Focus Online Dev, Author at Tuningi Safari Lodge

Tuningi Newsletter October 2008

Posted on 1 October 2008 by Focus Online Dev

A warm hallo to you once again!

In Africa, the month of October is often known as the ‘suicide month’. This is because, before the first rains, every body and every animal living in the bush gets to deal with the harsh reality of drought, hunger, thirst and sometimes even death. In South Africa the drought seldom hits us as hard as it does nearer to the Equator and things don’t tend to get as out of hand here as it does up there.

In Madikwe, it is now the time of the year when everyone is looking up at the sky constantly with unsinkable optimism; longing for a fabulous, cooling, dust settling, life giving thundershower. We never get to the point of giving up hope as the fat bellies of all the very pregnant animals and the Marula trees and Knob Thorns pushing out fresh green leaves even under these harsh circumstances, reminds us that it WILL RAIN SOON.

Oh, how we long for the big white voluptuous clouds to appear on the horizon, the wind picking up, blowing them towards us, the thunder rumbling closer and closer and then…….. the first smell of a fat raindrop hitting the sand road. There is absolutely nothing more exciting than that!!

In the meantime, we are pumping water into all the water holes in the reserve to keep the thirst at bay and luckily for us, with the fantastic wet year last year, the green grass is pushing through the burnt areas regardless of new rain and bringing welcome nourishment for all the grazers and the new spring shoots on the trees are appearing everywhere to great surprise of the browsers.

As you all know by now, the dryer conditions in the bush is great for game viewing. Our water hole at the lodge has attracted every kind of living species you can imagine this month. We even had the elusive leopard drinking at the lodge twice in two days during dinner time! On one evening, three of them came to drink at once, even though there were about forty elephants around at the same time. Although leopards are usually solitary animals, this was a mother with her two half grown cubs. Just last night they were spotted again on an Impala kill very close to Tuningi!

The leopard sightings on game drives have also picked up significantly. Almost every guest had the opportunity to watch these gracious animals go about their business. One evening we were all stunned when two lions appeared out of the blue at a leopard sighting and stole the poor girl’s freshly caught Impala right from under her nose. A leopard would never try and defend themselves against lions under these circumstances as they have to avoid injury at all cost. So she just had to sneak away and accept defeat. Sometimes Nature can be very cruel.

The most exciting event of the month happened three days ago! The wild dog pack of thirteen dogs, which had babies four months ago decided that it was time to bring them out of their den at last! Talk about patience…. We have all known about the pups, but they have been hidden so well that absolutely nobody has even had a glimpse of them for four solid months! Well, they decided to come and show them off right here at Tuningi Lodge, running up and down the valley in front of room 6 and 7 and then stopping for a quick drink at the water hole for all to see in broad daylight. We counted eight pups all together which brings the pack to 21. This is just great and with them being such a huge pack it will make it very easy for the rangers to track them from now on. You will just have to make a plan to come and see them!

As usual, we bring you a page or two from one of our ranger’s diaries.
This month Grant recaps on a honeymoon couple’s five night stay during October.

Safari on honeymoon from termites to elephants

The last 5 days I had a honeymoon couple and 2 ladies join me on my vehicle. They were great fun and they saw the most amazing things. Apart from all the big stuff, we had great sightings of all the antelope and the smaller things in life like the String of Stars (small white flowers) and termites; all very interesting too! The honeymooners arrived by plane and the first thing they saw was white rhino on their way to the lodge. I knew then that they were going to see the most amazing animals and it was their first safari! On the afternoon safari we saw the old boys the Batia brothers and loads of elephants. The Sereti females were with the Batia’s for a while, but have now been relocated to different reserves and so the Batias are alone. These old lions are going to find it a bit difficult getting food without the lioness’ help.

The next morning we went south. The morning started off very quietly; a lot of wind and then we bumped into two white rhino right next to the road, they got quite a fright but luckily they moved in the opposite direction from the cruiser. Half an hour later in an open clearing we saw some black rhino, a female and her calf. She was a bit skittish but we could clearly see her and the calf and all the distinct features of the black rhino. After breakfast I took Gary and Suzy to some lions that were feasting on a wildebeest. On every drive something exiting happened. Going out is always different no matter where you go and it is always a challenge looking for game. In the afternoon myself, Gavin and Zede were tracking lions on foot, after walking in a few circles we found them. They saw us long before we saw them. Every time you get lions on foot it sounds like a Harley Davidson starting up and gradually picking up revs…….great feeling! After the revs you see that golden beast mock charge you, then you swear in all the languages you know. The best expression is ‘FOERTSEK, FOERTSEK, FOERTSEK’ and clapping your hands until they become numb and more shouting. 99% of the time it works (Foertsek means get lost). Once we had found them the chances that they would move off was big so I pulled the short straw to stay with them while Gavin went back to fetch the vehicle. The five minutes I was alone with them was something special, just the fact that they allowed me to share their space and be that close to them was incredible. When we left that sighting we got a call on the radio that there were some more lions, the Tshabas, at Tau dam. Very unusual for them to come this far south; their territory is in the north western section, but we think they got chased by the three Serety males; a very powerful coalition. We got there with the sun just disappearing on the horizon. While watching them two big dagga boys came to drink (old buffalo bulls that have been kicked out of the herd). The six lions didn’t pay too much attention to them because their tummies were full to the brim. On our way back we saw some elephant but just ignored them, because they get quite edgy at night with the spotlight. Driving along looking for that ‘elusive spotted one’, I saw some big eyes reflecting back from the runway and thought it was our lucky night. Then two more sets popped out and I knew it was spotted hyena making a move on some wildebeest but they lost interest very quickly and strolled off into the darkness. Another great day in Madikwe! So we went home for dinner and a few drinks and reminisced about the great sightings we had had so far………

After the 5:45am coffee we went in pursuit of the leopard again with great determination. Driving along Diperoro road (meaning waterfall in Tswana) I found some fresh leopard tracks and feces; they were heading towards our neighboring lodge. I called Lucas and he said a young male had been at the water early that morning but had moved towards the valley, not good for us. But, not losing faith, we carried on to the elephant boma where the Serety female is held. Lots of big male lion tracks around the boma………….got a call the wild dogs were busy killing a kudu, so we turned around and went there straight away. I told my guests to hold on and off we went on a real Ferrari safari for the next 15 minutes but it was worth it. They had killed a kudu but by the time we got there it had been demolished, the dogs were busy picking clean the bones. Wild dogs make sure there is nothing left behind for any of the scavengers. We stayed with them for about 20 minutes before the first vehicles came in to the area.

That afternoon we went to Thlou dam to see the Etali youngsters, two young lion brother and sister. We just enjoyed the scenery with the lions on the wall and the ellies drinking water. After the elephants left it became quiet and all of a sudden a big herd of buffalo approached us from the east; +- 100 of them in total. There motive was clearly visible and that was to drink. The lions didn’t even move a muscle with all the commotion going on; what a brilliant sighting at the dam. We moved on for sundowners so relaxed after so many amazing things so you can imagine our surprise when we spotted a leopard in a Leadwood tree! A leopard at last and when we least expected it.

