Nkurru Newsletter – March 2011
Hi all,
We are almost through the first quarter of the year and things are going very well at Nkurru.
With the AGM coming up in a few weeks time I thought I’d focus this newsletter more on the ‘nature’ side of things as we will be discussing the operational side of things when we meet. Just a reminder, the meeting will take place on Thursday 24 March at the Le Sel offices in New Road Midrand.
Now as you might have gathered from yesterday’s email, we had quite an interesting day yesterday.
Yeah, this is the ellie that made Nkurru his home yesterday. You cannot really see it from this image but the aloes just to the left of the entrance. Gone! We’re actually quite luck as this was, apart from a single pathway light, the only damaged caused by our day visitor. This boy has been around the lodges on the ridge and has now ‘visited’ Tuningi, Kukam, Motswiri and now Nkurru as well. He seems to have taken a liking to the lodges in the Wonderboom Node so even though I hope he won’t be back, I am almost sure he will! If you leave him alone he seems to mind his own business and then, when he is ready, he moves on again.
We will be doing what we can to make sure visitors like this don’t stay in the lodge grounds but that being said, when you visit Nkurru it is important to remember that it is the wild and that you always need to keep your eyes open.
Our ellie visitor made his way out of the front gate late in the afternoon with a little bit of ’encouragement’ from Nik and I. Let’s leave it at that! 
Other than that the waterhole, where we like our wildlfie, has been pretty busy with regular sightings of pretty much everything except leopard. As you know from a previous post, when Adele and I return from Johannesburg we will be bringing two new Nkurru Cams back with us. The images from this phenomenal little cameras have been a massive hit and have been circulated far and wide. As soon as we are back I will get the Nkurru Cam updates back up and running again so that we can do the weekly image post from the NKurru waterhole.
So for now, here are a few images from game drives during the last few weeks which, even with very thick bush, has produced some terrific sightings with the amount, and quality of lion sightings being out of this world!
The Bolekega female has been giving us some amazing sightings around the Wonderboom Gate area. She has two brand new youngsters which she keeps in the quarry, right next to the Lodges sign. This image was taken at Pokojwe Pan close to Bush House.
The two new youngsters in the quarry. Yesterday, 9 March, the other Bolekega sister also arrived on the scene with three of her own cubs. This promises to make for some awesome sightings of the 5 new cubs and the best of all? It’s nice and close to the lodge!
The two Kgala males are still the big boys in the South. They have had a few serious run-ins with the two Naledi males but, at least for now, they are still the dominant males in the South West of the reserve.
The Tshabalala female has just come into estrous again and the Kgala males have not left her side. Along with her sister and the 5 Maropeng youngsters they must be some of the best lions to view in the South.
The Tshabalala femela with her ‘boyfriend’, the Kgala male.
One of the 5 Maropeng youngsters. They hang around the Western airstrip and, being very playful, make for some very amusing sightings.
The light at this time of year makes for spectacular scenes and even a Zebra on the airstrip makes for a great African scene.
The last few weeks we have had some serious birders at the lodge and Madikwe did not disappoint. Sightings of raptors were plentiful and we racked up great species numbers each week.
Now another thing that you have to consider when you come to Nkurru again is a visit to the Madikwe Gardens. Our last two groups have done visit to this oasis on the eastern side of Madikwe and it is definitely worth the drive to the east.
The Gardens are situated on a concession on the eastern border, just outside of Madikwe. It’s difficult to describe how the green and lush beauty of the garden’s stand in contrast to the rough Mawike bushveld but the drive out to the east, past Vlei pan and through the Marico river is definitely worth it. An a packed breakfast under the massive trees just finishes things off nicely!
A visit to the Gardens cost R650 per vehicle and this money is used for the upkeep and maintenance of this beautiful piece of property! When you next visit Madikwe make sure to ask us about a day trip. You won’t be dissapointed.
Then, before we end off for this month, apparently Adele and I are leaving. Yeah, apparently. 
There have been quite a few rumors that because we both now have our own businesses on the side that our departure from Nkurru is imminent.
So, to put things straight here it is…
Yes, both Adele and I have business on the side. I run Photo-Africa through which I run photography workshop, photographic safaris and soon also a pro equipment rental division. Adele recently started up Chiki Chika, a clothing and fashion importing business which is going fantastically well.
The sad reality is that no one can spend forever at a lodge. Yeah the lifestyle is great, even though it’s not a full time holiday like many people think, but you have to keep your eye on the future both financially and from a personal growth point of view.
During the first two years at Nkurru we had quite a bit of, umm, damage control that we had to take care of but now things are a lot more manageable. We have knocked most of the large maintenance projects and the staff systems and procedures we have in place are working very well. There are still days where all hell breaks loose, even though you won’t see it when you are at the lodge but as a whole things are running smoothly enough for us to manage the lodge and out businesses on the side. We are currently running all our showing, workshops and safaris during our leave cycles and so far so good!
I hope it goes without saying that Nkurru Game Lodge will not suffer because of this. We will continue to maintain the property, service levels and magic that is Nkurru to the level that meets, and hopefully exceeds, the expectations of shareholders and guests.
So, contrary to any rumours out there, we are not going anywhere yet!
Adele and I will be on leave from 11 to 25 March 2011. We will be in and around Johannesburg so if you are keen to meet up please give us a shout.
Until next time (and hopefully with more Nkurru Cam pics).
Warmest regards,
Gerry, Adele and the Nkurru Team
* * *
Nkurru Newsletter – October 2011
Hi,
What a few months it has been. Fires, insurance claims, more fires, new vehicles and even more fires!
Let’s start with this.
