Members Update - April 2013

Greetings Ntsirians

OK, so we’re back on track, regular time slot of the month.  I hope this finds all members feeling good & happy with life.

It is a lovely time of the year in the bush, the blistering heat has dissipated & the sunsets start becoming so rich, each one witnessed feels like a shot of euphoria.  I dare to say we’ve seen the last of our decent rains for this wet season, 40mm last week,  things will start to dry out somewhat again, the autumn & winter colours are always spectacular.  The Terminalia prunoides, purple pod terminalias (sterk boom) are in full seed at the moment, thickets of purple haze, which, up in our North, are enchanting at sunset, a must to experience if you’re here at this time.  Other amazing things going on right now,  wild asparagus are blooming, the extremely fine & thick clusters of delicate fragrant white flowers seen almost everywhere, some have seriously vicious thorns, walk around them, not through, they can rip flesh.  Our ubiquitous spider webs (wonderful experience driving around on the quad-bike, the golden orb webs turn grey hair blonde) are beginning to get fewer & further in-between, the cause, most mature insects are capable of flight, the lower temps & light duration  have got most of them into pupae or egg stage, much less flying about, better to pack up the web & head off to aestivate.  We’ve been blessed with great lion(ess) activity again, also good vocalisations being heard.  Some lucky members have seen our leopardess with 3 cubs, this is fantastic news & promises great things to come.  Please give them space & refrain from over-viewing, with time they should become very well habituated to our vehicles.  The cubs are over 2 months old, so I doubt as a result of the big male & skittish female leopard union  we saw around Colmos Crossing & Nyari Dam area at Christmas/New Year, so, maybe other cubs someplace else too.  Also look out for the “2^nd” impala rut, usually happens around this time, ewes which did not bare lambs or that lost theirs very early, sometimes come into oestrus end of March early April, which gives us occasional lambs being born in Sept./Oct.

Since we expect things to begin to dry out, some reminders please.  Fires become a source of severe threat very soon, the winds are already here, before you realise, the grass is tinder dry & prevention of run-away fires becomes very high priority.  Ash must be stored in a sealed container, & then dropped off at the rubbish boma into the receptacle provided, NEVER thrown into the veld.  Please also ensure each unit has a fire dome, something that can be popped over coals or ash at the end of an evening’s festivities or if the wind springs up.  If you need one, we can arrange something.

Our Sleeping Platform is proving popular, it is a magnificent site, please could the member who has the key, a chunk of Leadwood attached to 2 keys on a nylon braided rope, let us have it back.  I thought the “chunk” was large enough to make it un-missable, I may resort to attaching an elephant femur in the future.

Water, the epitome of life, is getting more expensive to provide.  We pump every drop we use from great depths at an ever increasing cost.  Please save wherever possible.  Some points to remember.  DO NOT leave hosepipes running or sprinklers spraying, not only is it against the Rules, but is extremely wasteful.  It’s too easy to forget a running tap this way, 1 running tap empties all our tanks overnight.  Please remember to turn-off the water stop cock (gate or ball valve) when you leave (also the gas valves), leaking toilets in empty units are an extreme schlepp to locate & cost us huge amounts of water (& electricity), not to mention man-hours.  If you are unable to close these yourself, I’ll do so for you, but please let us know.

Another matter which has come to the fore.  “Ntsiri fuel” being used in non-reserve vehicles.  This will not be declined, but rather a limit in quantity, enough to get you to the nearest pump in Hdspt.  Fuel is delivered to us at a prime rate because of transfer costs & gate fees.  Now the amounts we receive per delivery are limited due to weight restrictions, requiring more trips so more cost.  We must reduce these as much as possible, please don’t beat up the pump jockey if I only supply 10L to a private sedan.

Some follow-up on my last comments on game-drive protocols.  After really dissecting the Standard Ntsiri “General Rules, Radio Procedures and Game Drive Etiquette”, also  “Waterholes and Dams, Hides, Special Game Activities & the rules for Walking & Use of Tracker Seats”, it’s quite a comprehensive set of rules.  Every member should have a copy, please do yourself, everyone else & our wonderful eco-system a humungous favour, re-read all the content, it’s very obviously been drafted with the very best intentions in mind of all members & our immeasurably valuable game.  I would only add that we also drive with respect, my usual blah blah comment, don’t wheel spin please, rather go low gear & 4 x 4 before entering the shady realm of environmental terrorism !!

Thanks to all the members for your good will & patience,  it’s always good to have you at Ntsiri.  We were away for some days recently in the big smoke, first time in a little while, coming back was super fantastic, this really is a beautiful place.  Good luck & the very best with the decisions the Ntsirian collective will be making shortly, re Rietvley, I’m sure everyone realises this is possibly an opportunity that will never ever present itself again. 

