News Letter from the Bush May 09

I am so excited to write this next news letter, as so much has been going on!

I shall start where I left off - and that was just before we darted our big male buffalo 'daggaboy'. The day went very well, and our guests in at the time - who were on their honeymoon & first time to Africa, got to see it all happen & they got to inject the buffalo with his does of antibiotics & vitamins! So needless to say they were absolutely ecstatic about the whole event! It took at least 20 guys to carry him & that in itself was a struggle!
We all held our breaths as the doors were open for him to come out, because was mad! The vet hat to inject him with a sedative to calm him down!
We prepared a separate boma area for him from the other males, as we did not want them to fight - so when he was released he seemed very pleased with his new accommodation!!
So now our 5 buffalo await the next step, which will be to get a series of blood tests done to determine that they do or don't have any diseases. We bought them over with the knowledge that they are disease free, but in order to sell them on now we need a vets certificate. This is a long process, which can take up to eight weeks. Then, the boys will be ready for a new home on a different reserve and by doing this we will have created space for a new blood line to step in and become the dominant male.

The next bit of excitement we has last Friday was the darting of one of our Black Rhino 'Kapela'. We started our morning at 5am with spot lights and a coffee box!! It was fairly cold, so we wrapped up and began our search for Kapela. We eventually found him with the help of Stefan - one of our Rangers at Hlosi who spotted him from the kitchen window and called the sighting into us - ww were in the opposite direction of where he was!
We followed him and sat and watched him till we had conformation that our vet William Folds and the chopper were on it's way. During this time, Kapela behaved himself so well - he virtually sat in front of our vehicle, as if to wait with us!
The chopper arrived and the whole darting process was quick - he went down in a nice open space and it was minutes before we were by his side. 2 vets worked on him very professionally and calmly as all his vitals were continuously checked and water was continuously poured over him to keep him cool. The new transmitter was put inside him and whilst we had him down he was treated for ticks and given his antibiotics - which was administered by some German guests of ours.
Then, we were all told to clear the way and get onto our vehicles whilst they gave him the final injection to wake him up. To our advantage the wind was blowing away from him, so he could not smell that we were still there - because I'm sure he was wondering what this smell all over his mouth was!!! So as he woke up, all was well and he seemed fine - like nothing had even happened to him! Grateful, we left him and let him go about his day, but as we drove off he obviously got a whiff of us, and we was after us!!!! He knew we were the culprits that had been touching his beautifully soft body!! He chased us a good way until he was satisfied we had gone and carried on eating and doing what Black Rhino's do!
Later that day, he arrived at Hlosi Lodge and decided to camp outside room 6 where the owners of the Lodge got to watch in the luxury of their suite, sipping on an sunset drink!

Milo, who now thinks he is a huge hairy monster decided to sneak under the deck, whilst Kampala was near the Main Lodge eating, and he arrived in his stand up position, which sent Kapela into a flat spin and he left the spot with all legs in motion!! He couldn't get away from him quick enough! Such a funny sighting - with such a sweet little Meerkat!!

Our Lodge full of children this weekend have just been so entertained, not only by the fabulous stream of activities Rene & Stefan have laid out for them - which by the way, I think enjoy just as much as the kids do! But Milo has been the centre of attention - one can't help melting when you see him checking out the scene in his stand up position! Little character has no lack of love that's for sure!

Whilst is was all a hive down at Hlosi with very happy guests, we had mighty happy guests to at Bukela when 2 cheetah arrived at our water hole! I was thrilled of course because I had just welcomed 2 Irish guests, Dave & Aoife on honeymoon, and was explaining why we escort guests to their rooms after dark, and told them the list of visitors we often get, and one of them was our cheetah that love the water hole! (These 2 guests have also never been to Africa and were over the moon to just see a little tortoise on the way to their suite!!) And there they were just as our guests arrived for tea time at the main lodge!
We were able to get fantastic pictures of them from the outside Lapa, but to make sure everyone got a good sighting we all got into the landrover and rolled down the road to view them clearly. I waited in my office as I had a load of paper work to be finished - and lucky I did, as the 2 boys came strolling up the road towards my office - stood to check me out by the door way, and then carried on their journey!

And lastly, our best news of all..................this morning we welcome 2 baby cheetah our Amakhala Reserve! It gives me goose bumps just announcing that, because these little fur balls are so incredibly beautiful! Damara was found tucked away in the rocky out crop, and she allowed us close enough to see what she was hiding! We estimate the cubs to be 3 weeks old already. Attached you will see the photos we managed to get through the thick bush! For all us soppy souls out there, they are definitely an 'aaawwww ccuuuttteeee' moment!!

Whilst I go about my work here in the office, I have a nest full of gorgeous baby swallows that sound like they are desperate for Mum to return with something delicious to eat!!!! Never a dull moment around this place!

For now, I shall leave with that, and no doubt will have a stream of different things to share in no time at all!
Take care
From us all on the Amakhala Conservancy!

www.lionroars.com