Safari Lodges

December has been an incredible month for sightings and also a milestone for Umlani bushcamp with the rebirth of our kitchen, just over a year after the fire which destroyed our kitchen and office! Needless to say we are all extremely happy that our treks up and down the hill with food will be radically reduced – we just have to watch our waistlines now that we have less walking to do! All we need now is our new office – roll on January 2013!

In terms of sightings this has been an incredible month - not only on Umlani but also with the help of our traversing partners.

I will begin with Marco’s Dam. Our guests find that our tree house overlooking the dam is a wonderful place to sit in complete safety but with the beauty of being in the middle of any action at the waterhole. During the day the tendency has been to get a lot of general game coming to the water and the occasional old male dagga boy! In addition, a male elephant may be there and sometimes a breeding herd of elephants will pass by to drink and bathe. Regardless of what animals visit there the tree house enables our guests to have a fascinating insight into the lives of all the wildlife in their natural surroundings and behaving perfectly naturally.

As December has been relatively dry and many of the pans in the bush have dried out, the more permanent water sources have become somewhat of an animal magnet! Our hippo has returned to keep the crocodile company and often lumbers out at night to the delight of any guests staying there in the tree house. At night our guests have also seen rhino – one guest counting no less than 8 rhino in one night! On two occasions as the guests were being driven there after dinner, rhino were present at Marco’s Dam. There were two spectacular highlights for Marco’s Dam this month. Firstly our guests had seen no less that 29 wild dog on drive in the general area of Umlani – believed to be the pack that generally occupies the Orpen area in Kruger about 30 kilometres away! One evening as the vehicles were returning to camp they came across all 29 dogs relaxing and playing around the dam. It was amazing to see this large pack so close to camp!

As I write this we are waiting for some much needed rainfall. The skies are grey though, whether they decide to deposit any water is anyone’s guess.  Sixteen mls fell on the 9^th but we could do with some more. Although the bush is very dry the animals are looking in excellent condition and the grey storm clouds gathering each day will drop the rain any time now. Spring has now sprung! The first impala lamb on Umlani was spotted on the 9^th November and since then they have been coming thick and fast! It is wonderful to see this new life and the joy they have in racing around – and looking very cute in the process! There are still many expectant ewes so with all these births we will also be expecting the predators! Another new arrival spotted by our guests was a newborn giraffe with its chord still attached.  Spring now well established means that the summer migrant birds are here. Woodland kingfishers everywhere and also the unusual sight of two Jacobin cuckoos mating in a tree near our bar! We are still waiting for our weavers t return to camp however! The watering hole opposite the bar continues to be an animal ‘hotspot’  - as well as the regular general game and hyenas, we have also had two large male lions one evening, and a rhino at early morning tea! Another regular visitor is our resident marabou stork – often maligned for his less than handsome looks but a very elegant and graceful flier! Everything has their good points – just that some are easier to see than others – like people! Leopards have also continued to be spotted routinely on nearly every drive. Recently a new female  - very relaxed with vehicles – seems to have taken up a territory close to the boundary of Umlani and the main access road – and as she is often seen in the marula trees there she has the nickname of Marula Mfasi! Another exciting event witnessed by our guests was when they were responding to the sighting of one of the two large male lions. As they approached the lion in the vehicle a leopard was seen inadvertently heading in the same direction as the sleeping lion! Pretty soon the leopard realised the potential danger and zipped up a nearby tree – and was followed to the base of the tree by the lion! A narrow escape for the leopard – the lion getting frustrated at the base of the tree as he is a poor climber! Conversely the leopard is very at home in the trees and this particular leopard ended up very high in the canopy to be on the safe side!