Termites

We were sorting out the lodge and double checking that all was done and looking good. That morning it had been raining quite profusely and we had received around 50mm of rain. Luckily it was an hour before the guest were meant to arrive and I walked down to the last room and saw almost a curtain of flying ants! I could not believe it as back home when I see them it’s usually at night hovering around a light so this was very interesting. Upon further investigation I saw where they were coming out of! Holes linking to the main termite mound and they were literally crawling out of the hole and learning to fly for the first time.

In the video I will show you, you can see that there are the small almost translucent termites and then the bigger ones coming out to fly away and recolonize

General update

My word has it been a long time!!! I wish I could say it’s due to the lack of internet but just been busy and lazy which is shocking need to keep you guys entertained! 

Been busy with guests over the past few weeks and interacting with people from Germany and England, lovely people and so interesting to speak to. 

I have seated a few meals in the 5 star lodge hosting guest and I must say that the food is exquisite! So many flavours and such a variation to the daily menu.

On one of my drives to feed my serval I got caught up with the heard of elephant that roam this farm, there are 11 in that heard with 2 large male bulls that roam with the heard but not in close proximity. The one, Bryce, has got one of his tusks missing but otherwise he is a gorgeous big male. I took a video to show how they will take the easiest path through an area which at Hopewell is our main road which is used every day!

As shown above you can see how the heard will protect their young and keep them safe in the middle and the two larger elephants with lead and follow.

I was driving and saw this small little elephant and before I could get my camera out to video it the heard had appeared behind it! They have this ability to appear and disappear in a matter of seconds! It’s an amazing talent but also so frustrating.

Great Hunt and feeding!!

Saturday morning was a lovely late start here on the farm as if you are on duty, which I was, you need to be up by 8AM. Went on the roads to check the water and the fence to make sure all was working well and found an elephant had snapped a 6m Acacia tree at the base of the truck!! It is astonishing how much power they have. the two guys I had with me wanted to go back and get the chain saws and machetes but I had rope in the back of the bakkie so I said I’ll show you something new guys. I tied the tree to the tow bar and dragged it a few meters off the road and sorted, let nature take its course with the tree. Once that was done and I had explained to them about the micro ecosystems that can form from that we headed to finish the rounds.

All was good and we got back to the work shop and then got told to go hunt. Don’t get me wrong I was not the slightest bit phased as long as it’s done properly and ethically then im good to go. We headed back out to find a male water buck that had a decent amount of meat on him. Finally after an hour of driving we tracked the herd down and saw that there was a decent male with them. As soon as the door opened they ran off into the thick bush and one would say the hunt was over. Water buck will run into dense bush and then stop as they camouflage really well, hence them stopping. I took a good walk around to the other side of the thick bush where I found the clearing and waited for a decent shot. Eventually I saw the male about 80m away and was standing at a strange angle so shot placement would have been difficult.

This was the water buck that got shot over the weekend for food, all part of game farm management

#selfie with a cheetah, not many of those selfies going around.

Thankfully I moved a few steps over and my jersey got caught on a thorn tree alerting him making him look directly at me, shot on target and trigger pulled. The male dropped and was dead as I arrived up to him which makes me happier knowing there was not a lot of suffering.Loading the buck onto the bakkie was another story which took about half an hour and eventually led to success.

as soon as i dropped the leg off for him he was on it!!!

 The reason for this hunt was 1. For my servils, the two boys Monty and Mitch who are doing a lot better now. I went for a walk in their boma today to clean the water and make sure the fence was still alright and the one came pretty close which is great progress!! 2. The male cheetah Thabo, friendlier then most domestic cats and loves a good stroking! I gave him a leg today just to make sure he is doing well and he enjoyed that immensely.

this was after his meal, just giving me a bit of loving.

So my weekend and Monday has been a fun exciting one and looking forward to more interesting things going on here.