kanana kalahari

Christmas 2009

2009-12-15T06:13:00.000-08:00

Getting nagged for another blog as the newsletter is ready to wing it’s way into the WWW, still amazes me modern communications ! I’m a drums and smoke signals man myself.

Alex is taking his newsletter duties very seriously and I think doing a not bad job – if you agree or have any suggestions or want to try win the quiz or comment on his musical tastes drop him a mail – alex@kanana.info - it’s nice to get feedback from real people !

Christmas is coming or that’s the rumour – we don’t get the 1^st world hype here, can’t say I miss that but then again I’m at the grumpy old man stage of my life guess if I was Tristan’s (No 1 grandson) age I might have a different perspective.

Got two of the pools in and even been for a wallow - lovely !

November was our busiest month ever at Motswiri Lodge – that defies all tourist logic but probably something to do with the fact that we’re advertising now in Getaway, Go / Weg and Africa Geographic. Prior to that Kanana was a well kept secret.

Hope this trend continues next year but the clever people seem to be worried about negative connotations of the 2010 World Cup, expensive and full flights from / to Europe – we shall see, guess if we’re quiet we can always watch the footie!

We had another new rhino baby, Yippee !! They’re breeding like rabbits these days and the good thing is they’re getting quite habituated to people so we see them but still need to be very careful, perhaps more so. They’re big beasts and more nimble than you’d think, could give you a nasty surprise.

Well that’s the last blog for the naughties so hope all you readers have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. See you next year so to speak.

Hot winds

2009-11-12T21:57:00.000-08:00

Seems like no time at all since my last effort – funny how time flies past – getting nagged by Alex as he’s done another newsletter so needs my contribution.

Sad news this time around – Uncle Theunis, Vicky’s Dad’s brother passed away after a short illness he was 81. It’s funny, you think some people are indestructible and it comes like a bolt out of the blue when you realise we’re all mortal, wake up call “you only live once, make the most of it!” trite but true.

Theunis built up this place with his brother Henry in the days when Men were Men and sheep were nervous so his passing marks the start of the end of an era the baton has been passed on, let’s hope that we can live up to the precedent.

Since the last blog Botswana has been to the polls – the result was a surprise in as much as the status quo was perpetuated but with an increased majority, most were predicting a reduced majority in line with the growth of a young restless electorate. I think it’s good news ! Botswana continues as an oasis of tranquillity and stability.

What’s happening on Kanana ? Well we’ve had some rain and the veld responded but last few days we’ve had the dry hot westerly wind blowing from across the Namib – that’s not nice and it soon scorches the young green grass and dries up ground moisture, so we’re now hoping for rain again – what’s new?

We’ve finally taken the plunge and we’re putting in some swimming pools – one at Motswiri Lodge for guests to cool off during the day and one at home, the pools are fibreglass shells and we’ll be bringing them up from Jhb on a big trailer – should be interesting.

Our two gap year guys Herman and Grant have been and gone, maybe the less said about that the better – we’ve recruited two students from Pretoria Teknikon for next year – Willem and Bryce they arrive in January.

We have started a program of tackling our bush encroachment we’re bought two Husqvarna bush cutters and we’re very busy we’ll also be using herbicides and fire – very interesting!

return of the Kalahari Kid

2009-09-11T09:57:00.001-07:00

It seems like an age since my last blog – a lot has happened since then, Luke Jess Jack and Jasper have left Kanana and returned to the big smoke which is Gabs and they’ve produced another grandchild for us – Lily – born on my birthday !! That’s the biggest thing to have happened since I last blogged.

We’ve survived another Kalahari winter - we had some really cold spells but now the weather’s warming up again – suicide season approaching and it’s already getting hotter and will get even hotter as we pray for rain. Fire season also coming and we’ll have eyes skinned looking for wisps of smoke on the horizon. We think we’re better prepared than last year with nice wide fire breaks but no matter it’s still a scary time of year – when I see fires in California and Oz I get goose bumps, I know first hand how uncontrollable wild fires can be.

Kattie, Kanana’s manager, went to Pretoria for a check up complaining of back pains, lucky he did – he was whisked in and given a triple bypass – he was back here in a week and is now making great progress at home – amazing how medical techniques have progressed – he – and we – were very lucky, think he’ll be good as new once he finishes his recuperation.

