November 2005 Sanctuary Talking
GENERAL NEWS
Green Season Specials
High Season (July-October) is always a popular time to visit Botswana, but do not forget about the great rates available for Green Season (December to March). This is the ideal opportunity for clients to see another side of Botswana. Summer rains leave the landscape lush and green, many young animals are born at this time and it is a birdwatchers paradise. With the introduction of the Cape Town – Maun direct flight, launched mid October 2004, Botswana has been made more accessible for guests who visit South Africa and want to extend their stay to Botswana over this period… so do not delay book your Botswana Green Season Special today!
Motorised Boat & Mokoro Activities
Due to low water levels, motorised boat activities are not taking place at Baines' Camp nor are mokoro excursions at Chief's Camp or Stanley's Camp. This has been done with guests' safety in mind as we have had a number of hippos taking up residence in the channel in near Baines' and Stanley's.
Manna from Heaven
More exciting news from Maun… Sanctuary Lodges & Camps sent out a number of empty plastic bottles for Manna from Heaven to utilise. These plastic bottles will be filled with water and dispatched to the various villages around Maun. This is part of an ongoing monthly contribution through our Maun office to support the local communities who play such a vital role in the success of our camps.
ACHAP sponsored walk
Sanctuary Lodges & Camps representatives based in Maun, Phutu Ndiane and Mary Sehera, participated in the ACHAP sponsored 10km walk. ACHAP is the Bill & Melinda Gates and Botswana Government coalition fund for HIV/AIDS awareness programme. The walk was held to raise funds for World Aids Day on 01 December 2005. Various sectors were involved: government, police, prisons, private, tourism as well as banks. Sanctuary Lodges & Camps not only participated in this exciting event but also donated water for the day as well as the use of a vehicle to provide water along route. The event culminated with short speeches from the North West District Commissioner and a Director from ACHAP with a scrumptious lunch held at Maun Lodge.
QATAR Airways
As of 15 November, QATAR Airways commenced operations from Doha to Nairobi. The non-stop service operates five times a week on an A300-600 in a two-class configuration of 18 seats in business class and 232 in economy. The airline said in a statement that its expansion into the region is part of an ambitious global programme meant to position it as one of the pre-eminent airlines in the Middle East.
Source: The African Travel & Tourism Association ATTAK - http://www.atta.co.uk
Staff Update
  We are thrilled to announce the arrival of Baby Labe! Graeme Labe and partner Lauren have welcomed the new arrival into their family, beautiful baby boy, Samuel Labe. Samuel is pictured with very dotting dad Graeme (left and right). Both mom and baby are doing well and the family is looking forward to spending time with their new arrival. From the Sanctuary team, we wish the Labe family happiness and joy!
Justice, Assistant Manager at Stanley's Camp became a grandfather for the second time in November. Congratulations to you Madala Justice and best wishes for many joy-filled years with your wonderful grandchildren.
Congratulations are also extended to Bernard Legogoderi and his lovely wife, from Swala, on the birth of their new baby. May you enjoy every moment with your precious bundle of joy and see many happy years together.
Alan Monnaaletsatsi, our permanent guide at Stanley's Camp, exchanged vows with lovely Amo Gelang on the 24th November 2005. Congratulations to both of you and may you be blessed with much happiness, many children and many grandchildren!
Emmanuel Mbilini, our waiter at Swala also got married! From the entire team, we wish you happiness and wedded bliss.
It seems that November was an exceptional ‘small package' and wedding month.
Living With Elephants
Field Notes by Doug Groves (www.livingwithelephants.org)
07 November 2005
 Today was very special because we encountered two very massive, majestic, magnificent modern-day mammoths. These two giants were calm and collected as they munched away on a medium sized knob thorn acacia not far from where I was introducing guests from Baines' and Stanley's Camp to our small herd. One bull sported a pair of large evenly matched tusks curving sharply up and the other bull had a long left tusk but nothing visible on the right. We have also been having several close and relaxed encounters with breeding herds. I think that they have been congregating in the area to access the dwindling water. On 02 November we met a large breeding herd by the small hippo pond and then on 03 November we were lucky to have that same lovely herd feeding on sedges out in front of the elephant picnic.
