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

October 2003

Read about events at Djuma Game Reserve

Vuyatela

Bush Lodge

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

After a year or so of making Djuma our home, I wondered if we would ever be called upon to take care of a wildlife orphan. I had read several accounts of this happening to other people living in the wilds and knowing that it was no easy task, pondered if it would ever happen to us. Jurie, being a biologist insisted that nature was not to be interfered with, and an abandoned young animal, for instance, has an underlying reason for its circumstance. I agree wholeheartedly with this philosophy and felt that if an animal in need of care crossed our path, so be it. Since then we have had a few encounters of sharing our lives with furry and feathery friends.
One December evening we got a frenzied radio call from one of our neighbours on our reserve boundary. He had been out hunting impala when he missed his target and shot an ewe. Her five-day-old lamb was standing alongside its dead mother while the rest of the herd disappeared into the darkness. Our friend was quite agitated and said he was coming over. We met him in the camp with this tiny lamb in his bloody arms. I promptly took her from him and decided that this was one of those moments where it would be okay to take care of this wild orphan. Easier said than done! I borrowed a human baby's bottle, from housekeeper, Bongi Dlamini, filled it with diluted cow's milk and sort of assumed that this little thing would just start drinking. By the morning she was yet to even consider taking a sip. We feared that she would start getting weak so Jurie phoned Karen Trendler at an animal rehabilitation center, ARC, as it was known at the time. We explained the circumstances and were quickly corrected on a number of things we were doing wrong. First of all, young animals in the wild often have their buts licked by their mothers to stimulate their sucking response! We were alarmed and hesitant at trying this approach ourselves. Another option was to wipe their rear ends with a moist sponge, which we reckoned we could handle far more easily! Then we were given a recipe for her diet, full cream cow's milk, and fresh cream and egg yolk. No cheap easy food for this little thing, on the contrary, costly gourmet bottles every couple of hours. Then we mentioned that we had two bull terriers and queried whether we should keep them separated from the lamb. To our surprise Karen suggested that we introduce the four-legged siblings to each other and perhaps it would help the impala to relax in her foreign surroundings. Naturally we thought the older more sedate bitch would be the best bet, but Bingo would have none of it. Next option was Douglas, a rather exuberant dog to say the least. We let him in the room and the two of them bonded instantly! He licked her rear end immediately, and a few minutes later she was drinking her first bottle.
We did not have adequate housing facilities for Victoria, as she was later named, so she slept with Doug on a large pillow to the side of my bed. We hung Hessian cloth over the windows so that she would not try jumping through the glass, and during the day she had run of the camp garden. It was almost as if she thought we were her herd, and she was never far from her foster "mother" Doug. So much for the vicious temperament that has been the portrayed stereotype for English Bull Terriers. Victoria was named after the "Victrinox" pocketknife, as she would fold up so neatly when she lay down for a nap. Far more apt than the horrid names of "Rations" or "Nyama" (meat) that we started off calling her, tongue in cheek of course!
A week into her new home and family, we started taking her for walks in the bush showing her watering points near to camp. From the start we knew her place was back in the wild, but she would have to be with a herd of real impala to aid her survival. She was with us for 8 months before leaving for a day at a time with various types of animals that passed by the camp. She tried zebras; waterbuck and kudu on different occasions, but always came back the next morning for a loving nuzzle with Douglas and the occasional scone off the breakfast table. One day, Jurie was heading off to the bush on his motorbike with Victoria and the dogs in tow, when he spotted a herd of impala just off from the Lodge. He stopped and switched the engine off to see what would happen next. He said that when Vikki saw them her posture became tense and she trotted towards them. Then the male broke off from the others and herded her back to his harem. Jurie came back to camp to let me know of the events, and even though it was fairly sad for us, the inevitable happy relocation had occurred.
This was not the last we saw of young Victoria! A couple of weeks later, we were hosting our provincial beauty queen (and TV crew) in the run up to the Miss South Africa pageant, when Victoria arrived for breakfast. The cameraman got some "made to order" shots of the beauty queen feeding Vikki some fresh scones and strawberry jam! After that she walked out the camp and joined her impala herd again. We saw another once or twice when we were out on game drives. How did we identify her specifically? It was easy, she was the only impala to break away from the herd and run up to the vehicle, while the others scattered!
You may ask what we got out of this unusual part in our Djuma lives, and there are many answers. First of all I benefited from getter a huge respect and in depth knowledge of one of our most common antelope. I have smelt the musky odour that impala exude from the black patches on their heads and ankles. I have had the lanolin-like oiliness on my fingers after stroking her. I learned that Victoria was a wild animal and no amount of human contact was ever going to domesticate her and turn her into a pet. I saw her regurgitating balls of food like a wave up her neck when she wanted to chew the cud. I had her groom my hair with her slightly mobile bottom incisors while I groomed her flanks with a fine toothcomb. The lodge guests were also fascinated with her and learned a lot from the close contact that was not as easy to observe in the bush. Perhaps they could also see that she was a wild animal with instincts honed to a different perspective, which may have been lesson enough.