See you all soon, I think we should have a river-bed Rappatanga sometime, any takers ?       

Kind Regards,

Mark Griffiths.

Farm Manager

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Members Update - Feb 13

Greetings Ntsirians

We hope this finds you all well, happy & getting ready to visit us again.

It’s been an interesting time since Christmas, almost every rainfall at Ntsiri has caused the Ntsiri River to flow, covering the river bed completely each time, even when only 24mm fell.  Amazing what the absence of any obstacles (dam walls) has allowed to happen.  For those who haven’t seen this wonderful happening, we’ve had fish moving around in the flow, even when very low.  Of course the fish eagles had good hearty meals, lovely to have their calls heard continuously for an extended period.  Hyena were seen fishing too, that particular barbell just chose the wrong time to move about, ended up between some serious jaws.  With the blessings came some hardship, our crossings have kept us on our toes.  Sorry to those of you who were hampered by the closures, we have no control over these matters.  Once we can eventually venture into the river bed to get the new causeway underway, things will be a whole lot better.

Game has been really abundant, according to the track record, I try to regularly nip out & squizz about, plenty movement in the cooler times, just about everything becomes crepuscular, you members too.  I’m sure if left to their own whims, our staff would as well.  Lions made some great appearances, it was very good to hear the old black maned male is still around & very happy to pose for members.  With the recent spate of buffalo births, quite a number of unsteady new-borns were reported, scavengers & hunters have been very active on the prowl, plenty tracks about.  A herd of around 600 (guestimate) was seen over a few days.  Not unusual for them to congregate at this time, safety in numbers.  Next big aggregations should be in about 4 months’ time, when the cows will once again come into oestrus, so we should see the smaller herds joining up from about June onwards for a couple of weeks.  That’s also the time when the “dagga boys” vanish into the herds, away from their usual hang-outs.  One study revealed that these old bulls sire a large percentage of the calves, due to high testosterone levels building up when away from the herds, they have greater urge to mate & are more aggressive than herd bulls.  In times gone by, these fellows were often regarded as valuable only for hunting, but thank the Good Lord we live & learn & get to know better. 

We’ve just learned of an unfortunate incident in the Balule Reserve, a man was killed by a bull elephant, apparently in musth.  Please be aware, any bull elephant in musth, noticeable by the active seeping temporal glands & normally quite smelly & dripping urine from an algae-like covered penile sheath, they are extremely dangerous.  Bulls in this state are assertive which switches to deadly in an instant. Some by the way info.  It was noticed that when cows (ellies) are placed on various contraceptive devices/methods, their lack of oestrus cycling caused the bulls to remain in musth cycles longer & have them more often.  Definitely an undesirable state for any would-be game walkers.  But anyway, give any musth bull all the space he wants.  I was once “pushed away”, (not quite chased) for about 6km, they can be very determined.

I’m trying to get serious input from well-known researcher & scientist, Dr Mike Peel, on our long term plans for bush thinning & burning programmes, I hope to have good news for all in the not too distant future.

We’re nearly complete with the Nyari Dam fix, we had scouring away of a back section of the dam wall, however, no damage to the “working section”, all has been compacted & shaped, not too much left to do.

There is light at the end of the tunnel (it’s not the train coming) re our assistant management couple, it’s has been a long search, but will hopefully be concluded soon.  Look out for an announcement in the near future.

Something not good.  I have reports that members are not leaving the bush amenities, hides, platforms, as they should.  Any rubbish, litter, left-over food items (including bones) HAS to be taken away.  Clean up after yourselves & kids & leave as you would like to find.  I trust this will be implemented, what I can’t guarantee is the compliance of the baboons & monkeys.  FYI.  We clean these facilities once every week.

Anybody know where I can get my grubby hands on a used JCB rear tyre, preferably a “slick”, minimal tread for minimal road damage, size, 16,9 x 28, must have good side-walls though.

Before you know it, Easter will be upon us. There will be an egg hunt for the kids, those who can track bunnies will do best (bush bunnies lay eggs ??) & we will again try our hand at a Treasure Hunt activity for adults & teenagers.  This time bring your thinking caps & be prepared to learn some new stuff about your wonderful & precious primary & secondary components of the most wonderful Ntsiri !!  By the way, that’s not the 1^st clue. 

God bless you & Ntsiri.     

Mark Griffiths.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greetings all Ntsiri members

Please take note of the following & rectify/implement ASAP.  The main water supply stop-cocks, gate valves, ball valves, whatever is in place at your unit, please MUST be switched off when you vacate your unit.  Any left open complicates our lives & leads to unnecessary very time consuming hassles. 

