Greetings and Salutations,

I have coined a new safari term: the Caffeine Effect. Now on all our Big Five Safari we do a little breakfast stop. This is usually on one of the more topographical locations. There are one or two of these spots in both Imfolosi and Hluhluwe or collectively HIP that was once HUP. These aesthetic breakfast spots are simply a must, unless we are doing fried eggs and bacon. This intravenous cholesterol option usually requires more of a sheltered "from the wind" option. Meaning we would be snuck away in a little picnic spot sheltered by wind-breaking trees. Fortunately good quality caffeine is available at both locations and the caffeine always has the desired effect on these occasions.

The real caffeine effect of the morning cheese and pastrami sandwiches with coffee is at the lower end of the "caffeine effect". I am talking or writing about the massive almost globular intravenous effect, almost too much to handle, eye popping, brain buzzing "caffeine effect", it is big and fairly rare event. And believe me, although it might be possible to go looking for this effect, best not, because when it happens it is enough and lasts a little longer than the average espresso. I am looking at maybe a double espresso that followed a cappuccino!? 

More recently we were all subject to a good shot of this "caffeine effect". When I say a good shot I mean it, literally and figuratively. The effects were long lasting and my predictions of those present would still have residual traces, indelibly imprinted for life. Our "caffeine effect" encounter took place after a good sizzling braai, thereafter we aimed ourselves in the direction of one final loop in the Park. Late afternoon can be a little slow in the IMfolozi Park. So after disturbing a couple of twitchers that were waiting for a Marico sunbird to reappear and complained that they would have to wait another half hour we followed the road towards Mpila camp. Not far down the road we encountered a parked safari vehicle. This vehicle made way for us to get a closer look at what they were viewing. As we did this an elephant cow swung around the front of their vehicle and "flashed us" from no more than 5 meters. She had great big scary ears and angry eyes.

Well in this situation there is not much you can do, apart from not aggravating the elephant any further. Further aggravation would have placed us in a "caffeine effect" zone that few would have experienced or be able to handle. Fortunately this cow was fairly good natured by elephant standards and after making her presence and personal boundary well known to us she retreated, and we were left wide eyed and pinching every sphincter, wondering if we had all packed spare underwear! 

Needless to say we all experienced the "caffeine effect". The effects were long lasting and conversation was brisk until we returned to St. Lucia. Even some of those on this trip that had been in some of the Kruger Park luxury lodges were more than satisfied with our HIP safari. As although the variety in the north is good, being in the right place at the right time is what can make a "caffeine" safari.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Whrydah in the day.

Greetings and Salutations,

Every night safari is different and sometimes we hope to see the same thing the same way because it was a good sighting. An animal sighting can take any form, but we tend to emphasize the really good ones and ignore marginal or weak sightings. I suppose our good photos get us talking about the great stuff we saw and although most of the stuff we see is not necessarily good, we will seldom if ever talk about it, unless it is in passing comment and goes along the lines of "we saw a giraffe, but not very well".

Our sightings or at least collectively my sightings were remarkable in the sense of consistent buffalo sightings, in fact for the past almost week the buffalo have almost been in the same location doing the same thing. Not far into iSimangaliso the road has an embankment down the one side. This is after the cattle crossing yet before the Pan loop. It is along this stretch of verdant and recently burnt grass that the local hundred or so buffalo have been feeding on. However seeing these buffalo in this particular area means that they are at eye level. Strange but true. This is because the embankment places the buffalo about two meters above the road. Even feeling fairly safe in a Unimog, one feels a little cautious, because at eye level, I feel they could just jump across into our vehicle. So far so good and I have a policy of 'no pay no stay', so I would be forced to ask the buffalo to leave, if they did manage to board our vehicle.

Good stuff and these good sightings are expected to go on for a while as this herd seems very satisfied with all the good grass. So if you are thinking of a little nocturnal activity, give us a call and have a chat or make a reservation. It is all happening on the Eastern Shores.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Whrydah

Greetings and salutations,

Sometimes and only sometimes you get a gift that is worth more than it's intrinsic value. I suppose if this type of thing happened all the time we would need greater rewards. When it comes to this culinary saying then there can be a further meaning in the series of events that resulted in the "cherry being placed on top". Obviously in this case the cherry was never consumed as it was in an inedible form at the time. However, other sayings would be possible like "the final piece of the puzzle" or "in the nick of time".

Any safari or Eco-tourist has a wish list and although some will profess to the fact that they are not necessarily interested in the Big Five, secretly they all are! As I have always said that there is one thing better than a leopard and that is two. In early August I had a couple that were on a big five hunt and nine times out of ten guests arrive in St. Lucia having bagged four out of the Big Five. These guests had been staying in  St. Lucia for a couple of days and they had bagged everything except a buffalo. When they mentioned this I gave them a bit of a quizzical look and wondered what the hell the other tour operators had been doing. Although I have had days when buffalo all but disappear!

This lack of buffalo was mentioned to me as we passed through the Cape Vidal Gate. I calculated that I would be able to guess to the minute, how soon we would be seeing buffalo and "placing the cherry on top" the reason being - that a section of grass had been burnt just inside the main park and several large Dagga Boy buffalo had settled onto this grass. Every night for the past week we had viewed these muddy beasts. Tonight I knew they would be more than special, because these old fellows would make someone really happy as they completed their Big Five. When the first of the buffalo appeared in the spotlight we high fived and the cherry was placed in the right position.


Hasta la vista

 The Knait Whrydah

Greetings and Salutations,

After many years of sneaking through the bush at night or drifting through the bush under a glorious African sun, I have begun to wonder if animals ask each other questions about guests in vehicles. I have answered thousands of questions from guests and thought that there may well be a few that animals might be interested a firing away questions, if the opportunity arose. And this would be either in the day or the night:

1. When do they (people) sleep?
2. What do they eat?
3. How big do they get?
4. What is the difference between the male and female?
5. How do they find their way back home?
6. How many babies do they have?
7. Are they social or do they live on their own?
8. How many different kinds of people are there?
9. How long do their off-spring stay with them?
10. Where do they go when it rains?

Or maybe animals are just not concerned about people around them. For each it is about finding more grass or enough prey to keep their stomachs full. Who knows, just a thought take it or leave it.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Whrydah

Greetings and Salutations,

The rain started on the 23 December, plenty of it. One of those rain sessions that lasts a couple of days. Never heavy, just persistent. Persistent and fine, every inch of earth receives a million or two of rain drops. Blood warm, tropical rain that drifts straight down to Earth. Sometimes the rain process is so saturating that even the sand cannot absorb all the water, it wallows around on the surface for a while eventually mobilizing into little rivulets and slowly wandering downhill to a seep or a wetland. So gentle is the gradient in this reserve that there is never really a torrent of water. Just lazy sluggish water, gathering and meandering somewhere at no real pace.

