October 2008

Greetings from a hot and sunny Zululand... With the days getting longer and the sun turning brighter comes along all the special creatures that have been hiding away during the winter months. Not only snakes, but also tortoises have been seen quite often, some of the tortoises even making their way down the footpaths of Leopard Mountain Game Lodge.

A sighting of a 4 meter long African Rock Python was reported on Zululand Rhino Reserve only a couple of days ago, what a spectacular find.

This month, I would also like to share with you the story of beer drinking within the Zulu Culture...

Before guests are invited to drink sorghum beer, the hostess will perform certain actions that are normally hardly noticed. The ritual is always started by the woman who brewed the beer. She skims the froth off with a spoon-like sieve made of grass and pours it beside the football size clay pot (uKhamba). This is the offering for the spirits who always drink first.
The contents are stirred with a small brush made of strong reeds to loosen the particles. Then a small hollowed gourd (iNkheswa) is filled and she demonstratively drinks in front of her husband and guests to prove that the beer can be consumed without any worry. (In former times one simply invited the enemy for a reconciliation festivity and then poisoned them.) It is then the host who drinks first to check the quality.
Only once he is satisfied, are his guests served, in order of status, men first, then women and children last. All present, drink either directly from the clay pot or use a communal hollowed gourd which can easily hold half a litre or more. One holds the gourd with the right hand and places the grass lid under the chin with the left hand. It is considered bad manners to drink while standing and men take off their head covers.

Everybody takes a long drink, as it takes quite some time for the communal calabash to make its round. As long as the emptied gourd is handed back with the opening pointing upwards it shall be filled again. A gourd returned with the opening upside down indicates "the mouth is closed", having had enough.
The beer pot is covered with a grass cap (Mbenge) shaped like a soup plate, to prevent dust getting in. With this cap, host and guest communicate without uttering a word. If the guest places the cap on the pot pointing upwards he indicates to the hostess that the pot is empty and he would like to have it refilled. However, if the host places the cap in this way on the pot it signals the end of the beer ceremony, and nothing more is offered to drink. In this simple way the Zulu people end their festivities, and somebody who dares to help himself would be dealt with quite severely.

(Derived from: Zulu – People from Heaven)

Bush Cuisine

Celery and Blue Cheese Soup

325g Celery
15ml Lemon Juice
25g butter
1 Potato, peeled & chopped
1 small onion, peeled & chopped
600ml vegetable stock
75g Blue Cheese, crumbled
75ml cream
2 rashers bacon, crisp fried for garnish.

Method

Peel the celery and cut into 1cm cubes. Place in a bowl of water with the lemon juice, to prevent discolouration.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and add the potato and onion and sauté gently for 3-4 minutes. Drain the celery and add to the pan. Cook for a further 5 minutes.

Add the stock and simmer gently for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Blue cheese and cream.

Allow to cool slightly then blend in the Liquidiser at low speed, until the soup is smooth. Transfer to a cleaned saucepan and season to taste. Reheat gently, but do not boil.

Have you ever wondered....?

How many neck (cervical) vertebrae do giraffe have?

As with most other mammals, giraffe also have seven neck vertebrae. They are, however, a lot longer than the rest of the vertebrae, resulting in an illusion that there are more.

The point where the last vertebra articulates with the skull (the atlas/axis) is modified to allow the head to move straight up to the vertical position. This is uncommon in other mammals. This adaptation allows giraffe to utilize even more of the uppermost strata of trees.

Why do young giraffe not hurt themselves when being dropped at birth?

Accidents can happen, and some young may indeed be injured at birth in the fall of about 2 meters from the uterus to the ground.

The female will bend her knees slightly to lessen the fall, but it is still high enough to cause the umbilical cord to snap. As with other ungulates (hoofed animals), young giraffe are born with the neck folded down along the body, so that the feet emerge first, shortly followed by the head. The young are so large, weighing up to 100kg, and their legs so long that the fall is not as large as it seems. The slight "thump" upon hitting the ground actually helps to kick start the lungs.

Do giraffe lie down?

Yes, giraffe get up and down in the same way as antelope. Young giraffe actually spend quite a bit of time lying down during their first few nights and a lot during the day, awaiting the return of their mother to suckle them.

Giraffe sleep for a few minutes at a time, the neck is folded down and the head placed on the rump. Otherwise the neck is usually up, but may be lowered when the animal is alarmed or wishes to avoid detection by predators.
Getting up and down takes a few seconds, and they are vulnerable if caught lying down.

They do not voluntarily lie down flat as this could result in the stomach contents, which are forced to the mouth during rumination, being ingested into the lungs. They are however capable of getting up from this position

In the normal lying position, they rest slightly to one side on the brisket, as in other ruminants, to prevent the ingestion problem and make rumination easier.

News from our Rangers

While we all still in great anticipation for some descent rain at the lodge, Leopard Mountain is very much alive and crawling.

Sightings have been good and varying – elephants have been seen fairly often and a leopard is rumored to have been spotted next to the staff quarters. Giraffe are also satisfyingly browsing on the new green foliage of the some Knob Thorn Acacia's.

Migrating season brings some wonderful new feathered friends, including recently seen Klaas's Cuckoo, African Pygmy Kingfisher & Broadbilled Rollers. Other sightings have included the beautiful Narina Trogon and the very rare Pink Throated Twinspot.