A little experiment I did.  It takes about 5min for a toilet to fill, average volume is 9L.  1 leaking toilet consumes 2592L in 24hrs.  If you leave your valve open with a leaking toilet, which we can’t know about, we’re not residing in your unit, a total of 8 leaking toilets would deplete all Moses reservoirs water, this was the case last week, we searched in vain for breaks in the pipe-line, walking to every unit revealed the problem, water hadn’t been turned off.  PLEASE SWITCH OFF STOP COCKS WHEN YOU LEAVE.  Those who do, thank you very much.

Pictures of the Tsiri river in all its mightly glory!

We've measured 220mm in the last 5 days, having received 65mm on the 18th & 98mm on the 19th & morning of the 20th.

NO units seemed to have been damaged, we're not able to reach all yet, but have viewed from across the river.  We're not sure of the status of Nyari & Ingwe dams, it was in the North West of the property that had the heaviest waterflows.

We'll keep you updated!

The Ntsiri Team!

Hi All 

Great news - We have had some nice rain this month and the river is flowing at a steady rate. 

Many of the river crossings remain closed and the roads around the farm are still muddy and unstable. Members are kindly requested to keep vehicles in 4x4 and to avoid muddy sections where dammage to the surface will result in further repair work for the magement team. 

Remember to keep your radio charged and in your vehicle in case you do get stuck!

Kere are some great photos...

Kind regards

The Ntsiri Team

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dung Beetle Road Kill

Dear Members

With the recent rains the Dung Beetles are out in in force. Please be avoid driving over animal droppings in the road - in this photo submitted  

by one of ur members, 28 dead dung beetles were counted! 

Regards

Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Member Update  - Oct 2012

Greetings Ntsirians

Those of you who haven’t been to the Farm in the recent past, my oh my, the bush is turning green real fast.

Our impala ewes are so pregnant you can’t help feel uncomfortable for them, ants are swarming everywhere, Jacobins cuckoos are back, I even heard & ran madly to see a Trumpeter Hornbill calling in the office area (this might be a first), mushrooms popping up everywhere, the season has changed, officially.  Now it’s just up to the Woodland kingfisher to arrive & cross the T’s & dot the I’s.

Yes, it’s bug time again in the bush.  Please be prepared for the critters, try not use terrible chemicals on the creatures though.  I have come across the most interesting range of products called Repello.  I’ve asked the guys to send me plenty info & I’ll get it popped onto our web-site.  If there is interest shown, we can replace the DEET & pyrethroid based products in our Shoppe with the more “green” geraniol & Teem (Indian tree)  deterrents, it smells great, not like the heavy citronella stuff.  Products include bug repellents for clothing, skin, homes, candles & a very interesting granule to scatter around your garden to create a bug exclusion zone, check the web site for details.

Speaking of which - the web site - that is.  I will be posting this monthly circular onto the website from next month.  That will save me about 299 e-mails & hopefully get you guys to explore the site more.  There are plenty articles which Justin posts there & well worth reading.

A huge thank you to Ntsiri members for the best response ever to Michele Henley, Support The Elephant Foundation, she has asked me to pass this on.  She said the support was overwhelming.  Ntsirians get a big thumbs up.

Nyari Dam is now a puddle, we’ve had over 60mm rain so some decent run-off has headed that way.  We’re all done there, only gravel to be carted away still from the N side.  The S side of the wall section will not be available as a sun downer site, it’s too steep & access to & from there will cause erosion, it is closed off but our tracks into the work site are still quite visible.  If you’re looking for the JCB, it’s now at Warthog Hide, I’ve begun with the enlarging & deepening of that pan.  We’ve placed tons of gravel at the base of the hide & fixed up the access to the area, it should settle in quite well.  The more time I spend there, the more I love that spot, truly beautiful.

I had great aspirations to keep up with the noting of as many new blooms & bird arrivals  as possible on our Twitter site, I’ve slipped up immensely.  Maybe once I return to a 24hr day, that project will have a better chance.  For ages I’ve wanted to set up a digital record of all our flowers, with seeds & leaves, this is definitely something for the future.  As for the birds, I have been contacted by some twitchers, we will soon have a more accurate list from their personal records.  Big birding day, 18^th Oct, had 2 responders, it was decided to postpone till Dec sometime.  I hope there  will be some stiff competition by then.  Date will be announced in the near future.

The Anthrax outbreak has dissipated completely, as expected with the arrival of the rains, which is always good news.  The hardest hit species was Kudu.  Our impala were hardly affected.  Speaking of which, their population is about to increase by approximately30%, I have worked out their drop should occur in 3 – 4 weeks’ time.  They have the absolute munchies, they eat all day, getting the foetuses properly nutrified.

It’s always lovely at Ntsiri, see you in Paradise soon

All the very best

Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi All

We have had plenty of requests for bulk purchasing of largish trees to replace some that were washed away during the flood, especially around bathroom & toilet areas.

NB - Please let me know asap if you are interested in either option.