The next morning after drive, we saw 4 of the big 5 again…..just thought I’d mention that. I took Gary and Suzy on a bush walk after breakfast and told them with the briefing that chances of seeing anything are slim, so we are going to concentrate on the smaller things, but you never know what is lurking out there. I was busy making them a toothbrush from the kwarrie bush and we discussed elephant dung and then all hell almost broke out. A herd of elephants thrashed through the bush about 80 m from us. We immediately backed off and got on the right side of the wind. One bull came towards us. I stood my ground and had a stand-off with him with the guests safely behind me. What an afternoon! We skipped the afternoon drive and instead went to a bird hide for the afternoon and had some more amazing sightings like a Caracal that came down for a very reluctant drink. We also saw elephant, jackal and spotted hyena. The 8th of October was our last morning drive and we just thought we were going to take it easy. Started of slowly but ended with a big bang. Driving along Wonderboom road I saw something in the distance lying in the road; it was a leopard! As we got closer he looked at us once and kept on cleaning himself then got up and strolled off into the thick bush. That made up for the other night when we only saw the silhouette in the tree.

Coming on safari for your honeymoon is a great treat, just do it on the first leg of your honeymoon, because it is hard work……………… all the early mornings I mean.

I‘ve got a saying: “When you come on safari always expect the unexpected and you won’t be disappointed”.

Hope you enjoyed the recap of our 5 day honeymoon safari at Tuningi
Till next time
Grant

Well, there you have it straight from the Ranger’s pen. We suggest that you start planning your next trip to Tuningi right now, as no matter which time of the year you come for a visit, each month holds its own special secrets and treats.

We were once again very lucky to have lots of kids around this month so don’t forget to have a look at our beautiful kids’ art gallery!
Till we meet again
With kindest regards
The T- Team

For enquiries please contact :

reservations@madikwecollection.com

Tuningi Newsletter September 2008

Posted on 1 September 2008 by Focus Online Dev

Bush greetings to all once again.

September is the month of new beginnings, and as this month came to an end the blossoms of the wild pears filled the air with the sweet aroma of summer.

Yes, the expecting mothers in the savannah are really looking fat with the new life that they will be introducing in the next few months, all the while having the continual stress of that dangerous foe that lurks in the dark. The rains are building slowly, with the August Trade Winds that sweep south from the equator providing some welcome relief from the scorching sun, as temperatures are rising day by day reflected in the heat haze as we look down the valley and onto the Inselbergs from the lodge.

After coming back from the morning safari our guests are treated to a hearty breakfast on the deck overlooking the waterhole which, as we told you in the last newsletter is abundant with various types of game; the buffalo herds visit almost on a daily basis. You will also be entertained by Bob the vervet monkey who has a uncanny knack of darting into the lodge and escaping with a delicious cappuccino muffin every now and then….. times are tough in the bush, but not at Tuningi according to Bob.

Speaking of the safaris, our rangers have been churning out the best quality sightings, and the ones that stand out for this month include Gerry witnessing the successful hunt of, what turned out to be, a pregnant Red Hartebeest that was taken by the Dipelo Female Lions and the huge Tsolho-Mateya male coalition. Gavin was charged by a Black Rhino and her calf just last week, and Grant had the luck of sighting another Pangolin (second sighting in his career). Among these special sightings there were notably more leopard sightings this month as well as an increase in the Black Rhino which as you know are extremely rare throughout Africa. (see the Rangers Column)

The reserve has also become very dry, and the remaining water sources are becoming less and less with every day creating some competition among the larger herbivores for the precious moisture they so desperately need. In the last week the reserve has also had a number of bush fires which have stripped the earth of its grasses, leaving behind a black and barren landscape. But wait…. this is not a bad situation. The savannah system is very dependent on fire to burn off the hard outer layer of the seeds which lay in anticipation of the first rains, as well as clearing off any dead and moribund vegetation which is not of any use to the animals out here.

news06 The Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), also colloquially Black Rhino, is a mammal in the order Perissodactyla, native to the eastern and central areas of Africa including Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Although the Rhino is referred to as black, it is actually more of a grey/brown/white color in appearance.

The name of the species was chosen to distinguish it from the White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum). This is misleading, as those two species are not really distinguishable by color. The word white in the name “White Rhinoceros” derives from the Afrikaans word for “wide” rather than the color white. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) announced on 7 July 2006 that one of the four subspecies, the West African Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis longipes), has been tentatively declared as extinct. About 3600 Black Rhinoceros exist in the world.

Description
An adult Black Rhinoceros stands 140–170 cm (57.9–63 inches) high at the shoulder and is 3.3-3.6 m (10.8–11.8 feet) in length. An adult weighs from 800 to 1364 kg (1,760 to 3,000 lb), but sometimes grows up to 1818 kg (4,000 lb), The females are smaller than the males. Two horns on the skull are made of keratin with the larger front horn typically 50 cm long, exceptionally up to 140 cm.

The longest known horn measured nearly 5 feet in length. Sometimes, a third smaller horn may develop. These horns are used for defense, intimidation, and digging up roots and breaking branches during feeding. Skin color depends more on local soil conditions and the rhinoceros’ wallowing behavior than anything else, so many black rhinos are typically not truly black in color. The Black Rhino is much smaller than the White Rhino, and has a long, pointed, and prehensile upper lip, which it uses to grasp leaves and twigs when feeding. White Rhinoceros have square lips used for eating grass. The Black Rhinoceros can also be recognized from the White Rhinoceros by its smaller skull and ears. Black Rhinoceros also do not have a distinguishing shoulder hump like the White Rhinoceros.

Their thick layered skin protects the rhino from thorns and sharp grasses. Their skin harbors many external parasites, such as crabs, which are eaten by oxpeckers and egrets that live with the rhino. They have terrible eyesight, relying more on hearing and smell. They have large ears that rotate much like satellite dishes to detect any sound and a large nose that has an excellent sense of smell to detect predators.

Behaviour
Solitary animals with the exception of coming together to mate, mothers and calves will sometimes congregate in small groups for short periods of time. Males are not as sociable as females, although they will sometimes allow the presence of other rhinos. They are not very territorial and often intersect other rhino territories. Home ranges vary depending on season and the availability of food and water. Generally they have smaller home ranges and larger density in habitats that have plenty of food and water available, and vice versa if resources are not readily available. In the Serengeti home ranges are around 43 to 133 km², while in the Ngorongoro it is between 2.6 to 44 km². Black Rhinos have also been observed to have a certain area they tend to visit and rest frequently called “houses” which are usually on a high ground level.

The Black Rhino has a reputation for being extremely aggressive. They attack out of fear, confusion and panic. Due to their very poor eyesight they will charge if they sense a threat. They have even been observed to charge tree trunks and termite mounds. Black Rhinoceros are not very aggressive towards others of their species, usually only bluffing aggression. Males will fight sometimes by pushing head to head or horn jousting. They usually avoid other males when possible. Females are not aggressive towards each other. Despite their aggression, adult Black Rhinos have no natural predators, outside of an unverified incident of a huge nile crocodile taking down one. Black Rhinoceros follow the same trails as elephants use to get from foraging areas to water holes. They also use smaller trails when they are browsing. They are very fast and can get up to speeds of 35 miles per hour (56kph) running on their toes.

Diet
The Black Rhinoceros is a herbivorous browser that eats leafy plants, branches, shoots, thorny wood bushes and fruit. Their diet helps to reduce the amount of woody plants which results in more grasses growing for the benefit of other animals. Its been known to eat up to 220 different species of plant. It can live up to 5 days without water during drought. Black Rhinos live in primarily grasslands, savannahs and tropical bushland habitats.

They browse for food in the morning and evening. In the hottest part of the day they are most inactive spent resting, sleeping and wallowing in the mud. Wallowing is an essential part of all rhino species lives. It helps cool down their body temperature during the day and protects against parasites. If mud is not available they will resort to wallowing in dust. Drinking water is most commonly done towards the afterhours.

