the world come from.]]> Ranger Profiles http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?itemid=211 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:24:28 +0100