Greetings N'tsirians

Last week in Oct, feeling like middle of winter!  Temps plummeted, jerseys, jackets, beanies & Old Brown Sherry made a reappearance.  This old weather thing, keeps us on our toes.  We were blessed with 2mm rain, bringing us up to about 28mm for Oct. In comparison to the “green belt”, that area which falls under the mountains influence, stretches till just North of Kings Camp area, they’ve had plenty.  The Nyosi River was flowing bank to bank recently, things a very different shade of green that side.  Pray for rain please.

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Sleeping Platform

Yay!! Our much loved sleeping platform is back in action and better than ever. Thank you to Duke's Construction and Mark Griffiths, for all the hard work. It looks incredible. It is ready in time for our busy festive season and we have no doubt that our members are going to take full advantage of this amazing facility!

Current Building Projects on N’tsiri - Dave Joscelyne

• Major builds: Unit 18 - currently busy with their rebuild and are making good progress. They are hoping to have their walls at roof height by builders shut down.

Minor Builds: Unit 36 -  building a new double carport and repaving existing patio. Unit 41: painting and minor internal alterations. Unit 61: building new carport and busy with patio covering

Members wishing to apply for permission for a new building or for any alteration projects, need to fill in the required application forms and submit these to the building directors.peter@cellchem.co.za or daj1@mweb.co.za

Unacceptable "Rock Art"

The board has been asked to look into a very unfortunate (almost unbelievable) occurrence on the farm..... kid's itching into rock faces along the KNP boundary on Ntsheli. This is a recent occurrence. It is easily visible from the road. What makes it more unbelievable, is that parents are not watching their kids for long enough for this kind of thing to occur. Members are please to note that this type of defacement on the farm will be taken very seriously.

Greg Martindale's AGM presentation

Those of you that attended the AGM will have seen the very informative Powerpoint presentation put together by Greg Martindale on the road ahead for us and the Protected Areas Act. He has very kindly made this presentation available for members to go through in more detail. Ethel and I will try and get this uploaded onto the N'tsiri website this week. Alternately, both her and myself have copies of it and will happily forward it on to those that request it.

Malaria Outbreak!

Malaria update October 2017

Members are reminded that we are currently experiencing an outbreak of Malaria and that precautions when visiting the farm are strongly recommended. We have now had reported cases on N'tsiri this year as well as on Ngwelala.

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Staff library and games room

We have had a fantastic response to our request for reading and educational books in good condition. For those of you who haven't yet managed to sort through those bookshelves.... we are still collecting. The board has made the new Staff recreation facilities a priority for next year.... lets make sure we can fill those shelves!!

Veld fire warning

Thanks Mark Smith (#R05) for sending us a reminder of how devastating a veld fire can be in our lodge environment. The rains have started, but we have still experienced one of the hottest driest Winters. Please members be mindful of cigarette butts, as well as your gas appliances and braai areas. Have your fire extinguishers checked regularly and make sure all family members know how to use them.

Spotting news

The board has been made aware of the fact that members are "overdoing" their vehicle spotlights and that some vehicles have started to look like more like approaching spaceships. There ARE guidelines for members on Spotlight etiquette. Please make yourselves familiar with these. Members are allowed a maximum of 2 spots per vehicle. The accepted strength of lights is equivalent to the old 1 Million CP (lumens divided by 12.57 gives CP). No additional lights are to be mounted on bull bars and roof racks. Please no shining on our diurnal animals at night and where possible use red filters on our nocturnal creatures.

1988 N'tsiri newsletter

Thank you once again to Colin Meddows - Taylor (#24) for sending me another legendary old N'tsiri newsletter. This one.... written and edited by none other than Angela Rowles!!! Makes for interesting reading.... how times have changed!!

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Some interesting sightings - Ivo Lazic (#R15)

Thank you to Ivo for taking the time to put his interesting bird and reptile sightings into an article for us. Mating monitors and unusual bird sightings - thank you so much for sharing!!

