september 2009
The Tau resident Leopard has been located on several occasions this month and its call is a regular sound as guests drift off to sleep at night. Tau is the Setswana word for Lion and Tau Pan has certainly had its share of the large Cats this month. Some lucky guests were treated to mating Lions for some days close to the camp and even luckier guests got a view of two Lions on foot during a Bushman cultural walk. The Lions just as interested in the people as they were in them but eventually after sniffing the air they strolled off down the hill.
Elsewhere, Cheetahs and Brown Hyenas have been seen on the pan interspersed with large amounts of desert plains game such as Gemsbok, Springbok and Red Hartebeest.
Keen ornithologists have been treated to a great variety of birds in the Tau area in this dry season. Pale Chanting Goshawks, Secretary Birds and Kori Bustards are amongst the favourites regularly seen.
"Game viewing is currently excellent, particularly elephant, lion, giraffe and buffalo. Despite the April and May rains being very poor these species and others do not seem to be struggling here as there is plenty of water and fodder. All of the park’s 13 rivers are flowing as usual. Most of these are fed from underground sources from the Nymabeni Hills and pop up as springs; as a result short term lack of rain is not a huge problem. It is pretty dry and dusty up here, but this is normal at this time of year. Meru gets 80 per cent of its rain in November and if these rains come there will be no long term issues.
There are a few cattle on the park edges, and we have seen 2 dead cows all season (hardly the thousands that are portrayed in the media). The park is well managed and there seem to be no concern over security issues. The park is maintaining and improving the road network so when rains do eventually come we should not be too effected whilst game viewing.
The local tribe to us is the Boran and we know the community well. Where there have been tribal problems it is usually on land where more than one tribe live and are competing for limited grass and water for livestock. In Meru this is not the case as we only really have the Boran here next to us."
Another beautiful month in the Pans has produced some memorable wildlife experiences at Nxai Pan Camp. A solitary tom cat Leopard has been seen wandering in and around the camp at regular intervals. The water hole in front of the swimming pool has been relieving the thirst of such varied animals as bachelor herds of Elephants, large journeys of Giraffes and clans of Hyenas.
On Nxai and Khama Khama Pan the two Cheetah brothers have been seen hunting Springbok while in the woodland it is the Impala that are the food of choice for the rapid predators. Four Lionesses were followed by a party of Nxai guests stalking a Gemsbok but luckily for the desert antelope a close by Impala spotted the giant cats and sounded the alarm call.
Villa North Island's metamorphosis is complete. It is now a unparalleled honeymoon experience, tailor-made for this milestone in life with a number of attributes such as privacy (accentuated through the large rock walls at the entrance) and intensified engagement with nature by means of the two extended decks. A new system of intricately handcrafted multi-level decks connects the villa directly to the beach and open up to panoramic views. Utilising local island knowledge, the design of the extensions have blended seamlessly into the existing structure.
The Lagoon Wild Dog den is providing guests and guide alike some wonderful moments with the nine puppies growing up fast and experimenting in play fighting and early attempts to hunt insects around the den. The adults are still working hard to feed the youngsters and themselves. They are out almost daily to find sufficient food. Towards the end of the month the dogs decided to move the den site closer towards the camp not far from Zebra Pan. The exchange was made quickly and picked up equally as quickly by the excellent Kwando trackers. Another month or so and the youngsters should be ready to start learning to hunt for themselves with the main pack.
Related article: Wild Dog puppies introduced to the world at Lagoon den site.
The Johannesburg Arts Alive Festival is set to put a spring in Johannesburg’s step this month. This vibrant and eclectic feast of arts and culture will take place at various venues in and around the city and will feature the very best in home grown theatre, dance, music, visual art and general entertainment.
For information about accomodation in Johannesburg and South Africa, click here.
There's been a flood of inquiries from Cape Town surfers looking to help South Africa break the Guinness World Record for "most surfers riding the same wave" at at Muizenberg on 4 October, as part of global Earthwave surfing and sustainable lifestyle festival.
"We've received dozens of enquiries about the Guinness World Record attempt at Earthwave next month," says Paul Botha of Kahuna Promotions, the founders of Earthwave."After raising the record from 44 to 73 at Muizenberg in 2006, the Cape Town surfing community is amping to break the current record of 100 surfers on the same wave set at Earthwave Brazil last year."The world record attempt is the highlight of the Earthwave global environmental initiative which has been expanded to a two-day beach festival on the weekend of 3 and 4 October.The 2009 event includes a longboard surfing event; demonstrations in the fast growing Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) discipline that will culminate in the Coreban Expression Session featuring some of the country's top exponents; free surfing lessons provided by the surf schools in the area, with classes specifically for women conducted by the Roxy Surf School; and a host of other fun beach activities for people of all ages. Tens of thousands of Rands worth of prizes and give-aways have already been donated, including a Natural Curve longboard shaped by Durban-based SA champion Hugh Thompson. Surfing equipment and accessories from famous brands, such as Billabong , Xcel, Palmers, Derevko and New Balance, will be used for Dig for Gold, raffles and other fund-raising competitions.
