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In the African night,
the beat of a drum means news... |
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March 2002 |
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Last month it was hippos; this month, baboons! Read about these and other events at Djuma Game Reserve below. |
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for more information visit www.djuma.com |
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If you would like to subscribe
to this monthly newsletter, click
here |
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This newsletter is archived in
the Drumbeat section
of our web site |
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The
above images are from the live Internet cameras that Djuma runs on
the AfriCam.com web site. The Baboons insist on tampering with the
equipment - aspirant grease monkeys? The hippo merely moved on by.
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I had almost put the Djuma newsletter to bed when a series of events occurred that, … well called for "halting the presses"! On Thursday guests were lucky enough to witness the birth of a buffalo calf while they were watching the Big Herd of buffalo. Later that day, on the evening game drive, they witnessed the flipside of life, death. Three male lions attacked the buffalo cow and killed her. Unfortunately the calf was too young too realize the dire consequences of revealing itself and it attempted to push amongst the lions to drink from its mother's teat. At first the lions ignored the calf, but then one of them killed it with a bite to the head. Life can be rough and tough out here in the bush, but it is the natural course of Nature. The following two incidents are more harrowing due to the hand of man. Whilst the lions were devouring the buffalo cow and calf a clan of hyenas arrived to steal what scraps they may. One of the rangers noticed that a pregnant female hyena had a snare around her mouth and head. Snares are a brutal and cruel way of killing an animal, and senseless since in this case the snare would not have been intended for the hyena, but rather for other prey animals such as steenbok and duiker. Unfortunately our northern neighbour, Manyeleti, has been a "forgotten" reserve for many years; but encouragingly the private, commercial development recently allowed, seems to be changing the quiet - poacher havens - into more frequented places (refer to last month's story). Since the female hyena had suffered extensive, irreparable damage from the snare, it was decided to put her down. I often collect the skeletons of freshly killed animals and so saw and opportunity to clean her carcass and eventually reconstruct her skeleton for educational use. But, before Campbell and I could set off to collect the hyena carcass a call came in on the radio: "eleven baboons are stuck in the Dixie reservoir"! Dixie is the local community outside Djuma Game Reserve and has a large, deep reservoir, which has not been used for years. We had heard that "a" baboon was stuck in the reservoir and decided to send rangers Jimmy and Steve to help it. When they arrived at the reservoir there were more than twenty baboons stuck inside! They must have been trapped for a week or more and were in dire straits. The rangers immediately lowered a large branch into the reservoir and ten baboons scampered to safety. Unfortunately eleven baboons were too weak to move, and had already drowned, or were in the process of drowning in the watery muck at the bottom of the reservoir. The rangers were able to drag five individuals from the muck; the remaining six were dead. The five rescued baboons were thin, dehydrated and hypothermic from the cold, wet muck clinging to their coats. Steve and Jimmy brought the baboons, all young adolescents, to our house wrapped in blankets. We immediately bathed each in a hot bath, so as to rid them of the fine muck as well as to revive them from their hypothermic state. Their moaning was pitiful, all the more so given their near human looks and behaviour. Once wrapped in towels we arranged them in front of a blazing heater to help them dry and regain some body heat. We force fed them isotonic fluids with the children's bottles, this was to combat their dehydrated state. We did not feed them any solid foods, allowing their conditions to stabilize overnight. Once the baboons were stabilized we had one task before nightfall, collecting the dead hyena for dissection. At the site of the killed buffalo there were many vultures and the whole hyena clan finishing off what was left by the lions. The lions were nowhere to be seen, but we had seen them earlier at the watering hole nearby and saw them heading back towards the carcass, with enormous full bellies. We had to find and collect the dead hyena fast. Once collected we had to get her to the tree behind our house and dissect her before nightfall. The smell defies description. It was sad to cut her up; she was in the prime of her life, pregnant with two pups and large swollen nipples ready for their birth, which would never happen now. This morning we released the baboons after a meal of soft fruits, the relief on their faces was clearly visible. At the moment they are calling the local troop of baboons and are bound to meet up with them sometime today. It will be interesting to see how they are assimilated into the local troop (obviously it was another troop outside the reserve that got caught in the reservoir). We have placed a ladder into the reservoir to prevent any future tragedies. I will keep you updated. Jurie Moolman |
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Comatose
youngster covered in smothering muck
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A
wrinkled and blue foot, symptoms of extreme hypothermia
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The
youngsters having a nice warm bath.