This was the general situation a couple of night's ago. Steady rain, drifting in at every angle. Halfway through our tour, during the planned sundowners stop, the rain washed us out. We had our sundowners in the vehicle. Not really part of the plan, but necessity was the mother of this situation. After this situational break we headed off into a darkened landscape to see what was "out and about" after dark. Well an amazing phenomenon greeted us. Generally after several days of summer heat we get good rain, this was true. What was unusual were the number of frogs.

It seemed as the rain started falling, the frogs decided to head for all the swamps, pans and vleis. But the sheer numbers were remarkable. The road was like multicolored and shaped popcorn. Initially the hot weather seemed to have caused the frogs to hop across to any small or large forest to gain shelter from the heat. Forest are like air conditioners. The best place to be during a heatwave. But when the heat wave was broken by the rain, back to the water they hopped in huge numbers. Nature is very logical, but it is finding the logic, that takes a little observation and patience. We also have had a wet year so this may have accounted for the larger number of frogs than normal.

Well, I suppose any Frenchman on the trip would have been jumping with gastric excitement. Fortunately on this trip the frogs were safe and secure.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Whrydah

Greetings and Salutations,

There are a couple of embarrassing situations that can be long remembered. One of them is having someone point out that your fly is open. This has been going on for a number of years. Actually since the advent of the zip. And expressions like "zip it" started to worm it's way into every day terse conversation. But then Velcro appeared and no one really says "Velcro it!". Although in the animal world the noise of Velcro can interrupt a good animal sighting, especially when silence is required.

So rather than get side tracked by little anecdotes, I have decided on a multiple choice system that will reduce the amount of speculation and also cut down on waffle. We all have filled in endless and seemingly unsensical Multiple choice questions. Take for example the recent population census. Fortunately, I have no need to count people or was counted, although I am often pleasantly surprised with my ability to count. Here goes:

What would you consider more embarrassing:
A. Being told your fly is down.
B. Being told your lens cover is still on.
C. Not being counted in the recent census
D. All of the above.
E. None of the above.

Since A and C has been dealt with, B. Needs a little discussion. This happens from time to time and especially during the odd Shakabarker Knait Psaphari. When guiding these trips I often find myself in front of a whole battery of cameras. At night photography can be a little different to the day. This is especially true when it comes to SLR cameras. Many of the owners ensure the lens cover remains in place when the camera is not in use. This is totally different to a compact digital camera, when you switch a compact digital, the screen lights up with an image. SLR camera do not do this. On many occasions I have seen frustrated camera owners trying to focus and fiddle not realizing that they are going in the wrong direction. All I see is Canon, Nikon, Olympus lens covers aimed in my direction. A quick and well directed "excuse me your lens cover", usually gets their attention and the necessary remedial action. Embarrassing - yes, especially with a full vehicle of photographers, while lots of gigs are being fired off. And something the camera operator will not allow to happen again.


Hasta la vista,

The Knait Whrydah

Greetings and Salutations,

Although St. Lucia Village has relatively few residents, a paltry 710 residents, for it's size it is certainly not a sleepy hollow. Day and night it is abuzz with environmental activities. Described as an outdoors activities village in a place of wonder. At 5am tours depart for various parts of iSimangaliso and other smaller Parks an hour away. In the evening night tours take place and some of these only return to St. Lucia in the wee hours of the morning. So if you plan to do everything in a few days, expect to get very little sleep.

Even the animals "work" day and night shifts. Others are crepuscular. But there is one mighty beast of the night, that gets everyone talking. A monster and blubbery one at that. Stalking our parks in the dark of the night, like giant grass vacuum cleaners. 130kgs of grass are vacuumed into their massive body. Silently slipping between trees, grassy parks and traffic to get to their urban salad bowls. You see their silhouettes in the faint street lamp light. Back and forth guzzling down grass.

In the morning wide eyed guests regale their silent and uncertain encounters with these midnight monsters, some quite uncertain of their encounter or was it the vodka? Certainly the hippo living in the estuary surrounding St. Lucia Village have a soft spot for our hamlet. Sneaking in at night to nibble the verdant greens and shuffling off into the lake in the early hours of the morning before the first vehicles depart for not too distant game reserves or early morning fishing. So this quiet hamlet never really sleeps, certain residents are up all night while others are diurnal.

Africa is alive 24/7.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Whrydah

Greetings and Salutations,

We certainly live in a era of convenience. At a drop of a hat we can travel the World, hire cars and be hundreds if not thousands of kilometres away. Your article on "tick intoxicated' was wonderful and it illustrated how easy it has become to generate tons of greenhouse gases on a whimsy. Bully for the enthusiasts. It is wonderful to read about people that are passionate about a checklist but indifferent about the well-being of our planet.

Do not get me wrong, we need sensible Eco-tourism. People that pack in hundreds of birds and beasts on a single checklist on a single safari/trip/excursion. But I am stupefied by so-called obsessive behaviour to stampede across the countryside for the purpose of ticking off one bird. Currently we are hosting Cop17. There is all sorts of dire reports for this planet. Everyone must wake-up and realize that "THIS IS THE ONLY PLANET WITH CHOCOLATE OR GOLDEN PIPITS" we have to be rational about what we do.

Unique bird sightings like this should be monitored by webcam where twitchers can go on line to twitch and tick. Such wanting destruction of our (my) Planet must stop. Articles like you have published must stop. Articles with a list of name of those that registered to go on line to twitch a lifer must be published so we can show a little solidarity for our (my) Planet. The time has come and is almost gone for us to reverse greenhouse damage, we all need to 'wake-up and smell the coffee" or we will not be able to "stop and smell the roses".

Hasta la vista

The Knait Whrydah

Alias Kian Barker, Bsc. Hons.

Greetings and salutations,

Never is a night the same, the spell between the setting sun and the rise is always different. Some animals become masters of the night, while others are the servants of the darkness. Then there is the other group, they just do not care. There is the well recited saying "make my day". In this case these animals can say that at night or day. A little grammatical modification is required, but in general not much more.

Body language is big in the bush, many animals are finely tuned to what other members of the same species signal, or other species. However there are a couple of species that do not really care what goes on in or out of the Park. It is a case take it or leave it. Just another way of putting "make my day or night". In our particular case it was the first night drive after several days of rainy wet weather. Incessant rain, soaking and gentle, but we were glad for the break in the weather. There we were meandering along a darkened sandy path in the verdant landscape. The Land rover headlights were generous and bright and my spotlight was like a moth buzzing around a candle in search for game, frogs and chameleons.

