30/06/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 07°C
Max temp: 22°C
07:30 Report
08:30 Went to Ladysmith to get AFTW Vehicle’s front right wheel fixed and to get some blades for the grass cutter at AFGRI
12:00 Got back home and changed the wheel of the AFTW Vehicle
12:10 Went up the mountain to check how we are going to place the container for the batteries and repeater of the radios
13:10 Saw 3 Blesbok on top of the mountain while going to the container
13:20 Marked out a position for the container next to the foundation of the mast, now we will put a foundation for the container there then all will be finished
14:00 At the bottom of the mountain coming back I saw 3 Kudu bulls and 3 Zebras next to the road
14:30 Went to ryefield
14:55 At the ryefield I saw 24 Waterbuck, they seem to like it there now and they are
getting pretty used to the vehicle by now
15:00 Saw 3 Sacred Ibis also on the ryefield near the centre pivot
15:30 At the 2 ponds near the main gate I saw 4 Warthog males wallowing in the mud
16:00 Went back to the farm house to check my e-mails and get the reports from the game guards
16:30 Went to switch off the centre pivot and take the game guards home
17:30 Home
01/07/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 05°C
Max temp: 19°C
06:45 Fetched staff
07:30 Got everything ready to go and burn the firebreak at the back of the mountain at N3 Highway
09:00 Started burning the firebreak; started slow for the grass was still a bit wet, but later as it started to get warmer it went well, burned about 200m along border fence
12:30 Finished firebreak
13:30 Went around mountain to check on the prickly pears and cochineal
14:00 The cochineal is spreading nicely and I found some more Prickly Pear Moth
larvae on the prickly pears
15:00 Went back to the place where we burned firebreaks just to double check that
everything is ok there
16:00 Saw 6 Zebras with 4 Oxpeckers on them near the house
16:30 Took staff back
17:15 Home
02/07/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 05°C
Max temp: 20°C
07:30 Report
08:30 Checked on the Prickly Pear Moths I have. They are still in their larvae stage and are burrowing nicely in the prickly pear leaves I gave them
09:00 The fencing material arrived and we offloaded it at the workshop
10:00 Went to Pietermaritzburg with Mike to go and see the people who gives courses in First Aid, got a quote from them for a Level 3 First Aid course, we also went to Protecta Wear to get gloves for the staff
15:45 Stopped at Mooi River on the way back to fetch the new water cart and to check
on the river pump to see what is wrong with it.
17:30 Home
03/07/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 03°C
Max temp: 19°C
06:45 Took AFTW Vehicle in for a service and to get 2 bolts for the tractor
13:30 Got home and I went straight up to mount Sully to check on the Blesbok, could only see 3 up there, one cow and 2 calves.
14:30 Went to the ryefield, I saw 7 Blesbok there, so I think that some of the blesbok
from the top of the mountain have come down to the ryefield
15:30 Went to the back at the N3 side to look for the Hartebeests, only saw the one-
horned animal near the river
16:30 Home
04/07/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 07°C
Max temp: 21°C
07:30 Report
08:30 Went to drop the alien plant team at the R103 to ring bark some Gum Trees
09:30 Went to the back of Geluk Farm to check on the progress the TLB Dozer is
doing fixing the road there so that it is easier to do firebreaks and fencing at the back of Geluk
12:30 Went to check on the Waterbuck on the ryefield, saw 24 animals again today,
I can still only make out 8 calves, but I think there may be more than that
13:30 Went to Geluk farm to check on everything there, went to the dam at the old
bush camp, it has enough water left for the winter
14:30 Went to Vertrek farm to look for the Blue Wildebeests, could not find them and I
checked the water holes, there is enough water for the animals
15:30 Left to go and pick up the alien plant team at the R103 at the back of Vertrek
