Wednesday, 30 April 2008

Weekly Report 21st - 25th April 2008

21/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 07°C
Max temp: 23°C


07:30 Report

08:30 Went to the last bit of rhino fencing to weld some angle iron and reinforcement onto the
fence, finished there at 12:30

12:30 Took the welder back

13:00 Went to the lodge to check if everything was alright after the weekends rain. We had
about 20mm of rain on the weekend. Everything is in order at the lodge

13:45 Went to the rye grass field to check on the progress of planting. We could not plant today, because of all the rain, the field was too wet and the tractor will get stuck.

14:15 Went to the fence to look for faults. Some of the corner post have been pulled out of the ground by the cable. The ground was wet so it made it easy for the high strung cable to pull it out, we’re going to have to put more reinforcing on.

15:45 Went to pick up the staff

16:30 Took staff back

17:30 Home.



22/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 08°C
Max temp: 26°C


07:30 Report

08:30 Took sprayers with me to spray the rhino fence at the N3. We only sprayed about 100m, because that little section was not done properly.

10:30 When we finished there I took them to another part of the rhino fence near where the big stream meets the Tugela, we sprayed about 200m there.

12:30 After that we went to the rye grass field and sprayed all along the fence, until the fence at the border of Gevonden and Weenan Safaris.

15:55 We finished the spraying and went back.

16:15 Went to pick up the staff at the pecan nut trees along the Tugela river

16:35 Home



23/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 08°C
Max temp: 15°C


07:30 Report

08:30 Saw 20 Impalas near the workshop going up the mountain

08:50 Saw 1 Impala ewe on her own in the bushes at the foot of the mountain

09:00 I turned back and as I got to the place where the ewe was I saw 2 Impala rams sizing each other up for a fight.

09:20 Went to the lodge and on the way I came across a group of 24 Impalas

09:25 Not 500m from them I saw 3 Blesbok, I presume it was Bes, Les and Shaun
Rounding the corner on the way to the lodge I saw 5 Giraffes on the little hill near the road

09:40 Just as I turned back from the lodge a Impala ram was chasing a female across the road, he had a fresh cut under his eye and it was starting to swell, no doubt he got that from fighting for the female he was chasing

10:00 Going back the way I came I saw the 5 Giraffes again, 3 of them was chewing on old bones lying in the veld.

10:25 I went down to fetch the camera, when I got back, there was now 11 Giraffes, 5 babies and 6 adults.

10:47 Followed them around for a while and just when I was about to go down the road to get in front of them the 12th giraffe showed up.

11:00 I looked to my left and saw that the Waterbuck male was on his own near the Tugela river

11:15 Got a call from Mandla to go and help him with his report

13:10 Went to the rye grass field

13:20 On the way there was 2 groups of 3 Impalas each fighting in the road, two will tackle each other and the third will wait to see who loses and then jump in and attack that one

13:30 On the side of the rye grass field I saw a group of 40 Impala, 1 male and 39 ewes and lambs

13:55 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain

14:25 Saw nothing there except for a Grey Heron looking for food in the water grass

14:35 When I came back there was 6 Zebras with the group of 20 Impalas from this morning

14:45 Went to he office to download photos onto the computer- photos I took during the day

15:45 Left to pick up staff at the Tugela river

16:30 Home



24/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 09°C
Max temp: 20°C


06:45 Went to pick up staff at farm market

07:30 Took staff to Tugela river, to harvest pecan nuts

09:00 Took sprayers up the mountain to spray last leg of fence to the main gate

10:30 Went to Ladysmith to get 7 bags of cement for the school floor

12:45 Dropped the cement at the school

13:30 Got home and phoned Cindy the headmistress that I have delivered the cement and they can start fixing the floor

14:00 Went to the rye grass field to observe 3 Blesbok with a herd of Impala. The Blesbok seem to mingle quite well with the Impala and the Impalas don’t mind having them around. Only the ram seems to be a bit cautious around them, butI think it’s because of the rutting season and all the rams are a bit high strung

15:30 On the way back to the house I saw 7 of the Waterbuck in the big stream that connects with he Tugela river

16:00 Picked up Michael and Vukani and went with them to pick up the sprayers. On the way we saw 2 more Waterbuck and a sounder of 8 Warthogs, 1 male, 1 female and 6 babies

16:15 Picked up the sprayers at the base of the mountain

16:30 Home

17:00 Report







25/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 08°C
Max temp: 23°C


07:30 Report

08:30 Went to the rye grass field, to look at the centre pivot pump

09:00 The pump started but would not pump water, so we fixed it

11:30 Dug holes to put in more reinforcement for he post, because of the rain, the post pulled out of the ground

13:30 Had to dig three holes, two at the rye grass field fence and one at the pecan nut trees

15:55 Dug the last hole and went to fetch sprayers at the main gate

16:30 Home

Monday, 21 April 2008

14th - 18 April 2008

14/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 14°C
Max temp: 24°C



07:30 Report

08:30 Helped Michael with his report

09:30 Went to the school to give Cindy the school keys

10:40 Did my e-mails and sorted he school photo’s out on the computer

12:00 Went up to the lodge, to check if everything is still fine up there, saw 1 Mountain eedbuck
ram along the road on the side of the mountain

13:30 Went to change the trailer tire, but as I was changing it, my jack broke, so I had leave it
for now, will make a plan tomorrow.