I shot this scene from Nik’s View North the day after the most recent fires in Madikwe. The regular inselberg landscape scene that we all know and love was still covered with smoke from the previous days raging fires. It was just not as vibrant and magical as it always is but the sky over Tswene Tswene was absolutely spectacular.
On this particular day there was also a strange hangover-type feeling in the west of the reserve. Many people spent the previous day fighting massive fires that ran wild on the ridge between our lodge and the Wonderboom Gate and the evening was spent checking, double checking and triple checking that the winds did not start another fire. It was tiring. Very tiring.
I am not going to go into too much details on the fires but will say this. It is an absolute miracle that no buildings or infrastructure was lost on Sunday. I have never seen such a devastating fire run wild without causing massive damage. Through the perseverance of many people, lots of running around and a serious amount of luck we were able to stop the fire from taking a lodge. Nkurru never really came into play, even though we were seriously worried late in the afternoon, but our fire breaks are still some of the best in the reserve. I am also proud to say that our staff knows what they are doing. My hat goes off to Godfrey for the way he helped to fight the fires and save the various lodges. I will fight fires with him anytime, anywhere!
The little truck that can. Our fire cart, as it is in the driveway right now. We will be leaving the cart like this, ready to go, until the first proper rains arrive. Our fire cart is probably one of the most important pieces of equipment we have at the lodge and it most definitely brought it’s A-game to the fires of 24 October. we had to fill up three times during the day and it never missed a beat!
Nkurru – Insurance Claim
Back at the lodge, things are going well even though the last two cycles have been somewhat (read very) challenging. During out last cycle we had to deal with the damage from the fires and fight with insurance with regards to payouts to try and get our cable fixed.
Insurance has finally paid out for the damage to our cable and we will start installing the new cable on Monday 1 November. Instead of doing this in exactly the same way as it was done initially, we will be securing the cable by encasing it and cementing it in the places where we cannot dig it into the ground. Two or three manhole covers will allow us to check the cable and, should the need even arise in future, pull the old cable out and install a new one.
Now apart from the above cable installation the lodge still had to cough up a lot of money for other damage caused, and costs incurred, due to the fire. This is an ongoing ‘discussion’ with our insurers so we will keep you posted.
Nkurru – Maintenance
As you might know, we had a maintenance week during October. This was not planned but it was very welcome as we had a lot of smaller, and some not so small, projects to get done. Here are a few images of projects completed during maintenance week and the week after.
In an attempt to neaten up the front of the lodge we have fitted ‘latte’ around the bottom of the deck. This is similar ot the deck on the waterhole side of the lodge and makes a huge difference to the look of the front area.
While working with the latte we had ‘latte’ cages built and installed around all the outside aircon units and geysers. The above image shows the aircon unit outside the wine cellar.
This image shows the new cover on the aircon unit outside room 4. All aircon units and geysers have been fitted with a cover. Looks great and, even though it is quite a small thing, makes a huge difference in our attempt to make the lodge ‘neater’.
During maintenance week we fitted a new pool filter. The old filter cracked and was spurting heaps of filter sand into the pool leaving a sandy mess. While we were installing the filter we also drained the pool and properly cleaned the surface. Looks great! In this image, even though you probably won’t see it, we scrubbed off all the stone tiles and treated then with stone sealer. Small things, but they all count.
Yeah, this is our spotlight tree at the waterhole. With the numbers of elephants we get at the waterhole it is an absolute miracle that this tree is still standing. After a few close calls we decided to pack a bunch o logs around the bottom of the tree. Looks pretty natural, will keep the ellies away and, when we throw a handful of bird seed into the logs, attracts a huge amounts of birds!
This is an interesting one. We cut the reeds, seen above, 5 weeks ago. It is truly growing like reeds. Earlier this morning we started to thin the reeds out a bit by removing them from the root. The reason? They are growing so well and using so much water that the waterhole was not getting enough water! We removed a lot of the reeds, and added a leadwood stump, in order to streamline the water flow and attract more birds to the open areas in the reedbed. Strange problem to have at the lodge… something workgin too well?!?
The sliding doors at the lodge are working again! It was a huge project as all the doors and the entire fitting had to be removed, redone and replaced but at least now both sets of sliding doors are working like they should. In the bottom corner of the image you can also see a bit of the deck. During maintenance week the decks at the main lodge and all the rooms were cleaned and oiled. we oil the decks every three months.
The area outside the kitchen is in the middle of a ‘beautification’ process. What you see here is the result of filling the area, where there used to be slate stone, with soil and flatten it. The next step, and this will happen as soon as I find the correct color, is to cover the are with pebbles. This is all part of CapEx and I reckon it’s gonna make the area look great. Just out of view to the right is a new retaining wall that we have built to help channel rain water away from this area and the kitchen door. With the rainy season approaching this was a must!
This might not look very impressive from the image but this was one of the largest projects we tackled during maintenance week. The image shows the view from the Room 5 shower. The problem here was that it always felt a little dark and dingy due to all the plant growth but a new chainsaw and a lot of hands allowed us to smash through about 40 meters of sickle bush to open up a view from the deck of Room 4 & 5 all the way onto the fire break. Looks great! We also opened up the view from Room 1 and 2 so everything is ready for summer!
Apart form the above there are a lot of smaller projects which we have been ticking off the list. A lot of these things you probably won’t notice during your stay but they still need to happen!
Nkurru – Rifle Application
There is no new news on this. You will recall that we have finally been issued with our business certificate (to use and own a firearm). Our final license application documents were handed in at the beginning of May this year. Firearm control was, as luck would have it, closed during the World Cup so as things stand now we are still waiting. We spoke to the local police station, who is our contact in this matter, and they said there is no news yet so all we can do at this stage is wait.
Will let you know as soon as we receive the call to tell us we can go and collect our license and rifle.
