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

August 2003

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

Over the years I have had to come to terms with gardening in the bush. Always a hobby, I have loved gardening and even ventured as far as to study horticulture! Creating a garden in the bush is no easy feat I can assure you, with more than one's fair share of obstacles landing in the way. Heat, poor soil, saline water, insects and animals to name but a few. Ok, so you think a cute little scrub hare is all I'm complaining about? No way, a variety of antelope (bushbuck, nyala, impalas), monkeys and baboons, buffalo and elephants are some of the pesky critters that could be termed "garden pests" out here.
Now I know I have a green finger or two, as I have turned many a cement filled dump into an oasis. However these were in Cape Town and Johannesburg, where "Garden Centres" and friendly neighbors with advice abound.
Right, so along comes Djuma Bush Lodge (or we came along in 1993), an area of about 2500m squared, much larger than any scrap heap I have enhanced before. The camp had been abandoned for many years, so all traces of lawn and small shrubs had died from neglect and lack of water. It was far easier for the earth to just be swept clean than to maintain a garden. We had also just experienced a few years of very low rainfall, which made watering out of the question, as the ground water tables were also pretty depleted. All that was there were some well established Tamboeti, Acacias, Leadwoods, Zebrawoods, Wag 'n Bietjie, Albizias to name a few. There was also a spectacular deep pink bougainvillea draped over the old pantry building that had been planted some 30 years previously. These exotics have the tenacity to survive hardships, in fact it seems to me, the worse the treatment they get, the better they fare. One of our first guests to venture to Bush Lodge equated bougainvilleas to an old adage about Walnut trees. She said something along the lines of "A good man beats his wife, his dog and his Walnut tree!" Make what you will of that, but I have regularly hit this specimen and it keeps on putting up a vivid display each winter through spring. There were one or two Baobabs and Maroelas that had been planted 10 years previously, but due to cramped root balls were very stunted in height. The two elements that struck me when starting up there was, a) the knowledge that we had very little water to spare on a garden and b) extreme heat which was made worse by the sun reflecting off the white sand. However this sorry excuse for a landscape was not what I wanted guests to experience whilst being in the supposed tranquil haven of a game lodge!
With the thought of beautifying this area in preparation for the arrival of our first guests, Abel Mkanzi and I set off on a 200km round-trip journey to Skukuza Nursery to buy some plants. I had phoned around and heard that the cheapest indigenous plants were to be secured there, at the "capital" of the Kruger National Park. Mrs. Davies who ran the nursery (maybe still does) had propagated most of the plants from seed or cuttings. To my joy I was able to buy amongst others, my all time favourite Fever Trees for a mere R7, 00! I probably bought about 50 plants including trees, thinking this would be enough. Little did I know that the vast expanse of space I needed to fill hardly even felt this insignificant impact. Also amongst the first vegetation to be added were about 30 trays of "LM grass" lawn plugs from a nursery in Pretoria. For a moment let me explain the terrible soil we had to deal with. The camp is positioned on a sodic site, which is basically rock hard, fine-grained clay-like sand with no organic matter present at all. To plant the lawn I got the help of temporary labour, amongst whom Maurice Mgiba was one, to break the surface with pickaxes to the depths of a couple of inches! After that we added kraal manure for organic matter, super phosphate to aid rooting and spaced the lawn plugs in the ground. All watering had to happen by hand as we could not waste a drop of this precious resource.
Planting trees and shrubs was an entirely different scenario. Due to the rock hard nature of the substrate, it took a few days to get a hole big enough to be of any use. A pickaxe was initially used to dig a few inches down, and then this indent was filled with water. Sometimes it would be a good couple of hours for the water to slowly seep into the ground before another session with the pick could resume. I knew that we would need "larger than the norm" holes and they had to be square, to avoid root bound spiraling that would stunt normal growth! I shrugged off the looks I got from the labour and got stuck in, which may explain the "crazy city woman" image that had preceded me. Apart from manure and fertilizer, the finishing touch to the planted tree was a piece of PVC pipe with holes drilled down the length. This pipe was inserted upright into the hole as a means of watering and feeding the plant beyond root depth. Elephant and rhino dung served as very adequate mulch!
Now with the rudimentary garden in place, the total onslaught of the zoological kind entered my garden. First it was bushbuck and duiker that seemed to eat the new shoots of the shrubs, and eject the lawn plugs from the earth. The first time I saw them in there, I thought it was so cool to have wild animals in the garden, but this school of thought changed very quickly. I knew that putting a fence around the camp was out of the question, so physically chasing the animals out was the only option. I think this may have been amusing to them with their swift speed, as they returned as soon as the coast was clear again. The extreme heat and water restrictions made plant growth very slow, but when things started to transform, the sense of achievement was undeniable.
Winter set in, and while the bush beyond the camp started drying out and turning golden brown, my struggling green patch of garden was an open invitation to herbivorous diners! The most intrusive of these were elephants and a lone dagga boy called "Rose". Rose, the buffalo bull did not get his name from any sort of deviant behaviour, but rather from the pink colour on his boss after rubbing his head on the bark of many of my tiny, now splintered saplings! He would then retire to the safety of the lawn patch in front of chalet 4 to sleep off his make over and foraging about the camp. Once again, wildlife in the camp was a recurring event, but the thought of sharing quarters with one of the most feared of the "Big 5" was not what we had in mind.
Elephants in the garden, on the other hand was something unimaginable. Purely due to their vast size, they could consume my entire garden in one sitting, but they still came back for more. What was not eaten was trampled. During winter months they would often come and drink from the swimming pool, usually draining at least a third of the contents, but the problem was greater than that. Remember the newly planted lawn? Well after quenching their thirst these huge craters in the so-called lawn, were left behind with miserable little grass runners needing to be replanted. Most of the Fever trees that were not uprooted got a severe pruning, that to this day are the oddest shapes.
Pippa Moolman