Duncan, our pom student from Harper Adams University, finished his year’s placement in July and returned to the UK – will he ever be the same again ? - He was great and we miss him.

We’ve now got another pom from the same source – Alex – and so far he’s proving an able replacement, we’ve also got 2 young lads – Herman “the German” and Grant who are on Kanana for 3 months as part of a gap two years – think they’re here for 3 months – company for Alex!

Herman used to work at a greasy spoon in Jhb and has already been roped in to cook while Morlin goes walkabout in Zim. I’m thinking of organising a poker evening so I can exploit them.

I was attacked by a rabid jackal the other day whilst on a walk with my daft dogs – scary as well – luckily Charlie – our fox terrier took the brunt of the attack and also luck that her inoculations were up to date – few frantic calls to Larry that night! I carry a Smith and Wesson revolver now, Dirty Harry of Ghanzi!

Vicks and I went to Europe June / July and had a great but expensive time – we firstly sailed down the Canal du Midi with Vic Judy Ian and Delia then did the UK and I got my offshore skipper license – very useful skill to have in Ghanzi 1 000 kms from the sea ! You never know.

Our rhinos are doing really well and getting tame, a big hit with the visitors – we think we have 11, you’d think we would know but those of you who’ve been here will know how difficult it is to count even rhino on this property.

The unseasonable rains in June have really helped the veld and the grass has got green shoots and the thorn trees are in blossom with leaves coming – Kudus, Giraffe and Eland have lucked in.

Well this the end of the blog comeback trail for this week – Alex has done a newsletter, he’s also, with Vicky, created a new brochure - being printed as I type and he is busy updating our website with the help of Karl the Moroccan webmaster!

Return of the Kalahari Kid

2009-09-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

Duncan, our pom student from Harper Adams University, finished his year’s placement in July and returned to the UK – will he ever be the same again ? - He was great and we miss him.

Herman used to work at a greasy spoon in Jhb and has already been roped in to cook while Morlin goes walkabout in Zim. I’m thinking of organising a poker evening so I can exploit them.

The unseasonable rains in June have really helped the veld and the grass has got green shoots and the thorn trees are in blossom with leaves coming – Kudus, Giraffe and Eland have lucked in.

Return of the Kalahari Kid

2009-09-11T07:17:00.000-07:00

Duncan, our pom student from Harper Adams University, finished his year’s placement in July and returned to the UK – will he ever be the same again ? - He was great and we miss him.

Herman used to work at a greasy spoon in Jhb and has already been roped in to cook while Morlin goes walkabout in Zim. I’m thinking of organising a poker evening so I can exploit them.

The unseasonable rains in June have really helped the veld and the grass has got green shoots and the thorn trees are in blossom with leaves coming – Kudus, Giraffe and Eland have lucked in.

2008-06-07T00:38:00.000-07:00

We're now in the middle of winter, another couple of weeks and it will be the shortest day / longest night. It's brrrrrr in the evening (wood fires and red wine time) but we have beautiful cloudless sunny days and so far no frost.

It's also marmalade time, the citrus trees are laden with orange, grapefruit and lemons intend to get cracking any day now.

We've had another baby rhino, that makes three so far! The first one is over a year old now and think that Ben is walking with Mum (hopefully more than walking) - the other two babies are recent additions, still trying to get close enough to sex them, quite difficult with the long grass and although white rhinos are usually quite passive when they have calves they can be aggressive and they run faster than me.

The kudu bulls are in rut and running with the females, go round a corner and there's another herd haven't noticed so many kudu before on Kanana, some of the bulls are monsters maybe it's biltong time.

I was bitten by a horse yesterday, that wakes you up ! Those big yellow teeth may not be sharp but they sure hurt, I was stroking her neck and talking to John the groom when wallop, maybe a love bite. Think horses make nice salami must look that up on the www.

We're grading fire paths ready for the August fires - our old grader a CAT 11 F must be an antique but seems to be enjoying a new lease of life in an agricultural setting, quite fun really, must be the little boy in me driving big powerful yellow machines.