The particular piece of road cut through a whole series of tertiary dunes, around one, over the next, left and right until "bam!" in the middle of the road was a roadblock. Five tons of it! When dissecting the facts around this particular incident it was apparent that the "road blockers" had the attitude of "whatever". We had the attitude of "you're welcome". And we waited. Because we realized that 1.6kgs of cranial power controlling five tons of brawn is not something you get "clever with". As much as white rhino are considered benign, it is better to let them do whatever they want. So we did! Eventually these rhino got off the road and lumbered away into the grassland, allowing us to rather gingerly slip past into the darkness.

The other treat of the evening were the stars. Several days of dust clearing rain produced a fantastic display of stars. Unfortunately not for long and after admiring the stars while clutching a cup of hot chocolate, the clouds closed the curtains on our celestial treat. A couple more kudu and bush pigs rummaging around the edges of newly formed lakes and we were back in slumbering St. Lucia.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Whrydah

Greetings and Salutations,

A couple of years ago I wrote a piece about "Getting wet with Kobus". The content was about a group of antelope that love water and not specifically about Kobus or as otherwise known -the waterbuck. Waterbuck occur in good numbers in iSimangaliso and they need the little girl. The little girl is the bearer of "fruitful" conditions for waterbuck, reedbuck and for that matter of fact any hydrophyllous invertebrate or vertebrate.  Currently the little girl is present and will be present until next year - 2012.

At least the weather people think so and if you dabble in weather forecasting you would have heard of el Niño - the little boy and la Nina the little girl. These are significant weather patterns that the weather forecasters seem to use at regular intervals. Currently the forecasters believe that the little girl is present and I can vouch for this. In fact as recently as a couple of nights ago. It all started well and I had a full vehicle, all adults, but the little girl found us just as we entered the Cape Vidal gate. She never left us alone, in fact even the waterbuck must have felt uncomfortable as it never stopped raining for the whole night. It was on of those night's that you wet your pants. There was just so much rain that it got in everywhere!

Swamped in rain that we may as well have been walking around in the Park. Relentless rain, non-stop and torrential. Crazy persistent heavy, persistent and light or just persistent. We soldiered on through the deluge. Although unable to stop for hot chocolate, we did complete a full tour and returned to a drenched town, 2kms from a drenched Park and all it's contents. I felt that even Kobus would have been happy get away from "the little girl" just for a little while.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Whrydah - high and dry indoors

Greetings and Salutations,

This was crazy! At least for me. My track record has not been good in this particular field, although there are some things that I have made a success and others according to my remaining lifespan will never allow me to achieve.  Unless there is some miracle discovery in an anti-aging remedy. In fact, change that to a longevity potion, as there are lots of anti-aging remedies on the market, but nothing that will effectively make or allow you to live longer. In a nutshell the eternal human dream.

So back in the Park. During September and October I had many requests and Safari's to this neck of the woods. I am particularly fond of this area in spring and relish every opportunity to head for this cameo game reserve. Also the vast area of burnt grass allowed for good sightings. But the 53 and 47 had nothing to do with animals on this safari. Neither sport. Two couples that I had on my vehicle had collectively been married for 100 years! Sheesh I thought what a feat of patience and a monument to the institution of marriage.

Thinking about my age that is more than 42' it would take a mammoth effort to find the illustrious fountain of youth and drink exhaustively from this mythical source of water to ensure I could live to a ripe old age, then to be able to find a suitable partner, get married and stay married for a hundred years. Only in my dreams. Okay I should be realistic, maybe 50 years. Even that target, I would be close to a hundred - statistically impossible - only in theory or dreams, movies or cartoons.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Whrydah

Greetings and Salutations,

There are some crazy people out there. I always heard about "the mad 
dogs and English men that go out in the midday sun!" Well South 
Africans are madder. Last couple of nights we have been out in this 
tempestuous weather. Crazy wind and rain. Animals were taking a bit of 
a beating. Buffalo with their backs to the wind, waterbuck lying low 
and every second wilddate palm had a bushbuck on the leeward side 
taking cover from the wind and rain. As for the hippo, my guess is 
that they have a "what the hell!" attitude. With 10cms of fat nothing 
seems to bother them in this weather, except for their gastronomic 
craving to have a grass filled gut. I suppose  being out on a rainy, 
cold night is a lot better than being sunk to eye level in frigid lake 
water. So night drives as per usual. If the rain bothers you, just 
wind up your window. Oh yes, while I remember our closed vehicle has 
heating, and so is the effect of the hot chocolate.

Now for the past three years of July rainfall. July is not over and I 
cannot resist being 'an early bird' on this one.

2009 - July - 22mm
2010 - July - 47mm
2011 - July - 197mm! (until 8am - 26 July)

Remember it is possible that rainfall  varies in and around St. Lucia 
Village.  I have compared these figures to other pluviometer (rain 
gauge) readers. You will find a small variation of about 10% in and 
around the immediate St. Lucia area. So you can assume there is a fair 
level of accuracy*. Repeat after me "there is no drought, there is no 
drought!" Let us not forget that January recorded 560mm of rainfall!


Hasta la vista

The wet Knait Wrydah

* Remember the famous saying about statistics "there are lies, damned 
lies and then statistics!"

During late May we had a large passenger Cruise-liner dock at
 Richards' Bay from Australia. This ship had the capacity to carry 2000
passengers and
 1250 staff to attend to their needs. This area does not get many
 Australians. In one moment we received more Australians than have ever
 visited this area in a couple of years. Some had visited this area before,
 but for most of them it was a first time. The harbour was a buzz with
 buses, coaches, kombis and game drive vehicles, all transporting
 guests in a variety of directions.

 Since my guests had a one hour drive to the iMfolozi Park, it allowed
 a little time to get familiar with them, hear about their lives in
 Australia and what decided them to visit South Africa. With the usual
 introductions out of the way, we started chatting about all sorts of
 topics including 4x4. If you own a Land Rover and you find someone
 that has the same vehicle, it is easy to strike up a lengthy
 conversation. Often these conversations are interrupted animals and
 sightings along the way.  By the end of the day you usually have new
 tales of Land Rover ownership.

 Well, one charming couple that had spent quite a bit of time traversing
 the outback in their trusty Discovery (love-hate for most), enjoyed
 their time together and apart. When apart, his wife was checking river
 crossings before Jim drove their vehicle through the river. At this
 moment I said: "Err..., What about the crocs?". He seemed unconcerned
 and I said: "Australian Chivalry!!" Seemed really strange, but his
 wife said that she was quite happy to be the depth tester, and would
 not want anyone else to take her job. "Okay", I thought "Whatever
 blows your socks off". Although I could see one day he would do it and
 there would be a croc waiting right there. In fact she was so good at
 this task that other 4x4 users would be willing to wait for her to
 clear a river and pass after the crossing was safe and the best route
 was found. Unless it was a little Darwinian thinking. Either that or - it
 worked and she had been doing this for a decade or two.