Nkurru – New Game Viewer
I have just, literally 5 minutes ago, received an email form the company who is doing our conversion saying that the vehicles roof has just been cut off and that it will be going to the paint shop on Wednesday. The bullbar, side bars and fold out table has also all been completed and is ready to be fitted ot the vehicle as soon as it returns from the paint shop.
I spent a lot of time on the conversion and when we get our vehicle it will be one of the very few ‘legal’ vehicles in Madikwe. In order to be registered as an 11 seater vehicle there are certain criteria that have to be met. Our vehicle will meet all of these criteria and will therefore be a legal vehicle in Madikwe and on national roads.
I will be going on leave next week and during my time in Johannesburg I will go and pop in at the converters to check on progress. All going well I am hoping to bring the vehicle back to the reserve on 22 November when we return from leave.
Can’t wait for this one! We’re talking kid in a candy store type of excited!
Wildlife and Sightings
During the last few weeks the sightings have been pretty erratic. I suppose the numerous burnt areas and us not being able to off road has made things a little difficult but, Madikwe being the park that it is, you can always be assured of some amazing sights.
The Sable’s Final Moments
I am sure you all know about this one by now. The above image, by Grant Marcus from Tuningi, shows the last moments of Madikwe’s last Sable. You will see in the image that the sable broke his front right leg and this must be what made the dogs pull him down. It is very sad that the last Sable had to go this way but nature is cruel and, you never know what is going to happen.
On a side note, the sable’s skull was taken to a lodge, with the intention of it going to Parks Board offices but a brown hyena had other ideas. The hyena came into the lodge, found the skull and carried it off somewhere. Let’s hope someone can actually find it.
‘Bulls’ – Image by Gerry van der Walt
He’s back at Nkurru. Yeah, everybody’s favorite elephant, Tsokwane, is hagning out at Nkurr again. A lot!
The whole in his ear is unmistakable and he is just as chill as ever. I photographed him a few days ago while sitting in the floor with my back against the deck. Gotta love the old guy!
‘Uncertain’ – Image by Gerry van der Walt
Not going down the whole poaching road now, as I might get completely carried away. Madikwe still offers some amazing rhino sightings and it is great to know that there are people out there who are fighting for these amazing animals.
‘Focus’ – Image by Gerry van der Walt
This is one of the Naledi males photographed at Phuti open clearing. The two Naledi brothers are the first grandsons of the Batia brothers and if they keep on moving into the areas where we have been seeing them the last while they might have to call on those genes in a big way.
These to males, currently about 6 years old, have been wandering into Kgala territory.
Bad plan…
The Kgala brothers are brutes and do not take to kindly to other males in their territory, as Mateya and his brother knows very well. Mateya, who is still going strong even though he got lost a while ago and is still limping quite badly, was injured by the Kgala males in a territorial fight more than year ago.
With the number of lions in Madikwe these kind of soap opera plots keep on evolving and things are currently changing so often so make sure to ask about what the latest lion news is when next you get to the lodge.
‘Bull’ – Image by Gerry van der Walt
There is currently very few waterholes in Madikwe. Tlou Dam is still, well, a puddle but other than that the most active watering holes are down in the south. The above image is from the waterhole at the old hunting camp down in the south. Park Board has been pumping it a bit lately and I have had some of my best ever elephant sightings here during the last few weeks.
We have also made a new wtarehole on Tau Link. Makwepa Pan was an immediate hit and is now regularly visited by elephant, the Kgala males and a range of other species. Awesome spot!
‘La Luna’ – Image by Gerry van der Walt
Winter always means amazing evening skies. The last few weeks we have been desperate for rain but the evening skies have been spectacular. Shot this one night from the lodge driveway.
Right, that’s about that for this month.
Next week Adele and I will be going on leave next week. We still have one annual week left for 2010 so in order to get a decent rest after a hectic two cycles we will be taking three weeks off. During the first week we will be going to Bangkok (long story and more on this later). For the rest of the two weeks, apart from a few days in KZN, we will be in and around Durban. If you are keen to meet up for a coffee or lunch give us a shout on my email address or cellphone. Always great to meet up!
We will be back at the lodge on Wednesday 24 November so please keep this in mind when you contact the lodge during this time.
Before we say goodbye one more image taken at Tlou Dam earlier this month.
It’s moments like this that make Africa unique and us all coming back to Madikwe again and again.
‘Sunset Queen’ – Image by Gerry van der Walt
Until we meet at the lodge again – take care and stay safe!
Warmest regards,
Gerry, Adele and the Nkurru Team
Nkurru Newsletter – July 2010
Hi,
Time flies!
Not only is half of this year gone, but it is already one and a half years since Adele and I started at Nkurru. Yeah, one and a half years. It doesn’t really feel that long but if I think back on everything that has happened during the last 18… perhaps it does!
As you know we have just completed a maintenance week which, apart from being a huge amount of work, makes us reassess where things have come from and where they are going. The last 18 months have not been all moonshine and roses even though many people still think that living in ‘the bush’ means that you are on a full time holiday. Sure, there are days when things are a little mroe realxed but up until now those days have been few and far between. Just too much to do and in between I keep on thinking that there is book waiting to be written about life at a lodge. Oh, the stories we could tell!
Last year was, as you will agree, quite hectic both from a workload and financial point of view. There was a LOT of projects that needed attention and at one stage it felt like it would never stop. Sense of humor was under serious threat at times but at this stage all is still in tact!
This year started off like that but, and this is due to hard work from all the staff it seems that we are (hopefully) finally on top of things. It has been a pretty good 18 months so let’s see how things go from here! :)
Maintenance and Operations
I was going to do a big update on this but decided against it.
