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News from Zululand
The season changed over just a couple of days. Normally you would think there would be a process, spanning a few weeks… some hot, some cold days and then full blown winter. This year it felt as though we woke up one morning to discover Jack Frost was visiting the Bushveld. And how beautiful it is! The peace and quite, the crystal clear night skies and those breathtaking sunrises! We have thoroughly appreciated the 140mm of rain which Leopard Mountain received in the past few weeks. The Bushveld is lush and green, the animals fat and ready for the cold, and the Tocamaria flower’s bloom coming to a slow close after an electrifying, orange display. There have been numerous sightings of Leopard on the Eastern section of the Zululand Rhino Reserve. Sightings of Aardvark and honey badger, a brand new baby giraffe as well as a sighting of 28 giraffe together in one herd, which has to be one of the largest sightings of giraffe we have had on the Zululand Rhino Reserve.
The baboons, which were released a few months ago, have been seen fairly regularly and appear to have settled in remarkably well. The group of 8 roost at the same spot every night but forage far and wide for food. It is so lovely to have a positive update on how well they have rehabilitated.
Bush Cuisine
Custard Tea Biscuits
200g Butter
½ cup Icing Sugar
½ cup Custard Powder
1 ½ cups Cake Flour
5ml Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
Method
Melt butter in a saucepan large enough to mix all the ingredients
Remove from the heat and add icing sugar, mixing well
Sift custard powder, flour, baking powder and salt into the saucepan
Mix well to combine
Roll tablespoonfuls of mixture into balls and place on greased oven tray
Bake at 190 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Makes 20, melt in your mouth biscuits!
Keep it Green!
Keep It Green
"It takes a noble man to plant a seed for a tree that will some day give shade to people he may never meet."
- David Trueblood
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle….Simple Steps!
Part 2: Reuse
This brings new meaning to the phrase, ‘One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.’ We live in a world where new things are being invented or items are being upgraded all the time. Newer, better and faster. Things are sold to us by stating just how amazing, special and ‘once in a lifetime’ these opportunities are, even though we might have survived quite successfully and unperturbed on the items we already have for a long time to come. The next best idea is to reuse those items which we do have, perhaps by some of the following means:
Donating old clothes, furniture, sports equipment, magazines, appliances and other products to charity.
Old equipment to needy organisations or schools and even glasses to the local Lions Club.
Be creative about how to reuse products. i.e. Arts and crafts with the kids using empty toilet roll, Styrofoam containers, etc.
Buying or selling books to second hand book stores or libraries.
Cell phones and ink cartridges to Cure Recycling – the postage is free and profits go to the CURE Childhood Cancer organization
Buy/ Sell used items; Cash Converters or internet sites such as Ebay, Craiglist, Recycler’s World
News from our Tracker
The beginning of winter has brought some interesting sightings and often in the late evening the staff sit down together with a good cup of coffee and various sightings and stories are shared. Coming back onto the reserve a couple of weeks ago Rudolph was lucky enough to see a leopard crossing the district road. Ernst, working for the security on the reserve, came across a bull elephant on one of his drives which surprised him by rearing up on it’s back legs before coming at him in a full on charge. Needless to say there ensued some expert reversing on Ernst’s behalf to replace the distance between this massive creature and himself! Nicky also had an interesting experience with a much more docile elephant bull who came meandering down the road towards departing guests, Nicky with a car full of staff and the delivery van for one of the companies which deliver groceries to the lodge. The delivery van had such a start that they promptly turned around and flew back to the lodge to wait it out. The elephant however, just slowly moved on past Nicky and the guests and made its way further down the road. Upon Nicky’s return to the lodge she discovered the same elephant had pushed a massive tree across the road and proceeded to try and tow the tree out of the road as the game drives were on its way towards them. Unable to budge the tree Nicky took to hacking at the branches when the delivery van pulled up once again and frantically started helping her saying ‘The elephant is coming, the elephant is coming!’ The race was on and only moments after the road had been cleared the elephant followed by two game drives came wondering back down the road. So this is for all the fearless women who every now and then prove that they too can save the day! Other interesting sightings were of a group of 4 white rhino, as well as a sighting by guests of a black rhino and serval.
Peregrine Falcon
There are Peregrine Falcon nesting in the massive cliffs which can be seen from the river bed, where our game drives often stop for sundowners. The upper part of this particular falcon is a dark bluish grey and the under part are white barred blackish (excluding the throat and chin). Its stocky build, pointed wings and short tail make it possible for the Peregrine Falcon to be one of the fastest flying birds. It as been recorded stooping at speeds of more than 200 kilometers per hour. Although they prefer keeping to gorges and cliffs they can sometimes be seen in cities or over grasslands whilst searching for prey such as small rodents, etc.