16:30 Home
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
23rd - 27th June 2008
23/06/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 06°C
Max temp: 20°C
07:30 Report
08:00 Went to Colenso to fetch the Handyman
08:45 Went in to Ladysmith to get a jigsaw and parts for the toilet and bits and pieces
for fixing the house and lodge
12:00 Saw 12 Giraffes on the main road at the stream leading to Tugela river
12:30 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain, only saw 1 Grey Heron
13:00 Helped the handyman with the toilet to put another valve and float in
13:30 Went up to Mount Sully, saw 5 Zebras on the road leading up the mountain
14:00 Saw 2 Mountain Reedbuck just as I got to the top
15:15 Going down at the back near the N3 highway I saw 5 Kudu cows
15:30 Checked the prickly pears where I found the Prickly Pear Moths; looks like they
are attacking the prickly pears nicely
16:00 Took Handyman home
16:45 Home
24/06/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 04°C
Max temp: 18°C
07:30 Report
08:00 Fetched Handyman
08:45 Went to ryefield to see which animals arrive there first
09:25 At the ryefield, some Impalas were on the field already and the 3 Blesbok were
making their way there, followed by another group of Impala and 24 Waterbuck,
no sign of the warthogs yet
10:00 Went back to the house to help the handyman with the office door that is stuck
10:30 Helped Mandla with his report
11:00 Went to Geluk to see if I could find the Wildebeest
11:30 Could not find them so I went to Vertrek to look for them there
12:30 Still could not find them, but I did see a group of 9 Kudus
13:00 Went to a neighboring farm to pick up a metal detector that I will use to see
what kind of artefacts I may find on the farm
14:30 Got home and went to Geluk to burn firebreaks, the grass is still a bit wet to burn
but we did manage to burn a little bit
16:00 Took handyman home
16:45 Home
25/06/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 05°C
Max temp: 21°C
07:30 Report
08:30 Fetched Handyman in Colenso
09:30 Went to the ryefield to check on all the animals there, the usual were there - Groups of Impala, 3 Blesbok, 2 Warthogs and 24 Waterbuck
10:30 Went up to the lodge with the handyman, fixed the one leaky tap and the door that was stuck
11:30 Went home to check on the Prickly Pear Moths, they are still in their larvae form
and as soon as they turn into moths I will release some in Prickly Pear infested
areas
12:30 Went to the N3 Highway at the back to fetch two guys to help with the container
for the radio
13:30 Container arrived at Geluk farm, we offloaded it onto a trailer and secured it so
that it wont fall off if we transport it, that took a while to do, we will take it up the
mountain tomorrow
15:45 Took the container to Gevonden farm
16:30 Took staff back
17:15 Home
26/06/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 05°C
Max temp: 22°C
07:30 Report
08:30 Got ready to take the Container up the mountain, we double checked everything
and fixed all the stuff that needed fixing
09:30 Started to make our way up the mountain with the container
10:40 At the steep part of the mountain we put the Land Cruiser in front of the tractor
and trailer so that we can have more traction going up, but that did not work
because the cruiser did not have enough traction and the chain got loose and the tractor and trailer slid backwards and jackknifed halfway up the steep section, luckily no one got hurt. Now we had to make a plan to get it all sorted out.
12:00 We borrowed another tractor from a neighbor that was also four wheel drive as
ours and he had to drive all the to the back and up the mountain from the other
side and reverse down the hill to get to the container.
13:15 We connected the two tractors with chains and started the climb to the top, went
very slowly, but we got the container on top
14:15 Took the container to the place where the mast for the radios will be
15:25 Offloaded the container with the help of the TLB Dozer.