There are many young Nyala around, some still a bit unsteady on their feet. This time of year is so special, as many Impala females are already characteristically pregnant, while males are sparring and chasing around reluctant females. Young Zebra are also a very welcome addition to the Reserve.

Slender Mongoose
Galerella Sanguinea
Subfamily – Herpestnae

This fluffy mammal is small, with short legs and a long, low-slung, sinuous body. They are predominantly diurnal (active during the day), but often come out at night as well to get their share of flying termites, and has a wide habitat tolerance. Their colour is very variable, in general ranging from grizzled greyish to yellow to red brown, and some individuals even almost black. The ears are small and set low on the sides of the head. The tail is long with short hair, except at the tip which is characteristically black. They have five toes on each foot, with short curved claws. Their diet consists mainly of insects, and also scorpions, centipedes, wild fruits, lizards, rodents, frogs & snakes.

Red Leaved Rock Fig
Ficus Ingens (55)

The Red Leaved Rock Fig grows individually; it is easy to find in rocky areas or growing over large boulders in all eco zones. It can also be found on the edges of rivers and streams, and in thick woodlands.
This tree's branch spreads low down and widely, to form a semi-circular canopy. The trees stand out clearly among the other vegetation in spring, when there is a spectacular flush of wine-red to coppery leaves. All parts of the tree contain some milky latex.

The small figs are smooth or slightly hairy, and are dull red to coppery when ripe (June to December). As in all figs, the flowers are not visible as they grow inside the fruit. The figs have a very short stalk, and grow in the angles formed by the leaves.
The bark is shiny, grey-brown and smooth, often dented and grooved.
The fruit is edible. An extraction of the bark was used to treat anaemia, and the milky latex as a disinfectant and astringent. Cows with a low milk yield were also treated with an extraction of the bark. Mature leaves are seldom eaten, but young leaves turning green are favoured by the Grey Duiker, Kudu and Nyala. Ripe fruits are eaten by Monkeys, Baboons, Bush babies and a wide variety of fruit eating birds. The fruits that have fallen down can be eaten by the Bush pig and Warthog.

Funny Bones

An elderly man in Winklespruit calls his son in
Cape Town and says,
'I hate to ruin your Christmas, but I have to
tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 35 years of misery
is enough.'
'Dad, what are you talking about?' the son screams.
'We can't stand the sight of each other any
longer,' the old man says.

'We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of
talking about this, so you call your sister in England and tell
her,' and he hangs up.

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes
on the phone.
'Like heck they're getting divorced,' she shouts,
'I'll take care of this.

She calls her dad immediately, and screams at the
old man, 'You are NOT getting divorced!
Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm
calling my brother back, and we'll both be there on Friday.
Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?'
and hangs up.

The old man hangs up and turns to his wife.

'Okay,' he says, 'they're coming for Christmas
and paying their own airfares.'
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Brain Teaser

Thank you to everyone who responded to our September competition! The winner of our Leopard Mountain competition for August is Carol Grave! 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:

What am I?

Answer: Praying Mantid

Family of the Leaf Mantid (Phyllocrania paradoxa)

.........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 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (competition closes 20th November 2008 terms & conditions apply):

This month's competition:

You'll see us at night,
Most likely in flight.
We live in dark places,
Upside down our sleeping faces.
Eco location
Avoids feeding frustration
Our stories are scary
And our bodies quite hairy.

What am I?

News from the Lodge

Many tiny surprises lurk around every corner of the lodge, we mentioned the day flying moths in the August newsletter, and now have a suspicion that the eggs were laid somewhere in our herb garden as we have spotted a number of tiny day flying moths making themselves at home in the herb garden.

A Black Collared Barbet had misjudged the glass sliding doors and by accident flew into one, we felt fortunate though, to be able to inspect such a beautiful bird from up close and personal. Reviving him by putting drops of water on his beak, he soon came by and decided that it is time to go, giving Nadine clear indication of how he felt by handing out 3 quick bites and then taking off.

With the hot windy conditions of Zululand, there have been many veld fires, where the brave men of the reserve had to jump in and help to get the fires under control.
Rudolph managed to rescue a very rare and peculiar type of reptile from the fire, known as a Grass Lizard or a Sep.

This interesting creature is snake like, resembling a snake almost exactly...except they still have minute limbs, each with only one or two claws. After the dangers of the fire, and enduring the car trip home, she had her first born as soon as she reached the safety of a cool box at the lodge. She was then transferred into a tank mimicked with all her natural surroundings, and after two days there were 6 young occupying the tank. These reptiles are extremely vulnerable when they are young, so they will be kept in the tank a while longer and will be released back into their natural habitat as soon as they are ready.

Grass Lizard

We also welcome Hilke to the lodge this month; she was a student doing her practical at the lodge last year, returning this year for practical once again. She has made such a good impression that she will be staying on.

For those of you who have met the lodge puppies – Lucy and Dyna, just a quick note to say that they are doing great. Dyna is currently standing about 80cm tall to the head and Lucy is actually not too far behind, although she will never quite reach Dyna's size.

Click here to have a look at our online gallery of Leopard Mountain Lodge!

Best guest comments of the month:

Thank you so much for allowing us to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary here! Once again it was perfect! You really made it so special for us! You will definitely be seeing us again.

We enjoyed this peaceful place spending about two hours at the hide ... impressive experience! Hope to come back!

Very relaxing. Food is good. We thoroughly enjoined ourselves! Thanks to all the staff for making our stay comfortable and looking after our needs.