The Red Ivory Tree (Berchemia zeyheri)
The Zulu name for this tree is ‘umNcaka’ and this is what the twins on the farm affectionately call their favorite treat from the bush. The Red Ivory grows singly in dense groups of other trees in riverine forests. The grey-brown trunk grows straight, with spreading branches which, during the months between January and April, are dotted with small, deep-red berries. The berries are edible and quite sweet, a great favorite amongst monkeys, baboons and various bird species. In years gone past, only the Zulu kings were allowed to use the wood for walking and fighting sticks. The wood is good for furniture and sought after for carving, mainly ornamental work. The bark was used for dye to provide fabrics with a light purple colour and roots, dried and crushed, were smoked to alleviate head aches.
Funny Bones
What do you call a donkey with one leg?
A wonky donkey
What do you call a donkey with one leg and one eye?
A winky wonky donkey
What do you call a donkey with one leg and one eye makin’ love?
A bonky winky wonky donkey
What do you call a donkey with one leg and one eye makin’ love while breaking wind?
A stinky bonky winky wonky donkey
What do you call a donkey with one leg and one eye makin’ love while breaking wind, wearing blue suede shoes?
A honky tonky stinky bonky winky wonky donkey
What do you call a donkey with one leg and one eye makin’ love while breaking wind, wearing blue suede shoes and playing piano?
A plinky plonky honky tonky stinky bonky winky wonky donkey
What do you call a donkey with one leg and one eye makin’ love while breaking wind, wearing blue suede shoes, playing piano and driving a Land cruiser?
BLOOMIN’ TALENTED
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Feel free to drop us an email with your favorite jokes to add into future newsletters. You can send them to
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Brain Teaser
Thank you to everyone who responded to our March competition! The winner of our Leopard Mountain competition for March is Caryl Forbes! Congratulations - you have won yourself and a partner a free night at the lodge including dinner, bed & breakfast as well as game drives!
Last Month’s competition was:
My long legs and neck, keep me high above the rest
I nibble on rocks, lots of nutrients to digest
An egg over easy, could feed you many days
My beautiful feathers give a great display
I can dust off your shelves and give a good kick
I don’t live in trees, the ground I pick
What am I?
An Ostrich!
.........You could be the lucky person to win yourself and a partner a free night including dinner, bed & breakfast and game drives at the lodge. Simply answer the riddle below to be entered in our lucky draw and email us the answer to
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(competition closes 20th May 2008 & conditions apply):
This week’s competition:
Move over Big 5, I’m one of the small!
Serious armor plating, only centimeters tall
One of the strongest creatures, lifting 3 times my own weight
If you ever pick on me I have the tool to retaliate
I get my name from something bigger….with something just the same as mine
Which I use for a little digging and to keep competitors in line
I’ve met you once before… just a few months ago
So there really is no excuse for you not to know…who am I?
News from the Lodge
The count down has begun for Rudolph and Estelle’s wedding! Time seems to have flown this year and it is hard to believe that something which we have been talking about and discussing since the beginning of the year when they decided on a date for their wedding, is now merely a month away. The big day is the 24th May and the two are remarkably calm as always! We wish them all the best and a warm, sunny day in the midst of a chilly Joburg winter. We are sure it will be beautiful…. And will try and sneak a photo into the next Leopard’s Tail for all of you to see!
We are so pleased to welcome Precious and Musa onto our staff. Precious has taken over the assistant Chef position from Octavia, and Musa the Head Chef position. They make such a great team and meet with rave reviews from all the guests…and the staff when we happen to find a bowl full of chocolate mousse in the fridge which just has to be ‘sampled’ of course! We look forward to working with you guys for a long time to come.
For those of you that have requested updates on Nicky and Wayne’s twin boys, Matthew and Thomas, they are still so incredibly cute and have grown into adorable little guys dressed in camo, Spiderman T-shirts, and wide brimmed veld hats (which are way too big!)…. Quite a fashion statement! They turn 5 in July and humour us with their grueling, busy days in Grade 00 at Hluhluwe Private School when they get back in the afternoons.
We have a new gallery up on our website - have a look at it here!
Best guest comments of the month:
Easily the most amazing holiday we’ve ever had. Thanks to all you guys for making it all such a brilliant experience. This place is truly awesome. A massive thank you.
We haven’t the words to describe how you made our 5th anniversary so memorable. Truly special place in our hearts and this is all thanks to the wonderful staff who make this ‘little heaven’ so relaxed. Thank you for everything and we will be back. Huge love, hugs and peace be with you all.
Thanks so much for making it a special occasion for us. Nikki was brilliant at organizing our ‘surprise’ engagement. We will always remember this place and hopefully come back soon to visit.
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