Vicky has revamped our kitchen, stripped out all the old cabinets and we've now got stylish modern open plan white shelves - why do women always change everything - we just get used to everything in it's place then voila ! can't find a thing for months and then just when you do - repeat!

enough whinging for this episode

bye

2008-04-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

Inspiration lacking - my excuse for recent neglect!
There´s been loads happening though in our neck of the woods
First we´ve had the arrival of Jess Luke and young Jack - momentous for them, one small step for man woman and boy, one giant leap for Kanana! to paraphrase my attorney! It doesn´t get much better than this having your children and grandchildren next door even if they are townies adjusting to the pace of rural africa ` Don´t forget to switch the lights off Jess!!´
Vicks has gone to Italy with the girls of ´58 - as I write they are no doubt atop the hill pretending that Ben´s vintage chateau ´07 red has a delicate nose and surprises the palette with it´s distinct crispy cheeky charm!
I´m away as well - but looking forward to getting back - if you live in paradise why go away - don´t know the answer to that.
We´ve got a couple of new rhino, a baby, seen the spoor but not the beast this the second born on Kanana - still not sexed the first one now a year old! and a new young bull from Khama rhino sanctuary just arrived to help old Ben, as if any was needed!
Thank goodness for the late rain - the veld is as good as it gets.
Larry, Ozzie Kyle and the boys have been catching game - eland, kudu, zebra, gemsbok, hartebeest and giraffe - Kyle flying chopper for the first time in anger - only got his license couple of weeks ago - one of the few who can shag and shear 100 sheep a day, drink two cases of Hansa lager and fly a chopper - in no particular order - good on you Kyle!
Promise to try make this more regular Luke

2008-02-26T07:33:00.000-08:00

musings of a mad game farmer continues - getting nagged to be more committed to this blog - the reason i live on a 30 000 Ha game ranch in a remote corner of Africa is so that I can do my own thing and avoid stress and commitment to deadlines!

Woke at 3 a.m. last night to the sound of rain on a tin roof - if you haven't done that take my advice and do it - if you live in a desert there's no sweeter sound, had 20 mm and can hear the grass growing.

As I guess you know by now we are clever farmers - we've bought a double disc harrow to clean the road and fire breaks - gets rid of the grass and seeds which clog up radiators and spreads fires BUT it also leaves the road and / or fire break looking like a ploughed field - which I guess it is - ever tried driving across a ploughed field? I did this morning, drove round our northern fence needed 4 wheel drive and even then could only go dead slow - 50 kms = 2 hours boring!!

Experienced first hand Murphys law - studying for my theory nautical skipper license - i have visions of sailing the high seas once luke and jess get their feet under the table anyway got out my 2B pencil my rubber my dividers and my pristine nautical chart - whoops charts are quite absorbent to coffee that was that, not many nautical chart shops in Ghanzi

Ada, Vicky's mum had a new knee last week this now seems routine everyone doing it - she's chuffed to bits - now a week and no pain she'll soon be back at centre forward. Well done Mr Orford! It's not true what they say about you!

Just had Colin and Uwe on their ranch good times long live rock and roll not to mention Charles Glass and Johnnie Walker.

first of the year

2008-01-18T05:32:00.000-08:00

2008 has arrived - an old cliche and I guess a sign of old age but I wonder where the time goes?

We had Christmas on Kanana, very quiet just Vicky myself and Lara with Vicky's folks and some old friends of theirs. I'm sure I'm now identified as an incurable alcoholic - I had a couple of Castles and perhaps a glass of whisky while the rest were abstemious - this a contrast to our usual friends!

The farm is only now waking up from the holidays. Zimbo workers are back from the catastrophe which is Zimbabwe today, they're cheerful despite their worries and problems, maybe a lesson there somewhere.

We're still scanning the heavens for signs of rain, we've had a bit but patchy some parts are lovely and green and other parts parched and black, farmers never satisfied!

As ever we're busy putting up fences, taking down fences, exporting game, importing game sounds futile but in reality it's progress!

This is the time of year for babies and we're hoping to see a rhino calf soon as well as a young Richards - Jess!!

Wonder what this year will bring, our life was always so calm and predictable, that changed in an instant and we're now conscious and fearful of each day, each shrill ring of the phone.

