In the African night, the beat of a drum means news...

February 2004

Read about events at Djuma Game Reserve

Vuyatela

Bush Lodge

for more information visit www.djuma.com

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This newsletter is archived in the Drumbeat section of our web site

Quite often a good story is one that makes your skin crawl. For some reason horror stories seem to stick around one's memory far longer than needed. Perhaps by remembering these accounts one learns from previous encounters and takes more caution in the future. Personally, most of these memories include at least one snake a slithering, two hyena laughing and three lions behind a wild pear tree.
Before Bush Lodge was a fully-fledged commercial operation and we were still busy bashing down old buildings and erecting new ones, the following event unfolded. There was this traumatic squealing coming from behind the fridge in what was then an open plan kitchen. Now we know this familiar distress signal to usually reveal a frog being caught and devoured by some sort of serpent. Indeed on that occasion, there was a Spotted Bush Snake with a Foam Nest Frog in its jaws while the rest of its long frame was curled around the inner mechanics of the fridge. Right, next task was to find a man (or anyone who would willingly go near a snake) to remove it and it's lunch out of my kitchen. A dear long time friend of ours, Mark Napier, who had grown up with my older brothers was close at hand and best of all he had no qualms about handling this quarry. Mark grabbed the snake by the tail, but seemed to falter at the identification of the snake at the last moment. He could not get a quick enough grip behind the head so his solution was to rotate the snake by the tail above his head until he got out doors. Then with a deft sling shot maneuver he let his charge go, gliding gracefully until snake and frog landed safely (the snake at least) on the opposite side of the drainage line. In the mean time I had decided to vacate the lodge and vague recollected childhood memories of my brothers and Mark tormenting me entered my mind. The notion of "boy with snake" only meant one thing and I was not sticking around to deal with the potential consequences. Much time followed with Mark and Jurie trying to convince me to return to camp, as the coast was clear. Eventually with a lot of threats as to their future health I entered the camp very cautiously and am not sure if the previous level of trust we shared ever fully returned.
That very night, we were braai-ing (barbequing) where Bush Lodge's boma is now and had been busy preparing, cooking, and then eating for more than an hour. While we were clearing up, one of us heard a twig snap just meters away and reached for the hand held spotlight. Imagine our surprise to see a pride of lions as our audience. Apart from the surge of adrenalin pumping through our veins, the lions looked positively bored and were not too interested in eating us or even applauding the show we had just unwittingly performed!
A couple of years later, Campbell, Jurie and I were at Bush Lodge's main building awaiting the arrival of some new guests. As expected we saw the vehicle slowly entering the road leading to the parking area. The three of us proceeded up the main pathway anticipating meeting the guests as they pulled up to park their vehicle. As we passed between No. 2 and No.3 Campbell spotted a huge Common House Snake draped over the top of the windows at No.2, the same chalet the guests were moments from checking into. Like a well-oiled machine, we jumped into action - Campbell would take care of the snake while Jurie and I delayed the guests in the parking lot! We met the travelers and chatted as long as we could but with the conversation getting a tad dull, we felt any further delaying tactics would be discovered to our detriment. When we got to No.2, Campbell was standing there with a perplexed look on his face but welcomed the guests warmly and showed them in. He joined us in the bar later and explained that the snake had outfoxed him and had escaped through the thatch and into the cavity between the walls. There was nothing we could do, but did manage to move the snake some weeks later.
It must have been around this time when some guests were staying in the newly opened chalet No.7. On about their second night they were startled awake by a crude rasping sound emanating from behind the cupboard. On closer inspection they noticed the wall plug jiggling around on the wall. In the morning they reported the strange occurrence and the staff had a closer look. A hyena had being doing a tug of war with the electrical cables on the outside of the room and must have only given up when it got shocked. We have since learned that no cables or PVC piping is safe from these pesky critters.
When the Djuma adventure started out more than ten years ago, I realised that I had to get a grip on sharing my life with snakes. Either this or I would have to retreat to an office job in Johannesburg, God forbid! Wally Petersen, a herpetologist friend of mine, got the task of educating me in all matters reptilian. I have learned to identify snakes into venomous and non-venomous categories as well as their basic behavioral characteristics, which has helped enormously. However, what can prepare one for being defecated on by a pair of mating Boomslangs whilst breastfeeding? Not much, in fact the less said about the matter, the better!
More recently, two events happened while Jurie and I have been out on our early morning mountain bike rides. Since then we have employed a driver, Jim Reeves (yes, that is his name), to follow closely behind and "protect" us from danger. I guess Jim would actually just be witness to our demise, but the subconscious feeling of having some place to hide in is very reassuring while riding through the bush. The first incident, we were on the way to the gate, not far from home at all when we spotted a breeding herd of elephants browsing about 100m from the road. I slowed up on the pedaling, aided by the thick sand on "Sandy Patch' but Jurie insisted that there would be no problem and continued. Just then one of our maintenance vehicles returning from the bush passed by. In one swift movement I had my bike on the back got a lift further down the road, and resumed the vigorous exercise regime. Having just put that down on paper, it is not that scary, nor was the time we rode right past 4 dozing dagga boys (buffalo bulls), but the next story should raise a hair or two! Once or twice a week we would let our dogs; "Spot" the Jack Russell and "Eric" the Bull Terrier come along for a bit of exercise. Spot would keep up without a problem but Eric with his stiff legs always lagged behind resulting in regular stops to wait for him. One morning, not long into the ride heading south we passed Gowrie dam on the left and had just turned west up the hill leading to Inge's house when we needed to pause for Eric. He was at least 500m behind us, but because we had changed direction we had a clear view of a heart-stopping scene. There was Shivati male leopard sitting in that typical leopard pounce pose, ears perked forward and eyes trained on the blissfully ignorant Eric plodding along a few meters away. Forget the fact that we has just ridden right past Shivati ourselves without seeing him in the short grass, but my beloved dog was about to get taken out in front of our eyes. I was hysterical, and Jurie run through the bush towards Shivati and Eric, shouting and waving his arms about. All within a split second, Shivati was distracted away from his next meal by Jurie's antics and leapt right over Eric into the thicket in the drainage line below the dam. Poor old Eric must have had his life pass before his eyes, because all the way home he was way ahead of us maintaining a cracking pace. That was the last time Eric ever wanted to join us on a ride and also the last time we ever rode without a vehicle trailing us. Someone asked Jurie why he had even contemplated running towards a leopard on the hunt. He mumbled something about the choices he faced was being either being attacked himself or surviving to face his wife whose dog he did not save. He reckoned that death by leopard might not seem that bad an option under the circumstances.

