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October 2005 Sanctuary Talking

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!

Sanctuary supports Manna from Heaven, Botswana

In upholding our endeavour to support the community, Sanctuary has donated 15 mattresses, 12 pillows as well as some linen to an organisation called Manna from Heaven. The organisation was started four years ago by Erika Visser, a Church Minister from Maun, and supports 11 different villages situated on church grounds in Maun. Erika visits the villages each week delivering food, water, clothing and blankets amongst other basic necessities – mostly donated items. Erika does this in her spare time and also helps facilitate prayer meetings as well as hospital visits.

Motorised Boat & Mokoro Update

Due to low water levels, motorised boat activities are not operational at Baines' Camp nor are mokoro excursions at Chief's Camp until further notice. Mokoro activities are still available at Baines' Camp and Stanley 's Camp. Updates to follow.

Upgrade to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport , Kenya

The Kenya Airports Authority has announced a $100m development plan for the upgrade as well as expansion of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi . JKIA was constructed in 1978 when it could accommodate 2,5m passengers. Current passenger statistics have exceeded 4m passengers per year which makes the upgrade of the airport a necessity. The upgrade will include a new Terminal 4 which will handle domestic and international flights. Other developments include the upgrading of Terminals 1 and 2, upgrading and expansion of Terminal 3 to international status, new taxiways and apron to enhance parking space and movement of aircraft, car park, upgrading of arrivals building and space increase for retail and concession area. Construction is scheduled to commence in January 2006 and is expected to take 3 years to complete.
The African Travel & Tourism Association ATTAK Newsletter - http://www.atta.co.uk

Appointments

Patrick Runyemba has been appointed the General Manager of Chobe Chilwero since the departure of Glen and Cindy Dennis in October. We wish Patrick all the best with his new position and would like to thank Glen and Cindy for their hard work and commitment to Chobe Chilwero in the time they managed the lodge.

John Nieuwoudt has joined the Stanley 's Camp team from October and is looking forward to working closely with the Sanctuary team. Welcome John and we wish you all the best!

Jabu (pictured right), short for Jabulani which is a traditional Zulu name, means happiness and indeed Jabu's zest for life is inspiring. Jabu is a proud and handsome bull, who enjoys hi s r ole as alpha elephant of the small herd consisting of Marula and Thembi. Jabu is kind, playful, generous, big-hearted, dependable, predictable and unconditional in giving. Of the three elephants he is the most independent and confident. He loves interacting and building solid relationships based on mutual trust and respect. This unique and educational elephant interaction is available to guests at Sanctuary Lodges & Camps and is truly a memory that will be cherished!

BOTSWANA
Baines' Camp

Leopard sightings are still the highlight for our guests on game drives. The magnificent elephants have been wallowing in front of camp keeping our guests entertained whilst a Pels Fishing owl was sighted - always a great sight for the “twitchers”. The general game viewing has been very good with a lot of plains game still on the flood plains. The elephant numbers are on the increase, with cowherds frequently seen. It has been quite a hot month averaging 38 degrees with a high of 43 degrees on one particular day! The winds however have arrived thus lowering the temperature somewhat.

There have been a number of honeymooners in camp this past month as well as guests celebrating their anniversaries – special experiences catered for at intimate Baines' Camp.

A common comment from guests is the relaxed atmosphere and the resulting slower pace at Baines' Camp. The flexibility of a smaller camp is also appreciated as well as the unique skybeds.

Summer seems to have come early this year and the mornings and evenings have been very temperate. All the jackal berry trees are losing their leaves while the acacia are sprouting new ones and filling the air with the scent of their flowers.

A wonderful sighting was of a leopard that killed a baboon above the main area and proceeded to feed on it while the guests were at breakfast! The leopard remained around the main area well into the afternoon which guest s r aved about. While the mokoro's were still offered, quite a few water birds were spotted. Species sighted included Wattle Cranes, Open-Billed Storks, Sacred Ibis's, African Jacanas, Pygmy Geese, Reed Cormorants, Darters and an abundance of various other Geese, Ducks and Kingfishers as well as the rare Slates Egret.

We have been enjoying some good sightings of nocturnal predators during our afternoon game drives which include Genets, African Wild Cats and Honey Badgers. We have also had the pleasure of viewing the splendid black rhino right in front of camp – a spectacular sighting!

Chobe Chilwero

Guests in camp were treated to a very rare and probably once in a life time sighting. During the first afternoon game drive, guests watched a cunning lioness stalk a baby elephant. The baby elephant was so engrossed in an exfoliating mud bath that it was quite oblivious to the impending danger. The lioness carefully approached the baby and then a mighty struggle ensued. Eventually the baby elephant was killed with the lioness hailing victorious. This was definitely a topic of discussion over dinner that evening! On the following morning game drive, the same guests experienced nature in reverse – guests witnessed the birth of a baby elephant!

The Chobe River is currently a centre of hyper activity with huge herds of buffalo, elephant, hippos and other animals jostling for space on the banks of the river. The afternoon river cruise s r emain a highlight for most of our guests and have proved to be phenomenal throughout the month offering perfect photo scenic opportunities especially sunsets.

“Out of all the places we have visited and stayed at this is truly exceptional and simply the best. We shall cherish the memories for a long time to come.”