I hope that all who read this and a few others have a good, healthy and happy 2008.

clouds

2007-12-11T02:25:00.000-08:00

it's sometimes difficult living here remembering how lucky we are - our days are repetative but each one unique - we sometimes need an outsider to come and ooh aah to remind us of our special priviledge.

i'm home alone at the moment - if you call in close proximity to 1000 eland 800 gemsbok et al alone! - vicky took lara and brad to gabs - lara having her 18th birthday party even though she won't hit the legal drinking age until next february - her botswana friends are home for the holidays so good excuse for a party, and why not?

yesterday evening having no-one to share a cold castle with at sundowner time i packed a six pack in the eski and off with my two trusty hounds into the sunset. we had beautiful billowing cumulonimbus clouds must have been thousands of feet high like great big cauliflowers - i see them frequently but last night they were special, i really thought that we were in for lots of rain but no - i wonder who gets it - perhaps we need to start going to church.

i must have been in a sensitive mood as everything seemed wonderful, or perhaps it was the charles glass influence.

I wish you could see the burn in the north of the farm - just a few weeks ago this was a black burnt dust bowl - nothing left but a few charred stumps and ash - now it's a sea of bright green just like i remember england, the transformation is truly wonderous and difficult to describe.

last friday i had two of luke's friends here - james and tara - we drove kanana flat looking for game and saw virtually nothing, where does it go? last night round every corner there were animals, i came into a herd of around 300 eland with about 50 zebra -they were oblivious to my presence and i happily sucked on an ice cold castle and watched them meander across the road - brilliant.

my rhino sisters have gone walkabout and i saw their tracks at water hole no 4 this is around 20 kms from their normal stomping ground - this is great as ben, our resident bull is somewhere around there and sure will get a sniff and maybe do the business maybe we'll hear the patter of great big feet in 18 months time!

i'm off this afternoon to see my mate colin who is just finishing building a house on his farm around 40 kms from here - sure i'll be able to have a few more ice cold castles but this time not alone.

getting quite poetic - maybe time for a holiday in the big city and a dose of reality

if anyone reads this i would appreciate a comment or two - makes me think i'm not entirely mad

cheers for now

rain at last

2007-12-04T05:37:00.000-08:00

the rain seems to have arrived - hope i'm not putting the jinx on it by posting this - we've woken up two mornings in a row to the patter of rain, bullfrogs appearing as if by magic in the puddles, trees are starting to come into leaf and green shoots appearing. the rain has been localised but we've had a little bit everywhere and a lot in some places. if we've had an average of 20mm all over then given that 1 cubic metre of water weighs 1 ton and 1 hectare is 10 thousand square meters then 10 mm of rain is 100 tons water / hectare thus 20 mm = 200 tons / ha x 30 000 hectares = 6 million tons of water which seems a lot more than 20 mm !!! sure is a lot of clouds full.

saw three knob billed geese at the hippo pool - never seen them here before.

christmas is coming and given the bird flu in the UK a turkey shortage is predicted, we may have to settle for knob billed goose, could be a new fad.

lara is on her way home - exams done and dusted, school now history - we're all excited and can't wait to see her again - arrives on the bus tomorrow.

giraffe

2007-11-19T21:45:00.000-08:00

finally managed to upload this photograph - credit to luke who took it - all these were on a plot which he was visiting with a potential investor - think they swung the sale. the giraffe are mostly in the south on the stone veld at the moment this is because the bush has erupted in a sea of green and they're delicatly nibbling the new shoots, must have to nibble quite a few to keep those massive bodies healthy. When you give it some thought it's quite amazing that vegetarians like giraffe and rhinos have such bulk from a few twigs and sprigs - amazes me anyway but then again i have very little distraction except to wonder at these things.

still no significant rain - we are getting lots of blue clouds, flashes, bangs and wind but the rain seems to be avoiding our little paradise. this seems to happen each year and we get quite distraught and stressed waiting - just thrown the bones again!!

just had my sister, linda, here for a month or so. bit of a change from italy for her, it was great to have her here but like so often in life you don't really realise how great until it's over.

christmas fast approaching now - lara is in the final throes of her matric exams and then her school days will be over, seems like only yesterday that she was an uncertain little girl standing lost and waving us goodbye as we dropped her off at boarding school, now she's a confident young lady about to embark on her life.

this is getting a bit emotional probably not appropriate for a wildlife blog so will quit and go do a rain dance and rattle the bones.