 09 November 2005
Good omens galore today! While cleaning up this morning we found a small sacred tooth fragment from Jabu, our sweet Elephant Lord. This is part of their normal but amazing dental reincarnation. Odontoblasts (tooth forming cells) at the back of the jaw assemble new teeth which push forward along the jaw, crowding the older set forward, which then break off in small fragments and fall out, or are sometimes swallowed. Standard equipment consists of six sets of four grinders, each set being bigger than the last one and each set lasting longer. The final set is the size of a small loaf of bread and is capable of pulverising branches as thick as a human leg. We don't find tooth fragments very often and I consider them worthy of worship. For the last couple of days our branch-crunching, vege-matic munchers have been exercising their jaws on the left over knob-thorn acacia that the two huge wild bulls left the other day.
 This afternoon we were blessed with the seasons' first thunder, lightning and rain!!! There was enough rain to wet the surface sand but not quite enough to form puddles. Morula, Jabu and Thembi seemed delighted with the sudden coolness and the rich smells brought out by the rain. A lovely rainbow formed during our little shower and I tried to get a few pictures of princess Thembi with the rainbow (right).
11th November 2005
Last nights light drizzle turned into some serious rain early this morning which continued through mid-day. Everything was washed clean and thoroughly soaked, including my big gray friends who were left feeling nice and soft to the touch.
Guest feedback on Elephant Interaction
“We were staying at Baines' Camp during the first weeks of October and did your Walk with Elephants on October 10th (a day after my birthday). I just wanted to thank you for one of the best mornings of my life. It was so memorable and I completely fell in love with Jabu and of course Morula and Thembi (but especially Him)! The photos are lovely and I will now read your monthly diary avidly. Thank you for such an experience and I do hope that your wonderful mission continues for many many years. I have talked and talked about the three ever since I came home!”
Kate Barling, England.
BOTSWANA
Baines' Camp
Brief thunder storms have provided some spectacular light shows in the late afternoon but rarely manage to produce a great deal of rain. One big storm early in the month produced 70mm and green shoots are popping up all over in response. The general game viewing has been variable and breeding herds of elephant in particular have become quite scarce over the past month. We are beginning to see the first crop of impala calves leaping across the plains on their toothpick-sized legs. The giraffes are close to camp in considerable numbers with their share of young, sporting their characteristically fluffy horns. There have been plenty of buffalo, tssesebe, wildebeest and zebra to entertain the guests and the hippos are still holding court in the lagoon at the front of the lodge. Thomas the Elephant continues to pay his frequent visits to the camp, today accompanied by his much smaller and younger companion, inevitably known to all as Baines!
 While out on game drive a couple of weeks ago, Martin (guide) encountered the pack of 19-20 wild dogs that are frequenting the area. About 100m away from the pack, he spotted 6 or 7 hyenas enjoying the shade and, no doubt, waiting for the opportunity to share in any meal the dogs may hunt down. A young hyena cub, rather foolishly, ventured out of the shade to get a better look at the dogs. The dogs immediately showed great curiosity and interest in the pup – an interest that resulted in a full-scale chase. The hyenas considered attempting to defend themselves and their youngster against the onslaught, but realising that they were completely outnumbered, chose to turn tail and run instead. The dogs were on their heels in hot pursuit forcing the hyenas to splash through a deep channel of water to escape. Despite the dogs' adept swimming techniques, they decided to abandon the chase and keep their paws dry instead. The rivals eyed each other over the dividing water and were still there when the game drive headed back to camp.
A young abandoned lion has been drawing a lot of attention since he became separated from his pride, who seem to show little interest in his whereabouts, although they are still in the area. At just one year old, the lion may find survival alone very difficult in the face of the opportunistic hyena.
The motorboat safaris have ended but mokoro excursions are still proving popular while early morning walks have provided some wonderful game viewing, particularly of giraffe, zebra and buffalo. The game drives have been producing some fabulous sightings of wild dog and lion.
Baines' and Stanley's combined football team were put to the challenge last week when a team came out from Ditshipi village. Sadly, two key players from Baines' (Jonah, striker and Tiboro, goalkeeper) arrived slightly late to discover that the opposition had already scored 2 goals and managed to score a further 2 while they were still changing into their football gear. The outcome was a disappointing result of 4-1 but we are certain they will do better next time!
All the housekeepers and camp hands are enjoying the new wheels on the beds. All the beds in the rooms now have four wheels with easy to operate breaks. This has been wonderful since the unpredictable weather has meant some guests retreating inside to escape an unexpected shower.
“We have truly loved every moment, you have made us feel very welcome and catered for our every need.”
George & Mandy Van Dugteren
“Martin (guide) was a delight! Very personable, knowledgeable and made our experience memorable. A wonderful, accommodating staff made our stay here very special.”
David Ross & Robin Bigeli
“Court (guide) was extremely knowledgeable about and devoted to the area. His passion, love and vision for both the company and the country made a wonderful trip even more educational and exceptional.”
