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

July 2003

Read about events at Djuma Game Reserve

Vuyatela

Bush Lodge

for more information visit www.djuma.com

If you would like to subscribe to this monthly newsletter, click here

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

Over the years Djuma Game Reserve has hosted many a movie crew over and above guests coming over for photographic safaris. We learnt pretty early on not to mix the two groups! Directors are truly directors, and even when they can't "move" the animals or environmental scenes to suit them, they willingly love to "move" other guests that really just want to continue with their safari. The best option was to set the crew up with their own vehicle, tracker, guide and preferably their own camp. Luckily we often used the old "Gowrie Camp" to accommodate them. Dixon Mkanzi proved to be a gem in front of the cameras and became the "face of Djuma" many times over.
Early on we had a SABC team here to shoot a documentary for teenagers. The crew got very gruesome footage of a young male lion killing a baboon. The rest of the troop was crying with almost human voices, while the baboon fought courageously before falling to a final blow from the lion. Years ago Wayne Crawford, and American based in South Africa stayed for a couple of days to get footage for a documentary. Most memorable in that programme, we caught sight of a wild dog pack that would later den on Djuma property for a few years. We are still seeing this episode of "On the Loose" every now and then on the Travel Channel.
While the wild dogs were denning, we had several crews in to film them, including Londolozi productions and Peter Lamberti. Some great footage was taken from the back of a motorbike while the dogs were hunting. Campbell Scott had been going out on a Yamaha TW 250 for a while with the pack so they were very relaxed about it. Naturally trailing them on a bike was the only practical way to keep up with them and cover most types of terrain. The next obvious step was to get a cameraman perched on the back to film while Campbell navigated the rugged terrain at high speed. Yes, there were a few spills and thrills but well worth it in the end.
One of the most memorable crews came out from Disney, with host Jeff Corwin for a week. Apart from Jeff's macrobiotic diet causing some consternation in the kitchen we were quite amused by the "script" that was sent out from the US. Luckily the director saw the humour in the time schedule that the animals had to appear on film, and our staff could relax. However, we had to organize a bushbaby and a fruiting marula tree in mid winter! Dixon knew of this confused tree out in the surrounding villages that bore fruit in July and miraculously also found a bushbaby that made a brief film debut and hurried back into the hole in the trunk. One of the scripted segments was for a barbel (catfish) to "walk" from one drying pan to another. The chances of being at the right place at the right time is not easy especially when you have a script to adhere to, so we went fishing! We dragged one of the dams with nets and found 2 nice characters that we could film the next day. They were to be kept in Pippa and Jurie's fishpond over night for filming at first light. When we awoke, the fish had already left and were tracked a short distance away, where they were indeed "walking" on their bellies and fins.
We also have the odd drama shot here. On one occasion, a Hollywood team used Galago for not only set, but crew accommodation and much more. The worst was that ESKOM was being very unsupportive and we had to run those huge lights off generators that were terribly noisy. There was so much fake blood and screams coming out of there, that we are quite apprehensive to see the final cut!
With the arrival of AfriCam in our lives in 1998, we had waves of press reporters arriving to document this cyber safari. It was quite a thrill to meet international reporters from Reuters, BBC and CNN out here in the bush, and then to see it on world news segments later! The most memorable crew came from CNBC, to film a very successful project called AfriSchool. There was a classroom of kids being filmed in Canada typing to the AfriSchool chat room to a group of wildlife volunteer enthusiasts around the world. At the same time a safari vehicle with virtual game drive was also being filmed by the crew.
Pippa (with another crew) at base camp at Djuma, would then radio questions from the children in chat to the game ranger about animals he was filming, and he could answer the kids real time via the chat line. Rather complicated description there, but it was hugely successful.
Although having film crews here can be a challenge, on the most part we enjoy the change to the regular routines of our lives. Some of us have been involved in movies at different stages of our lives, and the thrill of trying to get the unpredictability of natural surrounds to conform to scripts and filming schedules also offers partial amusement. Most often this is only recognized in hindsight and makes us anticipate the next unusual request we get from a crew that calls upon us.
Pippa Moolman

