MANAGERS REPORT

Dear Friends and Colleagues

As the year draws to a close, we again find ourselves in a situation where we reflect on what we experienced throughout the year and again cannot believe how fast another year has gone by and we are already focusing on the New Year to come. The recession seem to in many positive ways drawing to a close and a very positive sign to all - especially South Africa who is gearing up for the 2010 Soccer world cup - which has allowed for the world to focus their attention on us more than ever. To date we can comfortably say that the country has had many challenges and has never disappointed. We have a way of making things work when they seem impossible.

Molatedi Project

The good old Father Christmas lived up to his promises this year to the Children of the Mfoloe Early Learning Centre.

 

 

 

Their year started off with a bash – a brand new 2 classroom, fully furbished school opened its doors in January. A couple of months later a big shipping container arrived from the Netherlands – filled with educational toys, stationery, furniture & lots more. 
(As the crèche already received so much stock, we’ve decided to also help the children of the Bethany House Children’s Home in Krugersdorp. This home opened its doors in 1999 and accommodates abused and orphaned children).

The Mfoloe children’s school year ended on a high note when Father Christmas (quite skinny one I must say – poor man must have worked himself to death) paid them a visit yesterday on their last school day for the year.

 

 

Each child received a present (t-shirt, cap, sweets, cold drink), the two teachers Mmanuku & Talitha both received a Christmas bonus to thank them for the wonderful work they’ve done this year and last, but not least – the orphans who were sponsored their full year’s intuition, received an extra little gift from their sponsors. A fully stocked medical box was also handed over to Mmanuku.

 

 

Our ranger, Samson (Kega) managed to break down the old school building which was falling apart, fixed the concrete floor for a future road safety track which will be painted with roads and stop signs as well as traffic lights and zebra crossing added to be used with bicycles for education and fun. He also constructed the roof over the porch of the new building.

He finished this just in time yesterday – before the school closed its doors for the year. Thank you Samson for the marvellous job done – you’re an absolute star!!!

Staff

Our employee for the month of November is Goodman (Gordy) Mosele. He has been the night watchman at Madikwe Hills since the opening of the lodge. It is sometimes the guys in the background that gets overlooked for the hard work they do, but we want to say to Gordy that we have taken notice of him and appreciate the work done by him throughout the stillness of the night when we are all fast asleep.

Changes at the lodge

Sadly, after 4 ½ years at Madikwe Hills, the time has come for Adriënne and I to decide what’s best for our daughter Mia. We’ve accepted a position at another property in the Eastern Cape – which will allow us to put Mia into a decent school in the New Year. 

We are very proud of what we have achieved together with a wonderful team of staff who will continue looking after all of you and the new clients who has not yet experienced the beauty of Madikwe Hills

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The reigns will be handed over to Hannes Kruger, who is currently an employee at our sister lodge Leopard Hills. Hannes has worked his way up through the ranks and ready to pack the bull by the horns at Madikwe Hills as they say. Congratulations Hannes – we trust you will enjoy working at Madikwe Hills as much as we did.

Together with Willem du Toit, who is also stepping up a notch to assist Hannes with the running of the lodge, we wish them all the best and happy returns to all the faithful guests and friends of Madikwe Hills and Seasons in Africa.

May you all have a Blessed Christmas & Prosperous 2010.

Hennie & Adrienne de Clerk

Ranger Report November 2009

The month of November has come to an end and what started out as a bit of a worry ended up in some very welcome relief. Summer is in full swing here in the bush and the temperatures are soaring as you can imagine. Daily averages are anything from 33°C to 36°C with night time averages around 20°C to 24°C. That is a far cry from the cold winter we had this year and worst of all is that rain was scarce in the beginning of the summer season. During the first half of the month of November we had no rain and this was following up on the lack of rain during the last 25 days of October. All in all we had no rain for almost a month and a half with very hot and desiccating conditions. The leaves of some trees started dying back and blades of grass were wilted and instead of a bright green a pale almost lifeless, dull green. This was very worrying and we prayed that the rain would come soon.

 

At last one afternoon, we could see the clouds starting to build on the horizon and we were very hopeful for some much needed rain. The clouds continued to build until finally that evening the heavens opened up and 30mm of life giving rain fell. The earth was so dry that the next morning not even a puddle was visible - all soaked up in an instant by the parched soil. The vegetation received a very good boost and with the following days of sunshine plant growth was almost audible.

 

 

Follow up rain was needed and luckily we did not have to wait too long. Soon after that thunderstorm a very strange cold front approached South Africa from the SE. Normally it comes from the SW and only in winter times as most of our rain in summer has its origins from the north. We weren’t complaining however, since that weather front rained down on us for four days and gave us 170mm worth of desperately needed water.

 

 

We were all ecstatic with the good rains but it presented a new problem to us. With everything being so wet we had limited space to do game drives in - since most of the roads are un-driveable after heavy rain and this could affect our sightings (you just can’t please a human, can you?). Luckily for us, during this time most of the animals decided to hang around the areas we were able to drive in. We found loads of elephants near the main roads, rhino’s patrolling territory, buffalo’s at our water hole, and lions on a kill very close to the lodge. Everything just seemed to work out for everyone.

 

 

It is the festive season again and it looks like Christmas came early for some of the animals here on the reserve. A sub adult white rhino died in the central part of the reserve as a result of the territorial rhino bull of the area. The two probably had a fight and the younger and smaller animal got himself killed in the process. Even though he was a sub adult it still means that there is at least 1.5 tons worth of meat on him and that means feasting time to the lions, hyenas and vultures. We arrived at the scene with five young lions feeding on the carcass and they remained there for almost five days. By now the carcass was in an advanced stage of decomposition but it did not seem to stop the lions from eating themselves to a literal stand still. Fat, uncomfortable, and having difficulty breathing with their hugely distended stomachs they just spend their time sleeping and digesting in the shade of a nearby tree.

 

 

Early December usually means baby time here in Madikwe and most parts of South Africa (I’m talking about the animals now). We have already seen some of the newest editions to the impala population. Some females started giving birth after the good rain we had and we expect to see many more coming within the next couple of weeks. This almost plays into the myth that impala’s can delay birth during unfavourable times or when there is severe predator pressure close to their birthing season. This remains a myth however, and is not true. Impala’s give birth at roughly the same time of season but they cannot delay birth for any reason. All around the reserve females of other species like zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, and red hartebeest are heavily pregnant and it looks like in the not too distant future Madikwe will be flooded with new life once again.

Jaco and the rangers team