So, what are you waiting for? Book your stay as soon as you can, the Tuningi Team cannot wait to see you.

Until next month, bush greetings.
The Tuningi Team.

PS: Please remember to have a look at our fabulous kids art gallery!.

For enquiries please contact :

reservations@madikwecollection.com

Tuningi Newsletter August 2008

Posted on 1 August 2008 by Focus Online Dev

Greetings to you from all of us at Tuningi!

We are happy to announce that the worst of the cold has disappeared and that most of August as been warm and sunny. Although a bit windy and very dusty out in the bush, the game sightings have been phenomenal this month. The new shoots are just starting to show on most of the thorn trees and green grass is pushing through in the areas where we had to do some fire breaks to prevent run away fires this dry season. We are already dreaming about the first thunderstorm that should take place in September when spring will officially be here. The animals are still coming to the lodge water hole every day for a drink and the odd rub, as there is not much water to be found out in the bush. The elephants have taken it upon themselves to expand our water hole by playing and rolling about in it for hours each day. They have also found that our boma railings are the perfect scratching post to every ones great surprise!

We have fantastic news for you this month!!!

After two years of dreadful, endless paper work, we have finally received gun licenses for the Lodge. This means that we can now take you on adrenalin rushed, highly informative WALKS in the bush. The walks are not necessarily aimed at walking into, or finding the big, dangerous animals out there, but are really geared to give the rangers a chance to show you the smaller, very interesting things around that you can not spot on a drive. They will teach you how to track an animal and how to identify a poisonous plant and how to make a tooth brush in the veld. They will find bird’s nests and eggs, rhino scrubbing posts and teach you about the termite mounds. You will identify pooh and clutches of hair left on a thorny bush. The knowledge they have to share with you is endless! Just be aware that by law children are not allowed to go on the walks in such a dangerous big five area. This is just for the adults. While the grown-ups are on the walk, we will gladly entertain the kids back at the lodge with t-shirt painting, treasure hunts, clay molding and lots more. You will just have to come back now to experience Tuningi from this new, different angle!

More good news is that we have just received the Diners Club PLATINUM award for the Wine list of the Year competition. Last year we won Gold.

What this means is that we have added even more amazing wines to our existing wine list. We now have added more auction wines, some imported wines and even an organic wine. The judging criterion includes content, in the number of wines, original and innovative choices and cultivars sourced from appropriate regions. Balance between modestly and expensively priced wines and between local and imported wines. Suitability, in the matching of the wine with the cuisine. Presentation of the wine list in showing the vintages and regions correctly is also judged and we had to send menus and samples of the type of glasses we use in the dining room.

We are very proud of this achievement and are inviting you to come and join us here at Tuningi for a glass of the best!

Hi!

The last few weeks have again been unbelievable as Madikwe continues to entertain and educate all of us on Africa’s beautiful natural heritage. I could write about the Batia Brothers, the oldest lions in Madikwe, who have been spending an unusual amount of time around Tuningi’s waterhole or the way the environment is starting to raise from the ashes after all the controlled fire breaks we had to do this year but I am going to focus on one specific day. A Big day. A Big 5 day!

7 August 2008 – Five out of Five!!
Just when you think it could not get any better you get an evening like this. Going to try and give you the shortened version…
After having found almost all of the Big Five, Wild Dog and Black Rhino my very lucky guests and I headed out to find the one animal that still eluded us – the spotted cat, Panthera pardus; the leopard! Grant was still taking a few days off and decided to come along to take a few pictures. Looking back now… a very good decision!

The drive started off with us driving into breeding herd of more than thirty elephants. Great sighting as the grey ghosts of the bush walked towards us with the sun playing on their large grey canvases. The majority of them passed behind us as they disappeared quietly into the thick tree line but a few of the young males decided to come and eat right in front of and to the side of our vehicle. Awesome sighting (Probably going to say that quite a few times in this post). Grant got a few images of the young guys dusting themselves. The guests, whom by now had seen a lot of ellies, enjoyed being with the youngsters and watching them up close. This mom gave us a clear warning not too come too close but we were very happy to watch the large animals as they disappeared into thicker bushes. A beautiful scene.

As we moved on we were quite happy to just bumble our way along to the dam where we were hoping to find a large herd of buffalo. We then bumped into the three Sereti brothers. These male lions are around 4 years old and absolutely beautiful. The sun was still a little awkward and sharp but this did not stop us from making the most of the chance to photograph these beautiful animals.

Even happier to slowly make our way to the dam we bumbled along and stopped to watch the millions of Red-Billed Queleas as they continued with their late afternoon ballet in the sky. It is amazing how these little birds don’t bump into each other as they mimic a great cloud of smoke.

We sat for quite a while watching, not knowing what would happen next. As we approached Tlou dam we heard that the Buffalo were leaving the water so we took a little link road that we hoped would take us right to where they were heading. Perfect timing as about 2 minutes later we found ourselves in the middle of a herd of buffalo about 100 strong. Photography was a little bit difficult as by now it was already pitch dark and we were using the spotlight to view the animals all around us. Being part of nature and getting so close is what it is all about. Having the animals look at you, accept you and carry on with their normal activities. Awesome!

So we decided to move towards the water where we bumped into 5 White Rhino as they all milled around the water. They were just as relaxed and again it felt like we were part of their world rather than being observers. Surely this was enough and it was now time to move on. What are the chances of finding the ever elusive leopard and getting a glimpse of this beautiful cat. Apparently our chances were quite good!

A few days ago a rather large male leopard killed a zebra right next to one of the roads. Since then people have been popping into the area every now and then with only the occasional sighting. What we found however blew our minds! We edged towards the kill and there was one of the largest males I have ever seen feeding on his kill.

This was no ordinary leopard sighting as he was extremely relaxed and seemed also to accept us as a part of his world. We all sat in complete awe of the beautiful spectacle that was unfolding right in front of us. Now photography was also quite tricky as we had to contend with the spotlight but we all made the most of it and both Grant and I will hopefully be uploading quite a few more of the images to the Photo-Africa Stock Library soon.

A Big Five Drive. Brilliant! Just when you thought it could not get any better; the fact that all the animals made us feel a part of the African story is what made it really special. I could have turned this into a marathon post, and will remember this day for quite some time to come but for now will leave you with a great quote from Sir Ian Maccallum which is exactly what you feel like after a day like today!

“Welcome home to your wild origins. Learn whatever you can from our animals, our wild coastlines and landscapes and from those who have identified themselves with this continent. Africa can teach you a lot about who you are and your place in the world. But you must come soon, before it’s too late.”

As always I look forward to hearing from you!
Gerry
* * *

Well, is time to say goodbye again. Do not forget to book our special birding week ends coming up in November. We guarantee lots of fun as well as serious ticking in your bird books! Just phone our bookings office to find out more about it.

Until we chat again, keep well and start planning your return trip to Tuningi.

With kindest regards,

The T-team

PS: Please remember to have a look at our fabulous kids art gallery!.

For enquiries please contact :

reservations@madikwecollection.com

Tuningi Newsletter July 2008

Posted on 1 July 2008 by Focus Online Dev

A warm hallo to you all once again!

We have had a fantastic month out here in the wonderful Madikwe Game Reserve.

We all love the bright, warm, sunny Winter days in the middle of the year. The evenings are still extremely chilly but create a great opportunity for our guests to sit in front of the cozy fires in the lodge after game drive and sip on a glass of luxurious South African red wine before going through to dinner and feasting on our chef’s fantastic creations.

