Month: April 2012

Almost every week I sit in front of the computer for at least half an hour, gathering my thoughts… During this time I try not to think of anything – keeping my mind void, until this morning that is…

I was staring out the window at nothing in particular – when a Praying Mantis flew right at my head. At first I wasn’t sure what it was – so of course started madly flailing about, trying to rid myself of the unwelcome intruder.

The Mantis flew right onto the computer screen and just sat there, watching me intensely. I then had an epiphany for my safari lodge blog this week, while Mr. Mantis was staring at me with his beady little eyes.

We have all heard the phrase “It’s the small things that count” at least once in our lives. But do we really take this into account?

I am especially referring to safaris. When we are on safari we have a tendency to look around for the largest, most visible animal – and trust me Rangers tend to do exactly the same – it’s in human nature.

But this is the time that we seem to overlook the smaller marvels that nature provides. The Praying Mantis – standing like a proud little warrior – always vigilant. The beautiful yet lethal African Monarch Butterfly – that so gracefully glides through the air – but can eradicate its victim rather easily. A Glossy Starling – hopping from branch to branch searching for its next meal. A bird so often seen – that we habitually overlook its beauty. And there is the mighty little Dung Beetle – who never ceases to amaze me a creature so small in size, but so mammoth in strength and persistence.

And lastly the magnificent Golden Orb Web Spider, not the largest spider, but makes the largest and strongest web. It gets its name from the golden colour of its silk.  I know that most people are not very fond of spiders and rather speedily reach for an object to toss in the general direction where the arachnid has been spotted. But if one takes a minute to study these rather remarkable animals, it is quite simple to see why they are so motivating. The web of the Spider is strong enough to trap small birds (if you take into account the size of the spider this is truly outstanding), the spider will not eat the bird – and birds tend to thrash about so vigorously that the web will break. So the spider has come up with a plan to prevent larger insects and birds from destroying its hard work.  The spider often leaves a line of insect husks on its web (like the safety strip across glass doors) or it builds smaller barrier webs around the main web.

Personally I find this totally spectacular.

These are the small things – the things that we “look” at everyday – but not necessarily often “see” weh non safari holidays.  This morning I “looked” and I “saw” so I would like to thank Mr. Mantis for reminding me that after all it is the small things…

Justine Ferreira

Every night when I drive home from a long day full of safari excitement the night enfolds me – an ebony blanket speckled with thousands of dazzling stars.   The beauty of the African night sky is beyond description, it is something that you have to see at least once in your life. And each night I realize how truly blessed we are to call this home and to enjoy what most of our guests would call a “once in a lifetime African safari” experience.

Standing on the deck at night I can see countless constellations mapping out the colossal canvas of darkness.

There is the ever present Southern Cross – reliable and steady, always on duty to guide any and all lost souls who might require its assistance.

At the moment we can evidently see Orion – The Hunter.  But in the tardy hours of the night he lays his giant head down to rest in the West and Scorpio – The Scorpion rises from the East, indicating that our summer is almost over. There is also a bit of a myth surrounding these two giants. I have done some research and discovered that there are many versions of the story, but it seems it all comes down to Orion who was a boastful mortal whom had many a time succeeded to become rather unpopular amongst his peers. Therefore Scorpio was sent to slay Orion. Some seem to think that Scorpio had been victorious in his task and that Zeus had taken pity on Orion and immortalized him in the stars. Others seem to think that Scorpio had never gotten the opportunity and is still on Orion’s trail. Thus you will never see Orion and Scorpio in the same sky.  The hunt will continue evermore…

Then there is the astounding Milky Way. I had thought long and hard and searched far and wide for the right words to describe the Milky Way.

I see the Milky Way as an African Dream.

When we have a dream it is often hard to accomplish the goals that we have set for ourselves. We start off with a blank canvas, A Jet-black mantle.  – Where we map out our goals.  Then slowly appears a flickering of light, a flickering of hope. Gradually more and more minute   glistening little sparkles appear on the canvas, and we gain more and more confidence in our task. Our dream starts to become a reality.

Just like the Milky Way each night – it starts off blank and ends with an extravagant array of illumination.

The stars in the night are untold myths. They are our African Dreams – waiting to become realities.

“Cos in my African Dream, there’s a new tomorrow, My African dream, is a dream that we can follow…” Vicky Sampson.

Justine Ferreira

After an early morning start, our Rangers, Pierre and Jacques headed off to Kruger National Park with all of our Guests in camp. It was a nice cool morning which turned out to be a warm African safari day.

They all had the spirit of adventure for the day and were sure to have many great sightings. The morning started off slowly but picked up very quickly, by seeing many plains game to start off with, they all loved seeing the large herds of Zebra around every corner and all the other small things that make up the life of the bush.

They had stopped off for a coffee break at one of the rest spots and everyone could take in the scents of the bush and stretch their legs. Not long after that that they came across a huge breeding herd of elephants and the adorable calves they had with them.  One of the male elephants even had a display of dominance and they had the advantage to take some really great photographs, they eventually moved on and the elephants just carried on grazing. Down the road they found a pack of wild dogs resting under the trees, taking in the African sun.

It was time for breakfast and ourguests had a lovely breakfast under the trees taking in the peacefulness. After spending some time looking around and learning about the small things of the bush tjhey moved on. They found some lions down the road, doing what lions do best, sleeping. The one lion got up and walked around a bit and then just “flopped” down under the shade again.

After seeing the lions they saw many birds and small game and out of nowhere popped two rhinos.  A beautiful cow and a very young calf, they were very comfortable with all the vehicles around and just grazed merrily and enjoying each others’ company. They then moved on for lunch, as they were going along the found a large herd of buffalo that was so big they were everywhere, as far as you could see, there were a lot of calves and young adults that where playing around like kids do. A great safari holiday experience that Kruger Park day trip was indeed.