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Newsletter June 2002
Dear All,
We are already half way through the year, where does
the time go? We have come this far and will continue
to persevere. The Hide has been lucky in that we still
had guests coming in mainly Zimbabweans but there have
been a few International guests. Thank you to all of
you who supported us and for this we are very grateful.
The Camp is looking great with all the new tents completed.
Of special mention are the Honeymoon suites with outside,
private bathrooms. The 'A' frame has been refurbished
too giving it a more homely feeling. The Camp is looking
great. Thanks go to Bruce and his team for a job well
done.
Not much has changed staff wise we still have Bruce
& Des Elliott managing the camp. Peta Ditchburn
is Bruce's assistant. Our guide's are Daffwell Marumahoko
and Daniel Weller. Welcome to the family Daniel. In
the Head office we have Lorraine Preston and Leezyl
Valentine who are always there if you have any queries.
Mrs Meryl Green is our bookkeeper.
After an early and abrupt finish to our wet season
in mid February, the unexpected two inches of rain in
early April and half an inch on 1 June was most welcome.
The cooler days with clear blue skies and chillier nights
have ushered in the cool brown season. The grass is
drying out and turning brown. The acacia erioloba trees
under whom the Camp is situated are snowing down many
millions of tiny leaves and fat hairy pods that the
Elephant love to eat.
The pan in front of the Camp has been most rewarding
to watch both during the day and in the evening. As
many as eighty elephant at one time, have visited the
pan on several occasions recently. They clamber to get
the fresh water from the trough but some lose out and
have to make do with the staler water in the pan. Our
regular elephant visitors, eight large majestic bulls
have taken to visiting the pan during the day and will
empty the trough before going into the mud for a mud
bath. A steady stream of warthog visit the pan mainly
to wallow on the waters edge going off looking newly
painted. The evenings have brought in many elephant
as well as hyena, leopard, lion and a civit to drink.
The waterbirds have reduced in numbers as the surface
water has dried up but our pair of Egyptian geese still
frequent the Hide pan along with a grey heron and many
blacksmith plovers. The northward migration of hundreds
of white stork took place in April this year, with their
usual night stop in dead trees on the concession and
around Kennedy One pan. The ground hornbills and ostrich
have been vocal in the early mornings, and the pearl-spotted
and barred owl in the early evenings.
NEWSFLASH!
Just the other day we had very important visitors in
Camp - a big male and female Rhino who came to drink
at our pan. The wild dogs were in Camp for about 3 days
and killed an impala at the pan, guests were able to
get close up photographic shots. We had a pride of 3
female lions with 3 cubs. A big black maned lion is
in hot pursuit of the 6 females who are currently on
the concession. Five cheetahs were spotted together
which is a very rare sight. One of our guests counted
1120 elephants in one day - so all you Elephant lovers
come and stay with us.
From all at The Hide
HOT PRESS NEWS FROM CAMP!
We just received this news from the camp, which we
just had to share with you all. We hope you enjoy it
as much as we did.
The other evening at 7:30pm we had our dinner/ braai
outside around the massive warm fire. While our 8 guests
and staff were sitting eating dinner and watching the
regular evening show of several herds of elephant all
coming to drink, the buffalo pushing their way in, etc.
We saw an adult hippo come to the pan and walk right
inside the water to test the depth. Then it came out
the pan satisfied and came towards us, grazing on the
grass. It stayed around eating for several hours. At
10:00pm, it ran back into the water, chased by two sub-adult
lion. The 2 young lions are part of a pride of 6. They
had their fun with the hippo & knowing that they
would never get it out of the water, they gave this
up some time later.
Last night the lion were very noisy. But from 4am this
morning, the big black maned lion has been calling this
pride of females relentlessly. This male is still calling
right now. It is obvious that there is only one thing
on his mind right now and it is not food.
Big herds of elephant are back. Three packs of wild
dogs. The rhino were back on the concession. They were
not happy about the lion calling. They are at Kennedy
One right now.
Best wishes from all at "THE HIDE"
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