Africa Safari Blog

Hard work for handler getting orphan to adapt to a new life

Source: Weekend Argus, 24th July 2010 but Sheree Bega

LIKA A devoted mother, Khulani Mangena tries to entice Vuma, an orphandes rhino calf in his care, to drink from a 30-litre bottle of specialized rhino refuses, eyeing the artificial teat suspiciously.

After all, it looks little like the source of the mother’s milk that nine-month-old Vuma thrived on until his mother was slaughtered by poachers at the Krugersdorp Game Reserve last week.
But little by little, Mangena, a rhino handler at the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve in kromdraai, west of Johannesburg, where Vuma has been moved, sees progress in the traumatized animal. “He has not drunk any milk since he came here last Friday. But he is eating and drinking water. And every day he comes closer to the bottle.” Read the rest of this entry »

What’s it all about?

Protea Hotels announced plans in July 2009 to build a 144-bed hotel on the banks of the Lower Zambezi within the Chiawa Game Management Area (GMA). The site identified for the project sits 500m across the Zambezi River from the World Heritage site of Mana Pools National Park. Heralded as a 12 month development, the project was expected to employ in the region of 100 people, almost matching the level of employment provided by all safari operators currently working in the Lower Zambezi combined, bringing significant benefits to the local area.

What happened then?

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Source:http://teyie.com/?p=1039

Tanzania authorities are planning to construct a commercial highway across the Serengeti National Park marking an end to one of the world’s greatest spectacles, the wildebeest migration.

The road will have untold environmental impacts and could sever a critical corridor for the annual migration of hundreds of thousands of wildebeests, zebra and other animals.
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I just wanted to let you all know about my trip to Namibia in the hopes that it might inspire some of you to visit this beautiful country!

My 10 day adventure began as I landed at the Hosea Kutako International Airport. Stepping out into the hot African it really hit me that I was in Namibia and that my dream holiday was just beginning! We were met by our guide and taken to our accommodation (the Roof of Africa Lodge) so that we could freshen up after our long flight. Later that day we were treated to a city tour of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was great to learn more about the history of Namibia and to see the quaint old fashioned town of Windhoek. By the time my head hit the pillow that evening all I could think about was exploring the famous red dunes of Sossusvlei that I had heard so much about, even though we were only going to visit them at the end of the safari…
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Investing in a fancy camera and a an 11-week DSLR photo course seemed to be paying off because I was allowed to be one of the very first people to see our Khwai Bedouin Camp personally and of course take & deliver some images for our office and all of our interested partners & clients.

The week before I was due to leave I witnessed our new Ops assistant Joanne and our Operations Manager Wayne preparing the set-up of our new camp. Only after having seen the camp complete (after helping to set it up) I realized how much work it must have been to think of really everything…
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The time has come – yesterday was my last day at Jenman Safaris! I am now sitting at home on my couch writing this and I still can’t believe it…  Maybe it was all the excitement and fun of the world cup that made the time go that much faster?! With only a few days left in Cape Town I decided to do as much as possible…

On Saturday we (my house mates and I) got up quite early and went to the food market at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock. As the sun was shining we decided it was summer again…

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