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January 2006 Sanctuary Talking

GENERAL NEWS
Sanctuary Lodges & Camps at ITB 2006

Sanctuary Lodges and Camps will be present at ITB this year and would like to meet with you to discuss all the exciting updates that have been taking place at our camps in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Botswana. Some of the news we will have for you will include: New images of the newly refurbished Chief's Camp (Chiefs Island, Botswana) as well as information on three additional rooms at Kusini Camp (Southern Serengeti, Tanzania). We will be on the Tanzanian Tourism Board Stand Hall 21. If you would like to meet with us please send your preferred meeting time and date to: rpowell@sanctuarylodges.com.

Staff Update

Operations Director in Botswana, Brian Gardiner and wife Jane had a little baby girl, Jenna Louise (pictured alongside) on 12 January. Bigger sister Bridget is very happy to have a little sister and looks forward to spending quality time with her. Congratulations to the Gardiner family.

Galesite Selelo, a member of the housekeeping team at Baines' Camp has given birth to a healthy baby girl. Congratulations Galesite, we wish you many happy moments with your precious bundle.

Sadly we lost a member of staff at Chobe Chilwero this month, Nanzala Ndambo who was working in the housekeeping department. She was a loyal and hard working person. We will miss Nanzala and wish her family strength during this difficult period.

Wedding bells rang for our Ugandan reservations team member, Erick who married Justine at a colourful ceremony at the famous Namirembe Cathedral, Kampala on Saturday the 28 th of January 2006. Congratulations and we wish you both wedded bliss!

Elephant Outreach Program

During the period from the beginning of November to end of December 2006 LWE's Elephant Outreach Program gave 114 children the opportunity to meet our elephant ambassadors Jabu, Thembi and Morula. Of the 10 groups to visit the LWE base camp during that month, 4 groups of 12 children were from Bana Ba Letsatsi and the other 6 were from the local villages of the community based wildlife area LWE is based in.

Bana Ba Letsatsi is a local organization that aids “kids who's lives have been corrupted by poverty, physical and sexual abuse, substance abuse and lack of parental care.” We enjoyed providing these children with the opportunity to visit the Okavango Delta. It was a very positive experience for all the people involved to watch as a connection to their wildlife heritage was made and each child took important life lessons back with them.

The area in which Living With Elephants camp is located is a community based natural resource management area and is officiated by a trust elected from six villages.  The purpose of the village visits is thus to stress the importance of living in harmony with the elephants sharing space with people in the Okavango Delta, and to highlight the endless job opportunities within the tourism industry.

Sanctuary Lodges & Camps, Botswana is a proud sponsor of Living With Elephants Outreach Program.

Living With Elephants

Our elephant Trio are enjoying the massive amount of rains we have had and celebrate daily with mud baths and the best possible elephant cuisine. They are looking just a little more rotund than usual but round is a good look for an elephant! They have even more reason for celebration as from mid January to mid February they will officially be on vacation and will be perusing all things elephant. From the 15 of February they will once again take up their roles as elephant ambassadors and will be eager to receive local and international visitors.

Field Note by Doug Groves (www.livingwithelephants.org)
14th January, 2006

African summers sizzle! This one has also brought world-class showers and some spectacular roller–coaster weather. One minute it is August in Arizona and the next it is April in Amsterdam. The first part of the year has certainly been soggy with more drizzle than sizzle. Along with the elephants; fish, frogs, fungi and flowers are also flourishing. Last night on the way back to camp with our elephant companions, Jabu started veering left, lead by his nosey nose. In the dim light we made out two large golden cats crouching in the short green grass no more than fifteen meters from us. Letsomo, calm and cool, successfully directed our inquisitive giant abruptly to the right thereby avoiding an ugly and unnecessary confrontation. Well done, Letsomo!

BOTSWANA
Baines' Camp

A huge amount of rain this month! The Delta is looking beautiful as a result. Temperatures are hovering around the mid 20's, but when the sun breaks through the cloud cover temperatures reach as high as 37-38 degrees celsius.