We have just completed a successful maintenance week and, after a shopping trip to Johannesburg, we are in the process of fixing / upgrading / paying attention to a lot of smaller projects around the lodge. These range from new door handles and new garden light fittings to rearranging the maintenance store room and pebbling the pathways.
The short version is that everything is going pretty well so for the purposes of this particular newsletter let’s leave it at that!
Game Viewer
The response to the email we sent with regards to the new game viewer was overwhelming. Thanks a lot!
I have almost everything in place so the moment Sara gives me the go ahead, and funds have been paid and are available, I will order our new Land Cruiser. Getting the vehicle is not a problem but the conversion is going to take us about 4 weeks. I have already got all the conversion details ready and will, based on input from various shareholders, finalize them during this week.
Will keep you posted as things develop but I am glad to say that we are now in the final stages of the vehicle saga!
Thanks!
Before we get to some wildlife updates I would like to send a very big thanks to the three shareholders who sponsored heaters for the staff village. This is truly an amazing gesture and the staff appreciates it more than I can say. Cannot wait to have you guys back at the lodge so the staff can say thank you to you personally. Thanks!
Wildlife Updates
We’ll get to some of the game drive updates in a while but just had to do this first.
With winter in full swing, the sighting we had at the waterhole yesterday afternoon is the best argument for taking time off from drives to enjoy the Nkurru waterhole. It is absolutely ROCKING!! The short version from yesterday goes like this…
- Lots of ellies at the waterhole
- Large herd of buffalo arrive at the water
- Ellies take exception to buffalo and proceed to chase them all over the place
- For the next two hours it is a cacophony of sights and sounds as the bug guys fight for drinking space
- After dropping the water levels the buffalo move off
- Two hours later the ellies are still hanging around
Could go on trying to explain the amazing sighting but let;s rather do it this way…
Buff arriving at the waterhole while the ellies are just to the left.
Buff having a drink.
Adele watching the ellies and buff just before all hell broke loose.
Calm before the storm.
The ellies start chasing the buff out of the water.
The young ellie was on top form.
Buffalo and ellies all over the place.
The young guy still going for it.
Buff running for cover.
With buffalo, elephant and rhino being (almost) daily visitors the Nkurru waterhole is definitely the place to be this winter.
Out in the bush most of the waterholes has dried up with only the large dams still attracting animals. Tau Dam still has a bit of water while Tlou Dam is still looking quite good for this time of year. Parks Board is not currently pumping Tlou Dam as they are waiting for some new pipes so let’s hope this happens sooner rather than later. If they can start pumping before it dries up completely Tlou Dam should make it through winter easily enough. Above is a young ellie enjoying the last bit of sunshine at Tlou Dam.
The rhino poaching situation is still out of control and it does not seem that there is an end in sight. Apart from the Chinese and Vietnamese demand there is also people like Elle Macpherson who recently admitted to using powdered rhino horn. How sad / stupid / ignorant / clueless can she be? You can read the full article by clicking here.
It has been VERY cold and birding in Madikwe has been pretty quiet. All the regulars are still around and the hordes of ‘little guys’ are nesting in the reed bed but other than that not too much to report on that side.
The Kgala males, one seen above, continue to dominate the South of Madikwe. These two brutes have started pushing their territory up towards the lodge and it is a matter of time until they bump into either the Tshola-Mateya coalition or the three young Linyalo males who have been hanging around the Wonderboom area.
The two boys have also been quite busy and have, in the last year, fathered 8 new cubs.
The five 6 month Maropeng youngsters are going strong. Along with the Tshabalalas and the two big boys they have been hanging around between Tau Dam and the Western airstrip.
This is one of the 4 week old Jabulani youngsters. Yeah, named after the soccer ball! They have only been seen a few times but it is most definitely worth going to look for these little fur balls. They are the newset additions to the Mika pride, now 12 strong, and mom has been keeping the little guys around the Abajaterskop / Elephant Boma area. Absolutely gorgeous!
Mom has not let the three youngsters out in the open too much yet and this is one of the best photographs I have been able to get of all three together. Cute little things and a possible highlight of your next trip to Madikwe.
Right, time to get going but before you log off, why not check out the free Photo-Africa wallpaper downloads for July? You can download any of the 4 images for free to use a desktop image on your PC. Click here to choose your favorite and save a bit of Africa in your computer!
If you have any thoughts or comments we look forward to hearing from you.
We look forward to seeing you at the lodge and sharing more memories from Africa!
Warmest regards,
Gerry, Adele & the Nkurru Team
Nkurru Newsletter – June 2010
Hi,
It is amazing how much can change in a week.
In a week a lodge can be transformed to a maintenance war zone and back to being better than before. In a week the waterhole has gone from an empty space void of all living things to the animal fest we have gotten used to. It is amazing how much can change in a week.
Let’s start with an update on the Nkurru maintenance week that was completed a week ago.
One of the new, but very subtle, additions is the lead wood railing that has been constructed around the outside lounge area.
This new railing was originally planned from a safety point of view and subsequently our insurance company has also stipulated that we need to erect this railing. Initially were were quite concerned about how this will affect the look of the front deck but it has worked out beautifully. Apart from the deck planks that are slightly discolored from being removed, the railing looks like it has always been there. Worked out very well and toom only about three days to complete.
One of the largest projects for the 2010 maintenance week was the combing and patching of the roof. We were originally hoping to complete all the roofs in the week but rain, in the middle of winter, delayed everything for a few days. We pushed on and in the end we completed all the roofs except for the double unit which will be done as soon as we have 4 days open at the lodge. Apart from the weather, the state of some of the roofs caused the whole process to take longer than anticipated.