 I will never think of a river crossing in the same way again. This is
 something Land Rover will never be able to reproduce and sell as an
 optional extra.

 Hasta la vista

The Knait Wrydah.

Greetings and Salutations,

St. Lucia has plenty of fresh air. Sometimes I wonder if it has too
much. For most of the time there is enough. Warm tropical breezes.
Generous, balmy days. Travelers to this area are invigorated and
delighted by this injection of life. Many arriving for an overnight
stay will often extend their stay. Others want to cement their
relationship and this is the place. A marriage proposal at the Lake,
on the beach or on the top of the dunes. All very romantic options. I
know because I did it and she said 'yes!'.

Mine was during the evil days of beach driving so we could do it and
we did it on the beach. Actually on the top of a dune, but we drove a
4x4 along the beach to get there. Now beach driving is banned, we are   only
allowed on designated tracks and roads. So to avoid that
been-there-done-that scenario and well trodden phrase, we look for
something new and unique. Well, not that I am an expert on the
subject, but I am always willing to offer a little advice or arrange a
little surprise or two. During the first quarter of 2011 a new viewing
deck was opened overlooking Catalina Bay. Great place to view the
weather, 24/7. But when I got a call about a young gentleman that was
looking for a romantic spot to propose to "tie the proverbial knot" I
realized that the new viewing deck was virgin territory, because it
was so new and no one to my knowledge had "done the deed there".

A little behind the scenes planning was required. So after numerous
phone calls, surreptitiously orchestrated to ensure the maiden to be
proposed did not have an inkling of the plans that were being
formulated, we set about getting all the logistics to a point where we
could get a surprise off the ground. The said gentleman with amorous
intentions reserved the whole vehicle, but my daughters accompanied to
assist with this romantic interlude.   All the goodies, snacks and
refreshments had been  loaded into the back of the vehicle and a
normal preamble to the tour was presented. All along I had to make
sure that the wife to be was not aware of his plans. At times I wanted
to steal the lime light and jump up and down saying: 'You are getting
married, you are getting married!" I suppose death would have been
easier and more pleasant. All along the way I ensured that I was doing
my job as a dedicated guide. Rhino, buffalo and a variety of antelope.
Now if you have heard of the saying "a watched pot never boils." Try
waiting for the sun to set, for an intended marriage proposal. I know
the sun sets fairly quickly in Africa, that is according to our
European visitors. This was not the case.

Back and forth we went, an animal here, bird there, eventually we were
on target. As we arrived at the Catalina viewing deck it was filled
with a group of late afternoon visitors. "Murphy's law." So, trying to
save this moment, I cracked open one of the cooler boxes and starting
pouring a couple of drinks, but the love bugs were having none of
this. Klaus snatched the hand of his bride to be and snuck her off
around the corner away from the crowds and "sealed the deal". By the
time they returned it was game, set and match. The "intruders' had
left and we enjoyed a classic sunset and champagne moment. The newly
engaged enjoyed their moment well after sunset and I think that they
never even noticed the sun had set.

Now a strange dilemma struck me, after all the excitement and good
feelings about this unique sunset moment - "what to do?" Do you carry
on as per normal with a night drive or does one head back to the safe
confines of St. Lucia Village and allows these nuptials to continue
the moment in a quiet restaurant. Because in a certain sense, guiding
is a little intrusive in this situation. In all other instances,
guests want to hear and see as much as possible, about animals and how
many more they will we be able to see. Since I had promised to produce
a tour as close to any other Eastern Shores Excursion, I continued as
per normal arriving two hours later in the quiet Hamlet of St. Lucia
Village to unleash the two newly betrothed on the restaurant community
of this unsuspecting village. But next time I will have to check on
the 'proposing' protocol.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Wrydah at sunset.

PS. She did say: "Yes"

Greetings and Salutations,

Well this account has little to do with one of those Confucius say: 
"Confucius say nothing." But then, since we are taking a swipe on some 
Asian cultural issue about a weird incident when a leopard ended up 
bigger than a lion. Sorry, neither that and since we are still in the 
East, it would have had to be a case of big leopard and small 
dragon. This account is African, maybe the Greeks were involved along 
the way, but more in the sense of their language rather than 
physically being present.

This happened on a fairly regular day in the iSimangaliso Park. I 
suppose each tour becomes more successful with the frequency of 
leopard sightings. In this instance I am happy to say that a big 
leopard made the right appearance in the perfect location. On our 
Eastern Shore Safari we stop at the Catalina Bay view sight. In the 
past we often found ourselves shuffling around in the grass at this 
great lookout point. Now we get to stand on a wooden Deck, plus after 
a glass or two of wine, or a GnT under your belt it is virtually 
possible to lean in any direction to avoid splashing into Lake St. 
Lucia. After a good leaning session, while watching several rafts of 
hippo amble from the warm depths of Lake St. Lucia, I summoned my 
guests and we boarded for the next part of our safari.

After standing around in almost shear darkness, the minute the 
spotlight are flicked into light, you tend to blink a little at the 
brightness. Not long and your eyes are accustomed to the spotlight 
light and you enter a "night phase" searching out any interesting 
animals. This must be really exciting for the average foreign visitor 
as I have visited Europe on a number of occasions and there is nothing 
like an African night drive. especially after a glass or two of wine. 
But when a big leopard appears not even five minutes into the night drive 
this can be a big surprise. We were lucky and although this spotted 
feline was a little apprehensive in the beginning he quickly settled 
down and we had an excellent photo session with the most elusive 
member of the big five.  After the last few spots disappeared into the 
thicket, we headed on to see what else we could ferret out of the 
African bush. Since ferrets are not African and we have a similar 
animal called a genet and 'local is lekker' I should write: ... we 
headed off to see what else we could genet out of the bush? - nah, I 
think I will stick to ferret, but keep genet in Africa.

Not long after the big leopard we stumbled across a small lion. there 
are lion in iSimangaliso, but not "them big ones". We get Dandy lions 
- these are not gay lions, but plants. Ant-lions are plentiful and I 
am uncertain of what you would call a colony of ant-lions, I doubt if 
it would be a pride? And sea lion, only seen one here, arrived in a 
bad storm and disappeared before we were able to assist it. As for 
the rest no real lions, only a small one, commonly referred to as a 
chameleon. Chameo referring to a small broach and leon as in lion. 
this also amazes all those present. Hence a big leopard and a not a 
lion that was stunted or failed to get steroids, but rather a chameleon.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Wrydah

Greetings and Salutations

Normally Teddy Bears appear moments before the onset of sleep, that is in a regular bedroom in suburbia. In this particular incidence no one was anywhere ready for sleep and a teddy bear appeared. At this moment my teddy bear perceptions were changed. So in my case there are two occasions when a Teddy Bear might make an appearance. The second occassion was for sentimental reasons. But the catalyst that got this particular Teddy Bear into the spotlight was a chameleon. The one being inanimate and the other animate and it was a sentimental moment that got the inanimate object gain the spotlight over and above the glamour of a chameleon in the silent darkness of the African bush.