Leopards have been numerous this month with guests spotting four different animals on one game drive – amazing!  The Cape Clawless Otters have put in an appearance as well causing great excitement as it is the first sighting this year. The otters play around in the lagoon in front of camp - this family of four is always a welcome sight for us. The general game in the area, in particular around the airstrip, has been extremely good thus far. The number of babies running around is astounding, ranging from impala lambs to baby warthogs.  Elephants are elusive as ever, with only the odd breeding herd being spotted feeding in the distance.  Large numbers of buffalo are often spotted from the air, but are quite hard to reach with the high water levels.  Vervet monkeys are getting more curious about the goings-on at the lodge and often appear around tea time hoping to steal a choc-chip cookie!

With the vast amount of rain, the permanent waterways have filled up enough for us to offer boating activities again. However this is dependant on the rainfall and the activities may have to be suspended if the water levels decrease again. Mokoro activities are still not offered due to the hippo population still present in the channels. 

Baines' has had the privilege of welcoming a number of VIP guests this past month and am glad to advise that everyone was pleased with their stay. Guests who are seasoned safari travellers have remarked that this was the best overall experience in several safaris. The main deck area is a highlight as is the pool where many guests opt to stay and relax rather than head out on drive.

It has been raining almost everyday this past month – light showers with the days remaining overcast throughout. This has left the temperatures quite low and has caused the surrounding vegetation to blossom. Since the water levels have risen, water crossings and hippo's are not uncommon at the moment.

Lions are always willing to give us a good show when out on game drives. The wild dogs were spotted one several occasion providing some excitement with their antics. Cheetah and leopard sightings have been scarce due to the high length of the grass and canopy densities of the trees. The rhino have, despite their bulk, mastered the art of invisibility.

A herd of beautiful impalas have taken “Sanctuary” in our camp, this has unfortunately been to no avail as they are slowly being attacked one by one. Our local lady leopard decided to help herself to the impala buffet and took one of the smaller ones before the impala knew what hit them. Not to be outdone and having been led by example, a young lioness decided to help herself to one of the more mature rams in the herd. Her success was short-lived however as the hungry hyenas caught wind of her plot and sent her packing as soon as she had made the kill. The following morning, one of the Mombo Boys (the majestic lion brothers) was seen strutting around the camp with not a hyena in sight - safe to assume that she had called in backup to reclaim some off her lost dignity. And who said chivalry was dead!

A few days later, three separate lions came in to camp to sample the buffet. The Impalas had however by this point mastered the art of predator evasion and left the lions shuffling out of camp with their heads hanging in shame.

A honey-moon couple were recently spotted on drive and the guests watched in awe as the male displayed his copulatory prowess and stamina. The mating lions then tired of their performance and joined the rest of the pride nearby.

“We would have great pleasure in recommending Chiefs Camp to our friends and family.”
John & Andrea Cahill

“Thought the food was fab! Only complaint was that I ate too much. I loved that you were flexible with the children. Stan was wonderful & extremely knowledgeable- always found something interesting to teach us/tell us about even when we didn't see a lot of game. Would highly recommend Chiefs & hope to come back.”
Vogel family

“Jonothan was easy, enjoyable, informative and funny. A lovely staff & beautiful camp- Very authentic yet comfortable. As a designer I loved all the details I have never seen before. My stay though brief, seemed much longer, both rewarding and enriching. It was more than I expected. Thank You All.”
Micheal Barnum

“Thank you for accommodating our specific dietary needs-many, many thanks. Everyone treats you with such respect & kindness-it is so welcoming. Best trip ever-am going to spread the word back home in the States and Canada.”
Barbarra & Ann e Clinard

We are in the middle of summer and it is raining consistently. There are heavy downpours for short periods of time in the afternoon which then clears up quite quickly allowing Mr. Sun to shine through and make everything sparkle.  The temperatures have decreased considerably averaging 24 degrees Celsius.