Join us again next month for more tales from Djuma Game Reserve.
Philippa Moolman

2004 has started wonderfully for us in the Sabi Sands, bringing us the one thing we have no control over - rainfall! As our regular readers will know, things were getting a little dire last month with very little rain having fallen, the dams drying up rapidly and the bush was dry and dusty, offering little in the way of sustenance to the wildlife. But, how quickly it changes. In one week of exceptionally good showers (160mm has fallen this month) the vegetation has burst into life again. The grass is lush, high and the trees are in full bloom again. The Manyeleti River is flowing for the first time in 2 years and most of the dams have re-filled. Almost as if to plan, the repairs were just completed in time for our dam at camp to re-fill for the first time since the floods in 2000. We have also repaired the spotlight that shines on to it, so we now boast two floodlit waterholes making it difficult for us to miss anything that goes on!
The two hornbill chicks have finally left their nest after seemingly taking forever to do so! They are usually seen noisily following their parents around the lodge gardens as they learn to forage for themselves (as well as how to bang on windows!) The male is still unable to fly, but his disability seems to have hampered him little as he now runs around the lodge at full speed catching insects. He has also realised he can still glide, so when he needs to travel a distance he climbs up to the top of a tree and then launches himself, gliding down to the ground on his one and a half wing power; usually with a reasonable amount of success. The resident herd of waterbuck boasts a new baby and we hope this one doesn't fall prey to leopard like their previous one. The family of dwarf mongoose also sport numerous babies and their family has grown rapidly with the new additions. The Stix Pride too has increased with the addition of 4 new cubs born recently, bringing their litter now to 7 youngsters.
In camp, all the staff undertook a day trip into the Kruger Park in two luxury buses. As was fitting, they saw great wildlife, which included two different prides of lion, a number of elephant and a rhino as well as lots of general game; followed by a huge lunch at Skukuza. Everyone rolled back into camp after a wonderful day of overindulgence, dancing, and laughter. Even the rain that fell was a reason to celebrate. We also had a visit from Edward (who used to assist in the lodge) and he was here for a week to enjoy some time out in the tranquility of the bush after having been in cold, wet Scotland for a month. It was great to see him again. After the hectic festive season it was also time to re-charge ourselves and so everyone has now had some well-deserved leave and we're ready to take on the busy year ahead.
We hope everyone has had a wonderful start to the year - may it bring you all good things,
Till next month,
Liane and the Bush Lodge Team.

