MANAGERS REPORT

Dear Friends and Colleagues

 

October started with some early rains and warm temperatures to assist the already blooming trees to push through the first green leaves for the season. The early rain is not necessarily an indication of a wet season, but definitely always a welcome site.

Molatedi Project

We would like to thank the following people who have contributed towards the crèche in 2009:

Stuart, Finola & Siubhan Andrews, Juergen Doering, Anansi Publishers – Anna Marie van Schalkwyk, Ivy League Montessori – Miss Kirsi’s Class, Farooq & Fahmida Ellemdin, ABI, Alan Davis & Mary Lou Dauray, Ida & Gianluca Bulgheroni, Dan & Linda Burgess, John & Patricia Lister, Travcoa, Hal Rice, Jan & Karen Korsten, Joseph, Barbara & Daniel Stock, Frank & Diane Engelberg, Philip & Julie Toogood, Kallie & Sonja van Heerden, Steven & Deborah Callaghan, Doug & Anne Petersen, David & Jean Webb, Meston & Kathleen Christie, Jeffrey & Sandra Hind, Richard & Barbara Bechelli, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice in South Yorkshire., Martin & Bridget Adams, Zeerust Stationeries.

The following guests have sponsored money towards the building of a roof over the porch – which will be done in the months to come:

Paula & Karen Trickett,   John & Patricia List 

Staff

The following staff has received a five year service award.

Sophy Matlapeng, Aaron Kgetse, Max Letshaviti, Irene Gaopelo, James Motsisi and Michael Modisi

We would like to thank them for their contribution towards the lodge as they are the people forming the backbone of the team.

Our employee of the month for October is David Matladi. Even though David has been with us only since March this year, he has had a career as a waiter for some years already and proved to be an asset to the waiter team - with very efficient and professional service. Well done David, keep up the excellent work!

Story from Adriënne:

Rose (Little Madikwe Butler) is back from maternity leave & little “Willem” (who was born in the reserve), is doing very well.

 Rangers Report

Another month has come and gone, and it is unbelievable how quickly time flies when you are having fun. When we look back at the last month, it is filled with good memories and great sightings of our animal friends. The bush is turning ever lush and green after our first rains in late September and early October. However, since the 8^th of October not a drop of rain fell. Even though the clouds threatened at some stages it never really followed through. Some of the smaller, annual plants like the various species of lilies, and ground creepers are starting to feel the strain. Their leaves are starting to wilt and crumple in the hot dry conditions. Only the trees and some of the grass species doesn’t show any strain yet. I hope that follow up rain isn’t very far away otherwise things might get very bad indeed.

Madikwe Game Reserve is a very beautiful place indeed, and most people focus normally on the plants, animals, and birds of the area. Equally interesting, and actually the basis of everything else, is the much over looked geology of Madikwe. After all this is the topography of the reserve and it determines everything else. “How?” you might ask, the geology of Madikwe will determine the type of soils that will occur here, the type of soil joined in conjunction with climate will determine the plant growth and that in turn the animal life etc. So as you can see the geology of any area is the foundation of everything else that occurs there. Not only that, but the geology creates the topography as well. Certain rock formations erode faster than others and this causes an uneven topography with hills, mountains, and valleys. Certain plants are adapted to grow on high mountains, rocky hill sides, or low flat valleys. Mountains and hills on the other hand have aspects. In the southern hemisphere the northern aspect of any mountain or hill is hot and dry in comparison with the cooler, moisture southern aspect. This means that on one hill or mountain you will have a different plant community on the southern aspect than on the northern aspect depending on what conditions the plants are adapted for. For example, Madikwe Hills is built on a small hill in the central part of the reserve. On the northern side of the hill at the reception area the most common plants you will find are species like, bush willows, lavender fever berries, and wild plums. These plants like shallow sandy soils, on rocky outcrops and can withstand high heat and dry conditions. On the southern side of the hill, where the suites and main lodge are situated, the plant community comprise of mostly Tamboti, Wild Pear, Red Ivory, and Jacket plums. These trees like cooler moisture conditions and prefer to grow on southern aspects. Exceptions occur but this is a general trend which they follow.

The scenery we observe at Madikwe today is the result of billions of years of geological processes, processes carrying on to this day, and ensuring that in 20 million years time Madikwe ^:will look different to which it does now, just as it is different to 20 million years ago. The obvious question is when did all this begin? Although the earth is estimated to be about 4.5 Billion years old, the rocks of the earth are not all of the same age. Even as you read these words, somewhere on, or within the earth, new rocks are being formed.

It must be remembered that when the rocks of Madikwe formed, Africa, as we know it, did not exist and indeed the world was vastly different to what it is today. As little as 200 million years ago the continents of the southern hemisphere were joined together into one massive continent called Gondwana. What shape and position the continents had 230 million years ago is anybody's guess.

 

 

The oldest rocks exorcised in Madikwe are esti­mated to be 2630 million years old. This has been calculated using a sophisticated tech­nique called ranometric dating, which utilizes the gradual release of radioactivity from some elements. This can be measured and allows an accurate estimation to be made and how long ago the rocks containing the radioactive elements were formed. This oldest rock body is called the Modipe Gabro, which forms the large rounded hills in the north-western part ofthe Reserve, close to the Botswana border and referred to locally as 'Inselbergs'. The Tswene-Tswene mountain mainly consists of Adenite, stretching south composed out of dolomite, shale and finally quartzite where the Dwarsberg begin on the southern boundary of the reserve. The northern section of the Reserve consists mostly of sand, granite, and andesite.

 

 

Madikwe has a very diverse geology, but also have some interesting formations as well. On the Reserve we have two overhanging caves, these are known as tufa caves. When water becomes supersaturated in dissolved calcium carbonate, solid calcium carbonate can grow by precipitation from the water. Rock formed in this way is usually referred to as travertine or tufa. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but it is more useful to distinguish dense varieties as travertine and porous or spongy varieties as tufa, the later is the type we find on the reserve.

Of comparable origin calcium carbonate precipitated near the water-table within soils or gravels in a small part of the north west of the reserve and eventually acted to cement the formerly loose deposit together, but this is not usually referred to as either travertine or tufa, the term calcrete being preferred to describe the cemented deposit as a whole. Many of the roads in the western part of the reserve have been graveled by calcrete (which is bright white in color) from this tiny part of the reserve and create a stark contrast to the black clay soils that it was layered upon.

Tufa usually gets its porous structure because of the decay of algae or other plant material around which the material was initially precipitated. The chemical reaction by which travertine and tufa form may be summarized as: Ca²⁺ (in solution) + 2(HCO₃²⁻) (in solution) →CaCO₃ (solid) + H₂O + CO₂ (in solution).The bicarbonate ion, (HCO₃²⁻), is soluble in water, but if either water (H₂O) or carbon dioxide (CO₂) is removed the effect will be to drag the reaction to the right and cause calcium carbonate to be precipitated. Water can be lost by evaporation from a waterfall and this is what happened here a long time ago. The waterfall is now long gone but the evidence (tufa) has remained to this day and serves as shelter for many animals, including bats, birds, rodents, leopard, and baboon.

 

 

 

 

Tufa's porosity makes it a soft and easily cut variety of stone and it has found many uses. Notable among these is its use to line the Aqua Appia underground aqueduct, 16 km long, built in 312 bc to supply water to the city of Rome.

So as you can see there is more to Madikwe than just plants and animals. All of them now have a home because of forces and processes that happened millions of years ago and these forces will continue to act to change the features of this landscape and provide plenty and adequate homes for all creatures big and small.

Jaco Bekker