2007-11-08T04:42:00.000-08:00

been a while - i find this blogging lark difficult it's like shouting in the dark not sure if anyone's listening.
great excitement today a wayward elephant wandered into the farm, ellies don't bother with the gates and other formalities there he was in all his glory wondering what all the fuss was about - they're big and i mean big when you're on your feet and this was a small to medium job! anyway he's gone now.
what's been happening here in the boring kalahari? well we had a fire about 4 weeks ago - scary stuff flames 3m high - it was the week before the californian fires and i could appreciate their fear - we lost 9000 Ha of grazing but luckily very few animals. It was a day with fierce winds and we only got it under control at around 10 in the evening after a 12 hour battle. luckily since then we've had a bit of rain around 40mm so the grass now shooting and it's all green the animals love the green shoots and interesting to see rhino mowing along with their big mouths - they must have to eat a lot though so guess they're at it all day and most of the night - they've got no TV anyway.
ada and ivy the two rhino we caught in may are getting really tame - we've been feeding them lucerne to help them through the dry times and now they wait expectantly each day for us to arrive and snort and frolic with excitement as we arrive and show no fear, they come to within 10 feet or to be politically correct 3m. so far this ok but waiting for the fisrt nudge on the cruiser which may result in quite a panel beating bill.
vicky and i been travelling quite a bit of late, just returned from a foray to KZN in RSA to a wedding 4000 kms in 4 days, quite a trek
looking at going solar - with the price of diesel soaring this now becoming a serious optionwe're busy getting advice and quotes and would value any contributions both intellectual and financial! (only joking).
i'll now try upload some photos didn't work watch this space

First Rain!!

2007-09-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

sky blackened, thunder rumbled, lightening flashed and the wind blew - had our first 12 inch rain of the season - that smell of the first rain of spring in the kalahari, if you've never smelt it you're missing something, difficult to describe but fresh, new rebirth might give you an idea.
our rhinos are up to something, ben's resident harem stompie and friend have left him and gone walkabout we're hoping this a prelude to stompie calving which willem says is imminent, we are looking for them every day but with the windy days we've been having quite difficult to see their spoor. we're trying to give them some lucerne a bit of green in their endless diet of dry dry grass - help with the milk we hope.
went to lake ngami on sunday with britt toby tj and vicks, the water has been piling down from the okavango through tonota for weeks now and is a sight to behold, a rushing river of blue crystal clear water gurgling and swishing under the road in a sea of yellow dry waving stalks of grass - the resident donkeys, goats and cows must think they're living a dream. getting to the lake is interesting to say the least - travelling east take any turn to the right after sehitwa and follow your nose, vehicles raise plumes of fine dust which gets everwhere - i mean everywhere ! the ground is tinder dry, not a blade of grass or a leaf on a tree, then suddenly the change a few wisps of green and then the lake opens up in front - it's a huge lake must be 30 kms long by 5 kms wide but not a sea of blue rather a sea of green it's so shallow, the grass and reeds are all you can see but careful the mud waits to suck even the best 4 x 4 down. birds birds birds for africa waders, storks, eagles and more what a sight. the ubiquitous cattle donkeys and goats wading around and are they fat. the amazing thing is that this is in the middle of a desert at the height of the dry season, one of the wonders of africa.
just got a quad for kanana, a necessary step to save fuel - big notices all over it NO PASSENGERS, UNLEADED FUEL ONLY - what happened? first thing our merry men fill up with leaded fuel then with groovy driving and !kgara passenger are off oblivious to mr yamaha's admonishments they had fun and japanese technology seems to take the punishment in it's stride must be designed for africa.
(editors note: 12 inch rain refers to drops being 12 inches apart)

spring in the west

2007-09-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

Been suffering from writers block since returning to Africa from the so called First World, need to slow down.
We’re now in the suicide months on Kanana, very hot, waiting for that elusive first rain which probably won’t arrive until late November.
Grass is tinder dry, yellow and waiting for a spark and gust of wind to start an inferno. Amazes me that animals still thrive on this brittle forage they’re drinking plenty of water though, guess to wash it down.
The camel thorns showing signs of life and have come into leaf, the browsers – giraffe, eland kudu - must be chuffed.
Had Luke and Jess here for last few weeks, they’re doing a dry run for the permanent move in February. Jess’s baby now very obvious and she’s brilliant, so cheerful and excited, even though she’s given up the weed and limited herself to one glass of red per day. Difficult in this heat to carry that extra weight, glad I’m a man! I empathise with Jess though and carrying a bit of extra weight myself in solidarity!
We’ve finally bought a new TV, a 50 inch plasma job, I can now see the footie and I’m ready to witness Sunderland’s renaissance.
Lara’s back at school, final term for her - study study study then exams and release. Her five years at DSG has flown, where does all the time go? She’s still not sure what to do next year, maybe a yachting skipper’s course in Cape Town!

