Bush Lodge
Winter is definitely here, the temperatures dipping to 10C at dawn.
The days are still beautiful and the stars, well, breathtaking. Although the bush is still thick, we have started to see the leaves falling and the intense green over the summer is starting to turn to browns and golds. The Aloes around the camp are all starting to flower and we eagerly await the return of all the sunbirds.
Bush Lodge has undergone a facelift this month. The main building and the six original chalets have all been re - thatched. The thatching looks beautiful. Amazing workmanship from the thatchers, and lots of hard work from all our staff, helped to produce a fantastic finish. Well done to everyone.
We are still enjoying great game sightings. Whitecloth female leopard and her two cubs have become a little more mobile, as the cubs are growing up. Some of the guests were lucky to see White Cloth make a kill, she went after some impalas, this was not successful, but straight away after she pounced on a Koqui Francolin, they watched as she walked down the road with the bird between her jaws. Beacon female is still with her cubs and they are still giving us some excellent sightings. The large breeding herds of buffalo are starting to center around the larger water holes as the smaller pans start to dry up.
The 25th May was a special day for four of our guests. Alan and Margie Metzger were celebrating their 25th Wedding Anniversary; a large chocolate cake to mark the occasion went down well. Then we had Chris and Catriona whom joined us from the British Isles. While out on drive, as they stopped for sundowners at Impala Plains, Chris proposed to Catriona. They kept it quiet until their return and then told us the great news; we opened some Champagne and took lots of photos. Congratulations, we wish them all the best for the future and look forward to hearing all their plans for the wedding. Daan & Monan from Holland joined us on their honeymoon this month; we all wish them lots of happiness for the future. Arnold and Martjie from Holland visited us again with Martjie's brother, it was lovely to have them staying here at Bush lodge. Yves and Jacqueline from France also visited us again this month, to check up on the progress of the leopards in the area, it was a successful visit, they saw Beacon female leopard's cubs, Karula female (daughter of Safari Female) and on their last morning they saw White Cloth female and her two young cubs. All of which they had never seen before. We look forward to seeing them again soon.
While the thatchers were hard at work, and the camp temporarily closed, Chris and Kim took a break, joined by Chris' parents, Jan and John, and visited the northern part of the Kruger Park. Piet also took a break to spend time with his family. Abraham Machabi joined the Bush Lodge team; he will be looking after the gardens for us. We all welcome him to the Bush Lodge family.
Other rare sightings this month included porcupine, reedbuck, serval and caracal.
The bushbuck are starting to make their way back into camp, ready for the winter months while we all look forward to another exciting month here at Bush Lodge.
Until next time
Kim, Piet and the Bush Lodge Family.

Vuyatela
May has been quite a cold month. The days vary from 20-30ºC (70-90ºF) and the night-temperatures drop very quickly. Some of the guests whom came from colder places think this isn't bad at all, but wait until you have to go on drive in an open game drive vehicle!
The amazing thing this month is that we had a few drops of rain and at the moment we can see that the bush is changing every day. It is getting dull, trees are losing their leaves, and giraffes are taking advantage of this before their branches are bare. We also noticed the activity of the monkeys and baboons around the camp are more frequent and larger numbers evident. Their food out there must be limited so they come to the lodge to see if they can steal from the guests or buffet.
Out in the bush, game drives were very interesting, and we all think it will be like this for the next couple of months. It is sad to say, but as nature has her way - a male lion called Zambezi has had a serious fight with the Manyeleti male. The Manyeleti male was the dominant male lion in this area, and due to this interaction, the territory is up for grabs. He got really badly injured by Zambezi, and because of the injury, he couldn't hunt or protect himself. The next unlucky thing for him was that a buffalo herd made their way to him and he was severely trampled, and we all thought he wouldn't survive that. For every one it was a very sad moment. Our thoughts were that he wouldn't have survived that as well, but amazingly he did, but was far worse off than after his first fight. His back appeared to be broken and he could hardly walk anymore. He was lying under a tree for a couple of days and then passed away. All of this happened over a week. The sad thing with Manyeleti's death was that it wasn't quick.
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