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Pancratium tenuifolium

Also known as the Aandblommetjie - This lily like perennial flower sprouts in sandy soil soon after the first rains. It is widespread throughout Southern Africa. It is pollinated by the Hawk moth and has been used in San culture to induce hallucinations when the bulb is rubbed onto cuts in the skin.

Combretum mossambicense - Knobbly or Creeping Bush Willow

This creeping shrub grows along riverine thickets or out of termite mounds in the hot, dry areas of Southern Africa. Spotted on N'tsiri next to our new sleeping platform and bearing very pretty orange tipped stamens at the moment.

Ledebouria Spp - Flat-leaved African Hyacinth

These striking plants are a type of geophytic bulb that flower in Spring. The characteristically have large (often spotted) leaves which grow flat against the soil. They sprout a large pink or purple flower and are known for their ability to attract butterflies and bees.

Squacco Heron - Ardeola ralloides

Well October was a month of some very strange bird sightings sent in by our members (all with photographic proof - I might add). This fellow was spotted by the Joscelyne's (#39) on their annual birding weekend at the farm. These sedentary birds are locally common, but prefer permanent water and so are not often found on N'tsiri.

Epic battle

This Spotted bush snake Philothamnus semivariegatus - was found by Walter on his garden rounds. The poor Gecko fought valiantly for almost an hour...... but in the end had to give in. These bush snakes are very common and are seen often around the pool area. They completely harmless (unless you are a gecko or tree frogs!!). Good spot = thanks Walter

Scorpions Are Spring Cleaning

Any of you who have taken some time to study the "little things" on our farm, may have noticed a very interesting occurrence. On every termite mound and other areas where scorpion holes are found, you will see a pile of newly chucked out sand and debris. The scorpions who have spent the Winter hibernating and collecting dust... are doing there annual Spring Clean to get ready for the Summer. Quite fascinating!!

Some exotic bird species!

In the past month, at least 3 species that shouldn't naturally occur on the farm, have been spotted by members. This Cape sparrow was taken by Colin (#24) on our soccer field in the last week of October. The same week that Indian Mynahs, a Speckled Pigeon and Squacco Heron were seen. Blown in by strange weather patterns....???? Prehaps!!!

Good Bye to Jaco

We are sadly saying Good-bye this month to Jaco, our workshop assistant. He has been offered a new and exciting opportunity in the USA! We thank him for his time spent at N'tsiri and wish him all the best.

Saving our Knobthorns

Members have embraced our newest EMP project and their hard work is starting to pay off. At last check we were up to 62 netted trees. The netting on the trees, although barely visible, has been shown to be 88% effective in preventing the destructive debarking behavior of elephants.

Members will notice that our neighbours, both Ngwelala and Ndlopfu have also been practicing this. We are hoping that this project will start really gaining momentum and that we will be able to protect and save as many of our Knob thorns as possible.

See full article below (put together by Peter Anderson (#R13)...

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More on tree netting.....

Members wanting to get involved are reminded that some kits are available at the office from Ethel. Ethel also has the metal numbered discs that need to go on each tree netted for recording purposes. The mesh and nails can be collected at the workshop.  Member's are reminded to either accurately identify the location of netted trees (preferably with GPS co-ordinates). Pictures and locations can be sent to: Peter Anderson peter@awpsa.co.za who will put the data together.

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Rock Monitor - Varanus albigularis (Leguaan)

SO my "Member's sighting of the month" award this month definitely goes to Ivo Lazic (#R15) for sending in the wonderful pictures above of the Rock Monitor Lizards mating. Here's a bit more information on these interesting creatures...

These are the heaviest bodied lizards in Africa. Adults males on average can weigh 6-8Kg and females about 3-5Kg. The largest records males have reached 15-17Kg!!! They are known to be intelligent and even to be able to count. They have been found in a number of different habitats (except from central deserts). In folklore in cnetral Africa... people living with HIV / AIDS believe that injecting the blood of these lizards will cure their disease. Go figure!?!