26/10/2007
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 19*C
Max temp: 28*C
07:30 Tried to fix my PC, but it was not working.
08:30 Headed into Ladysmith to go get some prices on certain items. Took my PC in to get fixed.
13:00 Headed back to the reserve.
13:30 We were told by one of the game guards that they have found an Impala ewe dead near the lodge. There was a lamb with her. We headed there to go pick her up to try to establish what she died of. We also tried to catch the lamb and were successful after many attempts. Mike organised some milk for us, just for the time being as it was getting late.
17:00 The lamb is a little male and he took some milk. He looked healthy and seemed to be ok.
27/10/2007
Weather: overcast
Min temp: 18*C
Max temp: 20*C
Rainfall: 4mm
06:00 Fed the lamb. He gave some trouble this morning, but he ended up taking some milk.
08:30 Headed in to Ladysmith to get some milk for the lamb and pick up my PC. It seems to have been the power supply that blew.
11:25 There were 3 x Kudu bulls near the ryefield. They were crossing the road when I went pass.
11:30 Got back on the reserve and mixed some milk for the lamb. There were 6 x Zebras, bachelor Impala group and an Impala group near the house when I got back He did not seem to like it very much, but after some time we got him to take some milk.
13:00 We are feeding the lamb every 4 hours and check up on him regularly.
14:00 We stayed with the lamb through the day. It was drinking much better as the day progressed.
28/10/2007
Weather: overcast
Min temp: 15C
Max temp: 22*C
07:00 Fed the lamb. We tried the new bottle but he did not like it very much so we are sticking with the old one till he is bigger.
07:30 Did the reports.
08:30 We fed the lamb as he did not take much earlier because of the new bottle.
09:00 Headed up to the mountain to check on the Blesbok. Near the Donga we found 2 x Diederik Cuckoo parents feeding a youngster.
09:30 On the top right hand side of the mountain we saw a Black-backed Jackal as we looked for the Blesbok.
09:40 We went to the left side of the mountain and found the Blesbok there, all 7 lambs still there. There was also a group of 13 zebra.
10:00 We headed down the mountain towards the back.
10:10 On the way down we saw a Mountain Reedbuck male running across the road.
10:30 ID - Red Throated Wryneck (Jynx ruficollis) near the 4th dam as well as a Duiker.
10:35 Another Duiker just a bit further on.
10:45 2 x Common Reedbuck at the back of the mountain near the first dam, male and a female.
11:00 Close to the turn off towards the lodge we saw the first Kudu calf of the year along with 8 cows and a bull.
11:15 Near the lodge there were 10 more Kudus. 5 Adult bulls, 2 young bulls, a young cow and 2 adult cows.
11:20 The creche near the house (Impala) had 17 lambs. We think that some might have moved down from the top.
12:00 We fed the little Impala lamb again.
13:40 Headed to the dam at the base of the mountain to check on the Impala ewe carcass.
14:00 The carcass was not touched. There were some redknobbed coots and a Blackheaded Heron at the dam.
14:20 11 x Impala ewes and a ram on the way up to the lodge.
14:30 We just checked on the lodge - no problems. 3 x Impala lambs near the lodge, 1 ram and 4 ewes.
14:35 We headed to the ryefield to check on the other Impalas and the lambs. 7 lambs near the turn off to the ryefield.
14:45 On the other side of the ryefield near the road there was another Impala group and 1 lamb. Total lambs today - 28
15:30 Fed the little lamb again.
29/10/2007
Weather: overcast some rain
Min temp: 16C
Max temp: 27*C
Rainfall: 4mm
07:30 Fed lamb.
08:00 Did yesterday's report
08:30 Headed to Ladysmith to organise the furniture for the house. Most of it is to be delivered tomorrow.
12:30 Back on reserve and fed the Impala lamb again.
14:00 We went to Geluk today to have a look around. Near the turn off to the ryefield, there was an Impala group. We could not see any lambs however. There were also some Kudus near, browsing on the acacia's
14:05 Near the 2 dams by the gate, a slender mongoose ran into the donga.
14:15 Near the 3rd camp on Geluk there was a Warthog female.
14:20 7 x Kudu cows a little further on.
14:30 We saw 2 x Blue wildebeest near the Geluk/Weenen border; they were however on Weenen side. We are not sure if these are the ones that used to be on Gelulk near the lodge.
14:35 We came across a huge group of more than 30 Kudu. Most of them were cows, but we did see some adult bulls and young bulls as well.
15:00 It started raining slightly and we headed back.
15:30 Had some thunder with much heavier rain. It did not last long though.
16:00 Stopped raining.
30/10/2007
Weather: overcast with rain
Min temp: 19C
Max temp: 20*C
Rainfall: 12mm
07:30 Fed lamb
08:00Did yesterday's report. We helped Ed out with some people from the Ladysmith municipality, who came to see UmPhafa. Also received some furniture from town and had some things picked up from here. It started raining heavily with some thunderstorms, but it did not last long.
