End of Year.... Staff party..

At year end we hold a small staff party, as a token of thanks for the hard work through the
year.
We attempt to organise an event each year, and this year we organised an outing
on the Blyde Dam followed by a "braai" and some refreshments.

It worked out well and a great day was had by all. Most of the staff had never been out on a boat on open water. So there was great excitement and some in trepidation!!

 Safety first.

The nature guide kept the staff busy with facts about the dam and its environs.

On the dam

The men busy with what men do - talk and drink....

The ladies doing what they enjoy.. exploring and having a photo shoot!!

Lizzy busy preparing the "pap"

 Thanks to Kylie and Ryan for organising a great day out.

And of course some meat goes well with the "pap".

Hot.... Dry.... Summer

There is no mistake summer is here.  A hotter and drier start to our summer.
The rain has been patchy  some areas getting good down-pours and others a few drops!!

However some special sunsets this year.

It is also coming to the end of the year,  and of course Christmas.

First off we arranged a Christmas party for the children at the Sithekisi primary school, which has now become a yearly event A slice of cake, sweets, biscuits, crisps, "hot-dog" and a juice. Many of the learners take this home to share with the family. Thankyou to BJ Foods and Pick n Pay supermarket Hoedspruit for the donations towards the party.

 The learners are now on their summer holiday.

Spring........2015

Washing Machines are a necessary part of our lodge business.  However with a concern for our natural resources namely water, we have installed a filter system for recycling our "grey water".
This grey water would be used to irrigate the grounds and gardens.
We have used all second hand equipment at this stage to carry out our experiment.
Once we have established any problems we hope to up grade the equipment, more so the filter system.

30th Sep 2015

Australian International Volunteers.....

Classic Wallabies Exchange – South Africa 2015

Australian Volunteers International 

We  were blessed to have a really wonderful, hardworking, and hard-playing group of
volunteer students stay with us while doing development work at Hloaia Chiloana Primary School, in the nearby Acornhoek area. Difficult to meet a truly wonderful group of people.
The volunteers would leave early every morning bright-eyed and bushy tailed, only to return in the afternoon, dusty, tired and thirsty.

Some of us began to wonder what the volunteers were up to at the school. So decided to make a
a visit to the school project.

They had transformed the school and surrounds, and now knew why they always looked tired and dusty on their return to the lodge in the evenings.

 Sadly the group's tour had come to an end.

A fancy dress party was held at the lodge, and a great evening was had by all!!

Some of the staff from the school and local community also came to say a sad good-bye
to the volunteers.

Many with tears in the eye bade farewell to this
wonderful group of young vibrant people.

A big Thankyou for your friendship and hard work from all the staff at Timbavati Safari Lodge.

June.....Winter....2015

Winter in the Kruger National park area is mild and dry with little or no rain from April/May till October/November. Streams, minor rivers and natural pans dry up, and the veld becomes tinder dry.
Towards the end of winter August/September the number of windy days increases, and this increases the chance of run away bush fires, that can destroy thousands of hectares of valuable grass areas for the grazing animals.

Many land and resource management groups claim that bush/veld fires are a natural occurrence and are necessary for the improvement of the veld grasses. However I personally have my doubts about fires and bush fires being natural. Fires can really only occur from lightning strikes, which happen in summer, when it rains, and the grass in the veld is green and not easy to burn. However it maybe that the old grass from the previous year may burn.

However most run-away bush/veld fires are started by humans, be they from honey collectors who start a fire for smoking the bee hive, and then leave the fire unattended or from unattended cooking fires, or the controlled burning of fire breaks, which can get out of hand. Or as in our area from faulty electrical overhead cables and transformers sparking and setting the grass alight.

Which  ever which way a grass fire starts they are a potential danger to thatched buildings.
Timbavati Safari Lodge has just added another piece of safety equipment to the lodge.

This is in the form of a portable water spray system that can be used in the event of a bush fire on our property or in the area. While burning our own fire breaks we used and tested our new "fire engine" and it worked like a charm. As a piece of safety equipment we hope never to have to use it except for testing and training.

Summers end.....May 2015

Summer is coming to an end slowly this year. The days are warm and bright with cool evenings and early mornings. With little or no wind.

Due to the sporadic and lower than normal rainfall this past rainy season, the veld is dry and the smaller river pools are drying up.

The animals are starting to use and frequent the larger pools, which hopefully will remain with water for the winter,  which is from about now till October/November when we will get our next rains.

This makes game viewing in the Kruger National Park more exciting with a large variety of animals visiting the remaining water holes and pools. So our winter time is better for safaris. Also the veld is more open and the long grass dying down.

Animal sightings and viewing has been good over the past month, with all the Big 5, plus Wild Dog and Cheetah. So our guests have been well rewarded on their safaris.
As always animal viewing safaris are not guaranteed that you will see the Big 5, as the animals are always moving as is the safari vehicle. The guides do not know where the animals are, they do have some idea, but they are just better at spotting and finding the animals than the normal guest.

So we are looking forward to more fruitful safaris into the Kruger National Park.

Keep warm around a log fire and a mug of coco.

No fooling around....... April 2015

April is nearly over, and the year is flying by.
In a nut shell - we have been busy - the Kruger Park safaris have been great with really wonderful trips filled with all that nature has to offer in the park - rainfall has been below average but life goes on.

One of the major events was the magical wedding of Ryan and Kylie McGuirk two of our managers.
With the gathering of two families under a large fig tree to perform their wedding ceremony.

Bride of the year to be sure!!
From all the staff and friends of the lodge we wish you both a happy and wonderful future together.