Ellison party
Chief's Camp
Guests were amazed when we spotted a leopard killing two genets on a recent game drive – a truly rare experience. A black rhino was spotted on game drive at dagger boy crossing while a pride of 18 cubs, 7 lionesses and 4 male lions were spotted at Zimbira. This is a nice surprise since they are the Mombo pride that seemed to have moved closer to Chief's Camp. The male cheetah that we normally saw on game drives was spotted dead recently which is very unfortunate. It seems that the lions might have been the cause of the cheetahs' death. We have been very lucky to witness a python devour a squirrel in front of the main area as well as similar sightings on some game drives. Since the arrival of the rain, we have been fortunate to have frequent visits from buffalo in front of camp.
 Good progress has been made at Chief's Camp regarding the upgrade of the rooms. We are well on schedule with the first room and all is running smoothly.
Lynne Butler and Ntombi Tshabalala from the Sanctuary Lodges & Camps team in South Africa accompanied 6 African Specialist Tour Operators from South Africa on an education to the camps in November. The agents stayed at Stanley's Camp as well as Chief's Camp. They also did a site inspection of Baines' Camp and thoroughly enjoyed the elephant interaction with Jabu, Thembi and Morula (group pictured left with our three gentle giants).
“Unbelievable experience. Currently trying to imagine how I can possibly. Describe it – words are not enough.”
Janet Eckhouse
“Barbara, BK and Darest were fantastic (Assistant Manger, guide and waiter respectively). Eddie & Penny are personable managers that really treated us as royalty and this trickled down through the rest of the staff for an absolutely amazing experience for both of us. We will return to camps they manage.”
Shawn & Hayley Charnaw
Chobe Chilwero
 The onset of the rainy season has affected game availability in the park. The usual huge herds of buffalo and elephants have now retreated into the interior hence guides have to drive further out on game drives. An absolutely thrilling sighting this month was of a leopard feeding on a baboon in a tree. This was witnessed by a group that we had in camp – needless to say the group were very impressed. There was also another exciting experience witnessed and captured by some guests – the birth of a baby elephant!
Whilst on a sunset cruise, Poniso's (guide) guest noticed what appeared to be a yellow plastic shopping bag floating. Strangely though, the bag was moving quite vigorously and at they ventured closer to the bag they realised that it was actually a large crocodile who somehow managed to get his head stuck into the bag! He did manage to bite his way through the bag, but then looked like he was wearing a yellow hood! As much as the guiding team wanted to help our friend in need it was decided that it was best not to get too close.
The lodge hosted a number of groups and had the privilege of celebrating birthdays with some guests. Our staff put together a beautiful choir for guests which brought tears to their eyes. It was a memorable birthday indeed.
Painting of the interior of the rooms is underway and proceeding smoothly. Brushing of the thatch was also undertaken this past month and the soft refurbishments done to the lounge area are looking great!
In maintaining our support to the community, the lodge has made some donations to various charity organisations in and around the Kasane area.
“The facilities and especially staff were exceptional. Patrick is an incredible asset.”
Professor David Burt and Susan Gammer
“A beautiful lodge and the cottages are wonderful, the people fantastic.”
Peter and Margaret Propper
“Our stay was beyond our expectations, everything perfect, exceptional staff.”
Lorraine Judy Pilling
“A really wonderful place, difficult to imagine how to improve it. I hope to be able to come again next April with the rest of my family, please do not change anything. The evening meals and Poniso (guide) and the room (bungalow) were excellent.”
Peter and Sander Whitehead
Stanley 's Camp
Greetings from Stanley Camp in the Okavango Delta
“Madume gotswa mo Okavango Stanley 's Camp golona lotlhe”
 The rains have come and brought with it a number of wildlife including the elegant zebra that perform for us in front of camp. Weather has been cloudy with mild afternoons and scattered rain in the evenings. A pack of approximately 20 wild dogs moved into camp recently and were brave enough to venture right up to the deck area. These fierce creatures battled over a carcass with 2 hyenas for nearly two days! The eventual outcome of the 2 day proceedings saw the wild dogs victorious since they outnumbered the hyenas. During the second week of November, a bull elephant with a right tusk missing moved into camp while a male yellow-billed kite has moved into the admin area…some really exciting events at Stanley's.
Guests on game drives have reported sightings of lions, lionesses and a leopard. In one instance, they came across lions feeding on a fresh zebra carcass. A large herd of approximately 3000 buffalo have also been sighted and have stayed in the area for nearly a week. Interestingly, the tree squirrel population has increased with a number of these little creatures visiting guests and have acquired a taste for scones and jam with cream!
