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.