Game viewing is at its best this time of the year as the bush is dry and has thinned out and all the animals have to visit the water holes on a daily basis to quench their thirst. The dry and dusty conditions in July also create amazing photographic scenes, especially the dramatic sunsets!

As a new feature in our newsletter, we are introducing some extracts from our ranger’s diaries for you. This month we took a page from Gavin’s diary as was written on the 10th of July. We hope you enjoy it as in this way, you will be able to get a better insight into the thrilling experiences of the rangers out there in the field on a daily basis.

10 July 2008
Last week we experienced one of those unforgettable days in the bush when out on the afternoon safari everything just fell into place….

Firstly, the Diperoro leopardess that has been making her presence known more and more regularly, popped out into the road in front of us, to be greeted by my guests with massive excitement and awe as this majestic cat strutted her stuff in true cat fashion before disappearing into the thick undergrowth.

After the euphoria of sighting one of the most elusive creatures in the Madikwe Reserve, we continued the safari with countless sightings of general game, and a plethora of bird species entertaining us with a splash of color every now and then.

Not long after the leopard sighting, we bumped into the Tshaba Lioness on her own looking intent on finding something to hunt, with a serious glint in her eye which had that “I mean business” look. There were some wildebeest in the area which she pursued and then also vanished into the thickets, only to return a half hour later with all her youngsters greeting her with hopes that she had caught something, but alas, it was not to be…..

Then elephants at Tlou dam, quenching the days thirst with white rhino as the backdrop.

Then a quick visit to one of the Tsholo-Mateya lion. This guy seemed to be badly beaten up in a fight with, we presume, the Batia males, who by now you know are now getting very old, and are feeling the pressure from these younger boys from the south.

This was all happening as the sun was setting, but wait that wasn’t all…..
As we were about halfway through our drinks break, Ryno (one of the other Guides) was approaching us when he suddenly shouted from about 80 meters away “PANGOLIN!!”, and I said, “WHAT !?”….”PANGOLIN!!”. Needless to say I shouted to the guests to get in the vehicle, and the cooler box with snacks and all was in the vehicle in about 3 and ½ seconds flat. The following images, are, unfortunately not the best quality, but this is only the third time in 9 years of my guiding career that I have seen a pangolin. Here is some info on these secretive creatures…..

Near Threatened (IUCN 2.3)[2]

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Pholidota
Family:	Manidae
Genus:	Manis
Species:	M. temminckii

The Ground Pangolin (Manis temminckii), also known as Temminck’s Pangolin or the Cape Pangolin, is one of four species of pangolin which can be found in Africa and the only one in southern and eastern Africa. Although it is present over quite a large area, it is rare throughout it and notoriously difficult to spot. Its scarcity is partly because it is hunted by humans for its scales, which are used in love charms, and partly because it is often burnt in bush fires. The IUCN only lists it as “near threatened” on its Red list. With the exception of the underside, it is covered in extremely hard scales. When threatened, it will usually roll up into a ball to protect the vulnerable belly. The scales on the tail can also be used as blades to slash at attackers.

The Ground Pangolin can grow to a length of about 1 meter, with the tail typically between 30 and 50 cm. It has a disproportionately small head, powerful hind legs, and small forelegs. Like other pangolin species, it is largely nocturnal, although it is also entirely terrestrial and usually found in savanna or open woodland, generally feeding on termites or ants. It is well adapted to this, with a very long (up to 50 cm) sticky tongue which is stored inside a pocket in the mouth until needed. Although it is capable of digging its own burrow, it prefers to occupy disused holes dug by Warthog or Aardvark or to lie in dense vegetation, making it even more difficult to observe. This animal was named by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. Pangolins lack teeth and the ability to chew. Instead, they tear open anthills or termite mounds with their powerful front claws and probe deep into them with their very long tongues. Pangolins have an enormous salivary gland in their chests to lubricate the tongue with sticky, ant-catching saliva.

Cheers for now,
Gavin

Well, it is time to say goodbye again. We are ready for our last month of Winter and expecting Spring in September.

Please do not hesitate to make that phone call and book your life changing holiday at Tuningi. We can’t wait to meet you!

Kindest regards
The T- Team

P.S. Do not forget to check out the kids gallery that has been updated again! We love sharing these works of art with you!!!.

For enquiries please contact :

reservations@madikwecollection.com

Tuningi Newsletter June 2008

Posted on 1 June 2008 by Focus Online Dev

A very warm hallo to all of you once again.

We are now in the middle of our Winter season with freezing cold temperatures in the night. The days , however, are still clear and warm and very comfortable. Although it takes a lot of guts to get up at five thirty in the morning to go out on game drive, it is always worth your while as game viewing is at its best this time of the year. The grass has thinned out a bit and makes it much easier to spot the animals. The bush has now turned from green to gold. Most of the intimidating insects and scary reptiles of summer have disappeared. No flies and moths are bugging us at the lunch and dinner table any more. No ants are patrolling the kitchen door and most snakes and spiders have also gone to bed for the rest of the cold season.

Some of the smaller water holes have dried out by now, which forces the animals to frequent the bigger dams and come to fresh bore hole water at the lodge. We love to drive out to Tlau dam in the afternoons and just sit there and wait for someone to come and drink. Just yesterday we were spoilt by spotting elephants, rhino and buffalo at the dam in quick succession and then, as we were about to leave, to our great excitement, a leopard carefully made his way to the water, right in front of the vehicle!

Seeing a leopard in the wild is always a breathtaking sight. It is just the most beautiful animal on earth and one does not often get the chance to watch them for a long time as they are very aware of the vehicle and usually move away as quickly as possible. When you are sitting dead quietly in a parked vehicle and they approach you, it is awesome and you can consider it one of your lucky days!

We are of course not only interested in the big five and their friends and are always on the lookout for the smaller, interesting creatures as well. The rangers are extremely good at spotting things like little bush babies and even chameleons with their spotlights at night on their way back from the game drive. Sometimes they will bring the chameleon back to the lodge to give the kids a chance to study them better in the day time after which they set them free again.

The flap neck chameleon, as seen in this picture, while awake, resting and unstressed, is usually an emerald green colour. However, this species is renowned for its ability to change colour, varying from almost black when stressed, through to all shades of green, yellow and brown. The body becomes a washed out whitish green or yellow while the animal is asleep, making them easy to find with a spotlight. Most lizards are capable of focusing each of their eyes on a different object simultaneously, but chameleons have mastered this. Each eye can scan almost 180 degrees. They have much more acute vision than humans. They feed on grasshoppers, beetles, flies and butterflies, snaring them with their long, sticky tongue which equals their body in length when fully extended.

Back to the bigger species. We are very sad to announce that we have lost a lot of the highly endangered wild dogs that have been doing so well in our Game Reserve. The lions have killed three of the Collection Pack, which previously consisted of seven dogs, in a huge fight. They also injured the female, who just had her cubs, in such a bad way that all her milk dried up resulting in all of the cubs dying. It is such a huge pity as we were hoping that the pack of seven would now be the pack of seventeen! Unfortunately, the pack now only consists of two healthy dogs and one fighting for her life.

At least the two dogs, luckily one male and one female, are still coping well and catching enough food for themselves without any problems. We will certainly have to intervene once again and try to get some new blood into the reserve soon in order for them to form a full pack again. The good news, on the other hand, is that two groups of lions have added some cubs to their families. The Dipelo female had three babies who are now ten weeks old. They are just too cute and a high priority for our tick list on game drives at the moment.