Three luxurious, 1920’s-styled tented suites have been added to the 6 existing tented suites at Singita's Sabora Tented Camp, increasing capacity from 12 to 18 guests. The new tented suites are air-conditioned and offer all modern luxuries emulating the style of the existing suites. Each is en-suite with a fully equipped bathroom, newly designed open-air showers, period baths and larger viewing decks with uninterrupted views of the Serengeti plains. A second tented lounge has also been constructed and an integrated ‘health and fitness’ facility added.
True jazz lovers will have the opportunity to see some of the country’s greatest jazz talents in action during the annual Whiskey, Whales & Jazz Festival in Plettenberg Bay from 19-28 September. The festival has been expanded this year to a week-long celebration featuring whiskey tastings, superb jazz performances and spectacular whale safaris as well as loads of sporting opportunities.
The festival officially kicks off on Friday, 19 September, with the welcoming of the whales and the opening concert at The Whitehouse featuring Offshore, Ben Badenhorst, Haydn Gardner and Xolani Faku. Golfing enthusiasts can get their weekend off to a great start with the Whisky, Whales & Jazz Golf Day on 19 September at the immaculate Goose Valley Golf Course. More adventurous visitors can gear up for the adrenaline rush of the challenging Robberg Express multi-sport event, which co-incides with the spring solstice this year on Sunday, 21 September. The Robberg Express includes a 40 km mountain biking course through the Harkerville Forest on gravel roads and single tracks through sections of indigenous forest, a 10 km trail run traversing million year-old rock formations on the Robberg Peninsula and a 10 km ocean paddle in the beautiful Plettenberg Bay. Participants can enter as individuals or relay teams of two or three persons. Athletes can also participate in individual disciplines. Event organisers have also added a shorter version the Robberg Raggie with half distances in each discipline.
Blue note events are staged throughout the week with artists of international calibre appearing at fu.shi fusion cuisine, Gilly’s Grill, Surf Cafè and Bramon Wine Estate. The Heritage Day Jazz concert at Simunye promises a celebration of true music.
The highlight of the weeklong festivities will most definitely be the Jazz Fusion Concert on Saturday. Don’t miss top talent fresh off international jazz stages for an electric combination of eclectic classic and contemporary jazz intertwined with the unmistakable rhythms of Africa. Well-known performers such as Xolani Faku and friends, Sangam, Tucan Tucan, Offshore, Ben Badenhorst and Haydn Gardner will entertain the crowds.
For the youngster, the Lunchbox Theatre is bringing their ever-popular production The Whale Show to Plettenberg Bay to add to the festivities. This multi-lingual, interactive show promises to have audiences spell-bound with catchy story-telling, mimes, puppets and scintillating music. Bitou Tourism will also be sponsoring shows at The Crags Primary, Phakamisani Primary in Kwanokuthula, Formasa Primary in New Horizons and Kranshoek Primary School.
The festival draws to a close with a spectacular street party on Saturday.
From small towns to big cities millions of South Africans are preparing to braai for their country on Braai Day which is held annually on 24 September (National Heritage Day) under the Braai4Heritage banner and the patronage of Emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Braai Day is a celebration of our great country and its unique national pastime. It aims to unite all South Africans on 24 September by encouraging them to partake in a fun and tangible activity shared by all demographic groups, religious denominations and body types.
Braai4Heritage is a non-profit organisation solely committed to uniting South Africans all over the world through means of an activity enjoyed by all and for which we are world-famous.
Jack's Camp has been voted the best safarti camp in Southern Africa. It beat a number of finalists including Chiawa Camp in Zambia.
For more information on Jack's Camp, click here.
July has definitely been the month of the leopards, almost all the guests that visited Old Mondoro in the Lower Zambezi National Park had great leopard sightings to boast about. Of all the leopards that were spotted one particular male has made so many appearances that he has become almost like our own celebrity in camp. He was spotted in the same tree 4 nights in a row, and has absolutely no hassles with the vehicles and their squirming passengers. He is so relaxed with the vehicles that almost every time he is seen he seems to find a nice spot to sleep next to the vehicle. One evening a female leopard was spotted with him, she suddenly dashed into the long grass and 2 minutes later came out of the grass with an Impala in her jaws! The resident male then wrestled the carcass from her and pulled it up the same tree he was spotted in the previous three nights.
The female then attempted to get her fair share but the male would have none of it, he virtually bashed the female out of the tree and the guests saw her dangling for dear life below the tree branch only managing to hang on with her claws similar to a baby baboon clinging to its mother’s belly! She then skulked off into the grass leaving the male with the prize an amazing sighting to say the least.
Old Mondoro had a remarkable 13 nights in a row of leopard sightings in July of which two nights delivered two leopards and one night provided the guests with a kill, so in total 15 leopards was seen in 13 nights, proving that Old Mondoro still lives up to its reputation of being an excellent leopard destination.
We are heading into the busy stretch of the season, which also means the valley is entering the crux of it game viewing period, the Old Mondoro team eagerly awaits the rest of the season’s guests and cant wait to see what the bush is willing to deliver, be it Leopards hunting next to camp or Lions sleeping next to the kitchen only the next day can tell.