Blyde hell thats high!!!!!

So the other day we Had a quiet afternoon so we decided that we would go an explore the beauty that sits so close by but unfortunately never get to see. In celebration of Marc’s birthday we thought we would venture up to the Blyde river canyon, the third largest overall and the largest green canyon in the world, carved over the last couple million years by the Blyde river to depths averaging 800m, this place is truly a marvel of creation. Now most of the time the only thing I get to see of this magnificent place is when the sun sets behind the mountains from the lodge, so this time we could watch the sunset and of course like every month the moonrise but this time with a difference.

We left the lodge as soon after lunch as we could and made our way to the hazy mountains in the distance on through Hazyview  then up Sabie road, winding through the endless pine forests where you cant help but look into the darkness and imagine what goes on in there, or what could.  Onward and upward Through the quiet little foresting town of Sabie we go and onto Graskop where the forests turn to grassland and the hills to gorges teaming with waterfalls tumbling with crystal clear mountain water, so much beauty and contrast and all I can think of is the fact that I am now retracing the actual footsteps of Mpumalanga’s most well known dog, the one the only, JOCK OF THE BUSHVELD. But seriously this is where the little tike along with his trusty sidekick Percy used to rock out. Toooooo cool.

So anyway, We eventually get to the gate of the Three Rondavels lookout point only to find it closed but after some serious negotiating skills and a little extra cash we were in and on our way. Check these OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



After an amazing evening of play on the edge of a cliff and some amazing views and reflection a quick braai it was off to bed and up early to catch the sunrise. It was as amazing as you can imagine. I can now see exactly why they call it Mpumalanga – Place where the sun rises

Clash of the Titans

It’s always been a dream of many guides in the industry since the very first time they witnessed lions hunting was to see, what has always been regarded as one of the ultimate match ups in the natural world, of lion against buffalo. Well for me this week was it, this first time in five years that I was to see this spectacle take place from start to finish. 

The previous evening we had located a pride of four young male lions as well as a herd of buffalo numbering in the hundreds both in the south east of the property, so knowing this we set off early the next morning straight to the area anticipating the meeting of the two groups.

After searching for a while we found the buffalo all drinking from 40 km pan but starting to head north into the thickets whilst to the south four tawny heads peered through the dry winter grass towards them. The buffalo slowly moved away from the at what seemed to be a snail’s pace as the lions slowly advanced towards them still hugging the tree line, in an attempt to remain hidden. After twenty minutes of slow and steady observation of the herd the four had managed to get right up close to a group of three old bulls who had decided to lie up and wait out the heat of the day.

Lion stalking right up the Bulls



Buffalo hear a sound and stand up to investiagate, catch sight of a lion and bolt!

Four males give chase and catch up to one and the fight is on.



Avoiding the sharp end of the bull they jump onto his back to tire him out and take him to ground, but he resists.



With a loud mournful bellow his legs buckle and he falls

The male turn the bull onto his back to expose his vulnerable parts

Its over

Black Spring Day

The Future

So as spring brings about a plethora of new life back to bushveld and everything is transformed almost overnight into an almost unrecognizable green vista, this year’s spring day was one to be remembered not as colorful celebration of the changing season and warming of our bones but rather as a day to recognize the plight of the Rhinos of the World. An awareness campaign termed as Black Spring day was launched on the 1^st of Spetember when people would instead of wearing normal colorful spring clothing, either don black clothing or tie a black ribbon to their car mirrors to create awareness for these prehistoric pachyderms. I was not in the cities but as far as the networking of the campaign went I can only imagine it was well received. Now as awesome as these displays are and trust me they are, I think there is a lot of confusion about all the uses and trade in Rhino horn, so in an attempt to dispel any myths and just let you know a little bit more so you know exactly what it is are are fighting for. Below is a little shpeel on everything rhino related.

As it stands at the moment rhino populations in SA are currently in the region of 20 000 white rhino and 1600 black rhino and still increasing at about 5 to 6% every year, not bad considering where the population has come from the brink of extinction in the 70’s and 80’s but now we have these chops from the middle and far east who poached 333 of the population last year and are about to out-do themselves this year with estimates at about 400.

There is hope!! Now this is always going to a very touchy subject, with people having different views on the matter, I have mine and you have yours. This year the Kruger National Park employed the services of the defense force to counteract the efforts poachers and  have killed over 22 poachers in fire fights in and around the park unfortunately causing poachers to seek there prizes elsewhere, in February Pete and myslef found the first poached rhino on our property – not cool. Now the word on the gravel street is that there are also rumors of farmers poisoning the horn and as it has no blood supply there is no risk to the rhinos themselves but a great deal of trouble to the consumers,. As I say these are RUMORS!!!!!!!! dont take my word.

Alright, back to the uses, firstly rhino horn IS NOT USED AS AN APHRODISIAC. There are a myriad of different uses from all over Asia but an aphrodisiac aint one of them. Closer to home in the middle eastern country of Yemen horns are used in traditional dagger handles called Jambiya which are given to boys of the Muslim faith at the age of 12 as a sign of manhood.

Countries in Asia like South Korea, Malaysia, India, China, rhino horn is said to cure a ton of ailments including fever, gout, rheumatism, snakebites, hallucinations, typhoid, carbuncles (WHAT?????), vomiting and get this devil possessions – obviously doesn’t do anything for ignorance. So overall there isn’t much evidence to support the huge amount of claims about the healing properties of the horns however In 1990, researchers at Chinese University in Hong Kong found that large doses of rhino horn extract slightly lowered fever in rats but did nothing for their sex drive, but the concentration of horn given by a traditional Chinese medicines are many many times lower than used in those experiments.

 You’d do just as well chewing on your fingernails

                                                             

Some Rhino fun