The unique elephant interaction is still very popular with guests who always have positive feedback on our three tusked friends. The educational walks have also proved very popular with guests who are thrilled with the knowledge they are provided with on these bush walks.
The staff enjoyed the year end function on 26th November and we are glad to advise that Stanley's Camp will be hosting the Miss & Mr Stanley Ambassador Competition….some really exciting developments for the staff! Two members of our Service Department went on the Star Service Training Program held in Maun recently and came back with a number of new ideas for developing the service at Stanley's Camp.
A guest who stayed at Stanley's Camp was kind enough to send through some stunning pictures (below) taken of his wonderful trip to Botswana and had the following comments regarding the Sanctuary Lodges & Camps team:
“Once again I congratulate "Sanctuary Lodges" for its organisation and welcoming, it was a marvellous stay, I wish I can come later again with all the family.”
Jean-Marie Bruttin
Thank you very much Mr. Bruttin for sending in your lovely photo's.
EAST AFRICA
Gorilla Forrest Camp
Community Development
 The community around Bwindi was recently provided with clean piped water, thanks to the gravity water scheme which is based on Gorilla Forest Camps (GFC) water collection concept and sponsored by USAID. The camp also contributed UGShs 1,000,000 towards this project. Our Camp Manager is consulting for a Batwa (Bwindi pigmies) conservation project championed by a missionary doctor, who also happens to be GFC's doctor on call, Scott Kellerman. Plans are on the way to resettle the Batwa community on a piece of forest land where they will be able to demonstrate to guests and visitors how they live in the forests and thereby earn tourism revenue from this activity. GFC is consulting on the project from a tourism perspective.
Olonana
 November, which is usually a quiet month for Olonana (before a busy December), was filled with activity this year! Apart from an increase in the number of guests, Olonana also hosted agent's visits as well as a Maasai Ceremony. Game sightings have been very good this month. Excited guests returned to camp one evening and reported that a cheetah had jumped onto their vehicle bonnet and then jumped off to make a kill just a few meters away from the vehicle. Another guest, whilst on a walking safari came in close proximity to 3 lions. The lions promptly disappeared into a thicket while the guests walked off in the opposite direction - both giving the other party the space required. Many of our guests have also been seeing elephant and hyena on their walks which has been really exciting.
The wildebeest and zebra migration has almost come to an end in the Mara. There have been the final few gatherings around well known crossing spots along the Mara River and some of our guests have been lucky to see the crocodiles enjoy their last big feasts until next year.
 The few resident animals in the camp are doing well. The warthog is still as big as ever, the black monkey as cheeky as always, helping himself to the guest tea table and the banded mongoose party are still providing our guests with much enjoyment and pleasure.
The Maasai elders from the surrounding communities had a prayer meeting and ‘thank you' celebration at Olonana. This was conducted to thank Olonana for the work and understanding that has been obtained amongst the local communities. The celebration and meetings ran for almost three full days!
We are very honoured by this gesture, than you very much.
  The usually “all men” camp was happy to receive an entire camp full of female agents from Nairobi. The ladies are ardent supporters of Olonana; hence we felt that they deserved a break out in the bush. It was a good chance for them to experience the camp for themselves and visit other lodges in the area to compare the standards offered by Olonana . The trip was very successful, with many of the agents reluctant to depart the camp at the end of the weekend. We also hosted a number of other agents at Olonana on inspection trips which proved to be very educational.
 Olonana celebrated a 21 st birthday with guests from Australia. On their last night in camp they enjoyed a scrumptious dinner in the bush and later joined in with the Maasai dancers trying to jump higher than them! Needless to say they could not beat the Maasai…but well done for trying.
We were also privileged to share in the celebrations of a 50th birthday recently and Olonana staff provided our guests with memorable songs and dances.
Kusini
 We hosted 2 groups of travel agents from the USA recently who thoroughly enjoyed their stay with us. On an early morning game drive some guests came across a leopard hunting wildebeest. Not too long after spotting the leopard, guests saw 4 young male lions creeping toward the wildebeest. The leopard kept cover while guests watched the lions. The lions looked as if they had eaten already but continued to walk toward the wildebeest. They then started running, getting the guests adrenalin flowing just as much as theirs were! The lions were merely teasing the wildebeest and continued to taunt them for about half and hour! Eventually the lions moved off while one of them placed himself strategically on top of a termite mound. Unfortunately the lions were not hungry but managed to startle the wildebeest, and in turn destroy the leopards' chance at a hearty breakfast.