To be continued in the September edition of "Drumbeat".

As July came around we said a fond farewell to Steve. He is recovering well from his back operation and is going to the city to recover fully. Hope we will be seeing him from time to time. Steve, from all at Vuyatela we wish you all the best dude! Nicole will be joining Steve in the city early in August. Nicole will also be furthering her studies, and we wish her all the best for her future. Rexon Ntimane, our intrepid virtual game ranger, set off for greener pastures at the start of the month. He will be involved with community development for the Limpopo Province. We are all so proud of him and will miss him dearly.
The lodge has been a hive of activity with new and old guests having a splendid time with us. We had Mark and Alison Nolting and the boys with us for three days taking in the entire splendor that the bush and lodge have to offer. The Oger's were with us celebrating their anniversary and the Griffith family joined us for three nights too. We had Mark's brother and soon to be in laws come and visit. Marietjie's parents also popped in to say hello. Lovely to see you all again.
Out in he bush we have had stunning sightings. We came across Lion cubs that were so young their eyes were barley open. We have had Basile, the young male Leopard, around camp again. The rangers followed him from Khaya 1 to 6 drinking water from the plunge pools. He then walked off and the rangers and guests came back for dinner. During dinner we noticed a pair of eyes watching us from the pond at reception…it was the Leopard drinking water! Clearly he was thirsty! During dinner on another evening we had a herd of 400 Buffalo come to drink at the crib. It took about six hours to keep refilling the crib, as they must have been parched. We also had the Styx Lions kill a Waterbuck between the Scott's house and Khaya 8. As you can imagine this pride gave us a thrilling evening around the lodge. Early one morning, we had a Cheetah walk between the Moolmans and Mark's house. To top that, we had another Leopard encounter around camp. A new female brought in by Xivati invaded the safari female's territory. He mated with her in the safari female's presence. The safari female was having none of that so in true Leopard style she delt with the invading female. Interestingly, on another evening, we had a Hippo spend the night at the crib grazing and resting. One evening as it started getting dark, Warren and Nicole were off doing bush sundowners when five Buffalo came down to the watering hole to drink. With everyone's attentions focused on the Buffalo we had Xivati appear out of the blue a couple of meters away. These unexpected turns in careful planning make things very exciting. All in all a good month in and around the lodge.
This coming month will see the start of construction on our new staff accommodation at the lodge. George and his team are going to quite busy. We all look forward to the end result.
At the moment we have Campbell convincing Jack, his toddler, that men do not need a bottle. Good luck Campbell!
We all wish Charmian a Happy Birthday.
Until next time
Mark and the Vuyatela team.