16:30 Home
27/06/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 04°C
Max temp: 20°C
07:30 Report
08:30 Went up the mountain to check on the Blesbok
09:30 Saw 7 blesbok on top of the mountain
09:40 Went down the back of the mountain
10:00 Saw 3 kudu cows just as I reached the bottom at the other side
10:30 Went to the lodge to check on the dam there, still got some water and I saw 2
warthogs there
11:30 Went to the ryefield to check on all the animals there, saw 7 blesbok, 24
waterbuck and 76 Impala and 4 warthogs
12:30 Went to the back at the N3 Highway where they are burning firebreaks
13:00 They burned about 2 km along the highway
13:40 Went down to the river to get the river pump out so that we can see what is
wrong with it, because it’s not pumping the water to the dams
14:40 Got the pump out of the freezing cold Tugela waters and took it to the house
15:00 Went to Vertrek to look for the blue wildebeest
15:30 Could not find them but saw 7 kudus along the way
16:30 Home
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 06°C
Max temp: 20°C
07:30 Report
08:00 Went to Colenso to fetch the Handyman
08:45 Went in to Ladysmith to get a jigsaw and parts for the toilet and bits and pieces
for fixing the house and lodge
12:00 Saw 12 Giraffes on the main road at the stream leading to Tugela river
12:30 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain, only saw 1 Grey Heron
13:00 Helped the handyman with the toilet to put another valve and float in
13:30 Went up to Mount Sully, saw 5 Zebras on the road leading up the mountain
14:00 Saw 2 Mountain Reedbuck just as I got to the top
15:15 Going down at the back near the N3 highway I saw 5 Kudu cows
15:30 Checked the prickly pears where I found the Prickly Pear Moths; looks like they
are attacking the prickly pears nicely
16:00 Took Handyman home
16:45 Home
24/06/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 04°C
Max temp: 18°C
07:30 Report
08:00 Fetched Handyman
08:45 Went to ryefield to see which animals arrive there first
09:25 At the ryefield, some Impalas were on the field already and the 3 Blesbok were
making their way there, followed by another group of Impala and 24 Waterbuck,
no sign of the warthogs yet
10:00 Went back to the house to help the handyman with the office door that is stuck
10:30 Helped Mandla with his report
11:00 Went to Geluk to see if I could find the Wildebeest
11:30 Could not find them so I went to Vertrek to look for them there
12:30 Still could not find them, but I did see a group of 9 Kudus
13:00 Went to a neighboring farm to pick up a metal detector that I will use to see
what kind of artefacts I may find on the farm
14:30 Got home and went to Geluk to burn firebreaks, the grass is still a bit wet to burn
but we did manage to burn a little bit
16:00 Took handyman home
16:45 Home
25/06/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 05°C
Max temp: 21°C
07:30 Report
08:30 Fetched Handyman in Colenso
09:30 Went to the ryefield to check on all the animals there, the usual were there - Groups of Impala, 3 Blesbok, 2 Warthogs and 24 Waterbuck
10:30 Went up to the lodge with the handyman, fixed the one leaky tap and the door that was stuck
11:30 Went home to check on the Prickly Pear Moths, they are still in their larvae form
and as soon as they turn into moths I will release some in Prickly Pear infested
areas
12:30 Went to the N3 Highway at the back to fetch two guys to help with the container
for the radio
13:30 Container arrived at Geluk farm, we offloaded it onto a trailer and secured it so
that it wont fall off if we transport it, that took a while to do, we will take it up the
mountain tomorrow
15:45 Took the container to Gevonden farm
16:30 Took staff back
17:15 Home
26/06/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 05°C
Max temp: 22°C
07:30 Report
08:30 Got ready to take the Container up the mountain, we double checked everything
and fixed all the stuff that needed fixing
09:30 Started to make our way up the mountain with the container
10:40 At the steep part of the mountain we put the Land Cruiser in front of the tractor
and trailer so that we can have more traction going up, but that did not work
because the cruiser did not have enough traction and the chain got loose and the tractor and trailer slid backwards and jackknifed halfway up the steep section, luckily no one got hurt. Now we had to make a plan to get it all sorted out.
12:00 We borrowed another tractor from a neighbor that was also four wheel drive as
ours and he had to drive all the to the back and up the mountain from the other
side and reverse down the hill to get to the container.
13:15 We connected the two tractors with chains and started the climb to the top, went
very slowly, but we got the container on top
14:15 Took the container to the place where the mast for the radios will be
15:25 Offloaded the container with the help of the TLB Dozer.
16:30 Home
27/06/2008
Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 04°C
Max temp: 20°C
07:30 Report
08:30 Went up the mountain to check on the Blesbok
09:30 Saw 7 blesbok on top of the mountain
09:40 Went down the back of the mountain
10:00 Saw 3 kudu cows just as I reached the bottom at the other side
10:30 Went to the lodge to check on the dam there, still got some water and I saw 2
warthogs there
11:30 Went to the ryefield to check on all the animals there, saw 7 blesbok, 24
waterbuck and 76 Impala and 4 warthogs
12:30 Went to the back at the N3 Highway where they are burning firebreaks
13:00 They burned about 2 km along the highway
13:40 Went down to the river to get the river pump out so that we can see what is
wrong with it, because it’s not pumping the water to the dams
14:40 Got the pump out of the freezing cold Tugela waters and took it to the house
15:00 Went to Vertrek to look for the blue wildebeest
15:30 Could not find them but saw 7 kudus along the way
16:30 Home
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