14:20 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain, I saw some giraffe there, wanted to check
on the young ones, they were not there, only 4 bulls and a female.

15:00 Came back home to find a lone Impala ewe in the garden, we think she may be starting
to go blind and deaf, because you can virtually walk up to her and touch her, before she realizes your there.

15:30 Went with Michael to the foot of the mountain, we were looking for a spider that he saw
on Friday, could not find it.

16:00 Went to pick up the staff at rye grass field.

16:30 Took staff home

17:30 Home.



15/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 13°C
Max temp: 25°C


07:30 Report

08:30 Went to the back where we released the Python, took GPR marking

09:30 Went to the N3 Highway to check the fence, followed it all the way to the Tugela, could
not find any faults.

12:00 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain to check on the giraffe carcass, it’s almost
just bones left, another week and it will be completely bones.

13:45 Went to rye grass field to help with the spreading of fertilizer

15:30 Fetched the pressure pump to pump up the wheels of the centre pivot

16:00 Went to fetch the staff at the lodge where they are fixing the drains for the road

16:30 Home.




16/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 13°C
Max temp: 24°C
07:30 Report

08:30 Dropped Mandla and Michael at Cloustans to do a patrol there

09:30 Went to the back valley to see if I could find more prickly pears, so that I can put some
cochineal on them.

11:20 Went to Colenso school to help them weld security gates, they did not have any body to
help them, so they asked me if I can go and show there grounds man how to weld.

14:00 Came back from Colenso school, to do some office work

16:00 Went to the rye grass field to check on progress on fertilizing the field

16:30 Home



17/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 13°C
Max temp: 23°C



07:30 Report

08:30 Went to the top of the mountain, on the way I saw 9 Zebras, could not see any foals with them.

09:10 When I got to the top I, drove all around the mountain to the back looking at prickly pears, to see which ones have cochineal on them and which don’t.

10:00 Got to the other side where I have put some cochineal on some of the plants, the chineal is spreading nicely on them.

11:00 Got to the lodge too se if everything is alright there.

11:30 Took the TLB to go and load some cable for the fence on the other side of Clenso

13:00 Got back home and went to Winterton to get rye grass seed for planting

15:00 Got back and helped Mandla with his report

16:30 Home




18/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 13°C
Max temp: 25°C


07:30 Report

08:30 Went to the rye grass field to check on the ploughing of the field, It is almost finished, so
we will be planting soon.

10:00 Went with Mike and two of the game guards to put a pump into the Tugela river, so that
we can supply water to the dam near the lodge and the two dams near the main house.

12:25 Finished with the pump, but when we tested it, it showed a fault somewhere, we are fixing the problem at the moment.

13:30 Went with Mike to the fence to see if we can pick up any faults on the electric fence,
showed one fault, we could not find and will go and have a look on Monday.

15:50 Got home and saw the Impala ewe (that seems to blind and deaf) in the garden, she did not pay any attention to me, although she could smell me. She looks quite happy and healthy and seems to like the garden.

16:30 Home.

Friday, 18 April 2008

7th - 11th April 2008

07/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 17°C
Max temp: 26°C


07:30 Report

08:30 Went with Michael to look at the 2nd dead giraffe, it is a female.

09:30 Did e-mails and photos

11:30 Drove to the lodge and then around the mountain to look for the rest of the rest of the
giraffes, could not find them only saw one lone Impala ram.

14:30 Got back home, saw 12 Giraffes in front of the house, only one missing.

15:00 Mandla came back to do his report, he said he saw all 13 remaining giraffe when he came up to the house, that means all of them is alright.

15:25 Went up the mountain to fetch the sprayers at the fence on top.

16:30 Home.



08/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 18°C
Max temp: 26°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to Geluk to see if I could find the Blue Wildebeest, saw nothing.

10:00 Went to look at the 2 giraffe carcasses, the scavengers are trying their best to finish them
off. No vultures yet.

12:00 Got a call from Mike to go and capture a 4m long python in his lands where the tractors are busy in the lands. He ask m if I can relocate it to Umphafa where it will be out of the way of all the heavy machinery.

13:00 Released the python on Umphafa at the back valley just behind the lodge site.

14:30 Went up the mountain to fetch the sprayers.

15:30 Brought them down, and left to fetch the team that is working on the electric fence.

