Greetings Everyone!
Hope you have all had a great month. Out on the Reserve we are definitely feeling winter creeping in and we are even experiencing some welcome rain. Where the rain was when we were sweltering hot, I don’t know, but we are nevertheless very grateful for every millimetre we get! We did hear that Addo had 65mm the other day, so are keeping our fingers crossed that we get it our way.
Firstly I am going to start off my news letter with a very different kind of news. Some of you may be aware that the Reserve supports an AIDS Orphanage in Paterson. In fact some of our guests have generously made personal donations to the reserve. I’m thrilled to let you know the new Orphanage has been completed and we attended the opening a couple of days ago.
The Paterson Children's AIDS Orphanage is a home for between twelve and thirty children between the ages of four and twelve at any one time. Two dedicated locals run the orphanage, providing hope, love and a home to these children. Amakhala volunteers generally visit the orphanage several times a week, organizing game days, assisting with fundraising or just playing with the kids. Both the volunteers and orphans love these visits: it’s amazing to see the children's happiness when the Amakhala vehicle arrives.
A couple of years ago the Orphanage was informed that the Municipality was reclaiming the piece of land & buildings that they were using. This would have meant that the Orphanage had to close, which would have left many kids homeless. Fortunately, its many supporters sprang into action. First, a piece of land next door became available and was donated to the Orphanage by the Shady Tree Foundation. Next, big efforts went in to raising money to build a new Orphanage on the land. Various guests donated money & a number of fund-raising events were held.
And now the building has been completed! Our gallery for this month shows the cutting of the red ribbon for the new Orphanage ‘Ishipo Multi Purpose Centre’. As you can see, it was a happy event for all of us. We will continue to raise funds, as there will always be a need for food, clothing, etc. to keep the daily operations going. Guests are also welcome to visit the Orphanage during their visits to Hlosi or Bukela.
Otherwise, we have been fortunate to be visited by a number of great new agents over the past month. It’s been great meeting these new colleagues in the travel business, and wonderful to share our little patch of heaven with them. We look forward to hosting your guests, and to creating wonderful memories with them.
The reserve has been buzzing with activity this month. See our gallery for some great pics of our wonderful wild life, from the littlest four-legged animals to the biggest.
We have also had some new visitors to Bukela: the beautiful Gemsbok. Every time we see them we are reminded how gorgeous they are - those striking colours are awesome!
Finally, we spent some time with the camera documenting the wonders that follow a good rain on the Amakhala. Everything sparkles, the bush sings and rings with birdsong, and even the smallest things like spider’s webs take on a sparkling splendour. Check out the gallery for our tries at capturing the most perfect spider’s web that had droplets of rain on each strand!
What are we looking forward to this month? Winter is coming in and that means hot water bottles and blankets on the game drives, warm (and DELICIOUS) Amarula hot chocolate on return from a game drive, cosy rooms with a welcoming fire and hot bubble baths, all served up with fantastic cuisine! Who could ask for more?
So from all of us out here on the reserve, we thank the new Agents that took the time to spend time with us & see what we are all about, and as always want to express our appreciation for the loyal support from our existing agents that work hard to send great people our way. Bring it on!
Take care everyone & hope you have a great month ahead.
Kerry