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Hi all,
With over a 100mm of rain having fallen over Madikwe in the past month, you can only imagine how green and lush the bush is. Each day I notice a change as the bush grows more and more dense. This often worries people as they say it is harder to find animals, I say it makes for good photographs. As the past few months sightings have been some of the best, if not the best this year.
One afternoon we set out on game drive and stopped to view a herd of impala just in front of the lodge’s waterhole. We sat there for quite some time enjoying watching two sub adult impala rams fighting with each other. All of a sudden six warthogs came running out a hole they had been sleeping in. With warthogs running away grunting and squealing, I noticed this white tip of a tail sticking out from a bush near the warthog hole. Leopard, leopard, and leopard I shouted to the guests as the excitement took hold, as this beautiful big male steps out into the open to show off his beauty. I managed to calm down enough to get the vehicle moving behind him for a whole hour as he made his way through the bush in search of prey. He made his way though the bush like a true warrior marking his territory and stopping every now and then to listen for the call of any others males, who might dare to challenge him. As my conscience got the best of me we made our way out of the sighting to allow others to enjoy this amazing animal.
We have had several leopard sightings in the past few months, but due to the shy nature of these unique mammals not all have been as great as this one. One other leopard sighting that comes to mind was that of a female who had made a kill and had dragged it up a tree on top of an enselberg. Upon making our way around the other side of the enselberg to try and get a better look at this her, we discovered that she had a cub hidden in the rocks. They say curiosity killed the cat, and whilst this cub didn’t get killed, it did spend time looking at us trying to make out what we were before it made its way back into it cave where the mother had left it.
The nine wild dog puppies of the Dwarsberg pack are now old enough to
move the distance the adults do, so there have been many sightings of
the wild dogs all over the reserve. Some too far for us to travel to
see, but we did have the pleasure of hosting the pack not too far from
the lodge for about two weeks and even had them drinking at the lodge
waterhole. As luck would have it we were out on drive in search of them,
so we didn’t get to witness this but the staff back at the lodge
had a great sighting. Sucking up my pride that evening around the bar
as the staff bragged about the awesome sighting they had, I was determined
to find them the following day. We had no luck the following morning,
but that afternoon a call came on the radio what they had been found
not too far from where we were. Upon making our way into the sighting
I was surprised to see them devouring the remains of a kudu bull that
they had brought down. Grinning from ear to ear it was my turn to brag
to the staff about what we had seen. (He who laughs last laughs loudest.)
We then discovered them the following morning not too far from where
they had made the kill, still sleeping off the big meal they had the
previous evening.
With the lion population in Madikwe doing extremely well, two males were captured last month and relocated to the Amakosi reserve in northern KwazuluNatal. Those of you who have visited Madikwe before may remember a lioness know as the Etali female and her three cubs. One of her male cubs somehow had injured his back leg and was battling to keep up with the rest of the pride. Unfortunately he was discovered a few weeks ago lying dead next to the side of the road.
On a happier note. With the great rains we have had and the abundance of food around, some of the antelope are preparing to give birth. Just two days ago we witnessed a new born blue wildebeest calf trying to stand and today another trying to find it’s mothers teats. I have also noticed many impala females on their own, which is common to see during the calving season as they move into thicker cover on their own or in small groups to give birth.
With the festive season here, I would like to wish all readers a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year.
Sebastian
Gordon and Sue’s Notebook December 07
As
the year draws closer to Christmas and 2008 I was complaining to Bas
about what I could write for our notebook. There has been nothing “exciting”
these past two months.
Granted there hadn’t been the flurry of building or the excitement
of first rains. It was only this afternoon when I was outside with the
dogs, as I looked across into the bush that I realised , that in keeping
with the Festive Season and and all it means, just how fortunate we
had been.
Madikwe
has had wonderful, much needed rains. Our family of staff has grown
and matured in leaps and bounds. The Lodge has had very precious guests
with whom we have shared special occasions, ranging from birthdays,
wedding anniversaries, first experiences in Africa to bone shaking thunderstorms.
This Holiday season is the time to count our blessings.
Thank you to everyone who has helped Bush House become the very special
Lodge she is.
To you all a joyous Holiday Season and may 2008 be filled with great happiness and success.
May we have the pleasure of YOUR company in the New Year.
Gordon, Sue and the Bush House family
HI all, Sebastian here
I
always find it difficult writing these newsletters as there is always
so much that happens in Madikwe so I’ll start with a bit of bad
news. Sadly, a reality in the lion world, for those of you that have
visited the Bush House before may remember the Batia Brothers.