rocky mountain time

2007-08-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

think i'm finally over the jet lag - if you call getting up at 5 a.m. normal - gets light then and i'm still a farmer
really like BC especially the wild islands and pacific ocean. lots of trees, lakes and sky there are many similarities to africa such as size, wilderness, solitude but also many contrasts when you hit the urban sprawls which is not my cup of tea - that's also rare - people here prefer "corefee" which can be like dish water!
found a really good draft lager "granville isalnd" - there's many a beer here and plenty breweries - now that's interesting!
RV's all over, some bigger than buses towing cars and boats, saw a ford F 550 - what a monster would love to take one back to the kalahari but guess couldn't afford the fuel would need a private well.
we're back in vancouver later today and lara arrives tomorrow, next week we're hiring a yacht and sailing around vancouver island - watch out for icebergs!
missing simplicity of africa and starting to look forward to return. when you see these north americans in action you better believe global warming very wasteful society
heard that the rhino sisters have settled down at seribe, hope ben (our big bull) will sniff them out soon and give them a seeing to!

vancouver

2007-07-28T05:20:00.000-07:00

missing africa already although BC very nice, been here 2 nights / days, mind can't differentiate between the two yet - jet lag - don't know how the jet set cope glad i'm a simple african farmer. being in the first world - albeit briefly - a strange experience, everyone in a hurry, to do what? there's always noise, silence is a noise if you have experienced it.
looking forward to sunday we're off exploring to vancouver island and then on a tramp steamer round the coast.
mislaid my briefcase on the trolley in the car park on arrival full of everything vital, cash, tickets, camera, passport, driving license, new swarovski binos etc. within 1 hour RCMP had found a suspicious briefcase and returned it intact, now that wouldn't happen in africa!! thankyou Canada and the mounties could have been a bleak holiday.

rhino sisters OUT!

2007-07-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was the big day, up as the sky reddened in the east. Carefully we opened the boma, the sisters huffed and puffed, mock charging us as we carefully removed the poles. Makes the adrenaline rush to have 4000 pounds of rhino 6 inches away from your head, relying on it to shy away from the flimsy barrier. They didn't rush out to freedom. After an hour of peering suspiciously through the gap they were tempted out by their stomachs, lucerne just outside. First, big sister strode out confused to be surrounded by space and freedom then little sister joined her. The small one seemed to give the big one confidence and with a quick snatched mouthful of lucerne they took off west in a cloud of dust.
3 hours later we followed to see where they had gone, they ran for about a mile then slowed to a leisurely gait feeding as they explored their new home they seemed calm so we left them, Sunday I looked again, they had drunk water at Seribe so my main worry satisfied, the Kalahari very dry at this time of year. Should be OK now, hoping they'll return soon to the house tempted by the lucerne.
Sorry about the photo quality - first time my camera has stuffed up!
Weather warmed up a bit last few days after some chilly days, Vicky and I are off to Vancouver for a month to see Ada, will be novel to be part of the First World again, not looking forward to the flight though.