16:30 Home.



09/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 19°C
Max temp: 28°C


07:30 Did the report

08:30 Left to fix the school floor.

09:30 Fetched the cement from Ladysmith.

11:00 Fetched the classroom keys from Cindy the headmistress. Stayed the rest of the day
there fixing the one classrooms floor, tomorrow we will finish and start with the second classroom.

16:30 Home.



10/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 17°C
Max temp: 26°C


07:30 Report

08:30 Went to school to continue fixing the floor, we got halfway through laying the cement and mixing it, it takes a bit of time to fetch the water and mixing it with the cement, sand and stone.

16:00 We finished ¾ of the floor, tomorrow we will finish it off.

16:30 Home.



11/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 15°C
Max temp: 25°C


07:30 Report

08:30 Left to go and finish the school floor.

12:00 Finished fixing the floor, and I took the guys back to the farm.

13:00 Went to Ladysmith to Waltons to go and sign a invoice and to get some groceries

15:30 Got home and fetched the guys working on the fence.

16:30 Home.

Monday, 7 April 2008

31st March - 4th April 2008

31/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 18°C
Max temp: 25°C
Rainfall: 40mm

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to Colenso to get airtime for my cell to buy Data bundle for internet

09:30 Went up to the giraffe carcass to see what’s happening there; the jackal are starting to
feed on it some more, but it still got a lot of meat on.

11:00 Went to the ryefield to check on the Waterbuck, saw 14 there, they seem to like it there
and we see them pretty much everyday. The calves are starting to put on some weight and are looking much bigger. They seem to get use to the vehicle now and don’t run away like they use to. Between the Waterbuck, Zebra and Impala, they are mowing that Ryefield to the ground.

13:00 Went up to the lodge with the builders to put in the down pipe fro the gutters.

14:30 Michael and I went to the main gate to put some cochineal on prickly pears that is starting to grow all along the main road.

15:50 As we drove back we made quick detour to check the ryefield again for the Waterbuck, saw 9 at first, but as we came closer 5 more stood up from where they were lying, so all 14 I saw in the morning were still there. We started with 13 Waterbuck and lost one. From there it increased by 5, now we have 17

16:30 Home.



01/04/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 18°C
Max temp: 25°C



06:45 Diesel truck arrived to deliver diesel

07:30 Report

08:30 Took Michael and the 2 new game guards to Vertrek

09:30 Got everything ready to go and weld angle irons onto the rhino fence

11:45 Finished welding the angle irons onto fence

12:00 Got home, started cutting rods to weld onto fence so that we can put the cable up

13:20 Went to rhino fence at ryefield to weld on support rods for the cable

16:15 Finished welding on rods

16:30 Home.




02/04/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 17°C
Max temp: 24°C


07:30 Report

08:30 Went to Ladysmith to get sand and stone for the school floor, and to get cement

12:30 Went to check for faults on electric fence, found 2 faults

15:00 Got a puncture on the left front tyre of the AFTW Vehicle, a piece of wire punctured the tyre

15:30 Got home and took the tire of, replacing it with the spare.

15:45 Mandla showed up and I helped him with his weekly report

16:30 Finished




03/04/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 15°C
Max temp: 26°C


07:30 Report

08:30 Went with Michael and one of the new guards to the back of the mountain to clear roads, while we were back there we saw 2 Hartebeest and 5 Kudus

12:30 Got home, walked into the garden to find a herd of Impalas and 6 Zebras on the lawn, grazing. The Zebra are getting use to the surroundings and are not afraid anymore. Saw one baby Impala without a mother, will keep an eye on him.

13:30 Went to check on the cochineal I put on the prickly pears all over the reserve, the insects are spreading nicely over the leaves.

15:00 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain to check on the giraffe carcass, the jaw bone have been eaten and part of the chest, but there is still a lot of giraffe left.

15:45 Saw 2 vultures flying over mount sully, so I went up to the mountain to see if I can get a better view of them, they circled a few times and then were of.

16:00 I got home to see if I can find the baby Impala without it’s mother, I saw him with the same herd, he is still very young and was one of the very late lambs born. Luckily he keeps to the group of Impala’s, but I fear he will need to drink soon,he/she still looks strong so hopefully he/she will survive the night.

16:30 Home.



04/04/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 15°C
Max temp: 26°C


07:30 Report

08:30 Went up the mountain to check on the Blesbok, 14 and all 7 young ones.

10:00 Went to Geluk to see if I can find the Blue Wildebeest, could not find them, saw2 warthogs and that was it.

12:00 Got a call that they are delivering the sand and stone I ordered for the school floor, went to the school to make sure they delivered the exact amount, and to take pictures of the repaired classroom.

14:00 Got home to send the pictures and load them onto the computer.

15:00 Went up the mountain with Mike to fetch the staff working on the electric fence.

16:30 Home.