The Batia Brothers are two male lions that were relocated to Madikwe
in 1995 from Etosha Game Reserve. These two mean machines have sired
most of the lions in Madikwe today at the grand old age of 14. They
have lost there territory in the East, which they have managed to defend
for the last 7 years, to a coalition of younger males.
Now they spend their days in the South Eastern side of Madikwe hiding from younger males in a territory that was once theirs. We wish these two big boys the best & thanks for all the memories & their beautiful offspring!
Here is some better news. The Madikwe Game Reserve just recently made home to five female wild dogs which came from Shamwari Game Reserve to join the three males which are currently in the boma already. The males and females are getting on well and shall be released, soon I hope, to the wild and start breeding to increase not only Madikwe’s population but also the world’s wild dog population. Good luck guys!
Now that you’re up to speed with what’s happenings in the reserve, I want to tell you what’s been happening out and about on game drive. The past months, the previously shy Tshaba female and her three youngsters have been seen more and more every week, now that the cubs are eating solids they are travelling the long distances with their mother in search of prey and they are often seen enjoying a tasty meal with her. She also adopted her sister’s two cubs who was tragically killed by a puff adder 8 months ago. After spending much time alone scavenging they are also often seen with the Tshaba and are looking healthy.
Despite the low population of cheetah in Madikwe, caused by pressure of the ever-increasing lion population, we had the privilege of viewing a male cheetah going about his daily business not too far from the lodge on game drive one morning. We followed this male for about 45 minutes off road through the bush whilst he marked his territory and glanced around in search of prey. He then stumbled upon an unsuspecting scrub hare which he managed to catch and devour before our eager eyes.
Another special moment came not so long ago whilst sitting in the boma with my guests enjoying a meal, came when I had to look twice before seeing a black rhino drinking at our water hole and along came a white rhino. They drank peacefully together for about 10 minutes before departing the waterhole to resume their business.
I could go on for ever, but what fun would it be for you still to come and share these experiences with me, to enjoy the many pleasures, memories of the Bush House and the beautiful Madikwe Game Reserve that surrounds us.
Sebastian.
We’ve had our first rains!!!!On the afternoon of thursday 27th September the clouds built up, the wind started whipping through the trees and the drops began to fall. Some of us were so thrilled we rushed out to get wet on the lawn- not the most sensible considering the lightning. Happiness knows no bounds!
This joy soon turmed to concern when one of our guests advised us that there was a river running down the passage into the lounge. The drainage from room 4’s verandah had not been drilled at the right height hence the unexpected indoor water feature. We galvanised in to action with brooms and mops , had a good physical workout and all was soon under control. Many thanks to Pierro and Tilly Liebenberg for helping so willingly – everyone soon becomes part of the family!
Since
then we have had consistent good rain that has started turning the veld
green and the growth has been amazing. The down side has been many of
the roads(particularly the black cotton soil ones) have been closed.
This has meant that Sebastian and Ezelle have the pleasure of serious
4 x 4 driving with the game viewers along the access roads. Nothing
gives Zellie more pleasure than rescuing some of the more macho guides
out of muddy
situations. Go Girl-Power!
We have a new member of the family- an Australian Shepherd puppy called Mufasa. He is all of four months old, hugely intelligent and as curious as all blazes. He came across a millipede (shongalolo) in the bathroom. Delighted that he had found a new toy he patted the rolled up creature to and fro across the floor. When it eventually uncurled itself Mufasa got so excited he sniffed and nuzzled the poor thing until it was sopping wet- having been completely drooled upon-All the while he was kicking his feet out behind him and talking away in delight .
One morning I had let the dogs out into the run alongside the bedroom. Shortly thereafter I heard a very strange noise- when I rushed out to check that it wasn’t a snake I saw a herd of impala along the fenceline snorting with fear and staring intently at the puppy. Mufasa in turn was staring just as curiously back at them not moving a muscle. This standoff lasted a good ten minutes and was the noisest I have ever experienced impala. Puppy seemed hugely pleased that he had encountered his first wild animal! Squirrels don’t count of course! I have included a photo of Mufasa stopping to smell the flowers at the Lodge.