president's day

2007-07-16T00:05:00.000-07:00

long weekend in botswana
this means we're busy - just because we're 700 kms from civilisation don't assume we're lonely - we see more people than most.
came across a herd of 300+ eland yesterday, beautiful sight, unfortunately there were 9 big blue bulls skulking at the back of the herd and i spooked them, one ducked under the fence, amazing as they weight 800+ kgs and stand 2m at the shoulder, he went under the fence where wires 100mm apart and only broke one wire, seems impossible - houdini style. pity for him as there are only cattle that side so will be lonely. usually they try and come back so i expect to see him ambling on the outside of fence for a week or two. once kobus, the neighbour, finds him he will be biltong before you can say jack robinson.
the rhino sisters are still in the boma near the house, getting quite tame and have settled down to their diet of lucerne and seem to enjoy it. they're quite tidy and do all their business in one dung heap which is getting quite big now, not to mention smelly! i'm going to let them out on wednesday so will try the dung in the veggie patch, watch this space for giant carrots!
caught another cheetah last week, a young male - very pretty, the cheetah ladies came and took him away, we'll see how long until he's back.
i'm trying to create a ben richards wildlife trust, in memory of my son ben, with the aim of doing something meaningful for conservation, i'm trying to persuade the cheetah people to establish a proper reasearch facility on the property and also interested in doing something with black rhino. first step is to formulate proper terms of reference for the trust - it's essential that it is seen to be transparent and beyond suspicion and not just a commercial benefit for kanana. to do this we need a board of eminient and respected people - i'm working on this. any ideas?

presidents

2007-07-16T00:04:00.001-07:00

catching rhino

2007-07-06T02:53:00.000-07:00

Some one read my blog!! Cheated really, but who cares - thanks Ada!
Had an exciting weekend 2 weeks ago, my mate -Larry "the vet" Patterson- caught and moved two young female rhino from Edo's camp to Kanana. Larry at 61 stalked the beasts armed with no more than a dart gun and from 10 metres darted them, then waited very quietly until the two ton rhino succembed to the drugs around 8 minutes. The larger managed to stand on my toe as we were shoving it into the crate, and it's true they weigh 4 x 500 kgs = 2 tons. The "girls" are sisters aged 6 and 4 and we now have 7, 5 females 1 lucky bull and a baby. The sisters are now in a boma next to our house, we want to habituate them hoping they will think of this as home and drink in our waterhole. We'll wait and see.
Been very cold recently, unfortunatley our thermometer broken so temp measured by thickness of ice on birdbath. Seems to me that weather more normal than recent years so hoping for good rain when time comes round.

winter saturday

2007-06-16T01:17:00.000-07:00

Got the Government vets here today putting bolus into our cattle so that meat traceable from Mcdonalds in Leicester Square to Kanana Ghanzi Botswana !! Bloody EU and Tony Blair! Also innoculating for black quarter (not half!) contagious abortion and anthrax - and you thought flu jab painful.
My nephews here from Peckham south London Noah 5 and Ozzie 4 - they're interested in life on an african farm - questions questions most exciting thing for them is the big yellow digger - JCB forget lions rhino and elephants. focused little boys.
wondering if anybody ever reads this?

baby rhino spotted

2007-06-06T02:27:00.000-07:00

very cold today - south wind blowing seems like all the way from antarctic -
mum and baby ate some lucerne last night maybe get to see them soon
lots of cheetah sign around very dry
busy cleaning fire breaks won't be long before smoke on the horizon - scary days especially when wind blowing

winter

2007-06-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

It rained today - it's not supposed to rain in winter in the Kalahari - could this be a side effect of the global warming Bush and Blair are so concerned about.
Very cold I feel sorry for Georgie she's only 4 weeks old - do rhinos feel the cold - guess I'll never know
Georgies Dad chased me last Sunday, a close encounter with a 2 tons of muscle gets the adrenalin flowing

party time

2007-03-24T00:52:00.000-07:00

saturday 24 march is sister vize's 90th birthday - that's old she must have been born while ww1 still in full swing.
ma vize was for years the only medical person in ghanzi in the days when there was no road no telephones not much of anything. as acting mid wife she has delivered most of todays poulation - or caught to use local parlance.
big party tonight at the barn to celebrate when the whole panoply of Ghanzi society will be there to celebrate one of it's most venerated citizens.

2007-03-23T05:52:00.000-07:00

praying for rain

2007-03-23T05:17:00.000-07:00

another hot and humid day - clouds, wind - all the signs but no Pula (rain in the local language) maybe global warming already affecting our remote paradise, curse the unthinking polluters!
got some friends here from the city, interesting to see our life from their perspective, somehow makes it exciting and realise again how lucky we are
found a dead kudu in the shade at the tree hide - big spiral horns would have been a trophy fit for a rich american trophy room but lucky old kudu died of old age - teeth no longer able to munch the sharp thorns
saw some black wildebeest far from home they must be getting adventurous! stupid things chasing their tails