Across the pond

So it has been a while but here we are again, after a very busy festive season we find ourselves at the mercy of a new year with hope and dreams of starting anew or maybe just continuing on your merry way, whichever it is may wish you all the luck and love in the world.

Its January and after leaving work on the 15th found myself on plane bound for America - land of the free zing and the home of the biiiiig- via Dubai FAIL!!!! after about 24 hours of discomfort and the aroma of curry stinging my nostrils touched down at George Bush international, no place to embrace US culture like Texas, while it's was just a short stay in the lone star state before heading of to Mississippi to see the family.

its chilly

Billy goats, Baobabs and Border crossings

Setting off on am adventure of any kind is always exciting whether its Boksburg or Bali it’s up to you to make it. So six weeks ago when 3 of us decided to make a mission to probably the most dodgy of our neighboring countries there was much excitement for the planning of everything from meals and accommodation to routes and stops this really did make the time fly and before we knew it our time had come and we were on our way, now it was a trip over 11 days or so and quite action packed so I’m going to give you a very brief play by play.

Getting there.                                                                          

Ahhh the border, it’s always an daunting feeling as you hit the border control of any country, I mean even if you KNOW that you have everything in order that there is always this voice in the back of your head that screams YOU ARE SCREWED!!

Well imagine this – Getting to the border with an uncertified letter from the owner of the car allowing us to cross out of the country, now you must understand we are driving the brightest RED Landrover 90 you have ever seen in your life, we were sitting ducks from the word go but after much pleading with the customs people to allow us through because we promised that we would never do it again , they eventually did and were gone with the wind!!!!!!!! Or so we thought, with the final check point in sight we steamed forward only to be signaled aside by some gents in casual clothing claiming to be C.I.D, C.I.D.???? Criminal Investigation Department, ah that’s awesome! They asked for our paper work and of course it wasn’t up to scratch, they knew, we knew and so it began. The next 40 minutes was spent in an exchange of friendly banter of holiday plans and soccer chat all with the underlying theme of “how much is it going to cost to rectify this problem” well we did with our negotiating skills needing a lot of work as we eventually settled on $100 US!!! Welcome to Africa people!

On we went, venturing into deepest darkest Africa, on the road towards Harare - once the jewel in the African colonial crown. Skeletons of cars from years gone by litter the road sides leaving nothing but rust and chrome reminders of the dangers of  this road with all the truck and livestock freely roaming alongside it.

After 2 hours of taking in all sorts of  scenery and Zimbabwean rural life, the curse of the red Landrover struck again, being seen from what might as well have been 30 km down the road out jumps a little man with his little round radar gun, whilst ushering us to the side of the road I’m already reaching into my pocket into what is now a very minuscule bribe kitty for $20 when I was instructed  to bring my passport, that’s all and after being told of my offense was charged with a $10 fine and an admission of guilt we were on the road again. WIN.

Off to the Lion and Elephant, for a well deserved lunch and reflecting on the ordeals we had just gone through and after stopping in a local town in search of a mattress for Brett and Marianda on we pushed to Malilangwe.

Sunrise



Rooies

Loius Trichard

Runde River, a taste of whats to come





At the Lion And Elephant



Admission of quilt = $10

CAR-cass

The first Baobab

Trying to find a mattress

General supplies

Sandstone castles

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

Your Weekly Highlights Package

So its been a little while since the last post but you know how things go, busy busy.
I've been out and about since I got back from leave, managed to spend five amazing days in the Kruger National Park's Lebombo concession with some very cool guests and now back in action in the Sands.

Lebombo Sunset

So I actually didn't end up taking to many photos while in the KNP as I was too busy trying not to get lost, or at least appear like I knew where I was or where I was going at all times, eventually i gave in and had an eleven year old girl navigate me pack to camp. AWESOME!!!!



Southern pride young males still looking more impressive by the day becoming buffalo killing machines,

Every month I look forward to the moon when its at its fullest, there really something magical about being out in nature when this celestial globe illuminates everything with its soft blue glow. So as expected this months was just as brilliant I decided to take a drive out and sit in the middle of the Sand river and just absorb it all, no- one else just me and the man in the moon. Naturally I took the camera with and got some stuff for you. Make me wanna sing Frank Sinatra's Moooooooooooooon riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvver wilder than a mile . . . . . . . . . . . ..

Sand river by moonlight - if it doesn't look awesome in the pic, come and experience it for yourself

Spring has sprung and things are heating up fast, I'm pleased to report that the short pants have been broken out and the sock tan is well under way. This little spotted bush snake lives outside my neighbour's place and seem to be relishing the warming days as he spends more and more time out in the sun.




Highly Dangerous - I could have died




And now for the moment you have all been waiting for.........................................................................................................................................
Introducing by far the coolest/rarest/oddest/awesomest creature God has ever created.

Just kidding

                                              

                             

 Its this         

                                                

So whilst out on drive four days ago, myself and Pete, my trusted friend and sidekick, decided we would venture out to an area of the property that we have no clue about in search of  a change of senery so as we pushed on to parts unkown I was driving and doing a little bit day dreaming when Pete all of a sudden shot up and through out a string of words that nobody could understand, however eventually after calming him down he managed to point to a clump of grass where it lay, PANGOLIN @&!@%$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! only my third EVER, we both couldn't really contain our excitement as we hugged each as only a guide and tracker can (you wouldn't understand). I think in hind sight that appealed more to gay guests than the animal itself. 
TOO COOL FOR WORDS!!!!!!!!

Society

Mr Eddie Vedder I think said it best.



Oh, it's a mystery to me
We have a greed with which we have agreed
And you think you have to want more than you need
Until you have it all you won't be free

Society, you're a crazy breed
Hope you're not lonely without me...

When you want more than you have
You think you need...
And when you think more than you want
Your thoughts begin to bleed
I think I need to find a bigger place
Because when you have more than you think
You need more space

Society, you're a crazy breed
Hope you're not lonely without me...
Society, crazy indeed
Hope you're not lonely without me...

There's those thinking, more-or-less, less is more
But if less is more, how you keeping score?
Means for every point you make, your level drops
Kinda like you're starting from the top
You can't do that...

Society, you're a crazy breed
Hope you're not lonely without me...
Society, crazy indeed
Hope you're not lonely without me...

Society, have mercy on me
Hope you're not angry if I disagree...
Society, crazy indeed
Hope you're not lonely without me...