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

 
 

November 2006

 
 

Read about events at Djuma Game Reserve

 

Bush Lodge

This month the rains have slowly come back, creating spectacular electrical lightning storms, illuminating the night sky. Click here to read more…
 

Vuyatela

Wow, what a month! There is never a dull moment here at Vuyatela. Click here to read more…
 
Galago
It has been another busy month for Galago and its staff. Click here to read more…
 
Thanks from the Creche
The children and Dixie and Utha crèche had lots to smile about this month. Click here to read more…
 
 

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

Editor: Pippa Moolman
 
 
 
The above photos were taken from the Vuyatela Cam, hosted by Djuma Game Reserve - most of these images are recorded by Pippa.
 
Bush Lodge

This month the rains have slowly come back, creating spectacular electrical lightning storms, illuminating the night sky. With this the bush is rapidly changing colour from golden brown's & yellow to new sprouts of fresh green. Temperatures have also soared reaching an average of 31C during the day.
Game drive viewings this month have been thrilling; one of the highlights recently must have been a lioness giving birth to two cubs. Our guest were lucky enough to see them hours after they had been born, eye's still closed!
Sightings in & around the camp have been as active as ever including two regular warthogs in front of chalet No.1, grazing in our lush garden. Hyenas have also been spotted on more than one occasion in & around the lodge, particularly around dinnertime!! On the 19th October White Cloth (Leopard) killed an Impala directly behind the staff village! The next few days after proved very interesting with regular sightings of her just outside the lodge as well as drinking from our water hole in front of the boma area. Mandla had an up close & personal encounter with her one evening, while he was waiting for the guests to return from their afternoon drive, it was only when the Land Cruiser's head lamps lit up the path that he realised that White Cloth was a few feet from where he was standing!!!!
We had a large group of ten American guests stay with us early in October, led by Mark Abdy, who has stayed with us previously. They experienced exceptional sightings of Rhino & Lion during their stay.
Greg & Madelain Fouche visited us, celebrating their wedding anniversary. They were lucky enough to capture Ncila (Leopard) who had just made a kill. He was chased up a nearby Tamboti tree, as there were 2 male lions on the scene wanting a share of the meat! One of the lions attempted to follow Ncila up the tree, but to no prevail. Greg managed to get some spectacular shots of the whole event.
There have been a number of honeymooners this month including, Laurenzi & Laura,
Barbara & Frederic, Madeline & Daren, Den & Emma, Kate & Charlie, Chris & Kate, Matt & Sally and Brian & Dee. We wish them all the happiness for the future,
We would also like to congratulate Kim & Chris Stamper, who tied the knot on 28th October on the beach in Paternoster, on the west coast, north of Cape Town. Everyone at Bush Lodge wishes them all the best and are looking forward to their return!
The Bush Lodge Team

 
Vuyatela
Wow, what a month! There is never a dull moment here at Vuyatela. Each day has brought with it a rise in temperature, some stunning thunderstorms, a little bit more rain and some more excellent game viewing for our guests to enjoy.
There have been two new additions to the Sandy Patch pride of lions, not only do they have two four month old cubs, but another two have recently been born which has caused an array of excitement around the camp. Both mothers have starred in at least five photo shoots a day. For the guests it has been an experience that they will never forget.
Two unknown male Lions paid Djuma a visit this month in search of new territory and found dinner instead. They came right up to the water hole outside the lodge and decided that they had enough energy to chase a Cape Buffalo. After a long hard battle the Buffalo admitted defeat and the lions were able to eat.
A female leopard also paid Vuyatela a visit recently with dinner on her mind. She killed a pregnant impala in the early hours of the morning, kept her eye on it throughout the duration of the day, and then returned that night to feast. Later, she watched from her tree as Hyenas arrived at the crime scene below to steal the remains of her dinner.
While visiting the camp again one evening, the same female Leopard had a face-to-face meeting with Warren when he was walking to collect guests from their room. I expect that the experience was more terrifying for the Leopard than it was for Warren!
Vuyatela also had another unexpected visitor, a female Hyena, walked straight past the kitchen area and waltzed into the dinning room where guests were having their dinner. She got a major fright and in a bid to make herself scarce she ran straight into a wall! Needless to say she found her way out eventually. A Red Chested Cuckoo was spotted for the first time this season in the camp.
On a sadder note a male Lion died at Simbambili whilst trying to protect his territory. His pride consisted of three males and one female.
Jurie and Pippa's dog, Twinnie, also appears to have a death wish; he has been seen taking on an Elephant, twice, and does not seem to realize that he could be flattened with little effort.
Vuyatela would like to congratulate the honeymooners who have spent time with us this month. We send our best wishes to the Smiths, the Bachelors, the Bestons, the Suns, the Atkinsons, the Constantines, the Bolgers, and the Ingrams. We hope that you come back to us in the future to relive some of your memories. We also had a guest birthday this month and we would like to send more happy wishes to Vanessa Blair we hope she enjoyed her stay with us.
We would like to welcome our new guest liaison officer Pinky Maela to the Vuyatela team; we hope she is settling in happily, may she have many happy years here with us. There have also been three staff birthdays this month Lots, Patricia and Million we hope that they had a great day and got spoilt rotten.
As we creep through the months of spring and watch as more animals are born the staff of Vuyatela cannot help but welcome November with open arms.
 
