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Member Update - Jan 2013
Greetings Ntsirians
Time has just whizzed by, again. The kids are back at school for almost a month already, no wonder they grow so fast.
Things at Ntsiri are damp, still. Except for the crossing below #34, all are non-negotiable & have changed so much in character with the last heavy rains. I’m always super impressed to see how such huge boulders completely vanish into the flows, for those who haven’t seen what our rivers looked like, check out some pics I took on the Ntsiri web site.
Ephraims crossing was dumped full of sand which is mixed with clay, so has the properties of quick-sand, #9 crossing too. Surprisingly, Kuku Waya crossing may be the first driveable one, there too, possibly hundreds or thousands of cubes of river sand were deposited, unfortunately filling up the lagoon, now knee deep, & also at Sleeping Platform, which is now much more shallow. Maybe the next rains or the last big ones, normally around March, will flush them out again. Hold thumbs.
As of yet, no assistant management couple has been appointed to take over from where Johan & Yvonne left off, we are still seeking the correctly qualified & suitably experienced couple. I’m thrilled to let everyone know Yvonne got re-employed within 48hrs of her departure, in a temp position, within a week she got a very good post at 1 of the large citrus estates in the Hoedspruit area, she has all our best wishes for the future.
The bush is so lush right now, there is a major resurgence of things buggy & crawly, fascinating. Of course the scorpions have made themselves very conspicuous again. Some bush-remedy advice for scorpion stings/envenomation’s. The Buthidae family, those having small feeble pincers with very sturdy & thick/robust tails are of extreme medical importance, & very abundant in our area. There are a host of remedies, by far the very best, & I say so with many years of use & way too many stings myself, is the use of heat to denature the protein based venom. Because of the shallow puncture wound, heat, if applied ASAP, can reach the venom (& denature it) before it disperses, drastically limiting the extremely painful effects. Glowing embers held close to the injection site, flame from a burner or lighter, face cloth soaked in boiling water, I’ve even used the hot manifold of an engine, to heat up my finger, for about 10 min, will give instant & lasting relief. No need to blister the area, only heat it up to as hot as you can take, then some more. Very important to get on with the heating up process ASAP & of course, remove any rings or constricting items immediately. I’ve done the doctor route, it ended up being extremely painful for weeks, as the venom spreads, usually in the lymph, so the pain spreads from joint to joint. You’d be most unfortunate to be zapped in a vein, then the neuro-toxin could have dire consequences. The other family, Scorpionidae, typical looking fellows, big pincers, skinny tails, have stings equivalent to wasp or hornet stings, heat also removes ill-effects immediately, not life threatening.
We’re back to our road works, we’ll get on with repairs to crossings & some work at Nyari Dam, I’m starting to plan ahead for Mopani thinning & our burning programme, & yes, catch up on what we never got around to doing last year, finish off the member bush facilities, pipe lines, Warthog Hide, new picnic site, there really never is a dull moment in the bush. Nature has shown time & again she bears no regard for any schedule we may draw up, but we all love our Mother & wouldn’t have her change one bit.
See you soon in paradise
Best Regards
Mark
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