Month: December 2012

What an eventful year it has been at Vuyani Safari Lodge. When I look back and read through all the blogs I have written I get this reminiscing feeling about all the events, the excitement and laughter shared by both guest and staff member. The wonderful people we have met, the new additions to the lodge and the one’s that left us behind for a different route taken. The animals that we have seen (and the one’s that kept getting away), it really has been an action-packed and amusing year.

There have been so many high five’s dished out through the year. Every single time Jesse set out find a Leopard (and succeeded in couple of drives) it was an ant’s nest of excitement once he returned. High five’s all around and massive smiles on every single persons face. Jess I think deserves an award for being the most persistent at finding the elusive one. Also having the most luck in spotting the rare but magnificent Aardvark.

Pierre gets the award for being the most successful with his guides through the Kruger National Park, his very infectious laugh (which can make me laugh till I cry) and for most definitely doing the most maintenance around the lodge. Pierre has an incredibly outgoing personality and can get almost anyone chatting. He is also always making conversation and friends wherever he goes.

Rina is being singled out for her incredible organizational skills and for keeping all the administrative work in order and up to date. I am sure before your stay (or after) you have spoken to Rina at some point. If you visited the lodge she most definitely would have booked an excursion for you at some point during your stay at Vuyani.

Gerard is absolutely the life of the lodge; he has an answer to everything and is always up for a bit of banter and a little chat. His meals are top notch and he always cooks enough food to feed an army. He has created the famous saying that I am sure all who have visited and all who are to visit will hear at least once during your stay: “Great Success”

Shane is one of the most recent additions to the Vuyani Team but has settled in so quickly that it seems he has been here forever. His personality is incredibly diverse and he fits in with the rest of the team so well. His organizational skills and food knowledge are so much more than anyone of us could have ever expected. He has the Midas touch when it comes to presentation and his meals are not only delicious they also look incredible. He is always up for a laugh and willing to help out wherever and whenever he can.

Rose is known as the “Baker” her baked goods are out of this world! She makes the most delectable and inconceivable cakes, tarts and cookies. I am normally the first to do “quality control” whenever she has baked anything. She makes a mean omelette and I have never seen her without a smile on her face. She was so shy when she first arrived at the lodge, but now she has gained confidence and presents her Breakfast and High Tea menu’s with style.

Phillamone bakes the freshest and most delicious bread in the Lowveld. Every morning he dutifully comes in, washes the dishes, and cleans out the kitchen, and starts baking the bread for dinner. He ensures that the store room is stocked and neatly packed and that the trash is taken out. Every now and then he helps out wherever he can with general maintenance and cleanliness of the lodge. He also does most of the cooking when we have a Braai (Barbeque)

Swenkie is the newest addition to the team. He is most certainly the handiest person I have ever met. He is incredibly strong for such a little person, he builds, cleans, washes dishes, waiters, washes cars and now and then he will go on drive to help spot animals. Always friendly and does not recognize the word No. He is always keen and eager to help and is exceptionally proud of his job. He has transformed the lodge in more ways than one. And I am always very amused when he goes on his “monkey patrol”. He patrols the trash cans and thatched roofs to make sure the Monkey’s do not create havoc.

Patricia, Yvonne, Portia and Jacqui what will we do without these ladies? They are the ones that keep the lodge so clean, make the beds and do the laundry. They the most beautiful smiles and can sometimes crack the funniest jokes. A huge thank you goes out to them.

Christopher is also fairly new to Vuyani; he was almost as shy as Rose when he arrived, very reserved and quiet. But now he makes conversation with the guests and ensures that they never have an empty glass in the hand. He helps out with everything and carries the entire lodge’s luggage to and from the rooms. He is also incredibly proud of his job and is extremely punctual. The rest of the staff often giggles at his very sharp comments and he is probably the only one who can silence Gerard with his quirkiness.

Andre and Mike are the guys who do the most travelling by far. They are the first smiling faces that one sees before starting the journey to Vuyani Safari Lodge. They are always willing to share their knowledge. Andre has the sweetest demeanour and I am sure all of our guests and staff will agree. Mike is the organizer; he can organize anything and everything at the drop of a hat.

