Airshow in Hoedspruit

Last Saturday the Zandspruit bush and airo estate here in Hoedspruit organised an airshow.
It was a beautyful day and we took the boys there to have a look. The show strated at 10 and when we arrived around 11 it was quite busy already. Everything was well organised, there were tents for shade and benches to sit on. There were stands where you could buy drinks and food and for the kids there was a jumping castle and a slide. Our oldest boys enjoyed the show and waved to the pilots when they drove back after landing. There were many different planes and helicopters that did various stunts and flew in formation. The boys bought an airoplane from their pocket money and had good fun acting out the stunts they had seen. Eeven Felix had a good time as he walked around.
Although the show lasted the whole day we went home around 2 so Felix could take a nap and the other two boys could swim.
We had a great day and will definetely go again if it is organised again next year.
Well done Zandspruit!

Regards from the bush
Miriam

Spring

We are in the second half of August now and that means spring here in South Africa. We already had the first few days of 30 degrees and over and although the water is still cold, about 18 degrees, our kids have been swimming already. The weather is still unpredictable though and one or two warm days are followed by wind and a cooler period. The nights are also still chilly but not as cold anymore as they were a month ago.

The knobthorns are among the first trees that get flowers and the first soft yellow flowers are visible already. Soon the whole valley where we live will be covered in a soft yellow blanket. So early in spring the bush is very dry and waiting for the first rain. It probably has to wait a bit longer but then everything will become lush and green again. It's hard to image that now while everything is grey and dry and with hardly any leaves.

The first changes in birds can be noticed as well. The tree where every year a pair of Tawny Eagles nest has been empty all winter but I have spotted one of the birds already, probably checking how much damage the winter has done to its nest.
On the first slightly warmer evenings we have heard some early frogs already and soon we'll have loud concerts again.
I'm looking forward to summer, especially on cold mornings when I have to take the kids to school!

Sleepless nights

It is still winter here in the lowveld and that means one day already hot and the other day still cold with "only" 20 degrees Celsius.
Perfect weather to catch a cold so many people are sick this time a year.
Our family is als affected. Niels started it with a sore throat early this week and he got home sick from school on Tuesday. The next day his brother Dennis joined him with a blocked nose and earaches. Finally on Thursday also Felix got it too.

Now none of them is really very sick, just feeling not so happy . Since this is mostly at night I already had a few nights with little sleep when one or the other was waking up at night crying about soar throats, earaches or just crying in the case of Felix.

So far I'm the only one not affected since Corne now got it as well. It makes me wonder if we mothers have a special immuunsystem preventing us from getting sick while the rest of the family needs caring for.

Niels got back to school today after two days at home and I'm hoping the other two will feel better soon so I can get a good nights sleep.
Regrads from the bush,
Miriam

back home

After a wonderful holiday in the Netherlands we are back home in the bush.
At arrival in the reserve we were welcomed by an elephant and back home we immediately noticed how quiet it was. After the noise in the busy Netherlands especially Corné enjoyed this very much.
Although I'm also happy to be back home I miss having my family around and I realize I really enjoyed being able to go for a walk.  Just walking to the store for a little shopping was really nice. Here everything is too far away and you can't go for a relaxed stroll because of the animals. The upside is that we have much more peace and quiet, space and freedom and that you can see an elephant appearing in your backyard.

The first few days we had time to unpack and relax a little before our first guests arrived. Now we are used to the bush rhythm again and the kids have started school again. We enjoy the lovely winter weather and all flowers that were just starting to come out when we left are now in full bloom.
We already saw impala's, duiker, water buck and giraffes from our lodge and kudu's on our way to school. Our guests saw 4 of the big 5 on their game drive and the day after they saw wild dogs on their bush walk.
Plenty of things to enjoy!

Regards from the bush,
Miriam

Nature in the Netherlands

Normally I write about the African bush but since we are in holiday in the Netherlands at the moment I thought it would be a good idea to write about nature here. It can't be compared to Africa but if you pay attention there are plenty of things to see. The first week of our stay we had a birds nest with small birds in the hedge of my parents garden. Since it is summer here everyting is so green and there are many flowers. The other day we had a little stroll in the early evening and saw a rabbit in one of the parks.
The kids enjoy walking in the forest, something we can't do at home because of the animals.
All in all there is plenty of nature in the Netherlands if you look for it.

Flowers in the winter

Here in South Africa we have several plants that get their flowers in winter time. There is the impala lily that first looses its leaves and then gets beautyful white and pink flowers. The aloes also bloom in winter and attrack lots of birds like the sunbirds and the crested barbet.