This particular moment was greeted with great enthusiasm by all the guests on this night Safari. After a short distance into the Park, we had seen a few bush buck and kudu, I found a moderately large flap-neck chameleon. So after my usual demonstrations to the guests, a back-packer said "Wait!". Moments later, he fished out from the depth of his back a small light blue Teddy bear! Strangely everyone seemed to understand that if you did not have a gnome, then a teddy bear was just as good. Something of sentimental value. He immediately explained that he had a loved one at home, and the Teddy was his way of sending a message home. Although at this moment it seemed that his actions did not require any explanation.  A sense of I wish you where here. But since you are not, I am showing the World that I wish you were here".

Strangely enough no one seemed to ask the chameleon what it thought about having a teddy bear three times it's size shoved into it's face. Then followed by a whole series of flash photos. No longer the chameleon Papparazzi, this time it was the Teddy bear Papparazzi! I can just imagine that the chameleon got a little annoyed being 'woken' by a teddy bear that it had said 'good night' to over four hours ago. Well the chameleon paparazzi did a fine job and flashed Teddy and chameleon to their hearts content. At this point I was uncertain which was more popular, the Chameleon or the Teddy. But I was certain that when the chameleon went back to his bush to sleepout the rest of the night in peace and quiet he was most relieved.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Wrydah

Greetings and Salutations

Recently I have had the same conversation about being over 60 something, with a number of guests. Guests have told me "that I had better save for my old age". Others have said "put a little away for that hearing aid or an operation or a knee replacement". There seems lots to save for when you are over sixty something. But this is not about age and that the longer we are around, the more you have to pay for medical procedures. "Old age apparently is not for sissies". No this "more than 60 something..." has nothing to do with this. Neither has it got to do with all the festive season holiday makers that were "bust" for exceeding the speed limit and were told that they were over sixty. Neither has this got anything to do with your heart rate when you see Miss World and your heart rate is something over 60. But I would put that more like something over 80. Nothing I tell you my good friends, nothing.

This "over sixty" has got a lot to do with Kosi Bay and turtles. Especially with our recent visit. No I was not speeding, some of the guests were over 80, but Miss World was not present, respectively and collectively. This had a lot to do with turtles and nesting. Kosi Bay is great and really an excellent opportunity to experience this 'miracle of nature' by creating zero green house gases and being 100% community based. Added to this a 100% success rate. This is really good way of getting to see turtles. In fact I would say the right way to do it. So turtles in Kosi means walking. Generally not too far as there are plenty of turtles here. The community supplies all the guides, but they like involvement as well. Finally we have a 100% guarantee of turtles. So where is the 'more than 60 something' come into the equation.

On our last trip there was a possibility that hatchlings would start emerging. These hatchlings would have been laid in late October, early November and as we have discussed all turtles are laid. So as I patrolled down the Kosi beach with the community guide, I looked out for hatchling and counted the number of tracks left by emerging turtles. After the usual four km walk I counted more than 60 nests. However it would be very wrong of me to end here and not qualify and quantify when these turtles had emerged to nest. The beach is like a giant diary and usually daily strong winds clean the beach of all the turtle tracks, however there had been no strong winds for the past three days. So collectively the tracks I counted were from more than sixty something turtles that had emerged over a period of three days to nest. So you can see why it is almost impossible not to see turtles in the Kosi bay area. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Wrydah on the Beach

Greetings and Salutations

During the recent festive season I have did a few extra HIP and not HUP tours. That is since the name of the Umfolozi was changed to the Imfolozi. But nothing or little has changed about my tours. Usually we are out of bed before the sparrow can f..t! But in summer there tends to be  a slightly odorous aroma that greets your nostrils on awakening, but  a significant absence of the little feathered culprit. This is because the sun tends to rise earlier in summer. At 06h00 in winter it is still dark and you can disappear into the darkness before this little gaseous bird awakes. But this is not about sparrows and their early morning misdemeanors. This is about coffee and lions.

Anyway 05h00 is early. 06h00 is better but still early. Or oily if you are a sardine. Anyway after loading all the willing participants for a HIP trip, we headed in the direction of the sun that had set 12 hours before we started this tour. Okay, we went west. After 57 blurry kms we arrived at the HIP gate and exchanged a quantity of money that allowed us into this HIP Park. Generally on this trip most guests are fairly quiet. This I can only presume is to the lack of any significant amounts of caffeine in their blood system, or residual amounts that are so low that they have no awakening effect. After the ubiquitous gate we headed in any direction that has a picnic site. These picnic sites are great locations for coffee. Like twitchy would say in Hoodwinked "Cofffeeee, yummmeee!". On this particular occasion we somehow made it to the Mfapha hide. There was water in the plunge pool below the waterfall and a giraffee staring at the  coffee coloured water from a distance. Pastrami and cheese sandwiches with a good side portion of coffee jerked the day into a realistic and recognizable form. Slowly our systems started functioning. Life and intellect seeped back into the cranial crevices where it had been missing for the last 12 hours.

Then a another couple joined us in the Mfapha hide and we greeted them passively and continue with our caffeine invigorating ceremony. Then out the blue two more people walked into the hide and announced there were six lions a little distance away! I asked exactly/approximately how far away. He said "1.4Km away" Well the effect of this announcement was more galvanizing than 6 cups of intravenous coffee. We whizzed out of the hide, but remembering to take a good look at the individual that made this announcement and his registration. 1.4km done the road there was nothing. 1.6 and 1.2 km there was nothing. We had been "Hoodwinked", the temptation to return and remove a large quantity of air from his inferior 4X4 was really tempting, but duty called. However the residual effect of this individual "Crying Wolf" was like being on an intravenous caffeine drip. Needless to say we had great success with a giant male lion, lions in a tree and antlions. We looked for dandy lions, but without success. Cheetah too, but none of those cats with rosettes of spots.

Well, remember if you are every in a hide that has little or no space, and there is a lion announcement, ask as many questions as possible. Or just say "we have seen lions!" once they have told you the location of the lions. Tell them that their is a leopard in the opposite direction. They can then see a fictitious leopard in a tree, with an impala kill". Although after your thorough questioning, you might just get the real answer.
 
Hasta la vista

The Knait Wrydah in the day.

Greetings and Salutations,

Each night is totally different and the great aspect of a night safari is you can vary the trip. Take a different road. Look at the stars and discuss nocturnal animal communication. Never boring and I suppose it is up to the guide as to how too achieve success. Other nights it is easy. No real effort is required because there are bus loads of animals. Like I say to guests "You cannot swing a cat without hitting an animal!" Enough to go around for everyone. Usually when this is the case there are no predators about, or they are full of antelope and really not interested in hunting.