We have also heard that the Mica pride was spotted with three new born cubs. Unfortunately we do not have pictures of them yet, but will certainly show them to you as soon as we can!.

Just a quick reminder!

November 29 is Birding Day. This is a VERY exciting day for all professional and non professional birders all over the world. Birding day lasts 24 hours and the objective is to see how many species a team of three or four people can positively identify within a 50-kilometre radius. A birder may also tick a bird if he only heard it and could identify it by sound. As you all know by now, we have very highly qualified guides at Tuningi who even know their LBJ’s (little brown jobs) by name. We would really like to put two teams out into Madikwe from Tuningi on Big Birding Day. If you would like to come and join in the fun, phone SA 011 805 9995 and book your place on the team. Make a weekend of it and bring the family along. We would love to meet you all and need your expertise!

We are seeing a lot of the crimson breasted shrikes at the moment., they are any bird lovers dream! The lilac breasted roller may be a common sighting, but still remains one of the most beautiful birds out there.

Remember to pack your Winter gear if you are on your way to us this month! We will warm you up with the wood burning fires at the lodge and a sneaky hot water bottle here and there, but be warned, it is really cold out on game drive! At least there is always hot chocolate available and a port or sherry or two!

Well, we have to say goodbye once again. We hope you have a lovely month of July until we chat again

Kindest regards
The T-team

P.S. We are having trouble with scanning the kids art this month . Instead we are showing you some of our favorite ‘Kids on safari at Tuningi’ photos of the past year.

For enquiries please contact :

reservations@madikwecollection.com

Tuningi Newsletter May 2008

Posted on 1 May 2008 by Focus Online Dev

A warm hello to all of you again!

Although the change of season is not evident in the lushness of the vegetation yet, the crispness in the air in the early morning is a sure sign that winter is upon us. We actually love the winter months, as it means day after day of clear blue skies. The days are always sunny and warm while the temperature drops to almost freezing cold after sun set. This calls for blazing fires awaiting our guests on return from game drive in the evening and lots of hot chocolate for the kids on morning coffee stops. The bush will slowly start thinning out making game viewing easier than usual. The small water holes will also start drying up, forcing the animals to come and drink at the lodge’s water hole more frequently. All in all a wonderful season to visit Tuningi!

To all of us in the tourism industry, the month of May, means ‘Travel Indaba’. Every year during May, South Africa hosts thousands of overseas delegates in Durban and gives all of us a chance to showcase our products and meet tour operators from all over the world. This year, once again, it was confirmed that more and more people than ever are visiting Africa to witness first hand its great bounty. Many, if not most, leave vowing to return again and again, so moved are they by what they see and feel.

Another topic discussed throughout Indaba was conservation. Everyone agreed that there is much to celebrate. Conservation has triumphed on a grand scale in so many places in Africa over the past few years. The greater Table Mountain range, for instance, fringed by the sea and Cape Town’s sprawl, has been incorporated into a national park, supported by a multimillion dollar fund. The Kruger National Park, one of the most famous and most visited national parks in the world, has formed a cross-border partnership with conservation areas in Mozambique. Where else in the modern world can conservation lay claim to a million hectares being added to its assets? Madikwe Game Reserve, one of the newest Reserves in the country, has now established itself so well as a successful conservation area, that we are actually able to supply other reserves with animals. At the moment for instance, we are capturing hyena to trans locate to the new said Kruger- Mozambique Transfrontier park.

One of the first predators to be introduced into Madikwe fourteen years ago, were 8 spotted hyena. These intriguing creatures were captured in Namibia and flown to the reserve in 1994 – possibly the first operation of its kind.

A second clan of 7 adults and 4 cubs from Skukuza in the Kruger National Park; was introduced in 1997. This was done to improve genetic diversity and also to establish rival clans to reconstruct a healthy hyena population. Well, is it not just amazing that we can now return the favor and send some new genes back to Kruger?

As a matter of interest:
Despite their appearance and popular opinion, hyenas are not dogs. They are in fact closer related to cats! As carnivores, the Hyaenidae Family is relatively young – their direct ancestors are civets, a group they diverged from a few million years ago. They obviously evolved to occupy an unfilled niche – that of scavenging remains from kills, and their anatomy was, therefore, moulded for the job. They have powerful jaws and modified teeth for crushing bones to get to the marrow and make pieces swallowable. Their powerful necks and sloping backs are the basis of their powerful leverage system. They can pull chunks and limbs from carcasses and carry heavy pieces for long distances. Although many people think that they are just ugly beasts, they are actually amazing creatures and incredibly interesting to watch.

Talking about sightings during May:
The wild dogs were at it again and caught a huge water buck one early morning. It was once again gruesome to watch them tearing the animal apart, but in the morning cold, the steam was rising from the dead antelope’s belly and created the most awesome photo opportunities. Once again, we were amazed at the speed in which they could rip open and devour such an enormous piece of meat!

We also had lots of wonderful elephant sightings. The one that stands out though, is that of a six month old youngster trying to take a sip of water from the embankment at the water hole. His trunk was just not long enough and the onlookers obviously found this most amusing…

As usual, we were privileged to meet and host many wonderful people at Tuningi during May. Two of our guests have to be mentioned in particular. The Queen of England’s grandson, Peter Phillips got married to Autumn Kelly this month and they chose Tuningi as their honeymoon destination. Needless to say, they were spoilt rotten in true Tuningi fashion, and we wish them a wonderful life together, forever.

Well, time to say good bye again.
We hope that you will have a great month of June and that we will see you all again soon!
Kindest regards
The T-team

P.S. Do not forget to have a look at our beautiful kids art gallery!!

For enquiries please contact :

reservations@madikwecollection.com

Tuningi Newsletter April 2008

Posted on 1 April 2008 by Focus Online Dev

A warm hello to you all once again from all of us here at Tuningi!
We hope that every one has returned safely to their homes after the lovely April holidays.

The reserve is now more gorgeous than we have ever seen. With all the continuous rain we are experiencing, the bush is overwhelmingly green and lush and every possible kind of little wild flower in every possible colour is pushing its way through the dense vegetation. It is as if these flowers have been lying dormant for years, but just have to show themselves to us in these incredible conditions! Looking at this beauty around you, it literally seems as if the earth is laughing with joy!

The flowers are bringing so much joy to all of our visitors and guests , but especially to the little children on their kiddies bumbles. We have to stop every three minutes to pick some new flowers to take back to mommy at the lodge!

The other great advantage of this abundance in flowers is that whilst looking at the little budding wonders, it also draws the attention to the other ‘little’ interesting creatures in the bush. It actually shifts the attention from the big animals to little creatures you can easily oversee or just ignore in your search of the big five and their friends!

In the past couple of months there have been sightings of the most amazing of animals; animals that one would normally only read about or maybe see on a wild life documentary on television. Even though pangolin, aardvark, aardwolf, otters, yellow squirrels and bat eared foxes were declared extinct in Madikwe a few years ago, they seem to just have been hiding very well and have now grown in numbers in such a way that they all have been spotted recently in the Wonderboom node, where we are situated. How privileged we are to play a part in the conservation of such amazing creatures!

Talking about amazing creatures….. April can officially be named ‘the month of the wild dog’. The Dwarsberg pack were spotted almost daily at Tuningi; running up and down the valley, drinking at the water hole, chasing hares and francolins on the ridge or just catching a good old snooze behind the staff village. One evening they even went as far as to chase a kudu right through our camp, snapping the electric fence. As we all know, they are gifted with enormous staying power and once on the track of an animal its living hours are few…. No matter the obstacles! They eventually killed and feasted on the enormous kudu right under the deck next to the swimming pool at the main lodge.