Here are 2 options: 

1. Belgro Nursery, run by Paul De Luca, another land owner in the Umbabat, can supply us a truck-load (60 trees) of Spirostachus & Bolusanthus pot grown trees of between 2 & 3 metres.  These have been cultivated from Umbabat seed or cuttings & have resistance to our local plant lurgies.  They will go for around R1500-00 each that is delivered to Ntsiri, hole dug in the ground & watered regularly for 3 months. 

2. SAN Parks Nursery

Have the following in stock, incl Jackalberry, Bolusanthus and Tamboti trees in stock - sadly no leadwoods. The 20 litre trees cost R100 and the 4 litre trees cost R25.00. Height varies on the species.

Of course there can be no guarantee an elephant won’t enjoy the nutritious snack in its first week!

Kind regards

Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

PNEUMONIA REPORT - 5 Sept 2012 

It has been raining on the farm and we have had 9mm so far. It is freezing so we can expect deaths amongst our antelope (& other) from pneumonia infections.  

When the variation between max & min temp. is more than 15 degrees C, trees & shrubs produce higher levels of tannins, which binds to proteins in the stomach ofbrowsers.  This renders the plant tissue less digestible & therefore less nutritive.  Animals like impala & especially kudu, get stressed out from low energy levels & combined with the cold, get pneumonial infections.  

Should anyone see any carcass in the veld, report it ASAP. 

Remember thst there has been an anthrax outbreak in the North of the KNP, carcasses should not be handled in any way.  Anthrax will die back with the wet conditions, no reason to go on drive with a respirator !!  Buffalo with bovine TB infections also succumb at this time in numbers.  

The carcasses can be difficult to locate, with the  lack of thermals, the bulky vultures are not operating, so watch Bateleur, Tawny Eagle & hooded vulture activity for indications of carcasses. 

Regards

Mark 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Member Update – 28 August 2012

Hi All

Many good greetings from all of us at N’tsiri.

It seems the past month has flashed by, if the weather wasn’t changing, time would seemingly be standing still.  It is with some difficulty I try & recall what exactly happened the last few weeks.

Game wise, things have been superb.  Leopard kills up trees & under bushes, wild dogs cruising the property, rhino have not been shy, lion have made some big appearances & the good old faithful elephant always make their presence felt, albeit sometimes to the detriment of our early morning water availability.  We love them nonetheless.  With regard to elephant in particular, I’ve been asked by Michelle Henley, the head researcher of our local branch of the Save The Elephant Foundation, to pass onto you, as many members  as possible please, a questionnaire regarding land owners views on elephant & elephant related issues.  Please  fill in both & submit, all the STE details & requirements are there.

Updates re farm repairs are as follows.  Most of the big work on the Nyari Dam project is done, some finishing off tasks still await completion.  We now shift over to road repairs full-time.  I have estimated probably in excess of 2 years to get all roads into shape, i.e., as environmentally stable as possible, we will continue to prioritise areas requiring work to prevent/limit any erosion as much as possible.  Again I must remind everyone please, correct driving techniques will go a long way to help preserve the condition of our roads.  4 x 4 engaged is the only way to drive in areas with steep gradient & river crossings.  Switchback, Kruger Boundary & River crossings all show signs of poor driving technique, excessive wheel spinning causing the very rugged depressions in the road areas to develop & me drifting into deep depression !!  Please engage 4 x 4, it is your roads that are being hammered.  Many thanks to all who do drive carefully & correctly.

Rubbish issues.  I have been asked by members to elaborate re our rubbish disposal system & the ecological aspects/impacts of certain items.  Globally there is an upsurge in mercury contamination in all areas.  All heavy metals remain as such, they are non-biodegradable, toxic & very quickly concentrate into unbelievably dangerous concentrations.  We all use energy saver globes & batteries, 2 major sources of mercury contamination to our environment.  Please always separate out any batteries, they must be placed into the battery recycling box & any fused/faulty energy saver globes please place into the replacement  globe’s empty  box (mark as fused/faulty) to prevent it from shattering & releasing mercury oxide.  One can imagine what can happen with hundreds of globes being broken at our rubbish boma over time, that toxin gets washed into our underground water, we then use that water for all our needs, pump our pans etc.  These 2 items are not handled correctly by our rubbish removal contractor, so we hand in at Pick ‘n Pay who pass on to the correct re-cyclers.

We’ve had drinking water issues, plenty hassles, my apologies for anyone’s inconvenience, this matter is being addressed, once I have the most suitable solution, I will announce.  We have upped the amount of drinking water we keep at the shop, it goes at under R2-00/L.  Our present filtration system provides about 200L per 24hrs, which is still available but insufficient during busy periods.  I’ll keep you updated.

For those who didn’t know, there are some prime venison cuts available at our shop, some impala legs, necks, shanks & potjie packs @ R25-00/kg.

All the very best to everyone, see you soon.