Who says you have to be with a game guide to enjoy the sights of the wild? We were working up at our little house when Ezelle radioed that wilddog had been sighted in the vicinity of our fenceline. Gordon went out exploring and quickly called me to come and see. From the corner post we had a magic view of the wilddog adults and puppies devouring a kill. We could clearly hear the twittering as they interacted but the funniest was when the youngsters would venture too near the electric fence and suddenly jump away as they “tested” the voltage! Later Gordon took a shower and was able to watch them out of the window finishing off the last mouthfuls. Right place and right time- that’s for sure!
Would also like to thank the four ladies who represented the Bush House in a ladies Golf day in Lichtenburg. Voted the best dressed team and coming fourth out of a large field- sincere thanks to Tilly, Yolande, Anet and Hanlie.
So,
from a much greener Bush House, take care and hope to see you soon.
Gordon, Sue and the Bush House Family
Hi All, Sebastian here
It gives me great pleasure to introduce myself as one of the new members of The Bush House family. I joined the family at the beginning of July to take over from Andre, who sadly left Madikwe to manage a lodge with the girl of his dreams.
I wish Andre and Nadia all the best for the future, as they tackle life’s challenges together………….
As I sit here enjoying the peace and tranquillity of The Bush House Gardens, thinking back at the past month’s sightings. I am rudely awakened from my day dream by a herd of elephants making their way down to our waterhole.
Due to the ongoing draught in the region and the waterholes in the reserve being dryer then ever, we have had phenominal sightings at our waterhole. This month alone we have had a herd of about 120 Cape buffalo, a male lion, the white rhino and the African elephant. This does not include the abundance of general game and bird life the guests have seen during the day, whilst lying on a deck chair enjoying one of the warm winter days we have been experiencing this month. One of the sights that come to mind is that of a sable bull, those of you that have been to madikwe will know that this is an extremely rare sight to see.
In Afrikaans there is a saying that goes “ een ou se dood, is ‘n ander man se brood “ meaning one mans death, is another mans bread. This was seen this month when the two dominant male lions on the western side of madikwe, killed a large adult giraffe. When hearing this sighting being reported on the radio, it was like music to my ears as my guest had been with me for a day and I was yet to show them the “king of the jungle” they had travelled so far to see.
The following morning we headed off to relocate these beasts known as Dithaba (which means mountains) and his brother known as Sepedi (which means two) that had been found the previous evening. Knowing that an adult giraffe bull would take a couple of days for them to finish, I was sure they would still be there. After a short wait as a standby, we made our way into the sighting, I don’t know who was more excited me or my guests, as this was only the second time in my guiding career that I have witnessed a banquet of this large scale. As we made our way off road to the sighting, there was a distinct smell of death in the air, which was short lived by the sight of not only two large male lions, but they had been joined by a female identified as the Etali female and her three cubs. After overloading our memory sticks with pictures we made our way back to camp to enjoy a good hearty breakfast and decided that we would make our way back to the sighting in the late afternoon to try and get a glimpse of any night workers.
We made our way back into the sighting that evening to find that the population of lions had grown from six to eight. The Naledis, two 3 year your old male lions sons of Dithaba and Sepedi had also joined the feast along with menagerie of spotted hyena and black back jackal who were waiting in the shadows to get there chance at a tasty snack.
All and all this month we have had awesome sighting this being the one that springs too mind. Still no sight of the wild dog, due to them denning in the Dwarsberg mountains in the Southeastern corner of the reserve. I have had though, on more than one occasion been lucky enough to show my guests the Ferrari of the bush, the cheetah, which has been sighted few times this month north of the lodge, after making its way from the Madikwe plains in the east to the Western side of the reserve.
Lastly I would like to thank Gordon and Sue Morrison, and the rest of The Bush House family for giving me this opportunity and welcoming me into their family with open arms.
So why don’t you get in your car and leave the hustle and bustle of the big city, and join me for an experience that you’ll never forget.
Sebastian.
Gordon and Sue’s Notebook August 07
Sincere apologies that this has come out so late. The year has just run away with us. As the August winds start gusting around the house this has chased me to put pen to paper.
As
you will have seen in the Rangers Report Sebastian is now our ranger.
Andre left us to run a Lodge with the lady in his life. We wish lots
of success and
happiness to the two of them.
Herewith
the new members of the team:
Sebastian - Ranger
Dee - Head Chef
Enny - Chef
Ernest - Maintenance
Future - Waitressing
Lucas - Maintenance
Just as we have new faces at Bush House so does Bush House itself!!
As
guests checked out in early June so building work began in ernest.
