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

The lion sleeps tonight… or not?

When we have guests we always hope that we will see animals around the lodge or that we will hear the lions roar at night. In September we had a full camp with 8 guests when we heard the lions roar at night. At first they were a little further away but after everyone had gone to bed they came closer. The guests go a real concert.
The next morning two of our guests went on a bushwalk. They went with an open

Birthday party in the bush

Saturday afternoon we had a party with a few friends for Corné’s birthday. With 31 degrees it was a nice warm day and we sat on the terrace. Since everybody brought kids it looked like a children’s party and our boys had a great time! They even played with water in the afternoon. We just sat on the terrace and enjoyed chatting. The bitterballen (Dutch snack) that I made were a great success and it was even suggested that we should open a snack bar.
Rob en Michelle stayed for dinner. We made potjiekos and this was a great success too.  Al in al it was a great party.

Regards from the bush
Miriam

Medical care in South Africa

Soon we have to have our annual check-up at the dentist with the whole family. In the Netherlands I was always frightened for these events and if I had to come back for a treatment I used to have stomach-ache hours before the appointment. After my first visit to the dentist here I’m cured of that. Alex is a very nice guy, he is good with the children and he makes me feel at ease. Since I am here in South Africa my old grey fillings have been replaced with new white ones and although it is still not fun to sit there with your mouth open, I never had stomach-ache before these treatments. Of course the fact that they don’t even ask if you want anaesthetics but just give it to you (something that you have to specifically request in the Netherlands) could have something to do with it as well…
After a treatment the assistant always calls the next morning

Growing up in the bush

Our children have a fantastic childhood here in the bush. They grow up in this beautiful nature, in a country where they can almost always play outside and in a place where they have lots of space to play. From the moment they started crawling they have been getting healthily dirty and their daily bath was never a luxury. Now they get a little bigger they can run around, play football, build huts and in a few weeks time it will be warm enough to swim. They love going with Daddy in the bakkie (pick-up) to bring the garbage bags to the dumpster at the gate and our old Landrover is their favourite. Yesterday we drove at the end of the afternoon