Craig: I have read that a team is only as good as its leader. Well in the case of Mr. Craig Carnaby we are extremely fortunate. We at Vuyani Safari Lodge could not have asked for a better leader. Always ready to give advice (even if it’s not about work) he can crack a hilarious joke and also be incredibly stern at the same time. He has extensive and incredible knowledge of the bush and animals and takes awe-inspiring photographs.

The lodge has really undergone a metamorphosis in 2012. We have had so many laughs and worked incredibly hard. To each and every staff member I would like to extend an enormous Thank you. Thank you for all your hard work and your smiles. The laughs and the moments where you just keep quiet and walk away, as it can be very challenging in this industry to live and work together, but we have ended up as one big family.

We have met guests and parted as friends. Thank you to all the guests that visited Vuyani Safari Lodge during the year of 2012 – I can only hope that your stay was amazing and that you sit back and look through your pictures reminiscing about your stay at Vuyani (and maybe your next trip)

To all a very prosperous 2013, may you have an incredible year filled with laughter.

We had a one of our summer storms about two days ago and I figured it was the perfect time to sit in the office and think about my next blog, as the rain stopped I looked out the window and saw what Author Donald Ahrens of Meteorology Today describes so beautifully: “one of the most spectacular light shows observed on earth” a Rainbow.

There are few things in life that gives me that inner childlike excitement as seeing a Rainbow in the sky. It is almost magical – immediately I think of the stories I was told as a child. The enchanted forest that lies at the end where fairies and unicorns roam free – the huge pot of gold that is guarded by an angry little leprechaun, and how if you find that pot of gold you will be incredibly rich. Many a times I remember that myself and my brother used to run our little legs off in search of this forest, but alas, always gave up as we eventually had no energy left. Now that I think about it, my mother probably made us run around so that we would leave her in peace for at least five minutes.

A Rainbow is actually an optical and meteorological phenomenon that is caused by the reflection of light in water droplets in the earth’s atmosphere, resulting in a spectrum of light performing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicolored curvature. Rainbows caused by sunlight always appear in a section of the sky that is directly opposite the sun.

In a “primary rainbow”, the arc shows red on the outer part and violet on the inner side. This rainbow is caused by light being diverted while entering a globule of water, then reflected inside on the back of the droplet and refracted again when leaving it. The most spectacular rainbows appear when the sky is still half dark with raining clouds and one is at a spot with clear sky facing the direction of the sun. The result is an incandescent rainbow that contrasts with the dark background. For colors seen by the human eye the most commonly named and remembered sequence is Newton’s sevenfold red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Rainbows can be caused by many forms of airborne water. These include not only rain, but also mist, spray and airborne dew.

Rarely a Moonbow, Lunar Rainbow or nighttime rainbow can be seen on strongly moonlit nights. As human visual acuity for color is poor in low light, moonbows are often perceived to be white.

There are so many different types of Rainbows for example: Multiple Rainbows, Twinned Rainbow, Tertiary and Quaternary Rainbows, High – order Rainbow, Supernumerary Rainbows, Reflected Rainbow, Monochrome Rainbows, Fog Bows, Circumhorizontal arc and Rainbows on Titan. I briefly read through these different kinds and it is astonishing how they are formed, the one that perhaps most caught my attention was the Rainbows on Titan.

It has been suggested that Rainbow’s might exist on Saturn’s moon Titan, as it has a wet surface and humid clouds. The radius of a Titan Rainbow will be at angle of about 49 degrees instead of the normal 42 degrees since fluid in that cold environment is methane instead of water. One might need infrared goggles to be able to view this spectacle as Titan’s atmosphere is more transparent at those wavelengths.

There is an awful lot of factual information that can be given on Rainbows, I can write pages and pages on how they are formed what the differences are and so forth, but I have decided to keep it magical.

I want to still get excited about the enchanted forest and the prospect of finding the pot of gold. Maybe even the promise of one day meeting a fairy and spending some time in Narnia. So whenever you see a rainbow, think of this quote that I have always absolutely adored:

“Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? Anyone who has loved has been touched by magic. It is such a simple and such an extraordinary part of the lives we live.”

