MANAGERS REPORT

Dear Friends

As most of us always say “we can not believe it is December already” yet another year has flown by with the blink of an eye.

We reflect back on the year past which is full of memories and good times had by all in Madikwe and hopefully for you all back home as well. We are looking forward to 2008 as the outlook on the new year is and should always be positive with new adventure and new faces coming through our doors every day. It is always wonderful to see bookings coming in from clients whom stayed with us before and we are looking forward to see more return clients in Madikwe this coming year. Every day in the bush is a different and interesting adventure no matter how many times you have been on safari before.

Madikwe has had over 300mm of rain so far for the season, leaving the bush not just green but also thick and lush with sufficient food to carry through the dry season from around May to September.

Both antelope species and prey are looking very healthy, making game viewing as consistently productive as ever.

Lodge

With year end comes our annual employee of the year trip. Not an easy decision as our whole team is deserving of this award in my opinion. Thanks to every member of staff at Madikwe Hills for the superb work performance and it is a pleasure for Adrienne and I to be part of such an awesome team. Four members of staff where selected for 2006 and 2007, being Michael Modise ‘Sous chef”, Winny Modise ‘Staff cook’, James Motsisi ‘Housekeeper, butler and jack of all trades” and Sophy Matlapeng ‘junior chef’.

On day one the four of them set off to Johannesburg for a one night stay at the Piatsa Hotel at Monte Casino for some serious pampering and great food. On day two they set of to the lowveld for a weekend of adventure staying at Hippo Hollow as well as Perry’s bridge Hollow. Hazyview has a lot to offer and they had the opportunity to participate in a few outdoor activities. From Skyway trail to Quad biking and helicopter flights there where little time to sit around and relax. One evening was also spent having dinner at the River club at Hippo Hollow being entertained by the local Zulu dancers. They all returned safely to tell tall tales of their new experiences and memories to last for a long time.

Staff

We also waved goodbye to Maritha our Head chef and welcomed Lara Whyte to head up the kitchen. All the best to both of them with their new venture and a special thanks to Maritha for her contribution at Madikwe Hills.

Molatedi

Thank you to Steve & Janice Rossiter for their support of the Molatedi project. We are looking forward to making a huge difference in the lives of the kids of Molatedi in the year to come.

Hope you had a great Xmas and best wishes for the New Year.

Hennie & Adrienne de Clerk

BUSH BUZZ

Cheetah

This month we had a couple of good cheetah sightings in Madikwe. The best sighting was on the edge of the plains were the lone male cheetah caught a young Zebra and fed for two days. Needless to say his presence attracted a lot of attention as he is one of only two cheetahs remaining in the park.

Wild Dog

December was a hive of activity in the two resident wild dog packs. They were frequently seen this month close to the lodge lying in the shade of a Sheppard’s tree or running through the vegetation in search of something to eat. But then Sean struck it lucky with a great visual of the Dwarsberg Pack catching a young impala lamb in front of his game drive vehicle and devouring it within seconds.

Sadly this was one of the last sightings of all 18 dogs together. Two nights later the two packs met and a vicious fight broke out after which all the dogs scattered into the darkness. When we eventually found the two packs it was established that two members of each pack was missing. Thus the strong Dwarsberg Pack was now reduced to only 16 members and the already small Collection Pack now only had 6 members. This change how ever did not deter them from hunting successfully and carrying about their business as normal.

Lion

The Madikwe Plains again ensured some great lion sightings this month. A Coalition of three male lions calls this small patch of land home during the summer season. The reason being, that large numbers of Wildebeest and Zebra congregate on this specific area to feed on the new growth and have their young. The lions know this and are enjoying the abundance of available food and easy prey.

We were spoilt to a very unusual sight, rarely witnessed in nature, of lions feeding off a full grown White Rhino. After later investigation it was established that the Rhino was killed by an Elephant trying to show his dominance. The lions on the other hand could not care less what killed the animal and feasted on the carcass for about a week.

On the second day though, a new pride of lions were seen heading directly in the direction of the Rhino carcass. This was a recipe for disaster as both of the prides had small cubs that could easily be killed in a fight between prides. The intruding female with her sub adult daughter and cubs continued to come closer even though they saw the other female at the carcass. The two prides bundled together for support and just stood watching one another for about half an hour. The intruding female decided that the Rhino was not reason enough to jeopardize the safety of her cubs and she led her family into the bush away from the carcass.

Rhino

White Rhino sightings have been great during this wet season. Crashes of up to 12 animals were seen on and around the plains where they fed on the new growth summer brings. Black Rhino’s have also become more frequent visitors to watering holes and there were about five decent sightings this month.

Elephant

Large herds were seen on the open plains and the waterhole at the lodge was also buzzing with a lot of Elephant activity during the hotter parts of the day. One occasion we estimated between 50 and 80 Elephants in the open clearing in front of the lodge with a couple of new bourns among the masses. What a nice treat to have Elephants in the background while you’re enjoying your lunch!

Buffalo

Madikwe Buffalo are rare sights to see, but we were fortunate enough to have them come straight to us. We had great sightings of these magnificent animals drinking at the waterhole and allowing us great viewing opportunities from the lodge.

Honey Badger

Some of the guests were lucky enough to see our newest camp resident. This badger with a huge home range decided to make Madikwe Hills his home for a couple of nights. We frequently saw him running around on the walkways before the guests got up for the morning game drives. Though nice to look at he made quite a mess in the waiter’s station, opening everything closed to see what’s inside and helping him to an array of jams and sauces.

Python

We had two separate sightings of these endangered and beautiful snakes in the past month. Both sightings were of big 3 meter snakes and only Sean was brave enough to try and catch one of them. But without Holiday’s support he quickly decided to abandon the effort and just viewed the snake from the safety of the land rover. Good choice Sean!!

Birds

On the bird list for this month is the summer visitor from Southern Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Southern Carmine Bee Eater makes his appearance in early December and stays in the park for the duration of summer to breed in the river banks of the Marico River flowing thru the park.

These birds are quite fascinating to watch as they catch flying insects on the wing and sometimes even catch the insects underneath the canopy of the land rover while you are still in it.

We are looking forward to a prosperous new year and will share more bush buzz with you next month

The Madikwe Hills Ranger’s Team