We have finally had some well-deserved rain. Many a rain dance was preformed and it clearly paid off. We have had about 180mm, of which 130mm fell over three nights. The dam has now got a good amount of water in it after the dry riverbed in front of the suite's come down in flood. We were all overjoyed and headed out into the rain. Chris and Warren raced for the dam while Maritjie and I headed to one of the suites to watch the river and soon joined Chris and Warren at the dam. The boys decided it would be great to see me laying flat in the muddy water and indeed it must have been quite a sight! Needless to say after that the gloves came off and it was every one for themselves. We all emerged at the lodge drenched and muddy.
Talking of wet and muddy, Pendrae took an almighty dive into the fishpond at the reception area. Pendrae, Marietjie and I were picking marula's off a branch that looked as if it would break under the weight of the fruit. We were throwing said fruit in the direction of the kitchen when all of a sudden Pendrae lost her footing and hit the water headfirst. The aftermath of the dive was mass hysteria, with uncontrolled laughter from all and sundry. We managed to help her out and get her dried and only wish we had had a camera at hand to relive the moment.
We have been very busy in the bush with some filming. Chris Stamper and Paul Henning have spent many an hour getting the right shots and sequences for a pilot episode called "Djuma Diaries" on 50/50, a SABC3 wildlife TV programme. Campbell has been driving the planning with Alex Wills and Graham Wallington. So watch out for us on the tellie soon. We will keep you posted as events unravel.
Lusile Sithole one of our head chefs went off in December on maternity leave. She is the proud mother of a bubbling little girl named Jabulo, which means Happiness in Shangaan. Congratulations to her from all at Vuaytela.
We also celebrated a lot of birthdays this month. Pippa, Marietjie, Lilly, Gladys, Mildred, Joyce Nyati and Rain we wish all the best for the coming year!
We had great sightings of Wild Dog and Cheetah. The Wild dog was spotted a short distance from the lodge. We were amazed to see a pack of nineteen. They were seen regularly over a week. The Cheetah sighted had three cubs with her. There were a good couple of photo's taken of them by interested guests. We are seeing the return of the Elephants as we gear up for the Marula fruit season. Our staff have been gathering the first berries to fall to create a local brew with the fruit. We are sure to have the first samples within days.
On a very sad note we extend our deepest regrets and sympathies to the Mincher Family. Brad Mincher passed away this week in Mozambique, doing what he loved best, diving. We had the opportunity to get to know him at the lodge during his week stay with us. Brad was on holiday from Australia visiting family in South Africa. There were many laughs and long chats over dinner with staff and guests. He clearly enjoyed life in every way and made the most of it. Brad spent a lot of time with the guys in the bush, as well as filming and general day-to-day maintenance. We spent many an hour talking about any thing and everything one could imagine. Brad, being well traveled, had many stories to share of his experiences. As a Biologist, he appreciated the environment he was in to the fullest. The entire Djuma team will keep the family in their thoughts over this sad time.
The Vuyatela Team.

After a busy start to the month we were able to take a couple of weeks off to refurbish the camp. One thing is certain at Galago, when guests share their thoughts and suggestions about the lodge; we jump in and act upon their often sound advice.
With the most welcome torrential downpour, we have been able to replant the lawn and hope to have it back to its former glory before long! The most exciting development was to enlarge the kitchen and make more work surfaces. With shiny white tiles and a good flow through of air everything looks and feels better. The braai areas have also been re-tiled. Another job was to make the crib on the plain in front of the lodge larger to cope with the constant flow of animals needing water. A crafty little auto on/off switch will make sure they never go thirsty again, nor should the lodge supply run dry at inopportune times! All major work is now completed, just in the nick of time for the Drummond party to arrive and bring January to a close. With the bush looking lush and green, our spirits are lifted in anticipation of a fine February.
Stay well and best wishes from the Galago Team

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Djuma Game Reserve
P. O. Box 338, Hluvukani, 1363, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Tel: (+ 27 13) 735 5118
Fax: (+ 27 13) 735 5070
 

 
Webmaster: Jurie Moolman