Their method is cruel to the extreme; they feast on the animal while it is still alive, and although it is not always nice to watch, the adrenaline a human feels while watching such frenzy in nature, leaves one speechless.

We often discuss these experiences with our guests once all has calmed down and every one had some time to think about what they have seen. Some people say that they would rather have missed out on the experience while others say that a person comes to the bush to learn about nature in all its beauty and cruelty.

This reminds me of a poem a friend once showed me:
“Tonight
I want to feel the blurred edge
Between good and bad,
To say no to the urge to look away
Or to take sides….
But to give with both eyes.”

On a lighter note.
As usual we found it quite easy to show our guests an abundance of animals during their stay. It is, however still only by pure luck or incredible tracking skills that we occasionally find the beautiful, elusive leopard. We are thus truly happy to announce that we had some guests who saw three different leopards on three different game drives last month. How wonderful! The more we can find these leopards, the more accustomed to will become to the vehicles and the easier it will become to show them to you!

Thanks to our rangers’ almost obsessive passion for the bush which evolved into their passion for photography, we are able to show you all these amazing pictures every month. If you would like to see more amazing photographs which they capture on a daily basis in the bush
Visit their website: www.photo-africa.com

Well, it is time to say goodbye again. Remember, the best time to plan a holiday is as soon as you have returned from one!!! Have a wonderful month of May until we chat again!

Hope to see you soon
Kindest regards
The T-Team.

P.S. Do not forget to have a look at our beautiful kids art gallery!!

For enquiries please contact :

reservations@madikwecollection.com

Tuningi Newsletter March 2008

Posted on 1 March 2008 by Focus Online Dev

Hallo again.
Most of you must still be on holiday, as Easter came early this year.
We love Easter here at Tuningi, because it means that we usually have lots of children around over the long weekend.

This year was no different. Great friendships were formed between children from all over the world. Vast quantities of Easter eggs were hunted down and consumed. The game drives were full of adventure as usual, and the kids were taught things that no school will ever be able to teach them. Between game drives the pools were being used to their full capacity and in between all the swimming, fabulous works of art were being produced. The big five were molded in clay, hundreds of pictures were drawn and coloured-in and everyone had a chance to paint their own T- shirts to take home as a reminder of the wonderful time they had with the T-team.

Easter brought some sunshine, after we had an incredibly wet start to the month! The rain came pouring down in such vast quantities that the roads had to be closed in the Reserve and some game drives had to be cancelled to the huge disappointment of our guests. Between the 11th and 19th of March, we had 255ml of rain. That is 50ml more rain in seven days, than what we have had in the entire last rainfall period, last year. We would obviously only cancel a drive under extreme circumstances and most days we just waited for the downpour to ease up a bit and then still went out on some rather slippery adventures. The most we could do on these days, was to stay on the main road and hope for a lucky sighting.

It is usually when you least expect it, that you come across something amazing. One afternoon, we had to wait for an hour or so after usual game drive time as it would be impossible for the ranger to see where he was going in such a storm. When we went out eventually, we happened upon the wild dogs and watched them play around for a while. Luckily, it stopped raining completely for a few minutes, and we decided to use the opportunity to stop somewhere for some sundowners.( Not that we could actually see the sun going down!) While we were all standing around, having a drink, the wild dogs, whom we had left earlier, suddenly appeared from nowhere and caught an impala right in front of our eyes! We threw all the picnic gear into the car, jumped in, drove over the cool box in all the excitement to get even closer, and watched how they devoured the whole impala in less than seven minutes. While driving around and following the dogs, usually almost impossible to see a kill, because of the tremendous pace they reach in pursuit of their kill. We were merely at the right place at the right time.

The very next afternoon, after even more rain, we made our way to the airstrip where we knew the famous Batia brothers (the two oldest male lions in the park) and the Dipello female with her cubs had eaten a Wildebeest in the morning. When we arrived on the scene, they were all just lazing about and with lack of roads to travel on, we switched off the car and just sat and watched them for a while. We suddenly realized that the lion’s were slowly starting to spread out and as we looked behind us, we saw a whole bunch of wildebeest moving towards us and the lions. We saw the whole pride circling around the wildebeest and going down in stalking mode, the young ones, too…. In a few seconds, one of the wildebeest was dead in the claws of the old lion! Wow, Two kills in two afternoons!

With the lion pride being still well fed since the morning, they used this kill as the perfect opportunity to teach the young ones how to grab with the paws, get stuck on the muzzle, suffocate the prey and then hold on until it is dead. In front of our very eyes we saw each cub taking a turn to perfect the procedure.

These are just two of the awesome sightings we experience in the bush every day. It is impossible to truly describe any of these in words. You have to experience these things with all of your senses. The smells, the sounds, the sights and the emotions felt in these moments, has resulted in many a person falling totally and unashamedly in love with Africa!

On a completely different note…
Madikwe is fast becoming famous as one of the New South Africa’s success stories in the area of upliftment and poverty eradication. The Madikwe model instructs that people must be placed at the centre of any conservation initiative, in order for conservation to really work.

We already have two lodges in our Collection belonging to their own communities, while most of the other lodges (Including Tuningi) are employing more than 80 percent of their staff from communities just outside the park.

We as a Lodge, have decided that employment is not enough, and have decided, with the help of our friend, Hilary Wylie, to adopt the pre-primary school in Supingstad and its upliftment, as our personal project. This is the village where most of our staff live. We are in the process of starting a fund for them and for the time being are visiting them once a month, delivering educational toys, books, balloons, crayons, t-shirts and anything that has been donated to them by our generous guests. It is the most heart warming experience to see the joy on these little kids faces when we visit them!!

Next time you come and visit us, please remember these kids and pack a couple of coloring books or soccer balls or anything small enough to fit into your suitcase to add to these donations! It is amazing how good it will make you feel!

As usual, we can go on and on, but we will rather keep some stories for the next time!
We hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays and that we meet again soon!

Kindest regards and all the best to you until we chat again.
The T-team.

P.S. Do not forget to have a look at our beautiful kids art gallery!!

For enquiries please contact :

reservations@madikwecollection.com

Tuningi Newsletter February 2008

Posted on 1 February 2008 by Focus Online Dev

Hallo again from all of us,

We hope that you had a fabulous month of love, and that you were spoilt rotten on Valentine’s Day!

Here at Tuningi, love was in the air, red roses everywhere, and far too much champagne and chocolates were consumed on the fourteenth….

This month, we have decided to let someone else do the talking for a change. One of our favorite guests of all times has booked in to Tuningi for the whole of February. This is the second year in a row that she has done this. She was joined by several different friends from all over the world throughout the month and obviously had a great time. She never missed one game drive in twenty nine days and kept a journal to remind herself later of all the wonderful things that she saw and experienced here with us. With her permission, we have decided to publish two pages of this journal as our newsletter for February for all of you to read. We are also including some of the photo’s taken on these two days. We hope that this will enlighten you and entice you to come to Tuningi and share in experiences like these.

FROM HILARY WYLIE’S JOURNAL

9 February 2008 ( am drive)
Started the drive with a early sighting of five male Eland, lots of zebras and wildebeest and then the Batia brothers( two old male lions) and the Dipelo female with cubs who have joined up. They are looking very hungry and for sure would try and kill today. They had a rushed attempt, albeit a half hearted one at catching a zebra and then we followed them through the bush and onto the road for the next hour. They had a near encounter with a wildebeest – don’t know who was the most surprised to see the other, and then led us back to the lodge where we had a ring side seat of them at the swimming pool ‘water hole’ and resting on the ridge. WOW!