The other night we had really seen busloads of animals. So a trip filled with satisfied guests. But I did not realise "the show was not over until the fat lady sings". The singing happened close to APU (antipoaching unit), close to the road we found one of the Daga Boys that lives in this area. Normally there is a group of three or four. Since this buffalo was really close to the road we never looked further. Moments later we heard rustling and not 15 meters away there was the rest of this group of buffalo. Well, things got a little censoured after about 5 minutes. Somehow it seemed as though these, or one buffalo in particular wanted to show off. He started off with demolishing a tree, this was to clean his horns. There are desmid beetles that can damage the keratin layer over buffalo horns so he progressively removed all the bark off a small tree, thereby rubbing tannins into his horn to create some form off protection. His manicure was not over by any means. Next he rubbed his back and eventually he perform a lewd act with a tree to get to ticks that had attached themselves to his nether regions. Is this had been the old South African this buffalo would have been taken into custody for performing a lewd act in the presence of minors.
 
But the real surprise came, when halfway through his pubic performance he looked-up. In front of him were more trees... One of the guests put words in the mouth of this Buffalo that was falling in love with a Trichelia emetica or natal mahogany and commented with the buffalo staring with amorous eyes at this clump of suitably sized trees and said: "Mmm... More trees!!" We all laughed, but this did not distract the buffalo. Seems like that Arbor day is everyday if you are a buffalo and you have a nest of ticks wedged into your nether regions.

Hasta la vista

The Knait Wrydah at night.

Greetings and Salutations,
 
Each night we head out into a very dark zone north of the quiet hamlet of St. Lucia. Without the help of a collective two million candle power of spotlights, we would have no idea what we were looking at in this alien darkness. So with the help of two spotlight all that is big and small is brought into full view. But sometimes what is illuminated can prove to be quite confusing. Lights can be a great help, but in this instance they added to the confusion, especially something that was unexpected. Although anything that was usual would have not been unusual. There is logic somewhere in that.
 
To go a little back in time. When I first started guiding in the Kruger area, after a week of extensive day training we were sent out at night. As a "roof" or green guide we returned to camp having seen some of the strangest animals that occurred in areas else where except in the Kruger. Things like the Cape Fox and bontebok. But it was scary out there and our imagination played tricks on us. But we learnt from the ridicule we received from the senior rangers. This sharpened our senses and ability to identify animals. In the end we were virtually able to identify any mammal at night with the aid of a candle at 100m. So after this initiation in nocturnal visual skills we seldom if ever made a misidentification. Although all the new guides went through the same initiation when we became senior guides and it was our responsibility to train them. The wheel turned.
 
Anyway last week I thought I had regressed to the state of a green guide. We were just through the Cape Vidal gate and over the first cattle crossing, heading off into the darkness in a westerly direction when I thought I was in the Yellowstone National Park. The only correct point was that I was in a Natural World Heritage Site like Yellowstone. Yellowstone is famous for the large variety of geologic geysers. There are a whole variety of them, mud, water, steam and sludge. Some permanently erupt, others are regular like a Swiss clock and others are irregular. What we had in the spotlight was an irregular sand geyser!! Sand was spewing skywards at regular intervals! It seemed as though two millions candle power of spotlights was insufficient to illuminate the cause of this 'sand geyser'. As I blinked for a second time in an attempt to refocus my eyes - the culprit appeared. A warthog with a face full of sand. His burrow had been partially disguised by some grass. All we saw was sand erupting into the sky from behind the grass. It seemed as though the presence of our gamedrive vehicle had disturbed this "pig" to such a point that he decided to "pump ' as much sand to the surface in order to get rid of us. In his attempt to rid us, it made for a weird scenario in the middle of a very dark landscape. When pigs go weird!
 
Hasta la vista
 
The Knait Wrydah

Greetings and Salutations,
 
As the whale season winds down, so the turtle season grinds to a fairly squeaky start. Generally the first part of November is not the best time to witness turtles nesting. Although the season in Kosi Bay started really early this year. We saw our first turtle on the 18 August. There was no intention of doing so and the appearance of this turtle was totally unexpected. But we took full advantage of this rare event. Observing the delicate process of egg-laying. Now that the season has started, turtle tours are made great by the fact that there is a lot of interaction between guest and this ancient "marineress".
 
To get a full understanding of this human/turtle interaction it is necessary to briefly discuss the whole nesting process. Plus boggle your mind with a priceless comment. Witnessing a nesting turtle takes patience and an understanding that you are working with pregnant females. They appear when they are ready. IT IS NOT NEGOTIABLE. This is just the way it is. Generallly after dark the females arrive in the surf zone either two hours before or two hours after low tide. Slowly in the dark, balmy night they huff and puff their way up the beach until they seem to reach the correct nesting location (rookey). If they decide it is the wrong location they simply return to the sea. When this happens as a guide, you are left with a bunch of rather blank faced guests clicking their heels on a dark and empty beach. Remember they are pregnant females! The female turtle will find another spot somewhere along the beach. This usually take place later in the evening.
 
Once a female turtle has reached a suitable location she will prepare the site for digging an egg pot or chamber. Egg laying starts shortly thereafter, contractions are visible as she gently lifts her rear flippers a cm or two prior to depositing between one and four eggs. When the ovipositor descends - we know it is possible to get really close to the female and witness her egg-laying. The female at this stage is in an egg-trance. Something I refer to as a "genetic epidural". Once the eggs have been laid, she covers the nest hole. Carefully compacting loose sand into the chamber, thereafter flashing sand all over the nesting area to disguise the exact location of the egg chamber. Once complete she heads back to a gravity free environment - the dark warm enticing Indian Ocean. On one particular night we had seen the "full Monty". We arrived as a giant leatherback emerged and two and a quarter hours later we witnessed her departure. Most people are stunned and silenced by this ancient ritual. However, in this particular instance an American voice came from the back of my group and asked: "How would you know if that was a male or female turtle". More silence followed. No one uttered a word. We walked back up the beach recounting the recent reptilian events and "the" comment. I thought that Hollywood script writers have a remarkable ability to create stories, but this was beyond any imagination. You just had to be there! Teehee - Priceless.
 
Hasta la vista
 
THe Knait Wrydah.

Greetings and Salutations,
 
Sometimes Mother Nature can really deliver an unexpected surprise. However - a surprise is always unexpected, so what is an unexpected surprise. Well nature seldom gets to break any rules, but when rules are broken, there is a reason. Recently on 18 August I had a tour into the Kosi Bay area and the main purpose of this trip was to see the Fish Traps at the Kosi Bay Mouth. After spending a productive afternoon snorkeling amongst coral reef fish, we headed to towards Bhanga Neck to over-night at the local community camp. Since I had some of my relatives from the States with me, I thought "What the Hell", let's temp fate and try for a turtle or two. I had spoken to them so often about watching nesting turtles on the Bhanga Neck beach that I thought we may as well stay at Bhanga Neck camp to get the feel of the area and try for a turtle.
 
