Weekly Report 30th July - 4th August 2007

30/07/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 20*C Min Temp : 04*C

08:15 We headed up the mountain to drop Roz off for some tracking

08:15 There was a young Kudu Bull about halfway up the mountain

08:40 On top of the mountain we spotted 12 x Zebra's in the middle.

08:45 On the far right hand side on our way to the right side of the mountain we saw a Martial eagle in a tree

09:00 We dropped Roz by the Natural spring near the border fence for tracking

09:05 There were 15 x Blesbok near the border fence on the other side. They looked a lot more relaxed today and we were able to get a bit closer than usual

09:10 1 x Duiker and a Mountain Reedbuck near the other natural spring.

09:25 About three quarters down on our way down the mountain we saw 3 x Zebra near the road

09:45 Did the reports and emails

10:50 On our way up the lodge we saw a small group of 10 Impala one a year old ram

11:00 On the Plateau near the lodge we saw the 6 Zebras (3 foals, 2mares, 1stallion) They were calm as well as we got out of the vehicle to go look for the Giraffes

11:05 Looking down from the plateau towards the mountain we saw a group of 4 more Zebras and another one of 3 near the slope

11:30 On the road towards the back from the lodge we saw a Kudu Bull

11:45 4 x Dassies round the back of the mountain near the dam.

11:55 4 x Mountain Reedbuck near the N3 round the back of the mountain

12:00 2nd Dam round the back of the mountain we saw 5 x Cows, a 2 year old Bull and a calf. There is no water in the dam anymore

12:20 On the road back towards the top of the mountain there was a tree fallen over into the road because of the strong winds. It took us some time to try to move it out of the road for the vehicle to pass.

12:40 We picked up Roz and Michael from the top of the mountain

13:15 At the ponds near the house there was a group of Impala's with a ram

14:00 We took Roz to the Ryefield for observation. 6 x Zebras, 2 x Blesbok, 7 x Warthog and the usual Impalas

15:00 We took Roz to town for some grocery shopping

17:30 On the Ryefield we were very fortunate to see 5 x Waterbuck. It looked like the released ones as 2 of them looked like the 2 young ones released.

31/07/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 21*C Min Temp : 05*C

07:30 Did report

08:30 Took Roz to Geluk, to Mike's Lodge for some tracking. Saw some Impala bachelors by the stream

08:40 The Impala's were moving down towards the Ryefield.

08:55 At the 2 ponds we saw 4 x Warthog boars grazing. They ran off as soon as we stopped

09:20 Female Duiker on the way to the lodge

09:30 We got to Mike's lodge and only saw 2 x Egyptian geese on the water.

09:50 On our way back we saw another Duiker. This time a male

11:00 We went to pick up Roz again

11:30 5 x Warthogs on our way back from the lodge

11:40 1 x Kudu cow near the road on Geluk

11:45 A little further along we saw 2 x Impala rams near the road

12:00 At the 2 ponds near the gate we saw the same 4 warthog boars and sat there a while watching them

12:05 As we drove along there were 3 more Warthogs just opposite the Ryefield on the other side of the road

13:30 We headed into Ladysmith for some things

16:00 When we came back it looked as if the neighbour had started some firebreaks. The fire did not spread into UmPhafa so we went looking for the Giraffes.

17:00 Went back home without finding them

23:30 We saw a red glow on the mountain and it seemed that the fire spread over the top. We rushed up the mountain, but the fire had not spread over the border

01:00 We went back home


01/08/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 23*C Min Temp : 05*C

08:00 Took Roz to Vertrek for some tracking.

08:15 On the Ryefield this morning we saw 2 x Blesbok and the usual Impalas

08:20 We headed up the mountain to check on the fire and help Mike with it

08:45 Up on top of the mountain a secretary bird was taking advantage of the field fire and was feeding in the grass

10:30 We had a short meeting with Charles and received a quote on the building material for the school. We will start with the repairs as soon as possible

11:00 We went to fetch Roz on Vertrek

12:00 We headed back up to the top of the mountain to check on the fire. On our way up we saw 11 Giraffes as well as 3 kudu cows a 2year old bull and a calf

14:00 We spent the day keeping an eye on the fires

16:00 At the pond near the house we saw a warthog family of 5

16:10 On the Ryefield the usual Impala's, Blue cranes and some warthogs

16:15 3 x Warthogs at the 2 ponds near the main gate.

16:20 We headed to Geluk to give a hand with the fires

17:30 We took Michael and Mandla home to Colenso as Mike and staff was still busy with the fires

02/08/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 24*C Min Temp : 07*C

07:30 We took Roz to the back of the mountain to the dams for tracking

07:50 On our way there on the plateau near the lodge we saw 7 Giraffes browsing

08:25 Round the back of the mountain near the N3 we saw 3 x Duikers

08:55 4 x Mountain reedbuck on top of the mountain in the middle area

09:00 Saw the Blesbok on the top right hand side of the mountain. The fires was out and not a threat to Elworthy any longer

09:30 We saw a Jackal buzzard in a tree on top

10:50 On our way down the mountain we saw a 2 year old kudu bull, a calf and a cow.

11:00 We went to pick up Roz round the back

11:20 6 x Mountain Reedbuck by the road near the Tugela on our way back

11:50 We headed off to Vertrek to check on the fires there. Mike had everything under control there. The road was about 850m further than last Wednesday.

13:50 Headed up the mountain again for a check up on the fire. On our way we saw 4 x Kudu cows

14:45 We went to the Ryefield to check who which animals were on it for Roz to observe. 2 x Blesbok. the Impala's and 11 Warthogs

16:00 We took Roz to the Ryefield. We came across 6 Zebra's ( 3 foals, 2 mares, 1 stallion) They were heading towards the Ryefield but we did not see them down later on.

17:00 Took Michael and Mandla home as Mike was still busy with the fires on Vertrek


03/08/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 25*C Min Temp : 09*C

08:00 Went to drop Roz off at the back of Vertrek. On our way there near the pond at the house we saw the Giraffe and spent about 45min with them. Near them there were also 6 x Zebra. We then headed over towards the lodge and took that road round to the back

08:50 On our way towards the back near the dip we saw a young Kudu Bull

09:15 Dropped Roz off

09:50 Did the last 2 day's reports

11:00 Went back to pick up Roz and the rest. On our way back we saw that there was a big field fire on Geluk and we went to have a look. The mountain and back of Geluk was on fire.

13:30 We went to Ladysmith for some things and when we got back the fire was mostly under control

17:30 There were some female Waterbuck on their way to the Ryefield

23:00 The fire started up again and we gave Mike a hand. Got it out at about 00:45


04/08/2007

Weather : Cloudy
Max Temp : 19*C Min Temp : 05*C

10:00 We took Roz to Durban airport