June has been another busy month. We have had absolutely amazing sightings out in the bush and around camp. The watering hole has almost dried up there is a bit of mud left but that will be gone soon. We have had some good rain though over the last few weeks. Nothing major enough to fill the dam but enough to get the bush slightly green again. We have had some interesting people around the lodge too. There was Mr. Adriaan Nuhn who celebrated his big 50th birthday with some close friends and us. Adriaan is the president of SarsLee International based in the Netherlands. We had a wonderful weekend with them. The highlight was the black tie dinner on the Saturday. Speeches were delivered and happiness was shared until the early hours of Sunday morning. There was a lot of laughter throughout the night and as the morning safari was heading out more laughter was heard until it faded into the distance. Guys, it was great to share the weekend with you all. We had Linda and Karin from Art Africa come and join us for a week of rest and relaxation. We used a lot of art from their delightful art gallery in Johannesburg to decorate the lodge. We had a couple of our local agents in to see the lodge to share good food, wine and dinner, so I am sure all had a great time. We had the pleasure of hosting some local celeb's at the lodge too. Michelle Botes and Chris Beasley of Isidingo spend a couple of days relaxing and taking the call of the bush. Our staff were in a tizz, as they could not believe their eyes when they saw their favorite stars arrive. We had Noelle Weiler arrive back at the lodge with a group of her friends from Texas. Once again there was fun to be had by all. We had the Toft and Ismael family with us too over that period. We look forward to having everyone back again soon. The wildlife has not been affected by the dry days at this stage. We have had devine sightings of general game around camp daily. The fresh water trough is filled up twice a week. We have had a couple of Catfish that have made their way up to the trough and have relocated them to the pond at Vuyatela. We have a camera positioned on the area daily so keep an eye out for all on www.africam.com . As the month goes on we have seen a couple more showers of rain and cold followed by wind. We all hope that this will be enough to keep the bush going until we have our summer rain later in the year.
Warm regards from the Vuyatela team.

Winter has well and truly set in with temperatures dropping down into the single digits at night, although the days are still mild and 'occasionally' sunny. Reading between the lines, June has been remarkably WET!! Quite unseasonably, we have received over 30mm of rain. This is more than in any other month this year and traditionally we seldom receive even one shower in the winter months. So, we are all perplexed and the frogs are croaking again so they sound just as confused. But we are not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and are grateful for any rain - no matter when it falls!
James Clarke, who is a student from London, was our volunteer for the month. He was a guest with his family at Bush Lodge over a year ago and obviously the experience was worth repeating as he eagerly came back for a month (although even he admitted it was much cushier on the guest side of the table). His sense of humour will be sorely missed and Kim particularly will miss having another 'Pom' around camp.
All the guides and trackers were hard at work studying and practicing for their rifle evaluations, which were carried out over a weeklong period out at our 'Bush range'. Firing those heavy caliber rifles repeatedly is no easy task and congratulations to them all for showing so much determination.
In the camp, Chalet No. 7 got a face-lift. After a little persuasion from Pippa and Pendrae a rather generous budget was allocated and once again George was put to work with his team, transforming the chalet. If you've been reading our history you might recall No. 7 was once a 'staff tent' later changed into a 'Honeymoon' suite to envy. We have installed a luxurious oval bath, an outside shower with private garden, as well as a vanity area and remodeled the interior of the bedroom so that upon waking guests can gaze out of sliding glass doors unto their private little piece of African wilderness (all without leaving the cosy comfort of bed!).
We were treated to another leopard kill in the vicinity of the lodge and so a number of days followed offering fantastic viewing almost on our doorstep and dinner around the fire serenaded by the nightly calls of the spotted hyena lurking nearby. We were also highly impressed to have 3 of the Big 5 come to drink from the pan during dinner one evening! This was a special treat for the camp staff that often miss out on the bush action and made for a memorable evening.
Happy 4th of July to all our American guests!
Till next month,
Liane and the Team at Bush Lodge.

June could easily be the busiest month this year for Galago! The weather was rather odd in that we had the whole range of conditions that changed as often as the guests did! Clouds, wind, light drizzle and full sun, nothing was predictable apart from the great game sightings. The lion cubs and hyena pups continue to entertain everyone. The endearing faces of the pups sway many a person that thought hyenas were only deserving of the scavenging reputations the adults have. We have also been lucky enough to see cheetahs on several occasions.
Elene Shepard shared a birthday with 21 of her closest friends at Galago and Hardekool camps. We had a special sundowner at Buffelshoek dam for her; followed the next day with a wine tasting evening. Elene and Dennis, we look forward to next years birthday!
The de Beer family, regular visitors to Galago, was joined by the Cottons from the UK for an introduction to the bush. Clyde de Beer also ticked off another birthday that was celebrated with a "dung spitting" competition and chocolate cake! Young Guy Cotton is a budding cartoonist and has promised to send us some copies of his "Safari Cartoons" to add to the guest gallery.
Paul and Karen Weigers ended the month after a long awaited return to the bush. Although they experienced a weekend of unseasonal rain, the game sightings were awesome and they all enjoyed themselves.
Pippa

Home
 

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