Gary and Jodi Swinburne, Australia

Stanley 's Camp
“Madume gotswa mo Okavango Stanleys Camp golona lotlhe” (Greetings from Stanley Camp in the Okavango Delta)

During the month of October, a group of guests were lucky to see 3 different leopard sightings all in a 24 hour period. This was a feast for our guests and staff alike. One leopard made a kill right next to camp and you could literally sit on the deck sipping a drink and watch the leopard devour its Impala kill in a tree.

A dance presentation performed by the staff, the Bayei Traditional Dance, is thoroughly enjoyed by our guests. The dance is performed with a large reed skirt and is a flirtatious, appealing and sensual dance.

We are thrilled to advise that the “ Stanley Camp School ” has opened this month! Lessons offered to staff includes English Today a workshop teaching “Hospitality English”; Computers Today a workshop teaching Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint as well as Outlook Express; The World Today focusing on Geography, Conservation and Travel as well as Famous People of the World. The lessons are taught by our new Sanctuary family member, John Nieuwoudt.

The magic is here in the camp - many guests have said “You do not need a game drive to see the big, the big 5 comes to the camp to see the Guests”.

EAST AFRICA
Olonana

Last week, David Bromham, a Professional Safari Guide and his clients arrived in the Mara on the morning flight from Nairobi and began the short drive to camp with their Olonana driver guide. It was only 5 minutes into the drive when excitement filled the vehicle as they had spotted a leopard in a tree. Leopards are one of the most secretive and elusive of the large carnivores and are not easy to find - our guests could not believe their luck at seeing one only 5 minutes after arriving in the Mara! The leopard had a kill hidden in the foliage and the guests stayed and watched as it sat perfectly balanced on a huge branch, enjoying its meal. It was only when the leopard slowly began coming down from the tree, pausing to look around every few minutes to ensure its kill remained safe, that our guests realised that it was early afternoon already and they had not had their lunch yet.

Recently a leopard has been seen quite frequently near Olonana , especially in the evenings. So it seems we may have a resident leopard within the Oloololo ranch - very exciting news.

Another exciting sighting was a Red Tail Monkey, which is usually only found in Kenya in one small location - the forests surrounding Kichwa Tembo. However one has been spotted at Olonana and we hope thi s r are species for Kenya will multiply and be a regular attraction for our guests.

The migration is now around the Mara conservancy gate in large numbers and it has been an amazing experience for our guests as the game viewing begins at the airstrip.

New Recreational Area for Staff

Olonana has started work on a new recreational area for staff (pictured left). The new building should be ready soon and staff will provide a place for staff to relax, play games, catch up on the latest news or watch their favourite TV programme, while not on duty.

Kusini

A leopard frequented the camp again and had a refreshing drink from the birdbath just in front of the dining area. Although traditionally this is a quiet season for animal viewing close to Kusini, we have still had very good sightings of cheetah, elephant, lion, leopard as well as the rare black rhino just east of our Airstrip. Guests were also treated to lion, leopard and cheetah sightings on full day game drives, heading towards Seronera and Moru Koppies.

It has been very dry, but in the last week we have had some very welcome rain. The green grass is starting to peek through the ground and all the trees are starting to sprout leaves. The start of the rains has attracted the Zebra to start migrating back to Kusini area as well.

Due to it being so dry at Kusini, our vervet monkeys have been giving us a tough time as they are desperate for our food. We have had to resort to sending a note with the morning tea trays to say:
“GOOD MORNING, PLEASE BE SO KIND AS TO TAKE YOUR TEATRAY INSIDE AND NOT TO LEAVE IT OUT ON THE DECK. THE VERVET MONKEYS HAVE TEATIME WATCHES AND TEND TO TRY THEIR LUCK AT GETTING A COOKIE OR TWO”

A special note of thanks is extended to Msangi and Abdallah (pictured right) who have ensured that water was flowing at Kusini.

Swala

The game sightings in camp are plentiful at present with constant elephant traffic, regular visits from a herd of waterbuck as well as 2 small zebra families. The resident impala herd is still thriving and we now also have two Dik-Dik families of 3 each frequenting the camp at night. They have become very habituated to people and we often view them when walking guests back to their tents after dinner. We have also had several sightings of lions drinking at the camp waterhole as well as 2 leopards who came in for a drink late one night when most of the guests had already gone to bed. A group of guests saw the Greater Kudu as well as the Fringe-eared Oryx on an afternoon drive. General game viewing around the river is still excellent and the zebra numbers in particular are huge.

The weather has been overcast and cloudy most of the time but when the sun does appear it certainly is very hot. There is a fair amount of humidity since we had a shower of about 10mm as well as some early morning drizzle which has settled the dust.

DISH OF THE MONTH
(recipe courtesy of Kusini)

• Preheat oven to 180oC
• Pour olive oil into an ovenproof dish and heat in the oven.
• Place the diced sweet potatoes, potatoes and onions in the pan and oven-roast the vegetables for 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, add the ground cumin and cumin seeds and stir.
• Oven-roast for another 5-10 mins.
• Meanwhile bring the stock and parsley to the boil and add the roasted vegetables.
• Simmer until soft and done.
• Process until smooth, stir in the cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Makes 1.2 litres soup
• ENJOY!!!

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