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In the African night, the beat of a drum means news... |
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December 2008 |
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Read about events at Djuma Game Reserve |
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Bush Lodge |
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| "The baby impala have started to be born…" Click here to read more… | |
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Vuyatela |
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| "…got a surprise one evening as she came across a leopard walking over the deck past reception…" Click here to read more… | |
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Galago
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| "The leopards, lions feasting on a buffalo, and 120 plus bird species. The baby hyenas and Jackals…" Click here to read more… | |
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for more information visit www.djuma.com |
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If you would like to subscribe to this monthly newsletter, click here |
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This newsletter is archived in the Drumbeat section of our web site |
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Editor:
Pippa Moolman
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The above photos were taken by Andrew Khosa - guide
and tracker at Bush Lodge.
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| Bush Lodge | ||
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November's weather has been rather hot and humid and we experience
a few days of lightning and thunderstorms. During the first two
weeks of the month we were blessed with 126mm of rain. That is
lot of rain compared to this time last year. Since the rains we have
had very hot weather, and our dams are full, the trees are green and
the grass is getting longer everyday. |
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| Vuyatela | ||
| November has been
hot and humid, and the guests have certainly had chance to work on their
tans! The month started with close on 130mm of rain and the bush
is looking green and the animals are looking healthy. Having said this,
Vuyatela dam is still empty and this is due to its relatively small
catchment area. All the other dams on Djuma property are pretty much
full and we are all hoping for good follow up showers to fill our dam
in front of the lodge. Until this happens we will keep pumping water
to the waterhole. One day after a heavy storm a hippo came to check how much water the dam got - it was more than 35? C that day. Obviously disappointed when he found out the dam was hardly affected, he spent a few hours in the mud. Later he came out and started grazing around and moved to the pumped pan for the rest of the afternoon. He was gone the next day. The elephants are now very scarce around the lodge as they have lots of other dams to choose. Milliah, one of our waitresses, got a surprise one evening as she came across a leopard walking over the main deck past reception. Perhaps being a regular visitor, this leopard felt it unnecessary to check in, and proceeded to meander past the rooms! The genet cat that usually frequents the bar in the evenings, has been away for a long time now, but was seen by Pretty just after lunch one day coming for a light lunch at the buffet counter. The safari sightings have again been very good this month as the bush is not too thick yet. The Nkuhuma pride of lions have been seen many times and the remaining cubs are growing, healthy and happy. They are doing what they known for - feeding on buffalo! The two Manyeleti brother lions were seen feeding on a baby zebra. Some of our guests were concerned it might be from one of the herd of zebra that have been hanging around the lodge. No confirmation of this, but that is the way of nature. Cheetah have been seen on and off all month, and it seems like "Umbrella Thorn Clearing" is a favoured spot for them as several sightings occurred nearby. Leopards have been killing left, right and centre again, from grey duiker to impalas to steenbok. Prey game is plentiful at the moment and all the predators are taking full advantage of the bounty. A special highlight was the sighting of a male Red crested korhaan that was seen doing its unusual courtship display. He was charming his lady friend by flying straight up high, then folding his wings and dropping out the sky towards the ground. Although common behaviour, the spectacle happens so quickly, that it is very lucky to actually witness the display from beginning to end. Some naughty hyenas stole a musical drum from Chitwa Lodge and carried it over onto Djuma. They were seen nibbling on it out in the bush, and every time they touched it and it would make noise. This would be followed by them dropping it, running away, only to return and start the process over again. Welcome back to Jonathan and Danica Wilson from London, along with their mother Pamela Wilson. David and Lynne Sibbald from Scotland stayed at Bush Lodge on their first Djuma safari, and it was a pleasure to host them at Vuyatela this time round. Same goes to Sandie and Gerry Smith from the US who have been coming to Bush Lodge since 1995. This time they visited Vuyatela for the first time. They gave us a super gift in the form of an album of bird photography that they have seen and filmed over the years. This book will be treasured by all that pass through our doors. Sarah Pharo returned along with friends from Scotland. Congratulations to Sarah and Vince on their bushveld engagement, and we hope to see you on your honeymoon! Congratulations to our honeymooners: Kirsten and Hennie Lacock, Paul and Mary Denn and Steve and Joanne Canning. May you all have many happy years ahead of you. Happy staff birthday blessings go to Irel, Handry, Agnes and Terrence. Djuma Private Game Reserve is proud to be a Seasons in Africa member. Duncan Rodgers will be heading operations of Vuyatela, Galago and Bush Lodge and leading Djuma's transition into the Seasons in Africa stable. Charmian Cooke has been appointed general manager for all three lodges, and between them and our loyal staff we are all looking forward to success and growth for our lodges and the surrounding communities. To have a look at our new family, check out www.seasonsinafrica.com Festive regards from the Vuyatela team to everyone, until we meet in 2009. |
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Summer is well and truly upon us, with good rains, woodland Kingfishers
and baby impala signalling the season. Our guests have had good
game viewing and happy safaris, as the following accounts tell. |
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Join
us next month and share our experiences as the seasons march on.
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that the images are not sent with the html code that subscribers receive
in the newsletter e-mail, subscribers need to be online to see the
images. It is done this way to prevent large files clogging up people's
e-mail servers.
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