This is the valley just above the front door to the main lodge. The thatch in this area was so rotten that we had to replace pretty much the entire valley. There were a few areas like this and this caused obvious delays as the guys had to replace huge amounts of grass. The double unit, room 4 & 5, is also in a serious state and is the only roof we still need to complete. Due to the bad state of this roof we are going to need at least 4 days to comb, patch and repair all the valleys. As soon as we have a few days open at the lodge we will complete the last roof. Mental note for future… don’t wait for three years before doing maintenance on roofs!
The other major maintenance week project was the sanding and treating of the decks. Last year, due to time constraints, we only did the main lodge deck. This year we started with the rooms and, apart from two rainy days, things went pretty well. The only deck that we did not complete is the main lodge deck but this is not too much of a worry as we can do this the moment we have two days open.
The image above shows the difference between the newly treated deck and one that is a year old. Nice improvement. The room decks in particular looks great and is probably the most noticable improvement from a deck point of view.
Apart from those main projects there were also a lot of cleaning, fixing and organizing going on. We worked on the fence, store rooms, laundry, pathways, rooms and main lodge. Lots of little things. Lots and lots of little things. Calibrating pumps, cutting open the electric fence and servicing all the fire equipment are just a few of the smaller projects that kept us busy.
The one project that we were planning to complete was the maintenance of the reed bed. Each year we will be cutting the reeds and halving the amount of lilies to ensure new growth and the cleaning of the water that ends up int he waterhole.
After seeing the amount of birds that are currently still nesting in the reeds we decided to leave it as is and give it a few months before we chop the reeds but from a safety point of view we did do a lot of clearing around the reed bed.
The last major project we completed was the installation of the descaling system. Yeah, finally! The system is now operational and, even though you can taste the difference, it will take about 2 months for all the pipes, geysers and other equipment to be cleaned up and working like it should! The end is (hopefully) in sight!
Now with the change of season and water getting quite scarce out in the bush the waterhole is starting to move into winter mode and in the last few days we have had lions, leopard, elephant, buffalo and a host of other species popping in for a drink. We have also started putting out some salt which, combined with the waterhole, promises to make for some fantastic game viewing from the deck.
Mateya Male
The Mateya male is still going. Not necessarily strong, but going.
This shows the Mateya male just around the corner from the lodge with his brother, the Tshola male, in the distance. More than a year has passed since the Mateya male was injured in a territorial fight with the Kgala males.
The leg is not going to get better and many feel that it is just a matter of time.
The amazing thing is how this formerly majestic lion just keeps going. He does not stop and feel sorry for himself. He does not hassle anybody for favors. He just keeps going.
Kgala Males
The two Kgala males are still dominating the south of Madikwe and have been very busy.
A few days ago they made a trip all the way up to the Impodimo where they found the two Matusis on a kill, chased them away and took over the kill. We found the Matusi female in a very nervous state a day later but up until now no one has found the Matusi male. Will keep you posted.
The two Kgalas, mean as they are, are apparently lovers and fighters! Last week Gavin, from Tuningi, found the Mika female close to the Western Airstrip with four brand new cubs.
These four new feline additions mean that there are now 9 young cubs, under 8 months old, in the South. Fantastic to see, great to watch and always a highlight to any drive!
Other than the lions, sightings have been pretty slow but now with water drying up things should be changing.
If you would like to see more wildlife images make sure to pop in to Photo-Africa. Here are some of the highlights from the last few weeks. Click on any of the links to view the blog post.
Also, if you missed it you can get your free desktop wallpaper for June 2010 by clicking here. There are five different images that you can use as a desktop on your PC or Mac which also includes a handy calendar. Let me know what you think!
To end off with a bit of shameless self advertising.
If you have been following Photo-Africa you will know that we are now presenting a number of workshops and photographic safaris. These include:
- 10 July 2010 – Digital Photography: What? How? Why? (Inanda, Johanensburg)
- 11 July 2010 – Free photo walk (Northern Farm, Gauteng)
- 17 July 2010 – Digital Photography: What? How? Why? (Centurion, Pretoria)
- 24 July 2010 – Worldwide Photo Walk (Melville, Johannesburg)
- 4 & 11 September 2010 – Wildlife Photography 101 (Johannesburg & Pilansberg Game Reserve)
- 5 to 7 November 2010 - Route 62 Photography Workshop
- 28 February to 7 March 2011 – Photographic Safari to Kenya (Masai Mara & Lake Nakuru)
- 29 August to 7 September 2011 – Photographic Safari to Kenya (Masai Mara for big migration)
There are a lot more events and dates that will be confirmed soon so make sure to check the website for details. If you would like any further please contact me!
As we say goodbye until next month we would like to say – Viva Bafana Bafana!
Even though we will not be able to get to the matches or soak up the atmosphere we will be wearing our Bafana jerseys and supporting the World Cup as much as we can! For a few ‘wildlife meets soccer’ pics click here.
Until we next see you at the lodge – enjoy the World Cup, and stay safe!
Warmest regards,
Gerry, Adele & the Nkurru Team
Nkurru Newsletter – April 2010
April is a fantastic time of year in the bush. Every morning brings a chilly reminder that winter is on it’s way but the days are still warm enough for the pool to be enjoyed.
If you have been to Madikwe during the last few weeks you will know that there has been a lot of rain. Even though it is quite unexpected, the late rains is very welcome and many of the watering holes have been filling up very nicely. Tlou Dam is lookig fantastic for this time of year and even Inkwe Pan is completely full again. Great to see.
The only negative, but this is being completely selfish, is that the waterhole at the lodge has not been as busy as normally but we have still had a nice procession of game including elephant, lions and pretty much any plains game you could think of.
