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

July 2005

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

June brought with it the Winter solstice, which theoretically means we're mid-way through our winter season and the daylight hours will start to lengthen once again. Of course we also know that in reality July and August will be colder still, so we're not quite ready to celebrate yet. The full moon on the solstice was quite a sight to behold and this year's crisp clear night was perfectly timed to enjoy it to the max.
Our strategically placed water holes are paying off and the game viewing around them has been fantastic this month. The area around Cheetah Plain pan close to the KNP boundary has hosted vast herds of wildebeest and zebra during the past few weeks. This is unusual for us as we rarely see large herds of zebra and to see them numbering around 100 individuals was quite remarkable. White rhino sightings and lion sightings have also been very good recently. Sadly both our young lion cubs are now confirmed dead, killed by a nomadic male lion, so once again we have no youngsters in any of our 3 resident prides. An unusual sighting was had of a caracal near the Eastern Boundary with KNP. A caracal is a smaller member of the cat family - similar in appearance to a lynx with pointy ear tufts, but standing only approximately knee high. They are well camouflaged and solitary which combines to make them a difficult find and we were thrilled to have a good long view of one hunting late one afternoon. The pan in front of Bush Lodge has seen many thirsty elephants, buffalos, kudus, impalas, warthog, waterbuck, zebra, lion, giraffe (to name but a few) pay a visit to quench their thirst. In the camp, the genet cat is still coming around almost nightly to the main building along with the bushbucks to the garden. A rather more difficult situation to deal with was a most determined elephant that decided to visit the lodge gardens one evening. Starting at around 9.30pm this hungry pachyderm did everything he knew how to break in to the camp gardens, pushing over wooden fences, trying the staff entrance, sneaking in through the swimming pool area (where he paused for a much needed drink - breaking and entering is obviously thirsty work) until finally at around midnight after thwarting him over and over we thought we'd finally seen the last of his (rather large) behind. But of course he merely laid low until the camp had quietened down and then elegantly stepped over the electric fence before commencing with his midnight snack. One bougainvillea and a number of trees later, we found ourselves once again chasing him out the camp's grounds. Not much sleep was had that night and we were most relieved when he finally wandered off, leaving us to repair the damage and mourn the loss of plants. Lets hope he keeps heading east to find other gardens to snack on!
We have seen a number of return guests this month and we welcomed back Don and Diane from Arizona, who last visited in 1997, Mike from Canada who was here last year, and Inge and Beatt from Cape Town who have visited a number of times. Congratulations to our newlyweds Duncan and Davina and Claire and Simon. Both couples enjoyed spending part of their honeymoon with us this month and we wish them all the best for the future. Kim and Chris celebrated their birthdays by taking a few days off to relax, followed by a braai back at camp. Chris's sister Vicki was visiting with her husband, Sean from Cape Town and was on hand to help celebrate with them.
June has also been spent doing maintenance and Chalet No 8 (one of our 'honeymoon suites') is getting a facelift from George and his team of builders. Its always fun (as well as hard work) when we get to put our combined creative forces to use and we can't wait to see the end result. Chris has been building nesting boxes out of Marula trunks and putting them up around the lodge grounds. Suitable for almost any creature that likes to live in holes (birds, squirrels, bushbabies etc) we are hoping to see some residents taking up occupancy soon. Bushbabies are animals that we just haven't managed to tempt into the lodge grounds, so we'll be keeping our fingers crossed that Chris's nesting boxes do the trick.
Until next month, we wish everyone well.
The Bush Lodge Team

June has seen the bush dry out. The bush is showing hues of rusty browns and beiges with the odd burst of colour from the Impala lilies and the bougainvillea around the lodge. Gowrie dam, the waterhole that Vuyatela looks over, is drying up at an alarming rate. We have had an increased activity of Saddle Billed Storks hanging around for easy pickings on the fish. We had the rare sighting of Rhino drinking at the dam one afternoon, which has to be the highlight of the month. There have been huge numbers of Impala, Nyala and Wildebeest hanging around the water and the open area in front of the lodge. The Warthog family is also doing well and they are often seen in and around camp. We will be pumping water to Chris's pans in the next couple of weeks to sustain a steady water supply for the animals. Having said that, we have had the mildest winter in many years so far. As the rest of the country is snug in their winter woollies we are still popping the air cons on occasionally. The day temperatures have been between 25C - 30C with the early mornings and odd evening being cooler.
We have had a huge Elephant bull in musth (when a male elephant that is sexually receptive) around the lodge the last two days. He is clearly in a different place to the rest of us as he has been really bad around camp. He started with the breaking down of a gate to Jurie and Pippa's house, where he devoured a tree or ten. Gladness Mathonsi was in the kitchen and when she looked up saw a large grey mass staring at her through the window. In no time Warren and the boys were at hand to relocate the beast. Mark arrived a little while later and assisted from the deck. After having got the ellie out of the garden we had to do some quick repairs to the smashed gate. He then proceeded to the lodge where he and Marietjie (in her VW golf) revved each other a couple of times.
Marietjie was on her way to bush braai site (not far from the lodge) but arrived safely after the delay. All was well until the Elephant decided to return for round two at Jurie and Pippa's house and office. At this stage Mark and Marietjie were both at bush braai with the guests, when they heard some loud bangs from the lodge. After a couple of near misses with the Elephant, Warren and the boys had to use thunder flashes (very large crackers) to get the animal to back off and leave the area.
To everyone's knowledge he had left, until an hour later he was found breaking down Mark's gate and getting jiggy with it in the garden. Again Warren, Graham and the boys were on hand to try and move the Elephant off, but to no avail and they had to use thunder flashes again.
The Elephant did move off eventually but only after he re-landscaped the garden and fence slightly. We had explained all this to the guests at the bush braai and all seemed to be fine until returning to the lodge when the Elephant decided to try his luck in Mark's garden again. Mark had just arrived home and had closed the door when the Elephant came charging into the garden and onto the patio. He did not budge even though Mark spoke to him in tongues.
Warren and George were soon at hand and got him going on his way. The rest of the night was fairly relaxed. The next morning he was back, but this time at Charmian and Graham's house, he was intent on doing dramatic gardening there too.
Graham was out of the house in a shot and was getting the Elephant to move off for the last time. We have not seen or smelt him again …. Thank goodness!
Our return guest this month included David and Brenda Bam, Hennie Smith and Family of Eastgate Safaris, and Otto Hurlimann, Jimmy's dad. We had a number of honeymooners in camp this month. Congratulations to you from all at Djuma Game Reserve!
After having watched the Jack Russell puppies since they were only a couple of hours old we have found good homes for all of them, two of which are with us at the Lodge.
Mark has got "Shimali" and the Moolman family has kept "Twin Spot". Patsy, the mother is doing very well and loving single life again.
Mark has had both puppies with him as Jurie, Pippa and the girls were in Mozambique on holiday. Mark has admitted that having the puppies has put new meaning to the word responsibility as the two have kept him very busy.
Milliah, Joyce Ndubane, Judith Mashaba, Kim and Chris and Amos and George all celebrated birthdays during June from all of us best wishes for the year ahead.
Until next month, fond regards from the Vuyatela 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