After arriving down a 'very' 4x4 track we set-up camp, got a fire going and did a couple of whiskeys. After dinner we had planned to do a beach walk. But after the snorkeling and 4x4 drive - somehow, the will to take a beach stroll had significantly diminished. But I decided "nothing ventured, nothing gained". So I rallied my troops and armed each person with a torch, we cut through a small path and found ourselves on a deserted beach.  The sky above us was filled with stars. Dark it was, but there was a certain sense of excitement about the balmy tropical sea breeze that whorled around us. After giving my guests a briefing on the fact that we might see a turtle and what was necessary if so, we set-off. Walking was easy. Several stops along the beach were used to examine ghost crabs, cowries and other interesting beach debris. An hour and a half we found ourselves a good two kilometers towards Mozambique. Since I was ahead, I noticed in the haze what looked like turtle track. However when you have been staring into the darkness, often you start to imagine what you are looking for. But ten meters further, what I had been looking for and what I thought was my imagination, turned out to be fresh turtle tracks.
 
The sheer excitement of this event turned me into "an over exuberant puppy". But added to the excitement was that there was only one set of tracks! This meant that the turtle was still nesting. Immediately I tried to drag every one up the beach to see the nesting female, but stopped. There is a certain amount of etiquette required when approach a nesting female and I managed to get my excitement and surprise under control. I asked my rather surprised relatives to wait near the surf zone. Then I silently slipped-up the beach to establish at what stage the turtle was during her nesting cycle. My signal was two flashes of my torch! When I arrived at the nesting turtle, I discovered that she was in her final stages of nesting - covering the egg chamber and compacting sand into place. So for the final twenty minutes of this miraculous natural process we had a private show. The loggerhead diligently went about her task of covering the next generation of turtles. After this she headed straight back into the sea. The second wave covered her and she was swallowed into the dark underworld of King Neptune. I was speechless.
 
After jabbering away for a while about the total uniqueness of this situation and how rare it was to have witnessed such an event.  We walked north - a fruitless exercise, because I realized we had seen more than what we had expected to see. Our timing was immaculate to have arrived at the precise time to see this turtle nesting. So we turned back to camp.  The balmy North Easter pushed us down the beach in dark silence, allowing us to reflect on this remarkable moment. My cousin said that he was "surprised" and never expected such luck. I commented that after twenty or so years tracking and watching turtles, I was more than surprised and "nearly fell-off the beach!!"
 
Fortunately we remembered to take a photo, as attached. But prior to departing for this leg of our northwards journey I read an interesting article on News24. Marine scientist had discovered that 2009 had the highest sea temperatures since 1998. There seemed logic here and since loggerhead are cold blooded reptiles any "unseasonal" warming of the Ocean waters would trigger the onset of nesting. Leatherback turtles on the  other hand would not feel the effects, as they are warm blooded. Makes you think?
 
But even with the so called logical explanation I was still amazed at what we had witnessed.
 
Hasta la vista
 
The Knait Writa

Tigress production in association with the Discovery channel arrived in April 09 to film a series with Austin Stevens. After chatting to Austin I discovered his passion for this area and the fact that he had grown up here brought him back to include iSimangaliso in a reptile series. In his youth he spent many blissful hours in and around lake St. Lucia. An ideal area, as he is passionate about anything cold-blooded. Most of the filming took place at Catalina Bay. Although the film crew did visit other destinations on the Western Shores. My responsibility was to fetch the film crew and transport them out of iSimangaliso after dark. The crew needed to shoot a series of camp fire sequences, not possible in the day. The Park Authority has fairly strict regulations regarding after hour activities. Therefore night drive concessionaires were contracted to assist.

Well, since I have some largish night safari vehicles I thought I would impress the whole film crew with the size of my vehicle. My philosophy in these instances was "go big or go home", out came my biggest. I nearly embarrassed myself. When I arrived to pack-up the crew I discovered that three vehicles had delivered the filming equipment. There was even a 'portable' camera crane. The three delivery vehicles were then driven out of the Park before dark and I was then responsible for getting the equipment out. Eish, in the end we just managed to fit everything on the vehicle and seven crew with Austin perched in the front seat. I nearly "went big and home" to fetch another vehicle! But we managed. The first night I delivered a canoe, but left it behind on the shore of Lake St. Lucia. This canoe was the unintentional harbinger of a futile operation.

That night all hell broke loose. The presence of a canoe was reported to anti-poaching. After Austin had "paddled" this canoe across the lake to access the Eastern shores for his adventure, the film crew abandoned the prop (canoe) and we went home to delicious dinners and warm beds. The canoe was spotted lying on the shoreline about 600m west of the Catalina Bay jetty (local knowledge). During the night word went out that poachers had arrived on the Eastern shores by canoe. APU or the anti-poaching Unit exploded into action and arrived to investigate, bristling with arms. After a lengthy search along the shoreline they found Austin's Hammock and fly sheet, and the camp fire where the film crew had filmed before we departed. Nothing else. Finally they received news that it was a false alarm, by this was near 02h00 in the morning. The following night we made sure the canoe was well concealed deep within some reeds. What surprised me was that the canoe was not used for target practice by APU. It remained unscathed.

The follow two days the canoe was put to good use. Although weather conditions proved difficult on one of the days, with strong winds making it impossible to film. So for those that grace the couch from time to time it will be possible to see Austin Stevens catching pythons, cobras and adders in iSimangaliso. This program is scheduled for the end of the year. And you will also be able to see the truant canoe. At the end of the filming, we had a good session with Austin at Braza Restaurant. The whole film crew were impressed with St. Lucia. But when you realise that Discovery Channel film crews see the best of the World, you realise they mean it.

Kian Barker

This group of antelope typifies the iSimangaliso wetland park. Here we have a group of Kobus. Kobus is the genus name of the waterbuck and it has a related cousin, the reedbuck. These two species love water, even to the point that they have ducks' feet. They do not take to the water for a paddle on a daily basis, but they require this "foot wear" to survive in the wet, water-logged conditions that they prefer. This area is South Africa's largest wetland and certain features like, for example, the Mafabeni swamp qualifies as the largest peat swamp in the Southern Hemisphere. This is clearly a good reason to find loads of hydrophilic antelope, although there are a number of other species like Puku, Red Lechwe and finally Mountain Reedbuck, that are found elsewhere. But our two species are well represented in this area.