CapEx 2010
Since wrapping up all the discussions around CapEx we have been completing and ticking off many of the items on the list. These include:
- Annual Service of Fire Fighting Equipment
- Service of both Generators
- New duvets and towels
- New Hot Box and Flasks
- New tires for Fire Cart
- New pots and pans for the kitchen
- New torches for rooms
- New set of slip covers for dining room chairs
- New set of covers for outside furniture pillows
- New coffee table for the outside lounge area
- Upgrade of some of the wooden screens around the lodge
- New chest freezer for lodge
- New stretcher
At this stage we have a Maintenance Week planned for the week starting 28 May 2010 during which time we will be taking care of a lot of the larger items on our CapEx list such as the combing of the roofs, swimming pool, decks and some of the smaller building projects. Up until then we will be fitting in smaller projects wherever we can.
Game Viewer
Since the shareholder’s meeting we have been liaising with various Toyota dealerships with regards to trading in our Land Rover on a new Land Cruiser. The reality… not too much demand for second hand Land Rover Defender gem viewing vehicles. Even as a trade in many of the dealers are not willing to accept our current vehicle. Persistence, however, pays off and we are not getting a bit more interest. Really pushing hard on this one as we want to try and get this sorted as soon as possible. The conversion of the vehicle is not the problem and we can have that done in less than two weeks. The big problem is just actually getting the vehicle. If you have any contacts or know of anybody that is looking for a second hand game viewer please let us know at the lodge. Soon…
Nkurru Rilfe License
As you by now know, we have received a faxed copy of our lodge accreditation to use a weapon for business purposes. Still waiting for the hard copy but we can go ahead with the final step in the whole rifle saga. The last hurdle is now to apply for a rifle license, something I am truly hoping to get sorted out as soon as possible because I am not sure there is too much sense of humor left for this whole debacle. We have all our license application documents ready to go and as soon as Inspector Havenga, who is in charge of all firearms related issues, is back from leave on 3 May. So, a few weeks of calm before the (hopefully last) storm! Close… so close!
Wildlife & Nature
The image above shows one of the Kgala males walking past the Nkurru waterhole a few morning ago. Yeah, the Kgala males. These two big boys from the South have been doing a bit of a walkabout in what we can only think is a bit of a ‘property shopping’.
The two Kgala walked all the way past the waterhole, continued on to Wonderboom and then headed west towards Bush House. The next morning we found their tracks all the was at the junction of Tswene West & Tswene South form where they headed back south towards Vleischfontein. This is about as far north as these two beautiful lions have gone and it was great to see them around the lodge. Waking up to the roars of a serious male coalition is one of the moats fantastic safari experiences anybody could wish for.
As of this morning the two Kgala males are back in the south where we saw them with the Tshabalala females and the five Maropeng youngsters. With Parks Board having called a halt to all lion removals, not sure why yet, the lion sightings have been phenomenal! Yes, yes, there is the whole ecological impact and all that but damn it’s nice seeing these guys so often!
The Tshola Mateya coalition is still operating in the north of the park but due to all the rain we have not been able to get up there to view them. Hopefully more info on these guys next month.
The two Matusi youngsters popped up at Vlesichfontein waterhole a few days ago where they were found on two wildebeest kills. With the fences and old ruins around the watering hole their is not much escape for any general game that gets cornered in there. We sat watching the two youngters as the sun went down and ended up with some amazing night shots.
Madikwe’s icons, the wild dogs, have been in and around the Wonderboom Node for almost two months now. This has afforded us the oportunity to get some amazing sightings both at the lodge and on drive.
I shot the above image about two weeks ago as we were on our way back to the lodge. We spent the whole morning looming for the dogs which was last seen on the Southern Inselberg. As we were heading back to the lodge, having decided to try again in the afternoon, we bumped into the dogs next to our borehole on Diperoro as they were finishing up an impala they killed no more than 5 minutes earlier. We are still not sure whether it was the large male impala that has been hanging around the lodge since January but judging on the size it looks like it might just have been him. However, his spot at the waterhole was very quickly filled by a slightly younger male.
With temperatures changing quite a bit now there has be a huge amount of snake activity at and around the lodge as all the reptiles are starting to look for a place to estivate during winter. In our first week back from leave we have removed 6 puff adders and 2 spitting combras from the lodge grounds. Most of the snakes are quite docile but please make sure to keep your eyes open when you are next at the lodge. I shot the following image of one of the puffies we removed earlier today.
Yes, I was flat on my stomach.
That’s about that for this month. Next month we will have a full update on the World Cup and all the what’s, how’s and why’s but please shout if you have any questions at this stage.
If you have a few moments and would like to see more wildlife and nature photography make sure to pop in at Photo-Africawhich I update every weekday with new images, stories and photography tips and tricks. It might be a week or so late, but if you are looking for a free desktop wallpaper for your Mac or PC, click here to select one of three of my more recent image.
You will see that I have changed the Twitter feed on the left of the screen to run my own feed rather than one from the lodge. It was becoming too much to run two accounts so decided to rather include my own Twitter feed which will give you a lot more info, links and images. If you are on Twitter you can follow me by clicking here. If you have no idea what that all means – don’t worry about it! :)
One more images as we say goodbye until next month.
Finally, congratulations to Godfrey who has become a father! His new boy, Kagiso, was born last week and the proud dad has not stopped smiling all week. Hopefully we will be able to post some pics when Godfrey comes back from leave.
As always we look forward to hearing from you!
Warmest regards,
Gerry, Adele & the Nkurru Team
March 2010 – Nkurru Newsletter
Hi,
It was great seeing everybody at the AGM. Nice to catch up and discuss the coming year at the lodge.
We have already sent out a short summary of everything that was discussed at the meeting but if you still have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us at the lodge.
We have had a few days open at the lodge during which time we have taken care of quite a few maintenance issues. None of these were included on the CapEx list as we still need to collect all the monies and also arrange for a maintenance week during which to tackle all the larger projects. Some of the projects we completed the last week includes:
- Wooden Screens –We broke down and rebuilt many of the wooden screens around the lodge, the main one being the one around the generator which was half falling into the driveway.
