Whoohoo it's winter!

I know, a lot of people will think this is strange. Who is happy it is winter? Most people like summer better. But when you live here in Balule in the Lowveld in South Africa the winter is a lovely time, especially after a long hot summer.

Here in the Hoedspruit area the winter is nice and warm with average day temperatures of 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit). The nights are "cold" with average about 8 degrees (46 Fahrenheit), but the advantage is that you can sit around a cozy campfire.

Officially it is still autumn but this transition period is less present then for instance in the most of Europe and here we mostly just talk about summer and winter. May is the month in which the leaves start falling, our Baobab has lost a lot at the bottom already. The Impala Lily also loses it's leaves and the first flowers appear. 

Soon the bush will look dry and bare, less attractive but very good for game viewing. The winter is a good time to travel to South Africa. The dry bush makes it easier to spot the big 5 and animals are more active because it is not so hot. The temperature is very nice and the weather is very stable without the rain that can spoil the fun in summer sometimes. The mountains are very clear and the stars are even more breathtaking then in summer. Because of the cooler temperatures and the absence of rain there are almost no insects and no mosquitoes.
All in all the winter is an ideal time for a holiday to South Africa.

Personally I enjoy the cooler temperatures very much, just as the fact that you can wear your "winter clothes" for the cold nights. Summer clothes do not get packed away though, during the day the shorts and T-shirts come in handy! The cozy campfire and the beautiful stars and Milky Way are every time special again.
Still I know that in only four short months I will be happy with the warmer mornings (especially if you have to get up at 6 to get the kids to school). For now I enjoy the winter though and I hope many of you came to share this special time with me.

Regards from the bush
Miriam

An elephant at my gate!

It was a busy week with animals here at Amukela.
On my way to and from school I saw giraffes on a daily basis. because of all the rain last week they prefer the higher area of the Marula road with less mud.

 A warthog family comes in our camp regularly to eat from the grass. Normally this only happens in winter when food is scarce but this family doesn't seem to mind my presence.








I also see lots of zebra's and this curious kudu on my way home.






Then some elephants come to visit our waterhole. It is always nice to see these giants but when the biggest one takes a dust bad right in front of my open gate I can't help but wonder if I should have closed it...

rain and raging rivers

After a reasonable dry rainy season we got lots of rain in the beginning of March.
In 2 days we had over 200 millimeter rain and the dry rivers started to flow. The leeuspruit, that runs through our camp, was one of them. The first day it was already a nice stream and the kids loved playing in the mud.

When we got more rain that night the water flowed over the bridge at the Sable road leading to our lodge. Luckily that morning when the children had to go to school the water was down enough already to cross. The debris on the bridge showed how high the water has been. one of the trees in our riverbed was leaning over quite a bit and we had to cut some branches to be able to cross our bridge.

The Zandspruit river in Raptors View took longer to go down again and lots of children could not come to school that day. Although it is dry now for quite a while already and it was even hot today and yesterday, the Leeuspruit is not entirely dried up yet.
The road on our side of the reserve is a bit damaged but not too bad. At other places the road was inaccessible for a few days.

Luckily the dry winter lies ahead of us now.

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!