Well, we're not sure whether it's just us in the bush, but it seems the year is flying by! With August on our doorstep, we should still be experiencing chilly winter temperatures, but it seems we have been blessed with an early Spring (although we shouldn't speak too soon...) This month has seen temperatures ranging widely - from the coldest in two years at a mere 2 degrees centigrade to balmier mid-thirties for a number of days in a row. Mother Nature also seems to think spring is here with a variety of insects putting in early appearances, geckos are once again a common feature and the wildlife in general is hotting up too. At camp, we've had sightings of 4 of the Big 5 drinking at the crib. A number of leopards have been spotted there, the Mala Pride came to drink (and hunt some buffalo who had an inopportune thirst) and almost daily elephant bulls have made use of the fresh, clean water. Other critters in the camp include a pair of Vlei Rats which are very uncommon and although shy are often sighted by the quiet stalker. The breeding pair of red-billed hornbills are still a familiar feature at the breakfast buffet and are now occasionally in a good enough mood to feed on tit-bits from our hand.
Suzi Holtzhausen our culinary consultant extraordinaire from Johannesburg was in camp for 10 days revamping our menus and training our already fantastic chefs! We are now all many pounds heavier, but aren't complaining too much as the results are delicious. Jimmy has been struggling with a lower back injury and took some time off to recuperate. Fortunately it seems the treatment was successful and he is back in the driver's seat again. Kim was on leave on a 'Busman's' holiday in Kruger National Park with Chris and they camped out, braving cold night temperatures, but reaping the rewards of some good wildlife viewing in the process. Brigitte came back for a third stint as our volunteer and her mom and sister joined her on holiday from Austria. We were able to quell her mom's fears that her daughter would never return and so say a sad farewell to her in August as she goes home to tertiary studies. Helen is now firmly in the AfriCam seat replacing Rexon who has left us to pursue other interests.
We had a number of return guests and welcomed the Daniel family back from London (with Rosie taking full advantage of the mild temperatures to brave the cool waters and swim daily) as well as the Lumen family from ex-USA. We also hosted some guests from Queenstown, New Zealand who stayed with us prior to us being well and truly beaten by the All Black Rugby team in the tri-nations. We can safely say our poor performance had nothing to do with Jimmy flying the All Black flag on game-drive (or at least we hope not!)
Warm greetings
Liane and the Bush Lodge Team

With the awesome game sightings and mild weather, the camp has been very busy. After the light rains from last month, the plain in front of Galago is lush green and usually dotted with game, large and small. Elephants dominated with a nice herd of about 26 gathering in the midday heat for a drink on one occasion.
Olaf from White River,was joined by family and friends for a couple of days of R & R. The Dannhausers, Lindes and Taljaards all returned to Galago again this month. It was great to meet some of their friends, and we will surely see you all again soon! The Andersons from Denmark spent 6 days at Galago, after discovering Djuma at Bush Lodge last year. This time around, they have their children and grandchild with them.
The seasons are turning again, with the sun rising a tad earlier. All this said, it is still cold on drives, and hot water bottles are enjoyed when turning in at night.
Join us again next month for news from Galago.
Pippa Moolman

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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
 

 
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