*Nora Roberts

And you might also be touched by the magic…

*Justine Ferreira

Photos: Justine Ferreira and Rina Erasmus 🙂

For my latest blog I have decided to write about something a little different. For decades African people have relied on what they could utilize from the earth, there were no Pharmacy’s, Supermarkets, Shopping Malls or GP’s. They had to make use of what they had – and what they had was nature. I would also think that the most used elements must have been and actually still are plants. There are so many uses for plants it is staggering. I have singled out four specific trees that you will most definitely see on your stay at Vuyani Safari Lodge.

Sycamore Fig – Ficus sycamorus

The Sycamore fig is a very large evergreen tree, mostly spotted on Kruger National Park trips. Sycamore figs are terrestrial and widespread along Lowveld Rivers also from Kwa Zulu Natal to East Africa and Egypt. They bare edible fruit that are yellowish or reddish in color when ripe, these fruits are highly valued as food by both human and creature alike. The Sycamore also has quite a few economic uses and one of the most interesting is most definitely that it was used to make sarcophagi in Egypt. The sycamore produces quite a bit of shade and is a popular relaxation spot for Leopard, also very often inhabited by Baboons, who will feast on the fruits.

Buffalo Thorn – Ziziphus mucronata

The Buffalo Thorn is a common resident around Vuyani Safari Lodge and on Moditlo Private Game Reserve and it is armed with hooked and straight spines at each node. The Afrikaans name for this tree is the: Blinkblaar Wag – ‘n – bietjie which directly translated to English means: Shiny Leaf Wait a Bit – this makes a lot of sense because if the spines manage to infiltrate your clothing or even worse skin, it will indeed make you “wait – a – bit” The fruits of this tree are edible during the months of March to August, the fruits are a glossy spherical drupe with a reddish brown tint when mature. In Botswana it is believed that this tree is immune to lightning. The wood is fine-grained and heavy, mostly used for woodworking. The bark contains tannins and has anti –fungal properties, also believed to be an indicator of underground water. In South Africa the Zulu tribe have a belief that if someone passes you should take a branch of the Buffalo Thorn and drag it over their grave, because the straight spine points to the future, whilst the hooked spine point to the past – thus letting the soul rest in peace.

Leadwood – Combretum imberbe.

The Leadwood is probably one of the most spectacular trees to see, it just seems like it should have featured in the Lord of the Rings. Widespread from tropical Africa, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, the dark heartwood is exceptionally hard and heavy, close grained and particularly hard to work. Wood from the Leadwood tree was much used in the past for fence posts, mine props and railway sleepers. Today still very popular to make furniture and can be seen in many lodges and households. Ash from burnt wood has high lime content and is used as toothpaste and whitewash by many tribes. The leaves are browsed by game rather often. Seeds are possibly poisonous, but not known facts, some of the larger Leadwood trees are reputed to be well over 1000 years old.

And lastly probably the most popular in the Lowveld area is the well-known Marula Tree.

Marula – Sclerocarya birrea

Sclerocarya – derived from the Greek word meaning Walnut, referring to the hard kernel inside the fleshy fruit. The fruits are edible, large and fleshy, plum like and a pale green colour which ripens to yellow. The Marula is classified as one of the great trees of Africa, usually very well preserved by the indigenous people for its valuable fruit and shade. The fruits are also high in Vitamin C and utilized by both humans and animals. A jelly preserve and an intoxicating drink known as Mampoer are made from the juice. Seeds are used raw, cooked or ground. Many insects use this tree to breed and feed on. The tree can be propagated by from seed by means of truncheons. The very popular South African liqueur namely Amarula is produced from the fruits of this tree, and I am most certain most guests that have visited Vuyani Safari Lodge have had a taste of this delicious drink. Also widely used in all types of foods by the chefs.

These are but a few trees that I have singled out – there are more than 22 000 different species of seed plants indigenous to Southern Africa. This is less than the tip of the iceberg – just a few to mention, I can only imagine how plants and trees have saved numerous lives. If trees could talk the stories they would tell – the things they must have witnessed – history in the making – the magic that surrounds them. If you go on your first safari I know that animals tend to be the number one priority – but as you are driving through the bush, just take a moment to take in the botanical wonder.

*Justine Ferreira