The migration is starting to slowly trickle in and we are seeing more and more everyday. The lion population close to Kusini is rising due to the increase in the “meals on wheels” arriving back in the southern Serengeti to the grassy plains. Although we have not had much rain, the migration continues on their way back. We also had a number of fabulous cheetah sightings this month while we discovered a hyena den with 2 gorgeous hyena cubs close to our airstrip. Welcome back to the migration…
Lucas Mollel our Head Guide attended a driving course in Arusha and Aggrey Shio will be attending the next course sometime in December. More experience for our already enthusiastic and knowledgeable guides!
We are presently in the process of building 3 new tents additional to our existing 9. Our deadline is the 15 December, so all hands on deck to work according to schedule. Updates to follow.
Swala
 A pride of lions killed a buffalo close to Matete picnic sight. The kill was all but finished when vultures (4 different species) as well as the Marabou storks were picking at the remains. In a flash one of the lionesses burst from cover charging towards the carcass while the birds scattered in all directions. One of the White Backed Vultures was too slow off the mark and a lioness leapt into the air and caught it before it could get high enough. Needless to say there is one less vulture circling our skies. Who said a full bellied lioness has no speed…
General game viewing around the river is excellent and guests returning from a full day picnic outing are never disappointed. At this time of year Tarangire is still very hard to beat. A few new additions have been recorded at the camp waterhole this month. We have had giraffe come in to drink on a few occasions, usually when the elephants are not paying attention. We have also had Greater Kudu visit on two occasions but the predators will always be in the limelight and provide excitement.
We had a very large male leopard pop in for a “night-cap” during dinner but perhaps the most exciting visit was from the usual lion pride. This time they stopped by to show off the newest member of the pride who is not older than 6 weeks - very cute indeed. We only saw one cub but since they were a distance away, there may have been more. We did not venture any closer as the cub is too small to be exposed to lights and vehicles, so we will wait and see what transpires over the coming weeks.
As usual, there have been a number of honeymooners and anniversaries at the camp in November as well as various educationals and fam trips. Since we have had good weather, we have had great opportunities to do bush dinners for guests which have been very successful. Overall everyone fell in love with the camp and all the animals that pass through it.
General feedback on activities is excellent although we do feel that guests who only come for one night do not get to experience the area to its full potential as they normally arrive fairly late and depart early the next morning, hence do not get to see much game as the main concentrations are at the river which is a fair drive from camp. However guests who stay for two nights compare the viewing favourably to the other parks at this time of year. Guests who stay for 3 nights have hit the jackpot because on the 3rd day they usually stay in camp and watch all the animals pass by.
We have received a few more donations for the school project, but since the schools are about to break for the December holidays, any additional work will be addressed after the festive season passes.
We have hung a new drape in the mess tent and added a shade net veranda to the front of the mess tent. We have put new canvas behind the basin counters in the tents as well as the public restroom while a number of decorative items have been ordered which will be arriving soon, so we are very excited. We have also put up natural “boma” fences in certain area's; will be replacing the black wooden structures that surround the boilers with more natural looking shields and have also extended the pipe to the waterhole.
DISH OF THE MONTH
Apricot pudding with orange sauce
(courtesy of Baines' Camp)
100G dried apricots, chopped
125ml orange juice
180g castor sugar
100g unsalted butter
1 egg
180g cake flour, sifted
10ml baking powder
50g brown sugar
15ml corn flour
250ml apricot and apple juice, heated
Method:
- For the pudding, bring the apricots and the orange juice to boil. Remove from the heat and then set aside.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the sugar and the egg and mix well. Mix the sifted flour with the baking powder and the apricot mixture.
- Portion the pudding into mould and then sprinkle the brown sugar and corn flour. Pour the orange and apple juice using the back of a spoon onto the pudding.
- Cover with a layer of baking sheet and foil, secure tightly with a string. Place the moulds into a sheet with boiling water halfway up the sides of the bowl.
- Cover the sheet and bake for 2 hrs, keep topping with hot water if necessary.
- Remove from the oven and the baking paper, foil loosen the edges of the pudding using a knife and carefully serve onto the plate
- Sprinkle some hot orange juice onto the pudding and use berries to garnish. Serve hot.
Since this is the last newsletter before Christmas and New Year, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone for their support in 2005.
We wish you and your loved ones a fun-filled festive season and a prosperous New Year!
Best wishes from the Sanctuary Lodges & Camps team |