Game viewing has been quite quiet at the moment mostly due to the rain but when there are sightings, they are indeed exciting. On an afternoon game drive some guests had an eventful afternoon – they saw a huge African Rock python strangling an impala lamb! The python could not swallow the lamb after killing it as the other impalas kept on mock charging it and making noises at it. The stand off went on for at least half an hour before the python finally gave up, uncoiled itself from its quarry and slid  away into a nearby bush. Some other guests were fortunate to see 3 separate groups of lions including mating pairs - all this in one afternoon, incredible!

Chobe Chilwero hosted a number of important guests including an educational group and some guests who celebrated their birthdays!

Since December last year the lodge has been undergoing some paint work. The main area including the lounge, dining are and main public area have been given a new coat of paint which is slightly lighter than the previous colour.

“Thank you for a wonderful experience. We will take with us back a new understanding and love for Africa. Thank you for a special birthday celebration you arranged for us. We will come back again.”
Boris and Luba Globerman

After the busy Christmas period, it is has been a pretty quiet month giving us the opportunity to pay extra special attention to our guests. A couple on honeymoon started off 2006 in camp, along with special guests from the UK.

Sightings have been pretty varied this month, with a lot of animals invisible due to the long grass. Lion sightings have been frequent and many of the guests have been treated to close encounters with leopards who seem particularly calm and confident in the current conditions. The general game has been inconsistent but zebra, wildebeest, giraffe and impala never fail to show up for work! Buffalos have been passing through the concession from time to time while elephants seem to be absent most of the time.

Stanley's Camp welcomed a number of VIP guests in January, including a biologist from Canada who enjoyed a full-day game drive around the concession and celebrated his 47 th birthday. The entire party loved Stanley's and were pleasantly surprised by their first safari experience.

Some guests from Rome popped in for a night at the camp and managed to have a look at Baines' Camp before their tight schedule had them heading off home again. They vowed to return after the rainy season.

The football practices continue apace and our guests are now getting involved! A previous professional footballer for Zimbabwe, who now heads up a charity that uses soccer as a training means for HIV/AIDs awareness has stayed with us and taught us a few new tricks. We hope he will return with a full team – including some of Botswana's top players – to reinforce the great HIV awareness work being done by Mary Hastag and Caroline Mazongo – the latest addition to the team!

“TT was a pleasure to be with – great stories and very knowledgeable. Francis was very friendly & professional and Colin and his wife were fantastic hosts.”
Ethan Zuhn and Jenna Morasca

EAST AFRICA
Gorilla Forest Camp
GFC becomes Kosher Compliant

The GFC reservations office received a booking from a previous guest for his parents but had a very special request. He mentioned that his parents had very strict dietary requirements and requested that his parents cook for themselves. When the reservations office consulted the lodge manager, the lodge manager enquired whether the client was Jewish and if the diet was “Kosher”; and if so to inform the guest that we are able to handle such a request as the manager had conducted training on unique dietary requirements. This was conveyed, the guest agreed and upon arrival at camp the guest had a chat with the manager who already had a proposed menu handy was immediately approved. The guest expressed his surprise to the GFC team that GFC was able to comply with their dietary requests as they often do not travel due to the lack of this special request being fulfilled. The guests arrived on the 29 th of January and were given a kitchen tour. We had bought brand new kitchen equipment which they inspected and broke the seals. They were so excited and exclaimed “we are now going to tell everybody that GFC is Kosher compliant.”

GFC aids community clinic

When current unit manager, Leopold King, took over at GFC, Bwindi was short of a good healthcare facility except for a three room clinic established by Dr. Scott Kellerman and his wife, both missionaries from the United States. Recognising the need for a proper facility, the GFC team teamed up with the missionaries with a vision to grow the clinic to a fully fledged unit that could handle all cases for both the community as well as for tourists. GFC offered to help the clinic get the vital resources required for its growth by taking it up as the main community project we would concentrate. This has seen the clinic grow from three rooms to a full hospital which includes a maternity wing, wards, a fully equipped dental section, an Xray section, fully equipped laboratory and now under construction……..an operation theatre. The clinic has contributed greatly to the conservation of the Batwa (Bwindi pigmy community), who were close to extinction, by treating them free of charge. Because of GFC's contribution, the hospital board has decided that our guests will get free treatment and the doctors are on call 24hrs. This is just another example of how GFC supports the community.