10 February( am drive)
A quiet start to the drive, but saw a black mamba and African wild cat. A big herd of elephant were making their way from Tlou dam to Tholo dam where we also saw six Red Hartebeest, warthogs, impala, zebra and a Tsesebe mother with calf, pronking about- so cute. Felt sure the previously sighted leopard was still in the area, but sadly not. Then had two fabulous sightings of buffalo, both large herds and not as skittish as previously.

10 February 2008 ( pm drive)
We heard the two big lions ( Batia brothers) roaring as we went out on game drive, so hoped to see them later! Saw Hartebeest, Kori Bustard, a Lapped faced vulture in it’s nest, then drove cross country to meet up with a couple of bull elephants. Two black backed jackal, a steenbok and then the BIG ONE! Black Rhino at last – my first sighting ever of black rhino in the wild. So excited!!!! On our way back to the Lodge, diverted to see the Mica pride – 2 male and two female lions on a zebra kill. A bit of a squabble went on over ‘the lion’s share’ literally.

Back to Lodge for supper.
As we came back to Little Tuningi from main lodge after supper found a small herd of elephant draining the overflow at the Little Tuningi swimming pool. What a special sighting- especially in the moon light!!

11 February 2008 (am drive)
Little did we know what an ‘exciting sighting’ day this was going to be, when it started off by being charged by a matriarch elephant, two minutes down the drive from the lodge! It was a “hairy moment”, but dealt with so professionally, as always, by Grant. We hoped that that would be the only adrenaline rush for the day! Saw male Kudu, 3 white rhino, black backed jackal, dung beetle complete with wife, the four Mica lions again resting at the water hole and lots of giraffes. We had a fab sighting of a brown hyena on our way to see even more lions ( Tschaba female and her cubs) drinking at the water hole near Tau Lodge. On our way home to the lodge found huge herds of zebra with foals, impala and wildebeest with young.

(pm drive)
On our way out saw lots of Red Hartebeest, warthogs and giraffes, then found the Collection pack of wild dogs! – 16 in all- resting. After sundowners at Phakalane pan with tsesebe and impala, heard that the dogs were hunting. Got to them just after the kill. They had brought down an adult female impala. 10 minutes later there was nothing left of the animal but the odd bit of bone and skin. Stayed with them for half an hour. Can’t believe how they gorge themselves, digest and start all over again so quickly!. Just about 5 minutes away from the lodge and supper, had a report that the Bartia bro’s were on their way to meet up with the Dipelo female and cubs. Had to go and see! The female and cubs had killed a young wildebeest and while the big boys were on their way, calling to them all the time, the young male was eating as much as possible. Boy, do those Bartia brothers do an awesome roar!! When they met up, young male tried to fend off Dad and Uncle from the kill, but they were also well fed anyway, so it was just a lot of noise, but still great to see him sticking up for himself! What a fabulous day this has been…

Well, that was just three days of excitement at Tuningi as described by a foreign guest who has totally and unashamedly fallen in love with Africa and its wild and unspoilt beauty.

Remember that you too, can come to visit Tuningi and share in all this adventure. If all the excitement on the game drives sound a bit tiring to you, you can obviously just come and rest at the lodge, have a massage, drink sundowners at the pool, read your book and wait for the animals to come to you! We can assure you that you will be treated like a queen!

Do not hesitate! Make that booking today! We can guarantee that it will be one of your most unforgettable holidays, ever!!

Cheers, until next month when we speak or hopefully meet again.

With kindest regards
The T-team.

For enquiries please contact :

reservations@madikwecollection.com

Tuningi Newsletter January 2008

Posted on 1 January 2008 by Focus Online Dev

Hi there to all of you again,

It is the end of January and all our New Years resolutions have already turned into a distant memory! We have all started indulging in all that is healthy as well as ‘not so healthy’ with a vengeance again. With cuisine being one of our most important features at Tuningi, we have been lucky enough to find another super talented chef to join our ranks. As foodies, we are obliged to try more interesting, different and deliciously modern recipes all the time and those of us with more adventurous palettes are having a ball trying out all of these new flavours. We are, as always, cooking true South African cuisine in its most exquisite form.

During the month of January we have had more than half of our yearly expected rainfall. 263 ml to be precise! This has brought out some strange and wonderfully surprising plants and fungus pushing through the drenched earth. The most wonderful find for this month, however, is definitely the gigantic Batswana mushroom. This mushroom only occurs after extremely heavy rainfall and grows in termite mounds. It is non poisonous and tastes absolutely fabulous fried in garlic butter and a little bit of cream. Although we have started hoping to see the sun after a whole week of rain, we would also have loved to find a couple more of these incredible specimens to fry up!

Luckily, the Tuningi experience is not just about being in the luxury of the lodge surroundings all day and floating from one meal to the next. Adventure awaits on the two game drives our guests get spoilt with every day. As you have already noticed, the rainy season is known for its abundance and babies are being born left, right and centre. We found the most adorable black rhino baby with its mother the other day, and as they have been on the ‘most endangered’ list for years, this is especially exciting to see.

We also found a proud white rhino showing off her new baby at Boscia pan. Just too adorable! For those of you that have not been educated by our highly knowledgeable guides, yet: The white and black rhino are both grey in color. The difference is that the white rhino has a wide mouth and the black rhino has a pointed, curly upper lip. The white rhino is a grazer who eats grass with its flat lips and the black rhino prefer to eat leaves from trees with its curly upper lip. The white rhino’s baby usually runs in front of her mother when in danger, while the black rhino’s baby usually follows behind.

The high rainfall caused much excitement amongst the elephant babies. The dams are all full to the brim, and elephants just love to play in the water. We have been lucky enough to watch the babies play for hours at a time. They literally play with each other like naughty children and you can clearly see the excitement on their cute faces as they splash around and push each other in and out of the water.

Last, but not the least! Last week, as we came around a corner, we stumbled upon a huge fight between two of our lion prides in Madikwe. When the reserve was established hundreds of antelope and other plains game was first introduced. Once we were sure that there was enough food for the predators to catch and eat, we introduced 11 lions in 1995. In 1997 one more was introduced and nowadays we have around 55 healthy lions. These lions move around in family prides and all have certain territories they defend. These territories however, sometimes slightly overlap and at other times, the prides take chances to enter the enemy grounds when they smell a kill and think that they can maybe get lucky and score a bite or two. This is exactly what we think happened when the Mica pride of six, and the Dipelo pride of four met right in front of our eyes. The two oldest females of each pride took each other on in an awesome display of power. The bulging muscles and the deep growling sounds stunned us all into silence. After what felt like an hour, but was actually only a few minutes, the two groups decided to rather run off in opposite directions than sustain unnecessary injuries that can maybe prevent them from hunting successfully in the future. Needless to say, the adventure was relived in detail that night around the boma fire back in the safety of the lodge!

Well, with Christmas and New Year behind us, for those of us that still require a special event to move us to adventure, there is Valentines Day and Easter around the corner! For the rest of you, simply check your diary, choose a week to take some time off to spoil yourself and your family, pick up the phone, and make that booking!

We just can’t wait to see you again!

With kindest regards
The T-team.

For enquiries please contact :

reservations@madikwecollection.com

Tuningi Newsletter December 2007

Posted on 1 December 2007 by Focus Online Dev

Festive greetings to all of you!