Porcupine in our camp

In the winter we regularly see the porcupine at our waterhole at night. This huge rodent has the typical black and white quils that are often used as decoration. The porcupine that lives around our camp has picked up the habit to come inside our camp. He digs a hole under the fence and he is in. Inside he has access to all those yummy plants and trees in our camp and garden. Off course we are not so happy with the latter. Porcupines dig up roots which causes plants and trees to die and he makes a mess in your garden. Willow is also not happy with the porcupine coming into our camp. Just as with the warthogs she believes that all animals have to stay outside the fence, everything inside is her territory. Porcupines are night animals so he only enters the camp when everything is quiet and everybody is in bed. As long as he stays far enough from the office, where Willow sleeps, there is no problem and he can do whatever he wants and leave undetected. But if he decides to eat closer to the office Willow hears him and starts barking. The porcupine seems not impressed as if he knows she can’t get out and even seems to tease her. Some evenings he is early and we are not in bed yet when Willow starts barking. When we go to check it out we sometimes see him hastely shuffeling away when he hears us.

Regards from the bush,

Miriam

Warthogs on the lawn

It is winter and although the bush is still quite green, the nutrients in the grass are getting less now. All animals are looking for the best and greenest places to eat. From behind our fence they look at our lawn with greedey eyes but most animals don’t dare to come in to eat. The warthogs are the bravest and they venture into our camp to feed on our lawn, especially at the end of the winter when food is scarce. It is not uncommon to see a mother with one or two halfgrown piglets grazing on our lawn when the lodge is quiet.

As said it is still early winter and the bush is still quite green, but nevertheless the first warthogs have attempted to come in and we have seen the rare daredevil walking into our camp. Our dog Willow doesn’t like it, this is her camp and all other animals have to stay outside the fence. Luckily she is not brave enough to go after the warthogs and she just barks at them from a safe distance. When it is later in the winter and food is getting scarce we will lock her inside when the warthogs carfully walk into our camp. Although we will not feed them, after all they are wild animals that have to survive on their own, we do not begrudge them the green grass of our lawn.

And honestly, it is actually quite nice to have a warthog on your lawn…

Regards from the bush,

Miriam

Winter in the lowveld

It is June and that means it is the middle of the winter here in the lowveld. On 21 June the southern hemisphere has it’s shortest day and June/ July are generally the coldest months here.

Now are winters here in South Africa very mild. Although there are areas where some snow can fall, it is more an exception then a rule and here in the lowveld the winters are even warm. Sometimes, after a very cold night, we see some frost on the grass but this quickly dissappears as soon as the sun rises.

When I take the kids to school at half past six in the morning it is “only” 6 degrees Celsius en we find it very cold. When I leave school at half past seven the temperature has already risen above 10 degrees and in the afternoon we often get 26 degrees.
It happens quite often that I sspeak with my family in the Netherlands and that it is here warmer in winter then in the Dutch summer. Despite that, the average African will dress warm with a coat, scarf, hat and even gloves on these “cold” mornings. Many tourists are surprised about this since they don’t find it that cold but once you live here you get used to the heat. Everything below 20 degrees Celsius is “quite cool” and below 10 degrees it’s just freezing cold. During the day it is very nice, especially in the sun, but I wil be glad whenit is August again and it starts to warm up….

Regards from the bush,

Miriam

Wild dogs in Balule

Last week we had a great week for game viewing. Our guests saw four of the big five on their game drive and the rhino they saw the other day when they came back from an excursion.
On their second game drive they saw wild dog.  We had buffaloes under the bridge, lions roaring closeby and elephants around the lodge. The highlight for me was when I saw a wild dog next to the gravelroad when I took the kids to school one morning. Two weeks ago we saw three wild dogs that chased a young kudu in our fence. I hope to see these magnificent creatures again before they mive out of the area.
Regards from the bush,
Miriam

I’m back

After a long period in which I was too busy to write, here finally some news from the bush again.

It has not been dull in the past year.
On 12 April 2012 our latest bush baby Felix was born. Our oldest son Niels goes now to grade 1 and Dennis goes full time to pre-school.

We did see a lot of animals this past year, most amazing is that both the white and the black rhino have been seen from our lodge several times.
A few days ago I saw a lion and lioness on the road when I brought the kids to school and the elephants are visiting regularly again now it is winter.

Regards from the bush
Miriam