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Warmed
up youngsters drinking electrolyte solution from baby bottles
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A
miserable, but warm, clean and dry baboon. Also an alive baboon one
may add!
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Freedom
at last!
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A huge fundraising event was held at Southern Cross School, Hoedspruit on 23 March 2002, and naturally Djuma was part of it. About 19 game lodges from the surrounding private game reserves had to produce a 3-course meal for 10 guests seated at their tables. Easier said than done! Although pre-preparation was allowed, all cooking and heating of dishes had to be done on a fire. With a lot of pre-planning and packing, we set off on the 100km journey to Hoedspruit. Our team consisted of Marks Sithole, Amos Nyathi, Pendrae Scott and Pippa Moolman. We were fairly confident we would be voted the best "Personality Table", even though there was no such category! Never the less, it was a lot of hard work which left little time for the foursome to show their personality skills. We did however produce a fabulous meal of Bobotie Spring Rolls and Papaya sauce, Ostrich Medallions with all the trimmings as well as a "to die for" Praline Ice Cream and grilled Pineapple. This was rounded off with steaming Mocha Java served in hand- painted mugs. After dinner we beat a hasty retreat back to Djuma to make the closing of the reserve gates before 23h00. Djuma
Game Reserve wishes Southern Cross School all the success with their
innovative education system as well as a long and prosperous future. |
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| Vuyatela | Bush Lodge |
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"
I would like it Ian McCallum Vuyatela has taken it's next step, bidding farewell to our friends, Sean and Alice, that have left us for their travels; with their cameras and Land Rover TDI we wish them a wonderful journey through Africa. Tania, our assistant manager, could not resist the call of the wild and has also moved on to resume her career as a field guide. Edward will be taking his skill and charm over to Bush Lodge to extend his reach onto the greater Djuma family. We also
welcome three new staff members to Vuyatela. Mark Labuschagne has
joined our lodge as Food and Beverage Manager with his "deep
fried camembert" and all his other culinary delights. Steve Baillie
has taken over the binoculars from Sean as field guide and will be
continuing to fill the game drives with fantastic wild life sightings.
A great sighting from last week was that of a leopard that had killed
an impala, only to lose the tug-o'-war to the "Sandy Patch"
pride lioness! Well done, Steve. Nicole Witte rounds off our new and
expanding family as our resident massage therapist and hostess adding
a new dimension to our guest's experience at Djuma Game Reserve. |
The
month of March has been one of great transition for Bush Lodge. We
bid a sad farewell to Jonathan Hanson (Jay) as he headed home to the
UK and were pleasantly surprised when Kim decided to stay on with
us having 'fallen in love with Africa'. |
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Galago
is running at good occupancies, with guests having to book far in
advance to snap up available days to get away to the bush. What a
joy it is to see is the amount of return visitors, like the Cohen
family, who always seem to bring the animals out of hiding when they
visit. Another interesting change is to notice how many foreigners
are enthusiastically trying their hand at the self-catering option
that Galago offers. |
On a
hot African day under a Jackalberry tree, Lars and Birgit Brammer
promised to take care of each other and to live happily ever after.
Chris, Solly and Landi were the witnesses to this very special private
Bush Wedding in December last year. And the excitement still flows
strongly though the veins when we review the pictures. Lars and Birgit
contacted us via the Internet and wanted something " special"
to mark the start of their lives together as husband and wife. Well,
special it was, all down to the last detail of flowers and champagne.
A private picnic, with barman, Jimmy, to ensure that the glasses were
full and the insects stayed out of the food! The Shangaan ladies welcomed
them back to the lodge with traditional singing all the way to their
room, where more chilled champagne awaited their arrival. The day
was rounded off with Jimmy in attendance as their private waiter for
a lantern flooded deck for dinner. It will always be fondly remembered
for staff and guests alike. Field guide, Chris drove around and found
the perfect shady tree for the wedding ceremony, and tracker, Solly
was asked to witness the union of this special couple. |
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Djuma
Game Reserve
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