Talk about a frenzy of activity- a whirlwind of dust, bodies, hammering
painting and the like. Within a few days there were holes where windows
and doors had been, plaserting where paintwork once was and dust to
make
a desert seem insignificant. Everyone had a distinctly paler pallor
as hair and faces were coated with fine white powder.
The
Building team lead by Carel and Johan Oberholzer were fantastic.
There was no clock watching or downing tools on the weekend. We had
a
very tight schedule to meet and this was done to the letter.
Bathrooms and bedrooms were upgraded, verandahs were added on to four of the rooms, a lovely water feature under the big jacaranda was built and we repainted the entire lodge- inside out (and backwards it felt at times!!!)
Despite
all this frenetic activity the animals came down to drink at the waterhole.
Often work stopped just to marvel at what was in front of us.
The
painting was a saga in itself. Picture this, a lodge (now grey having
been
replastered) with various stripes of test paint- must be in the sunlight
and the
shadow to see what will work. Bush House strangely resembled a multi
hued
zebra. After all the effort of testing what felt like hundreds of colours
we opted for our FIRST choice!! She is bold and beautiful in her new
livery- very warm and inviting.
Although we have repaired and changed all we wanted to, there has and will be no change to our pricing. Bush House is just better at the already decided rates.
Carel
and his team left on the Thursday afternoon, the staff worked frantically
into the night to RE-CLEAN. You won’t believe how many times it
took to get out all the fine dust. By 9.30 on the Friday morning members
of the Du Toit wedding party arrived.
It was the most wonderful way to relaunch Bush House- to host the family that originally built the farmhouse that became our precious Lodge. To have three generations of the Du Toit family “christen” the new improved Bush House was an honour.
One
of the highlights of the day was when the staff sang for the wedding
party.
A wonderful way to tie the old and the new together.
We’d
love you to see how we look now. Come and see for yourself.
Take care until the next time,
Gordon, Sue and the Bush House Family
Rangers Report First Quarter 2007
We have been very lucky with phenomenal sightings in these few months. The prevailing drought conditions forced all the game to concentrate around the water holes that still have some water in them. Even these are few and far between. Thlou dam, the dam that I am sure most of our guests would fondly remember, has all but dried up. We were fortunate enough to see marabou storks “stalking” the few surviving barbel (catfish) in the remaining water for a few weeks. These phenomenally ugly birds could not get enough of the free meal served up by the receeding waterline. They would prance around in the mud with their heads held high as they swallowed down the last of the remaining barbel population one by one.
Never fear though, the barbel will survive. They have the canny ability to explode in large numbers as soon as the water level in the dam rises.
We also had some “ hairy” elephant encounters in the last month. None too dangerous, just enough to make sure that we keep our respect for these great pacaderms. Wonder of wonders I even managed to snap off a couple of shots with my camera while a particularly angry elephant cow showed her displeasure at our presence. Does wonders for the heart and the adrenaline glands when something like this happens!
Photo by Andre
Some good news is that we have a wonderful crop of young buffalo throughout
the park. At the last count, we saw no less than six newborn baby buff.
This had the ecologist smiling no end! Hopefully they will all survive
the long winter ahead, but knowing buffalo, they stand a good chance
of making the grade.
Lions. You know; those tan and brown thugs with the mean temperaments and the very large teeth? Well, they are 10 a penny right now. Sightings of the lions have gone up dramatically since the waterholes have shrunk. It almost seems that they are the only ones really enjoying the drought conditions. Tshabas little babies (see December 2006 report) are young lions now, and you can already see who sired them. We also had a few weeks of beautiful sightings of two full mained young lions from the southern end of the park. The old boys better watch out for these two. They are both strong and healthy enough to give them a bit of stick when the time is ripe.
We also said a sad farewell to two of our other favourite lions, namely the Laboa Bontle Males. They now grace the plains and valleys of the Marakele National Park, where they are settling in very well.
The wild dogs have been all over the show. They are set on proving that they can traverse the whole park in half the day. We were fortunate to have them in our company for a few days in the month, after they caught an impala south of the lodge in the morning, and brought down a young kudu bull that very same afternoon on the plain in front of the lodge. The impala was eaten in a few minutes, but it seems as though the kudu was too much for them, as they left a good portion of it to the vultures who came in droves. By high tea that same afternoon there was not even a scrap of meat left on the carcass of the young bull. The sneering of the spotted hyenas that night was probably in protest of the vultures cleaning up what they thought was their supper that night.