Waterbuck

The easiest way to recognise this beauty is by the large circular marking on its rump. One guest mentioned: "it is like an unfortunate birth mark". There are a whole host of other humourous jokes relating to this characteristic waterbuck feature. Here, we have a remarkably large population of these antelope and they are great, especially in the sense that they are very co-operative when it comes to photography. They tend to stand and stare. The fact that they are grazers is also good because they are normally found out in open areas of grassland, unlike kudu that characteristically disappear behind bushes and trees just at the critical moment when you are about to click the camera trigger.

But what aquatic features enable waterbuck to be so well suited to wet conditions? They have a few unexpected abilities that are often not mentioned. Firstly, they have specialized feet, almost duck feet, or slightly webbed feet for navigating marshland. These webbed feet enable them to walk through the marshland without sinking too deeply into the mud. Their toes open out and a flap of skin between their toes traps a small balloon of mud. This prevents the animals from getting that "sinking feeling". Marshy wet areas also have a lot of blood -sucking critters, so waterbuck also have sebaceous or oil glands. These glands are presumed to produce an insect -repelling substance,which is not only repugnant to insects but also for predators. Ask any lion! Even the early hunters and pioneers avoided wasting effort on hunting these water loving antelope. If you are thinking of keeping a waterbuck as a house pet, avoid it. If the large size of this antelope does not put you off, remember that you will need plenty of Chanel 5. They smell as a result of their oily secretions.

They have a rather interesting social life. Here, they are considered the only antelope with the ability to produce twins. This is thought to be a response to the wet and dry cycles we experience in this area. In dry years more single births are seen. During wet years when there are more flooded areas, twinning is more prevalent. The male society is rather interesting. Males have a great sense of social duty and throughout the year a single male is generally seen with a group or harem of females (not the case with the Traglephids). The bachelor male waterbuck group together - play golf, drink beer, flip through the tv chanels and leave the toilet seat up - just kidding! These bachelor groups have two generally accepted functions: the first is that there is safety in numbers (not too sure why, as predators don't  like to eat them). The second function is that they are alway scrapping or rutting. These little fairly aggressive fights ensure that these animals learn fighting skills, until they reach a mature age, when they can challenge a dominant male for his harem. Sometimes they may not be successful and they become satellites or sneakers. When the dominant male is not looking, they will sneak into his harem and have their way with his females. This is nature's way to ensure a little more genetic diversity. This information is once again the tip of the iceberg about waterbuck. Taking a tour into this Park should give you access to additional information on these and many other animals.

Reedbuck - the indicator species

Many years ago, this area, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, had little or no commercial value, in the sense of tourism potential. So a plan to tame or utilize this area was put into place. This involved planting 14 000? hectares of pine trees into the wetland! You may wonder what was public opinion regarding this measure? As we needed timber, it was regarded as acceptable; just as cattle farming destroyed thousands of hectares of Rain Forest, and just as surface strip mining irreversably changes the soil composition, just as the war in Iraq was decided upon without an EIA (environmental impact assessment). But many years later, there is a need and a mind change and we then start protesting against this wanton environmental abuse. Trees are then removed and we re-invent the wheel by bringing back the natural environment and we all get excited about the eco-tourism potential of this area!

Where do reedbuck feature in this? In nature, there are animals that respond to man's often unintentional interference in nature. This was seen in the mid '50's in the Kruger Park. Wilddog and hyena were shot off as they were considered vermin. Natural fires were stopped and as a result of this, the Impala population went throught the roof. Changes in the management policies (least disturbance manage-ment) have generally reduced impala numbers and things are looking better, although the Kruger elephants are a bit of an issue - a case of time accumulated biomass. In this area here, the reedbuck played an interesting role.

When the pine tree planting commenced, it was started in the grasslands. After ten to fifteen years, the grasslands disappeared under vast swathes of exotic pine trees. The reedbuck were then displaced and moved to areas where there was grass. Since the extent of the tree planting was extensive, there was much grazing competition in the remaining grassy areas. In addition, the pines consumed vast quantities of water that dried out many of the small lakes and swamps, changing a traditional wetland into a dryland, making it more like savannah. The option used was to cull reedbuck numbers to ensure there was no over-grazing or trampling. Over an estimated period of thirty years, approximately 20 000 common reedbuck were culled and the population decreased from 14 500 to a paltry 2500 in the early 90's. It was then that eco-tourism raised it's beautiful head. At this stage it was decided to stop culling and initiate a rehabilitation programme to re-establish the original eco-system. Pine trees were being grown more successfully elsewhere and the price of pine wood was very low. Over the following years, clear felled areas were not replanted and in September 2007, the last pine trees were removed from this Park. This formed the basis of rehabilitating the Wetland.

Where are all the reedbuck? The numbers have increased, but possibly not at the rate that was expected. This has been a difficult rehabilitation to measure. Annual censuses are conducted and it is found that the reedbuck population has not increased faster than the waterbuck population. Waterbuck have a nine month pregnancy as opposed to the reedbuck that require six months. Two factors could be attributed to this difference or anomaly. Waterbuck can produce twins and reedbuck are eminently more edible than waterbuck. There are also more predators that are able to catch and consume reedbuck as opposed to waterbuck.

When next visiting the Park, you are far more likely to see waterbuck, but look carefully and you will notice reedbuck lying close to the ground in all the little swampy areas. When they feel threatened, they lie on the ground. The reedbuck near St. Lucia Village are in small groups of two's and three's, and as you pass Catalina Bay there are bigger groups of up to eight. The area around the St. Lucia gate was only recently rehabilitated, whereas the area near Catalina Bay has never been afforested, so as a result reedbuck are found in larger groups. I invite you to check them out on your next visit to iSimangalso Wetland Park.

Hornbill House is a spacious Bed & Breakfast establishment situated in the residential area of St. Lucia, within walking distance of the beach and the estuary mouth, and as the name suggests, is host to the raucous Trumpeter Hornbills which are frequent visitors. Owner, Kian Barker, can offer a wealth of information on the attractions of the area and organise tours and outings.

Guests have the use of the salt water swimming pool and the barbecue facility as well as the lounge with television and there is ample secure parking in the grounds.

A full english and continental breakfast is included in the tariff while the main street of St. Lucia offers a number of good restaurants for dining out.

Three tastefully decorated, comfortable double en-suite bedrooms (twin beds), each have their own private sitting out area overlooking the gardens are equipped with ceiling fans and each bedroom has an en-suite with a shower. Tea and coffee making facilities are available.

The St. Lucia World Heritage Site is a bird watcher's paradise and famous for a variety of tours and activities, including World Heritage Tours, Night Safaris With Chameleons, Bikes & Hikes, Zulu Cultural Tours, Big Five Safaris, Turtle Tours, Estuary Boat Cruises, Deep Sea Game Fishing, Horse Ride Safaris, Off Road Car Hire, The crocodile centre and Whale & Dolphin watching (June - Nov).