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 19*C
Max temp: 28*C
07:30 Tried to fix my PC, but it was not working.
08:30 Headed into Ladysmith to go get some prices on certain items. Took my PC in to get fixed.
13:00 Headed back to the reserve.
13:30 We were told by one of the game guards that they have found an Impala ewe dead near the lodge. There was a lamb with her. We headed there to go pick her up to try to establish what she died of. We also tried to catch the lamb and were successful after many attempts. Mike organised some milk for us, just for the time being as it was getting late.
17:00 The lamb is a little male and he took some milk. He looked healthy and seemed to be ok.
27/10/2007
Weather: overcast
Min temp: 18*C
Max temp: 20*C
Rainfall: 4mm
06:00 Fed the lamb. He gave some trouble this morning, but he ended up taking some milk.
08:30 Headed in to Ladysmith to get some milk for the lamb and pick up my PC. It seems to have been the power supply that blew.
11:25 There were 3 x Kudu bulls near the ryefield. They were crossing the road when I went pass.
11:30 Got back on the reserve and mixed some milk for the lamb. There were 6 x Zebras, bachelor Impala group and an Impala group near the house when I got back He did not seem to like it very much, but after some time we got him to take some milk.
13:00 We are feeding the lamb every 4 hours and check up on him regularly.
14:00 We stayed with the lamb through the day. It was drinking much better as the day progressed.
28/10/2007
Weather: overcast
Min temp: 15C
Max temp: 22*C
07:00 Fed the lamb. We tried the new bottle but he did not like it very much so we are sticking with the old one till he is bigger.
07:30 Did the reports.
08:30 We fed the lamb as he did not take much earlier because of the new bottle.
09:00 Headed up to the mountain to check on the Blesbok. Near the Donga we found 2 x Diederik Cuckoo parents feeding a youngster.
09:30 On the top right hand side of the mountain we saw a Black-backed Jackal as we looked for the Blesbok.
09:40 We went to the left side of the mountain and found the Blesbok there, all 7 lambs still there. There was also a group of 13 zebra.
10:00 We headed down the mountain towards the back.
10:10 On the way down we saw a Mountain Reedbuck male running across the road.
10:30 ID - Red Throated Wryneck (Jynx ruficollis) near the 4th dam as well as a Duiker.
10:35 Another Duiker just a bit further on.
10:45 2 x Common Reedbuck at the back of the mountain near the first dam, male and a female.
11:00 Close to the turn off towards the lodge we saw the first Kudu calf of the year along with 8 cows and a bull.
11:15 Near the lodge there were 10 more Kudus. 5 Adult bulls, 2 young bulls, a young cow and 2 adult cows.
11:20 The creche near the house (Impala) had 17 lambs. We think that some might have moved down from the top.
12:00 We fed the little Impala lamb again.
13:40 Headed to the dam at the base of the mountain to check on the Impala ewe carcass.
14:00 The carcass was not touched. There were some redknobbed coots and a Blackheaded Heron at the dam.
14:20 11 x Impala ewes and a ram on the way up to the lodge.
14:30 We just checked on the lodge - no problems. 3 x Impala lambs near the lodge, 1 ram and 4 ewes.
14:35 We headed to the ryefield to check on the other Impalas and the lambs. 7 lambs near the turn off to the ryefield.
14:45 On the other side of the ryefield near the road there was another Impala group and 1 lamb. Total lambs today - 28
15:30 Fed the little lamb again.
29/10/2007
Weather: overcast some rain
Min temp: 16C
Max temp: 27*C
Rainfall: 4mm
07:30 Fed lamb.
08:00 Did yesterday's report
08:30 Headed to Ladysmith to organise the furniture for the house. Most of it is to be delivered tomorrow.
12:30 Back on reserve and fed the Impala lamb again.
14:00 We went to Geluk today to have a look around. Near the turn off to the ryefield, there was an Impala group. We could not see any lambs however. There were also some Kudus near, browsing on the acacia's
14:05 Near the 2 dams by the gate, a slender mongoose ran into the donga.
14:15 Near the 3rd camp on Geluk there was a Warthog female.
14:20 7 x Kudu cows a little further on.
14:30 We saw 2 x Blue wildebeest near the Geluk/Weenen border; they were however on Weenen side. We are not sure if these are the ones that used to be on Gelulk near the lodge.
14:35 We came across a huge group of more than 30 Kudu. Most of them were cows, but we did see some adult bulls and young bulls as well.
15:00 It started raining slightly and we headed back.
15:30 Had some thunder with much heavier rain. It did not last long though.
16:00 Stopped raining.
30/10/2007
Weather: overcast with rain
Min temp: 19C
Max temp: 20*C
Rainfall: 12mm
07:30 Fed lamb
08:00Did yesterday's report. We helped Ed out with some people from the Ladysmith municipality, who came to see UmPhafa. Also received some furniture from town and had some things picked up from here. It started raining heavily with some thunderstorms, but it did not last long.