As for the L word, no, things are about the same I fear. Leopards seem to avoid contact with B11 game drive vehicles. We do find a lot of tracks, and have actually tried to track them down occasionally, but no luck. Maybe I should try a leopard print outfit….
As an aside, we have a new voice in the office! Annemie has joined the team in the beginning of the month. We wish her a great time with the Bush House family.
With winter approaching in the southern hemisphere we would like to remind all our guests that we would be operational throughout the winter.(except for June) Come and try a winter visit; you will be surprised at the amount of game found in the cold months. It is also the time of the year that some rare altitude migrant bird species make their appearance. Birds like the Fairy flycatcher, and the Fire necked nightjar will appear as soon as the temperature drops a few degrees.
For
now, I bid you all a good day
Groetnis
Andre
Gordon
and Sue’s Notebook
Life has slowed down only marginally since we last wrote- now
it’s
just hectic as opposed to frenetic!!
As
far as the upgrades go:
The last work for the kitchen was tiling of the floor. This was done
and it is looking amazing. Had to spring for new uniforms for Happiness
and Andries to complete the new image! The generator is at last in and
has already paid for itself thanks to all the power outages we have
had lately.Trust me, the droning of the geni has a remarkable soothing
effect when Eskom chooses to leave us in the lurch! The solar powered
borehole is almost 100% up and running. Having a few teething leaks
at present which the elephants are enjoying. It is very strange not
hearing the thumping of the lister when the waterhole is filling. Andre’s
pride and joy is the new Toyota Landcuiser that we bought. Although
our two old Landrover viewers have done us proud (no chirps about Landis
please) it was high time we retired one of our old boys. The other remains
as our back up viewer.
We have two new Team members:
Annemie-
who has joined us as Lodge Administrator (as well as trying her hand
at Beauty therapy)
Mathilda- has come on board as Housekeeper (although this is not her
only strength)
It’s great to have them with us.
Another new member ( and probably the most temperamental is the old “ski-donk” we acquired to be the maintenance runaround. It is an old ,grey series 9 Landrover.
Provided you clutch the steering wheel for dearlife (it has the most amazing amount of play) avoid banging your head on the roof as you bounce all over the cab and don’t particularly want to find any gear quickly you can head off with great purpose! Braking requires giving Ski Donk at least three minutes notice before you actually want to use the brakes. No ABS system here! No surprise that there have been a few flattened bushes on its travels. Off road takes on a whole new meaning!
Life at the house has again had its very special moments. The latest craze in the Reserve seems to be squirrel races. As soon as it is light team of squirrels square up on either side of the roof and take turns to hurtle up and down the length of the house. (Imagine the additional sound effect on a corrugated iron roof.) The races are punctuated only to stop and peer in the lounge window to see what is going on and to eat at the bird feeder! We have wasted many a hour watching their antics. Since we put in the bird feeder and water “bowls” there has been an abundance of birdlife. It’s been wonderful. Crested barbet, pied babbler, Crimson breasted shrike, Waxbills, Grey louries, Grey hornbill to name but a few. I am getting quite good at all this thanks to my Sasol Bird Book and lots of page turning!
The
other weekend we had two of our dogs with us- Shetlland Sheepdogs.
named Koala and Romee (nicknamed Squirt). I was looking out the sliding
door
in the bedroom when this lovely female Kudu walked passed the fence
and stopped to look at me. Squirt took one look at this strange creature
(first time in the bush) and let out a shrill bark. I don’t know
who got the bigger fright as the kudu headed off away from the fence
and Squirt hightailed into the lounge!
That
night we had the most amazing rain storm. The servere dryness we have
all been experiencing was broken by a deluge of rain that was as soaking
as it was
exhilarating. We were sitting under our covered verandah (more like
a sieve!)
getting soaked. What a pleasure. The rainstorm brought out a mass of
flying ants
and Koala thought that this was takeway treats!! She spent the next
hour eating
as many of the ants that she could chase around whilst Squirt looked
on, greatly
bemused as to what all the fuss was about.
We
have celebrated some very special occasions these last few months-
ranging from wedding anniversaries to 50th Birthdays .One of the stranger
(and very personal) accolades we have been given is that staying with
us resulted in a very precious and long awaited pregnancy. Bush House
is thrilled and honoured that the Du Toit family (who used to own the
house and farm that was the forerunner to Bush House Lodge) have asked
us to host the family wedding in July .I look forward to hearing more
about Bush House when it was still a private home.
That’s
it for now.
Hope to see you soon,
Gordon, Sue and the Bush House Team
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