Weekly Report 23rd - 27th July 2007

23/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 27*C Min Temp : 05*C

07:30 Did the report and sent it off

09:20 We took Roz to the dam near the base of the mountain where she did some tracks

09:45 Checked the progress of the lodge and looked for the giraffes

10:00 We headed round the back of the mountain to make sure that we did not miss the old Kudu bull, but it seems to be the dead one we found in the donga round the back.

10:05 Halfway between the lodge and the big dip we saw a porcupine running across the road.

10:25 Back of mountain near the N3 we saw a male Duiker

10:30 Back of mountain near the first dam we saw another male Duiker

10:35 Back of the mountain we saw another 2 x Duikers (female) as well as 5 x Mountain Reedbuck grazing on the new growth from the firebreaks

11:00 Base of mountain on our way to the top there were 4 x Kudu cows laying in the grass under the trees

11:20 We went to take a look at the carcass of the dead Kudu Bull. It was not touched except for a bit around the thigh

11:30 Top of the mountain on left hand side of the top we saw 9 x Blesbok. They are usually on the other side of the mountain.

13:00 On the Ryefield we saw 12 x Warthogs, 4 x Blesbok and the usual Impala's and Blue Cranes

13:05 At the 2 ponds near the main gate there were 6 x Zebra's. The stallion, 2 mares and 3 foals (recently released ones)

13:25 We went to check on the road progress at Cloustons. They are about 80m further since last Wednesday.

14:00 We went home and sorted out some photos.

15:15 We took Roz to the Ryefield for some observations

17:10 On our way from the Ryefield near the pond at the house we saw the 6 Zebra's again and a group of impala as well


24/07/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 25*C Min Temp : 09*C

07:30 Near Donga on the way to dam we saw 6 x Hartebeest

07:55 At the dam near the house we saw a Spoonbill feeding

08:10 We headed up towards the Lodge to see if we could spot the Giraffes, but we could only find one near the base of the mountain close to the dam

08:20 Near the Lodge toward the back we saw a young Kudu Bull.

08:45 Across from the field near the house there was a female duiker hiding in the grass

08:50 Near the ponds at the house we saw 3 x Warthogs

09:00 At the pond - Giant kingfisher and the reed Cormorant

09:30 Took Roz to the dry riverbed (Big stream) where she did some tracks

09:45 Worked on the video footage and photos most of the day / Looked for the Giraffes

14:00 Took Roz to the Ryefield to do some observation

16:00 Pick Roz up and went to find the dried casts of the prints she took.

17:00 Went home.


25/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 27*C Min Temp : 15*C

07:30 Took Roz to Vertrek for some tracking along the River and border fence of Vertrek

08:00 Did report and readied everything for Mr and Mrs T

11:00 Went to pick Roz up from Vertrek

13:00 We went down to the Ryefield so Roz could do some observation. Hannes went with Ed to check on the progress of the road on Vertrek

15:00 Mr T arrived round about this time on UmPhafa.

26/07/2007
Weather : Cloudy morning
Max Temp : 22*C Min Temp : 13*C

06:00 Took Mr T and the family for an early morning drive. Spotted eagle owl on way from lodge as well as some Impala and 6 x Zebra in the early dawn. Saw some Impala on the Ryefield. Near the river in a tree we saw a Longcrested Eagle. 3 x Warthogs ran across the road just behind us. We went towards the mountain to see if we could spot the Black-backed Jackals, but we were unlucky.

08:45 - 13:00 We headed off to Ethuleni School to hand out the letters. It was a great trip. The children danced for us and little Ollie joined in after a while. They also sang us some songs. After the dancing we handed out the letters and took down the children’s names. They responded to the letters with much enthusiasm and replied immediately. Kevin and Hannes headed to Ladysmith and decided to treat the children with some sweets which they really enjoyed. I was reminded to just say thank you to Stanway School and Action for the Wild for all their efforts.

14:00 Sorted out the letters and did yesterday's report

15:00 Took the family on a game drive again. Headed over the hill from the lodge and saw a Kudu cow near there. Close to the big dip on the side of the mountain we saw a lone Giraffe. We could not see the others

16:30 We headed up the mountain to show everyone the top of the mountain. We saw 15 x Blesbok on top of the mountain. It was very windy up there. We headed back down and got back at about 18:00.

27/07/2007
Weather : Extremely windy

Max Temp : 23*C Min Temp : 16*C

07:30 Report for yesterday and worked on some of the footage from the school

09:00 Had a meeting with Mr and Mrs T

11:20 Took Roz to the River for some tracking

11:30 Took Mr T and the family on a game drive. The wind was terrible and we did not see much. We saw only 1 giraffe when we use the binoculars.
It was taking shelter from the wind near the slope of the mountain. We did however see a group of first 6 x Hartebeest and about 5 min later 2 more on our way up to the mountain.

16:00 We went on another game drive with Mr T and the family and took Roz with us this time. We took the road leading to the back of the mountain from the lodge. We saw a Marsh Harrier having some real difficulty with the wind. It kept having to land because of the strong winds. We headed down to the Ryefield. On our way there we saw about 2 groups of Impalas. There were only a couple of Impalas on the Ryefield and some Zebras. We saw a Common Reedbuck male near the road by the field. At about 17:50 we saw another common Reedbuck just at the turnoff to the lodge.

There were huge field fires near Winterton area and close to Ladysmith. Millions of Rands worth of field was destroyed and quite a lot of cattle died. Some people lost their lives and some were seriously injured. Many farmhouses and huts burned down and more than 2million hectares were destroyed. We were very fortunate. We could see the blaze from UmPhafa and there was smoke over the N3. Luckily for us the wind was blowing away from us.