- DSTV – In stead of calling in a contractor we decided to first chop off the tops of the trees which were blocking the satellite dish’s view of the sky. Saved a lot of money and the TV is back to perfect working order – just in time for the Super 14!
- Staff Village – As discussed at the shareholders meeting, the staff village needs attention. During this week the staff not only cut all the trees at least ½ meter away from the building and roof but also started a garden and boma. Looking good so now the challenge is to keep it up.
- Showerheads – We have replaced the showerheads in 4 of the 5 rooms – again. Until we install the water descaling system we are going to have to keep on doing this so the sooner the better.
- Lodge Floors – Once every few months we strip the built up polish off the lodge floors so during this last week we carried all the furniture out of the lodge, cleaned the floors and put everything back.
- General – With a few days open we also did a lot of general maintenance around the lodge and rooms.
We have started arranging a few of the CapEx projects already and will keep you posted as things develop. One of the main items discussed at the shareholder’s meeting was the purchase of a new game viewer. We have gotten all our ducks in a row and have quote for new Toyota Land Cruisers as well as the conversions but the first step is to find a buyer for our current vehicle. If you know of anybody who might be looking for a second hand game viewer please let us know! Trying to get this one sorted out as soon as possible.
From a staff point of view we are slowly implementing all the new staff scheduling as discussed at the meeting. We are taking things step by step so that the staff know exactly what is expected of them. Should you need more clarity on this when you get to the lodge please don’t hesitate to ask. As soon as we have finalized the ‘What to Expect From Nkurru Staff’ document we will send it out to all shareholders.
On the wildlife & nature side of things it has been lions everywhere! The lion reductions has begun and to date three lions have been removed from the park with another 30 or so to go.
The highlight of the last few weeks is the fact that the Tshabalala females have been bringing the 4 month old Maropeng youngsters out into the open more regularly. These five little guys make for absolutely fantastic sightings and if you are lucky the two Kgala-Etali males also join in on the fun.
For the last 3 weeks the pride has been hanging around the Western airstrip which means we get fantastic sightings of the youngsters out in the open and because it is so far South the sightings are never really busy. On numerous occasions we have sat watching and photographing the youngsters as they play around in the early morning sun. Gonna be great to watch these little guys grow up.
Further North, the Tshola Mateya coalition have pretty much settled into the Tau concession with an occasional trip down to the ridge. Mateya is still in bad shape and it seems that during the last few weeks his condition has gone a little backwards. Still a beautiful animal, we can just hope that his brother can take care of him for a little while longer.
The two Sereti males have been chased all over the place and seem to be settling in around the Wonderboom area. Pretty big for their age, it’s great to have to males around our lodge and in time these boys should turn into a force to be reckoned with.
The Etali female and her two youngsters have been seen around Tlou Dam for a few weeks now and it still seems that she is keeping them away from all the males in the West. Not sure wehre she is going to end up but will keep you posted.
Leopard sightings have been rather quiet but we still get the occasional spotted cat.
With summer drawing to a close, we can see an increase of animals to the waterhole. Rain has been quite spread out which means there is virtually no surface water or seasonal puddles around. Even Tlou Dam is rather empty for this time of year so let’s hope it gets pumped this year.
The bird life is still not bad but during the next few weeks the migrants will signal the beginning of winter when they start their journey up north.
In general we have had fanatstic sightings, both on drive and at the lodge, and if you would like to see more wildlife images you can head over to Photo-Arica. Some of the posts from the last few weeks include:
- African Moments
- DOF in Wildlife Photography
- March 2010 – Free Desktop Wallpapers
- Shooting Africa in Black & White
- Bad Boys
If you are keen on improving your wildlife, or any other type of, photography let me know as later this year I will be running various workshops and photographic safaris. These workshops will take place in Johannesburg, Pretoria and later this year in the Cape Winelands as well. Keep an eye onPhoto-Africa for more details as it becomes available. Also, between 18 and 31 March Adele and I will be in Johannesburg and during this time I will be doing various hospitality and lifestyle shoots. If you would like to have a lifestyle portrait shoot done during this time please let me know so that we can book a date!
One last thing before we end it off. Could we ask that all shareholders please take a few minutes to send us your updated contact details. In between a PC crash in January and very old mailing lists it is time that we update our contacts list. Thanks!!
If you have questions, comments or suggestions please don’t hesitate to contact us as the lodge. Alternatively we look forward to seeing you ant Nkurru!
Warmest regards,
Gerry, Adele & the Nkurru Team
February 2010 – Nkurru Newsletter
Hi!
Adele and I had the most fantastic holiday in Bangkok (of which you can see a few images here and here) followed by some time in Johannesburg and a photo shoot in the Drakensberg. It was a great break away from the lodge and the first proper break in quite some time.
Since returning from our holiday we have been busy with CapEx, budgets and maintenance and, on a personal note, we were very impressed by the way the staff took care of the lodge. As with any lodge there is always a few maintenance related matters that need ongoing supervision and work but all in all things went pretty well during our absence.
With the AGM coming up on 23 February we are busy with all the numbers and proposed projects so will be looking at all of these in a lot more details in the next Newsletter. For now, here are some images from the last two weeks at Nkurru. The sightings have been amazing and the photographic opportunities even better!
This must be one of the highlights since getting back from holiday. We were sitting watching the Kgala males and Mika pride close to Vleisfontein on a giraffe kill when suddenly the one male took issue with his brother. Over in a few seconds the intensity was awesome. For more images of this sighting click here.
We have had loads and loads of lions and wild dogs while the scavengers around the many kills have been making for great sighting! Here are a few more images taken on drive during the last two weeks.
