MANAGERS REPORT

Dear Friends

February has been another great month in Madikwe. The bush is thicker than what I have seen in a very long time. Every year we have the discussion on when the rain will come, if the rain will come and again how much rain we will receive. One thing is for sure, it does not matter how much time we spend pondering on the subject, we will never know and just have to wait and see. This also makes lodge life and its daily decisions very interesting. It never matters what the weather bulletin says or what we think we know, or who’s opinion we ask, but when it comes to things like Boma dinners under the starry sky, it always remains a gamble. The sun might be shining at lunch time with guest sitting on the main deck red and pink from too much sunbathing in the lovely South African sunny weather, and when you look out on the horizon 20 minutes later you can see the lightning flashing in the distance, followed by thunder and shortly after pouring rain. All I can say is…I love it and it is wonderful

 

Staff member of the month

I am glad to say that this is never an easy decision to make, as sometimes I feel that the whole team should be voted for as employee of the month, every month. It is an honour to work with the staff at Madikwe Hills and the different personalities is what builds charcter

The person who has been selected for the month of February is Lara Whyte, our Head Chef. Lara does what needs to be done behind the scenes in the kitchen. Her skills and creativeness reflects in every plate of food coming from the kitchen, whether she prepared and plated the dish herself, or whether it was done by one of the chefs in her team - which she trains and encourages every day. Well done Lara and we appreciate your passion for what you do. 

Rangers Report

 

 

Another month has come and gone here at Madikwe Hills and everybody is enjoying some cooler temperatures and a lot of rain. We nearly had 100mm of rain the last month and temperatures have settled to the low or mid thirties. We have almost had 500mm of rain so far in our rainy season and it has surpassed our annual average of 400mm.  

So as you can imagine the bush is lush and green with water puddles everywhere and watering holes and dams filled to the brim. No one can ask for a better situation and this large amount of rain we had and the vast amount of food for the animals will hopefully pull us through the dry season that lies ahead. The animals are all in excellent condition with their coats shiny and bodies fat and healthy. The young impala and wildebeest that where born last year are growing up very quickly and their numbers not too severely impacted by the predators. The grass at this time of the year is standing very tall and it makes it quite difficult to find some of the animals. But undeterred we search until we find them even if you get a few hidden close encounters you didn’t expect. Tracking animals like lions in tall grass needs allot of concentration and also courage and maybe a bit of mental illness. These dangerous big cats can hide very well under these conditions and you have to be careful not to step on one while looking for them. Even big animals like rhino and elephant can be difficult to spot.

While I am speaking of surprises that can be found in the tall grass, it doesn’t mean that you won’t find it in the open. One early morning my guests and I were out on drive and we stopped on a road that was covered in thick vegetation on either side to look up at the mountain. It was misty that morning and a very peculiar looking cloud formation was on the side of the mountain that drew our attention. We all looked up and inspected this strangely formed cloud with our binoculars. After maybe five minutes my tracker Max drew my attention with a very forceful “pssssst”. I immediately looked at him since I could sense the urgency of which he wants my attention. He pointed to the road in front of us not 30m away. I could not believe my eyes when I saw it. There in the road, sitting on his haunches was none other than our big male leopard. He looked at us intently almost wondering what we were looking at that was more important than him. I slowly turned around and whispered to the guests to look in the road ahead of us (they were all still fixed on the mountain with their binoculars). As they one by one looked their eyes widened and realised what they were seeing. Now that the leopard got the attention he so deserved he got up and started smelling the bush next to him. He lifted his tail and scent marked the whole place and started walking into the thick-thick bush. I tried my best to follow him for a while longer but to no avail. The vegetation was just too thick to follow him. At least we got a good look at him but he was just too quick for us to get any nice pictures. It just shows you once again; when you live in the bush you must always be ready to expect the unexpected. In addition to this wonderful sighting we had plenty more and I think I can really say that our leopard sightings are becoming more and more frequent.

Werner

African Elephant. (Loxodonta Africana)

My guests and I watched these elephant for about 45 minutes loosening the soil with their tusks and taking big clumps of soil and shoving it into their mouths. The soil in this area most probably contains a high level of sodium (salt) that an animal’s body would start craving when they don’t get enough of it in their normal diet. All animals need a certain amount of sodium for muscles not to cramp up and kidneys to function properly amongst other thing

 

 

Some interesting facts about elephants:

-Average age:                                  60 years
-Average weight:                             Males +- 6000kg; Females +- 3800kg
-Gestation period:                            22 months
-Number of young:                          1 (very seldomly 2)
-Oestrus days:                                3-7 days (16 week cycle)
-Mammary glands:                           2 (situated between front legs)
-Young weaned:                             18-24 months

Female elephant’s tend to stay within the herd they were born into for the rest of their lives where males tend to leave the breeding herd in their early teens either going solo or forming “bachelor” herds. Mature males are forced by a chemical and hormonal change in their body called “musth” to hook up with breeding herds to mate. Musth lasts, depending on the age of the bull from a few days to a few months during which time the male will constantly be seeking out breeding herds with females in oestrus. Bulls in musth can be quite aggressive during this time due to the high level of testosterone set free.

Sam

The bush is truly an awesome place. Surprises can be around any corner and most often when you least expect it. The other day we stopped for sundowners close to a little rain filled pan in the north west of the reserve after tracking lions for most of the afternoon. We were enjoying a nice drink while watching the sun go down when I heard the faint call of what sounded like a lion’s location call. I took no further notice as I wasn’t too sure about it. All of a sudden something moved that caught my eye at the other side of the pan. Out comes a very lazy and well fed lioness from the bush down to the water for a drink. We were very surprised with her no care attitude and quietly watched her drink water. After she finished she gave us a quick glance and disappeared into the bush. We spend hours tracking her, and in the end she came to us. What a delight it was. A similar thing happened a couple of days later. We were looking for the wild dogs and nobody could find them. There were about six game drive vehicles in the area looking, including us, with no luck, by sunset we still couldn’t find them. We decided to give up the search and found an open spot to enjoy some sundowners. We were about half way through when all of a sudden not 30m away from us three wild dogs came walking out of the bush. We were flabbergasted and soon the rest of the pack came walking out of the bush and into the road. I couldn’t believe our luck and quickly packed up our stuff so that we could enjoy the sighting before the sun goes down. Once again these two events shows you to expect the unexpected and also at unexpected times. When you least expect something to happen it probably will.

 

Until next time

Jaco Becker and the Madikwe Hills Ranger Team.