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In the African night, the beat of a drum means news... |
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April 2006 |
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Read about events at Djuma Game Reserve |
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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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Editor:
Pippa Moolman
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The above photos were taken from the Vuyatela Cam,
hosted by Djuma Game Reserve - most of these images are recorded by
Pippa.
Chris Stamper and Piet Marimane are operating the roaming camera to
great effect.
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Bush Lodge staff members Mandla, Ivy and Life
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| Bush Lodge | ||
| More rain this month
has kept the bush looking thicker and greener than ever. However, the game viewing has been fantastic, which at this time of year is not always the case, due to the dense vegetation. It has been the month of the Cheetah! Due to most of the major clearings now being mowed, the cheetah sightings have been nothing short of amazing. These sightings included - 1 female with 3 cubs ( approx 1yr old ), 2 young males, 2 adult males. The guests were also lucky to see a female feeding on a recent impala kill she had made. The Sandy Patch pride of lions and their cubs have been making their presence known. The cubs growing stronger and larger by the day and have provided the guests with some excellent sightings. It is a thrill for us to watch their progress. The female leopard, Beacon, and her two cubs are also doing well, the male cub is almost the same size of his mother. One evening the guests watched as the two cubs chased a bushbaby up and down a tree, once again providing fantastic entertainment for the guests and the guides. Around camp, the gardens are looking more and more beautiful, some of the aloes are starting to flower, and our grounds men are kept busy with trimming back the rapid growth. Our resident genet is still visiting us in the bar area, listening to our conversations from his viewing deck at the top of the stairs. A family of yellow-billed hornbills made their appearance this month, and are now regular visitors to the main building at breakfast times. Julie, who is helping us in the camp for a couple of months, has taken a well-earned rest for a few days to catch up with friends. Kim and Chris also took a break this month, visiting the local area, also catching up with friends. Piet did an outstanding job doing his first solo as lodge manager. As another exciting month draws to a close at Bush Lodge we wish you farewell, until next month. Regards from Kim, Piet and the Bush Lodge family. |
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| Vuyatela | ||
| The beginning of
March saw the heavens open with huge showers of rain. The roads in and
around the reserve were basically rivers. It was on one of these days
that Warren left to head into town to get a couple of goodies for the
lodge. It was only a little later that in dawned on Mark that it would
be near impossible to get out or in by car, in the next few hours, if
the rain continued as it was. Warren had reported that one of the roads
was impassable with a huge river running over it. After some very quick
packing and careful driving at times, all was okay with Mark being able
to get to firmer ground in the form of tar and Warren get back home with
no hitch. The local villages were all a buzz with all the water, and the
kids enjoying themselves to the fullest in the mud and water. Marietjie
in the mean time was trying to prevent a dam forming in her house. At
onstage it was raining so hard that it appeared that the water was actually
seeping through the floor. She was seen clearing grass around the house
for the water to drain away. Who ever said ladies were not handy with
large spades in the rain, has never seen Marietjie in action, she is truly
brilliant. We have had, with all this rain, the dam overflowing. It is at present as full as ever and looking great with the Painted Reed Frogs sounding a delightful tune. We have been visited by our resident Hippo around camp with all the luscious green grass and plant life. He has been joined on the odd occasion by another Hippo, which led to serious altercations and very interesting viewing for the lodge. The dam has been frequented by Nyala and Impala as well as Baboons and our ever present Monkeys. We have also seen - quite close to the lodge and around reception and the boma - a family of Dwarf Mongoose. They have kept us entertained with their quirky little ways. The sightings have been really amazing. We have seen Cheetah and cubs, Lions and cubs, Leopards and cubs just to name a few. On a couple of occasions we have seen all three cats on the same drive at various spots in the reserve. We had Mafufanan, the male Leopard; kill a Kudu at Philemon's dip a short way from the lodge. It was quite a large kill and provided us with hours of great sightings. Almost every day this month, a family of Ground Hornbills, has been seen around the lodge. They are quite magnificent birds and with them being on the endangered species list makes it even sweeter to have them that close and relaxed as they feed though the grass. We had the Boulton's back for some rest and relaxation again with some friends this month. Hennie Smith was back with his family for a quick weekend break too. And Sean and Jane Keogh were also back to celebrate their first wedding anniversary with us. They got married here last year just under the live camera at the dam. John and Barbra Gunby were also back for some Vuyatela magic. It is great to have you all back with us again and we look forward to many more visits too. Charles celebrated his birthday this month so congrats from all at the lodge. On a personal note I would like to thank all the staff and amazing guest that I have had the pleasure of meeting Vuyatela. I am, after four years at Djuma and many years in the bush, moving back to the city to be close to family and friends. The Djuma family I leave behind will be in my thoughts always as I have so many divine memories of my time here. I would like to thank Jurie and Pippa for giving me this wonderful opportunity to be part of such a unique product as well as their very special family. So for now ciao until next month's news from the bush. Mark |
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We have had an extremely busy month at Galago, with
only a few nights that were not snapped up by guests. Our guests were
all game to partake in all the drives even though we had some serious
downpours of rain. During March we had almost 200mm of rain, bringing
the total for this season to 810mm. This means that we are well above
the average rainfall for the season. We are all secretly hoping that
the clouds on the southeastern horizon stay away for a while and the
sun has a chance to dry out the boggy roads. Some drives have been hampered
with the vehicle getting stuck, but most guests are eager to jump out
and help with digging the vehicle free from the mud.
The game sightings have been nothing short of marvelous. A wide variety of cheetahs have been seen out on drive, while the rhino family group has been seen frequently from camp. A breeding herd of about forty elephants have been seen drinking at the water hole in front of the camp a couple of times. They tend to stop and have a quick nibble on the trees near the dining area. The highlight would have to be the sighting of the female leopard moving her very young cubs near Nyala dam. The lion cubs and their pride were also spotted on a couple of occasions this month. Until next month, fond wishes from the Galago team. |
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Join
us next month and share our experiences as the seasons march on.
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Given
that the images are not sent with the html code that subscribers receive
in the newsletter e-mail, subscribers need to be online to see the images.
It is done this way to prevent large files clogging up people's e-mail
servers.
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Djuma
Game Reserve
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