Kusini

We have had quite a large amount of rain and the area around the camp is looking lush and green. With the rains, the migration is slowly trickling in again. There has also been a quite a bit of lion activity around the camp as well as good sightings of cheetah. Black rhino have also been spotted which has been a real treat for guests.

We have had a number of guests from a variety of countries worldwide including a group from Japan.

Since the addition of the 3 tents to Kusini, guests have commended the new tents especially number 8 with the incredible view. We are very pleased to now offer 12 tents at Kusini and look forward to welcoming more guests in 2006.

Olonana

Christmas and New Year came and went so quickly. Christmas was a very festive occasion at Olonana with cocktails held at the pool and children from the Pusangi Primary School singing carols in the background. After the cocktails a special Christmas dinner was served while the children entertained our guests with traditional songs. The Maasai from the adjacent village performed a traditional Maasai dance and the famous Maasai jump, where guests were invited to try and compete with them. The evening was enjoyed by all.

The Maasai Mara is now very dry which has had an impact on game and migration patterns. Animals are becoming concentrated near water and there is lack of grazing. We hope that the rains come soon to coincide with the breeding season - there have been a few short rains so we are all holding our breath!

Our resident leopard has been appearing more frequently and we have discovered that she has two little cubs - this is wonderful news! She walks on the ridge in front of the lodge in full view of the guests in the middle of the day - amazing!  Various other leopard sightings have put huge smiles on our guest's faces. The migration is finally over and we have a few wildebeest and zebra scattered over the plains. Fortunately we know they will return in large numbers.  

Many good sightings of the lion prides have been seen lately and the cubs are looking strong and healthy. We had a small fright when one cub was left behind for a day and did not have any protection. But very soon, the little cub was reunited with the rest of the pride - even dad takes a bit of interest now and again.

Olonana had the pleasure of hosting a wedding for a couple who chose to exchange their vows after being together for fourteen years with our staff members, Minnie and Anderson, being the best woman and best man. The couple were married at a beautiful location by the river...hippos and baboons were among the names on the guest list! After the wedding ceremony there was an official Maasai blessing by the village elder which was held at the Maasai Village. The bride was given the Maasai name of Nolari, which means it is going to rain, and the groom was given the Maasai name of Le Bahati, which means the lucky one. During the ceremony the couple asked the elders to pray for rain and amazingly a few hours later we had a down pour!

All guests returned to camp for a special dinner and the cutting of the cake. The evening ended with the staff dancing around the camp fire.. joined by the newly wedded couple. We wish them a long and happy life together.

Swala

General game viewing has not been bad considering the arrival of the rains. The large herds of zebra and wildebeest have left the river but there are still regular lion sightings as well as the odd leopard. We still have good sighting of impala, waterbuck, zebra and Kongoni in the vicinity of the camp. Birding is excellent at the moment, providing a number of great photographic opportunities.

A male and female leopard walking side by side on an early morning drive kept guests entertained for over an hour. They were not bothered by the vehicles at all and we will definitely keep an eye out for cubs in the coming months.

We have had great feedback from guests regarding the food and its presentation as well as the great team spirit and friendliness of the staff.

We continue supporting the school as they are now in full swing with children eager to get a head start to the new year.

DISH OF THE MONTH
WHITE CHOCOLATE PARFAIT WITH KAHLUA
(recipe courtesy of Baines' Camp)

50g Castor Sugar
120g white chocolate
3 Egg yolks
300 ml Cream
60g Dark chocolate (chopped)
60ml Kahlua
1 Star fruit

Method:

• Place sugar and 4 tablespoons water into a pot and simmer for 4 minutes.
• Process white chocolate in blender until it resembles break crumbs.
• Add sugar syrup and egg yolks to the chocolate and blend until smooth. Transfer to missing bowl and leave to cool.
• In a separate bowl, whip the cream and fold into the cooled chocolate.
• Pour into ramekins and freeze in freezer for a few hours.
• Make chocolate shapes and garnish with sliced star fruit.

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