We hope that you had a fabulous Christmas day and a fun filled New Years party and a wonderful holiday spent with all your loved ones!

We at Tuningi had a very busy and most exciting month. We were fully booked with mostly families and lots of children everywhere. Great friendships were formed and we are sure most of the guests and their kids are going to keep in contact with all the other people from all over the world that they have met here at the lodge.

We went out of our way to educate and stimulate our younger guests, as usual. Kiddies drives were the order of the day with feather collecting, identifying of tracks, dung spitting competitions, finding eggs in nests and lots more…..

Back at the lodge we were creating works of art out of play dough, reading books, building puzzles, painting t-shirts and swimming in the pool for hours.

The grown-ups, on the other hand, had just as much fun on game drives as well as back at the lodge.

A couple of masked weavers chose the trees with overhanging branches next to the main lodge swimming pool as the ideal spot for their nesting frenzy. We were entertained for hours by the weavers that were all frantically busy building nests for their fussy wives in time to lay their precious eggs. It was a hive of activity all day long as these guys were flying up and down collecting building material and then bringing it back and skillfully weaving a home for their offspring. After securing the initial attachment to a suitable branch, the weaver builds the ring- the foundation of the nest. Next, the roof is woven over the top ring, followed by the bulbous egg chamber. The ante-chamber, which serves as the foyer of the home, and the entrance to the nest are then completed, followed by the entrance tunnel. Once the female has critically inspected the male’s handiwork, she either gives her approval or tears down the nest and makes him start all over again!! If approved, she then adds the finishing touches by providing a layer of soft, thick lining to the egg chamber. Lying in the sun next to the swimming pool watching the birds work so hard is truly a humbling experience.

You can see how the young bird’s first attempts at nest building is a little bit more unskilled than the others and then how they become more skilled in choosing the right materials and perfecting their weaving technique. The more the female breaks down the nest, the better these males become in their weaving and knot tying abilities. Practice makes perfect!

Out there in the bush, babies rule. The babies Impalas finally dropped in the first week of December and are just the most gorgeous creatures on earth. Baby zebras, wildebeest and hartebeest can also to be seen all over the place. The predators are all in perfect condition as they can catch these little babies easily for a little snack whenever they feel like it. New born baby Impalas are even small enough for birds of prey to catch and eat!

Lots of interesting things happened out in the bush this month.
Firstly a huge white rhino was trampled to death by a very aggressive elephant bull in musk. The elephant did not feel like sharing his watering spot at Tlau dam with the rhino and a deathly fight erupted. Tshaba, the lioness and her offspring found the dead rhino first and obviously could not believe their luck in finding so much meat without having to kill it themselves. They feasted on the enormous carcass for days and then made way for all the other scavengers to finish off the job and get rid of the awful smell.

The two Bartia brothers, who are the oldest and biggest lions in the park also surprised us with their enormous display of strength. We were all beginning to worry about their hunting skills as they are really getting old now with the hair falling out and not having all their teeth intact anymore, but they showed us exactly what they are all about by bringing down a huge zebra on their own, and carrying it around as if it did not weigh in at at least 250kg!

Unfortunately we have some bad news as well.
The two wild dog packs in the reserve that were doing so well, finally bumped into each other this month and as instinct got the better of them they had to fight for their territory and genes, resulting in four mortalities. Two dogs of each pack were viciously killed leaving us with a pack of six and one of sixteen at the moment. Luckily it is almost denning season for the wild dog so we are hoping for lots and lots of healthy babies in a couple of months!

Wow….. Although we do not always understand it, Nature can be very cruel but fortunately always gets the balance right in the end.

Best to book your holiday at Tuningi soon if you want to come and share in the season of plenty. It truly is a special place.

Until next month.
Hope to see you soon.
Kindest regards
The T-team.

For enquiries please contact :

reservations@madikwecollection.com

Tuningi Newsletter November 2007

Posted on 1 November 2007 by Focus Online Dev

Warmest greetings to all of you once again,

We can not believe that it is already time to start scratching around for Christmas decorations. The up side of this is that most people are going on holiday shortly! We can not wait to see those of you whom are coming here to Tuningi. You are definitely going to experience the holiday of a lifetime.

Well, next month we will be telling you all about the December holiday season, but for now more about what happens here at Tuningi in the month of November.

It occurred to us that every seemingly insignificant little bush, shrub and weed have turned into beautiful works of art. They have all suddenly come into bloom and are donning the most beautiful summer colors after the good rains we have had. To further enhance the beauty of it all, gorgeous moths, butterflies and insects are fluttering around the flowers in a frenzy all day long. If you take the time to stop in the middle of the bush this time of the year to sit quietly and look around you, you will discover this most beautiful display of colour. Sometimes, it is possible to count more than six different little flowers in just one spot!

Talking about flowers…. This month we had the privilege of hosting a real live flower straight from Hollywood. The famous movie star, Kate Hudson came to the Reserve to star in a shampoo advert. She is a true, natural beauty. Although it was very hard work to get the crew, the stars and the animals ( wild, as well as tame) all to work together and be at the correct spots at the correct times, we all had lots of fun and are sure that it was highly successful.

Because of the abundance in food and water at the moment, the animals in the reserve are all in mint condition. All the antelope seem to be fat and healthy and their coats shine in the summer sun. Temperatures are rising in the middle of the day and this time of the year you would find the most unusual gathering of animals in the shade of the big trees, all trying to escape the heat. A huge bull elephant could be standing quietly taking a nap under the same tree as a couple of warthogs scratching around for a midday snack. A little bit higher up, a couple of monkeys could be sitting peacefully getting rid of each others fleas, while some squirrels could be running up and down the tree trunk going about their business. The Lodge inhabitants will of course all be lying around the pool soaking up the sun rays at this time of the year.

Last week we had a close encounter with exactly one such huge male elephant at the Lodge boma. This elephant had just broken his tusk in a fight with another male. The blood was pouring from the base of his tusk and he was obviously in severe pain. He kept scratching the painful side of his face on our boma railing, and in so doing left a blood trail and damaged some of the wood work. Elephants at around the age of thirty become dominant males through years of battling with other males for the right to spread their genes. Only the strongest males will be able to sire young. They often break tusks in these vigorous fights but luckily tend to learn quickly how to get on through life with only one and a half a tusk or sometimes just one tusk.

Game drives are extremely exciting at the moment as they often drive straight into a spectacular thunder storm. The raincoats are always handy and after the storm the guides get to show off their 4 x 4 driving skills. While skidding around in the mud, you may bump into some of the big cats. They do not enjoy this wet time of the year and tend to keep to the open roads until the shrubs have dried out again. These thunder clouds create the most awesome photo opportunities and often keep our guests clicking away for hours.

As usual, lots of wonderful children came to visit again. All of us at Tuningi thoroughly enjoy the company of kids. Although we go all out to teach them about conservation and bush ethics, they usually are extremely perceptive and often we are the ones who learn from them! Their untainted, carefree and innocent honesty brightens up the Lodge and many a game drive.

As you know by now, absolutely everybody is welcome at Tuningi. We love to host the romantically inclined honeymoon couples, the avid birders, the tired city slickers, the adventurous children, the exciting family gatherings and all other possible holiday makers from all over the world! Remember to keep us in mind when you start planning your next holiday. We want to show you true hospitality!

We really hope that you will have a wonderful festive season and that we will see you again in the near future.

Kindest regards
The gracious T-team

For enquiries please contact :

reservations@madikwecollection.com