Galago

It has been another busy month for Galago and its staff. We have said good-bye to more happy families that have graced our visitor's book with an endless array of compliments.
The Oger family wrote that they had a wonderful time with us and were able to see plenty of game. They said that their African experience lived up to their expectations and they loved every minute stating that they will definitely return again.
The Stroud and Hart family came to stay with us from the 27th-30th of September for a family reunion, which brought together three generations. They wrote that they enjoyed their time here doing what they loved with people that they love. They also said a huge thank you to the staff for making their holiday even more enjoyable. The highlight of their stay was not only witnessing a Cheetah take on a Hyena and win, but to also watch two leopard kills.
The Reed family, who stayed with us from the 30th September to the 2nd of October, wrote that the staff, were excellent and the food was the best they have had in a long time. The Game viewing was even better and they were thrilled to have seen five Rhinos in the open, and two Leopards out hunting stalking a Wild Cat needless to say the Wild Cat unfortunately came off worse. Accommodation was perfect and the plunge pool was, to put it lightly, refreshing! All in all they had a fantastic stay.
On the 14th of October the Kruger group returned to us after two years. We would like to welcome them back. They wrote that their stay was as enjoyable as the first time and the game viewing was once again wonderful. On their first drive, upon their arrival they saw a lioness with her young cubs, and a Leopard with her youngster. They also tracked two male lions, which were truly beautiful. They would like to say a big thank you to Rexon and William whose eyes did not miss a trick and they both had amazing knowledge of the Bush. They also wrote a poem for us:
"10 Pelle het hier gevestig
Want elmarie word sestig
Die braai vuur brand helder
Baie wyne word gekelder
Die samesyn kry spoed
Almal skep moed
Op prag diere getakteer
Ons vertrek bietjie hartseer
Maar baie donkbaar
Ons was hier voor gespaar"
Lastly this month but certainly not least, we had the Lowe family, who stayed from the 27th to the 30th of October. They wrote that they were blown over by the excellent game viewing and they managed to see a Leopard with a Hyena cub kill on their last drive; what a way to end. They also said a big thank you to the staff that was excellent. During their stay they also performed first aid on a baby squirrel that had fallen off the roof of their room. The mother never came to the rescue so the Lowe family did instead calling the little arrival Peanut. Peanut has gone home with them until he is old enough to come back to the bush so we look forward to seeing them all again in the near future.
From us at Galago we wish you all well and with spring in the air we look forward to the ever-coming months.

 
 
Thanks from the Creche
The children and Dixie and Utha crèche had lots to smile about this month. Marietjie sourced new plastic plates and mugs, spoons and lovely big cooking pots to replace the old ones. Vuyatela and Bush Lodge donated all the old sisal carpets from the rooms so the floors have a fresh look. Best of all we replaced all the children's sleeping mattresses so after a hard morning playing they can rest well!
Julie Feinstein, thank you for all the books you send over. The school appreciates it!
 
 
Join us next month and share our experiences as the seasons march on.
 
 
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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

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