With the annual shareholders meeting coming up we will see you all in 23 February 2010 where we will discuss various lodge related matters including CapEx and details on the 2010 World Cup.
Oh, almost forgot. Even though their system is down and they could not yet fax or email our certificate to us yet, but Nkurru’s accreditation to use a firearm for business purposes has been awarded. We got the phone call on Friday! Yes, after almost 8 months of phone calls, trips to Pretoria and sense of humor failure our accreditation has at last been finalized. As soon as the Firearm department’s system is back up and running and we receive our accreditaiton certificate we can now complete the final step of licensing the rifle. Will keep you posted but FINALLY things have started falling into place!
Look forward to seeing you at the meeting on 23 February, alternatively when you next visit Nkurru.
Warmest regards,
Gerry, Adele & the Nkurru Team
January 2010 – Nkurru Newsletter
Hi,
Before we get going with the first Nkurru Newsletter of the New Year we would like to wish you all the very best for 2010. We trust that you have all had a relaxing festive season and that the holidays have left you recharged and ready for the coming year!
During the last few months it feels like the world has been spinning around more than once a day. A lot has happened and even though the road has been long it seems that the end is almost in sight. It seems that every newspaper and television program is doing a ‘year in review’ type of thing and that was originally the idea with this newsletter. Now even though this seemed like a good idea at the time, I felt that instead of doing a huge write up on all the things that has happened at Nkurru during the last year I would rather just do a general kind of look at 2009 and then start focusing on 2010.
‘Damage control’ might sound harsh, but this is what it many of the days at Nkurru felt like during the last 11 months. The Nkurru makeover started with large projects like the new Lilliput system, waterhole, painting the entire lodge, sealing the ant-hills and ultimately the reed bed. These were mixed in with ‘we-have-no-choice-but-to do-this’ projects such as replacing all the septic tanks at the lodge and sending the game viewer to the doctor on more than one occasion. Stressful, yes. Necessary, absolutely but now that the dust is settling the lodge is better for it.
The one project that has spilled over from last year, and that is getting seriously annoying, is the lodge rifle. To say that the lodge accreditation process and dealing with firearms control has been a sad comedy of inadequacies is being kind. I have, up until now, had to email the same documents to four different people and I had to drive to Pretoria to drop off the same documents on three different occasions. Today marks my return of phoning on a full time basis to try and get our lodge accreditation finalized. In the interim we have purchased a new lodge rifle, after selling the previous one to Ivan, and it is waiting for us at a gunsmith in Johannesburg. Hopefully soon. Hopefully very soon!
Recently we completed another relatively large project which, I am personally very very happy about. Adele and I will not benefit from this project directly but if one more person had to tell us that the taps in the rooms are leaking I think I would have run away!! Yes, we have finally gotten around budget and time and the new taps have been fitted in the rooms! The look great and work even better. In a way this project, the last big one of 2009, brings an end to the having to fix everything approach and we can now finally start looking at improving the lodge rather than just fixing things. Exciting stuff!
Overall the lodge is looking fantastic and this gives us a great foundation from which to start working in 2010. We have already started looking at various projects and other CapEx items for the year and we will be liaising with Andrew Frodsham during the next month or so leading up to the shareholders meeting in March. As soon as we have a workable document it will be circulated to everybody but in the meantime here are a few of the larger projects and items we have on the list:
- Thatch – All the thatch roofs need to be combed and patched.
- Vehicle – We need to look at the vehicle situation at the lodge which includes both the game viewer and a second vehicle.
- Swimming Pool – The pools surface is quite rough so we need to address this.
- Staff Village – We are planning to extend the staff village which will not only give each staff member their own rooms but also give us.
There are of course quite a few smaller items that we already have on the list but if you have any further ideas or input please email us at the lodge.
Game viewing has, as always, been amazing even though the last few months have been more about quality than quantity. With a lot of surface water and very thick bush, spotting the more secretive species has proven to be quite challenging but Madikwe never fails to deliver. Now that the operational things are falling into place we will have a little more time to do wildlife updates on the blog. If you need more wildlife images and some photographic tips and techniques you can also visit Photo-Africa which I update every weekday. On that, you can now download free African wildlife wallpapers for your desktop and iPhone fro Photo-Africa. Click here to check it out and get yours today!
The new edition of my book, ‘Wildlife. Photography. And everything in between.’, is also now available. The 198 page book contains more than 200 images and is available in soft cover, hard cover with dust jacket and a hard cover with the image printed on the cover and prices vary from R425 to R525. For more information or to order a copy please email me. If you have not seen the book yet there is a copy in the lodge which you can browse through when next you visit Nkurru.
On a personal note Adele and I would like to thank you all for your support during the last year. At times it might have been challenging but to finally start seeing things fall into place is great reward for all the work that has been done at the lodge.
On that note we are also very excited about our upcoming holiday. Now most of the times when we are on leave we are still running around to pick up supplies and in are in constant contact with the lodge. From 12 January we will be taking three weeks of annual leave and this time we are really going on leave. As a belated honeymoon and for my birthday we will be going to Bangkok for a week or so after which we are heading to the Drakensberg to do a few photo shoots at hotels and lodges. We have not travelled much since starting in the bush and we are really looking forward to our Thai adventure. We have been working hard at getting everything arranged at the lodge to make sure that things keep on ticking over while we are away. No doubt we will worry about the lodge a bit, but I reckon it is going to be great to get away, clear out heads and ultimately come back refreshed and ready for the year.
As of next month the newsletter will again contain wildlife updates, images and updates from the lodge. For now back to work as the rain continues to fall in Madikwe.
As always we look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at Nkurru in 2010!
Warmest regards,
Gerry, Adele and the Nkurru Team