This all happened many years ago in the early days of Bush Lodge and was written a while back. However, there have been so many other wild orphan interactions that we will share with you, so do join us next month to meet "Nomfu" the warthog, the vervet monkeys, the Egyptian goose and many more.

Pippa Moolman

What a month for wildlife it has been! We have had quite the run of spectacular game viewing, with drive after drive bringing back stories and photos to make anyone envious. One of the highlights must surely be the discovery of a new leopard cub not far from Bush Lodge. Jimmy and Nick were out walking one day when they saw a flash in the long grass nearby. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be a young male leopard cub with mum not too far away. Fortunately, she wasn't threatened and allowed them to beat a hasty retreat - definite adrenalin pumping there! A few more sightings since (from vehicles this time) have confirmed the discovery and the den site, although we're allowing them lots of privacy during these fragile first months. We will keep you updated on his progress. The dry spell continues, although a precious 7mm rainfall fell earlier in the month, and so the crib is still providing daily action. Another highlight was a kill right at the lodge! Just after breakfast one morning, a few guests were relaxing at the pool, when a cheetah chased and killed a female waterbuck in the now-dry dam bed. The dust had hardly settled when a male leopard (a new one we suspect to be 'Newington male') leapt over the dam wall and proceeded to wrestle the kill from the cheetah. Although the cheetah gave it a good go, it was quite over-powered and so wisely beat a hasty retreat. The leopard (which was still full from an impala kill the day before) dragged his kill into the drainage line where he proceeded to gorge himself over the next few days. The swimming pool became the vantage point for much game viewing and it wasn't a lifeguard we needed, but a ranger most days - with hyena, vultures and even a female leopard all coming in to try and nab their share. Other good sightings from camp include the Stix pride, 2 nomadic male lions, a number of leopards and a hippo, which, quite unusually, came just to drink water.
We have had a number of love-struck Honeymoon couples visit and Anita and Arni Douw brought a group of friends along to help them celebrate their special occasion. We wish everyone all the best for the years to come. Return guests included Michael and Angela who were here for the 4th time and had first visited during the early days of Djuma and Diane who enjoyed her 3rd visit with her friend Stacey. A Canadian guest, Christel spent 10 days enjoying as much wildlife viewing as she could and somehow also found time to squeeze in some day tours of the area.
Nick and Helen enjoyed a much-earned break on the beach in Mozambique, before Helen flew home to visit her family in Canada. Liane has also been lounging on the beach in Mozambique with Mark, Charmian and Graham for company -amongst others - now that's the kind of team building we can get used to!
We welcome our new student Scott who is from Australia. Originally from Bathurst, he has been living in Sydney for a number of years and he will be with us for a few months. Already he's to be found with shovel in one hand and camcorder in the other as he compiles his 'Djuma Diary'. We trust he will have an enriching experience (even if his video never makes him rich and famous) and will leave having made many new friends.
Till next month
Liane and the Bush Lodge Team.

At last we had a bit of rain! We are seeing green shoots popping up on the ground and in the trees so the bush seems to be bouncing back from a very dry season. There was a lot of traveling done by Djuma staff during September. We had a couple of countries covered during our travels. Jurie and Pippa had Europe covered with their trip to Spain and Portugal. Helen van Tonder was in Australia on a marketing trip. Charmian, Graham, Liane and Mark covered Mozambique while Campbell and Pendrae popped down to the E. Cape coast. All are back, well rested and eagerly awaiting the up coming high season.
We have had plenty of game in camp again. Marietjie, welcoming guests one evening walked past two huge male Lions lying in the grassy area next to reception. The rangers did however manage to warn her the third time she popped past. They were both so full after feeding on an Elephant carcass that they did not even budge. On another occasion we had the six female Lions come down to drink at the watering trough. The seemed to go off in all directions and soon had the Lodge surrounded. Warren, Marietjie, Mark and Jimmy were unpacking a couple of goodies from town when we were alerted to the one female Lions showing interest in us. Needless to say there was a lot of commotion after that and the Lioness disappeared into the night. We had a Hippo drinking from the watering trough at the lodge and walked to Khaya 3 grazing as he went. We had a lovely romantic dinner set up in the lounge one evening for a honeymoon couple. They were rather startled to see a Leopard walking across the deck towards them. As soon as the Leopard saw the couple he moved off towards the viewing tower and into the bush. Warren and Jimmy were running outside the reserve boundary, when two Buffalo charged them. The buffalo seem to have broken through the fence. They did manage to get them back into the reserve without harm to themselves or the Buffalo. Back at the lodge we still have our herd of male Buffalo in and around camp. Mark and Rain had to drive dinner down to Khaya 3 during another private dinner for a honeymoon couple.
As the bushveld warms up so do the reptiles and we have seen the return of some of the local snakes around camp.
Out in the bush it has been a rather busy time. We have had great sightings of everything. The highlight was the eight-week-old Leopard cub. Many a role of film was spent on the sighting.
This month sees the return of James Lyle and his family. James was out with us last year with his son. Great to see him again. We welcomed Isobel Abrams back to the bush again with her husband this time and as usual all had a good time. Mignon and Diane popped in to spend some time with us again this moth. Mignon was the creative mind behind our brochures. The crowd from Delagoa/Graskop popped in for a brief stay too. As we go into summer we hope for a lot more rain. W
Last but not least, we saw the arrival of two new Toyota Land Cruisers at Vuyatela this month and bid a happy farewell to the Land Rovers!
Until next month
Mark and the Vuyatela team.

Another jam-packed month at Galago, with an even spread of new and return visitors. The weather seems to have been showing the whole spectrum too. Very hot days touching the mid 30's on occasion, followed by icy winds and soft rain. No one complained about the 7mm of drizzle though! The bush blushed green for a brief interlude, but apart from fresh green buds on the trees, is pretty much back to a monotone khaki. Before this picture appears too bleak, all the wild pears, knobthorns and many acacias are in full bloom so the air hangs heavy with their scent and pollen. The first of the summer migrant birds has arrived in the form of the Wahlberg's Eagle. Now the count down to the arrival of the lilac breasted rollers, impala lambs and of course the first summer storm.
Due to the layout of Galago Lodge, we do not usually have large wildlife passing through camp. However, Thembi and Mildred were in the courtyard one evening while Ephraim and William were out with guests. Thembi wanted to go out the main entrance of the lodge to use her phone when she walked straight into a young male leopard! In the commotion that followed Mildred ran into a step and broke her toe. Naturally Thembi still managed to radio Ephraim and call in the sighting. Now that shows the dedication of our Galago team! Thembi is still a bit nervous, but Mildred's toe is all sorted out after a bit of rest.
The Galago 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