Greetings, Members! January has come and gone, and we hope your start to 2025 has been a successful one.
We hope your festive season has been filled with happiness and love, and we wish you all the very best for a prosperous 2025.
We are incredibly grateful to have had all the rivers flowing on the reserve at the beginning of the month following substantial rains. The rivers are still wet in places and sightings have been amazing throughout the month, with some rarities recorded.
We spent most of the month working on river crossings and repairing roads following the rain, which included grading and compacting all river crossings and several roads with the tractors. The electric fence also needed substantial repairs, especially at Giraffe Crossing where it was damaged by the river.
Temperatures were fairly mild through the month, while our Fire Danger Index was at the “Dangerous” level by the end of the month. Humidity and temperatures climbed steadily after the rain, and the veld is looking greener and lusher than we have seen it in over a year.
Lowest Temp: 19.5°C (Avg: 22.1°C)
Highest Temp: 40.7°C (Avg: 33.8°C)
Rainfall for the month: 216.6mm
(Avg: 90.4mm)
Projects of the month:
Rainfall, Rivers, and the Veld
It was a pleasant surprise to see every river flowing on Ingwelala following the beautiful rains at the beginning of the month. Over a five-day period, we measured 130.2mm of rain on the reserve, one day of which there was 80mm measured. This was enough for the rivers to flow, and within 2 days all rivers were flowing from bank to bank.
Members gathered all over the reserve to witness the approaching water. At the close of the month, there was still water in patches along all rivers. Over a fourteen-day period we measured 212.6mm of rain.
Naturally, there was a massive change in veld condition within a day of the rains setting in, with the dry grasses and dying leaves replaced by carpets of greenery and almost immediate fresh growth. With every passing day, more and more flowers and fruits emerged as the veld erupted into every shade of green possible.
Within a period of one week, the veld was almost unrecognisable, and many conversations have been sparked over the immense presence of a beautiful forb known as the “String-of-stars” (Helitropium steudneri), which has now carpeted almost every inch of ground across the reserve. This is undoubtedly the most ground coverage by flowers and forbs that we have seen at Ingwelala in many years, if not ever!
Roads and River Crossings
Despite the heavy rainfall experienced through the month, the roads and river crossings held condition quite impressively. There were very few severely damaged crossings, but as was expected there were some repairs and smoothing out that were necessary for further preservation, soil conservation, comfort and safety. Most river crossings were also closed until the water levels had subsided and all crossings could be checked and, where necessary, repaired. We thank you for your patience while the crossings were closed!
Work on the roads was prioritised and began in camp, as Ingwelala Drive vaguely resembled a muddy roller-coaster from the relatively higher traffic in camp. Once completed, all other roads in camp were graded and dragged with the tyre, and all mitre drains and gabions were re-opened and cleared of the newly deposited piles of debris. Following this, intensive work was done on the more eroded crossings on the reserve, including Mermaid Crossing, Tamboti Crossing, Giraffe Crossing, Timbavati Crossing, the crossing in camp and Sekgobela Crossing.
All other river crossings were still in good condition and simply needed light work to smooth out any new bumps and minor erosion. Roads across the reserve have all been seen to and are in good condition following the rains, but work will continue on the roads across the reserve throughout the next few months as we maintain the integrity of the surfaces and work hard to ensure that all roads are as smooth and comfortable as they can be - especially considering there will hopefully be more rain through the coming months.
We’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to please use 4X4 when utilising river crossings, regardless of what the condition of the crossing looks like. Not only is it safer and more comfortable for you and your vehicle, but it also helps to reduce soil erosion and helps to maintain the integrity of the banks of the river crossings. This is especially important for the ones that have been freshly worked on as they are still sensitive to erosion. Thank you!
Electric Fence Repairs
As the Nhlaralumi river flowed from bank to bank, the section of fence at Giraffe Crossing was loosened and partially washed away by the debris being carried downstream. This required the full replacement of the earth mat and the partial replacement of the electric fence along that stretch of the river. Over a period of 7 hours, the Conservation team worked hard to loosen debris from the fence and earth wires, fully replace the earth mat and re-install the fence and fence posts where they had washed downstream.
All damaged fencing materials were also safely retrieved from the river and removed. A small section of the earth mat was also damaged at Sekgobela Crossing, which was replaced fairly quickly. We continue to work hard to ensure that the fence is brought back to optimum condition and are mindful that the flowing rivers continue to add debris to the fence line and reduce the overall efficacy of the fence. We will be monitoring it closely.
Upgrades to the Garden
With the procurement of new plants in November, we have been waiting patiently for the rain to set in before continuing with upgrades to the garden space at Reception. Finally, with the rainfall being so high during this month, we have been able to plant the new plants in the garden bed in front of the shop.
The indigenous plants that were added were chosen for their hardiness and beauty, but also for their relative unpalatability to most wildlife in the area. The nyalas do not seem to agree with the last statement and have enjoyed the new buffet a fair bit, but with so much other greenery available we have only lost three plants so far. Thank you to Timothy and Difference from the Conservation team for your hard work with this project. With time, the new plants will hopefully grow to fill the space beautifully.
Building Projects
John Llewellyn, represents the Building Committee at reserve level regarding all building related issues to members bungalows. Members are welcome to call Reception ahead of their visits to enquire what building related disturbances may be encountered in the vicinity of their bungalows.
Current (major) building projects are listed below:
- Bungalow # 5 Dannhaus Builders, Approved Dec 24, rethatch, internal renovations, new gazebo.
- Bungalows #57, #123, # 144, # 163, # 169, still in progress, all Chameleon Builders.
- Bungalow # 129, rethatch, internal renovations and new fire pit.
- Bungalow # 158, Dukes Construction, approved Feb 24, demolish and rebuild.
- Sibon closure for 6 weeks, revamp to Mopani and general camp maintenance. Chameleon Builders.
- Nyala – pending
Staff Member of the Month
This month we have chosen Nelson Khoza, our Workshop Foreman, who has been at Ingwelala for 30 years this month!
Nelson is a pillar of strength for all teams and plays an important role as one of our senior staff members.
He is always willing to help and will go out of his way to help others, no matter what.
He especially loves being able to help Members with their vehicles. He is also the most wanted man when ageing game viewers require mechanical attention and TLC.
Thank you, Nelson! We appreciate you.
Photos of the Month
These are the three best photographs sent to us by Members during the month. Thank you to all who sent us photos, it makes a massive difference for our animal ID files and gives us an opportunity to share in these moments with you. Thank you to Kayla, Maureen and Adam for giving us permission to use these images, and for sending them in to us!
Klaserie River Male – Kayla Thompson | Lions on the hunt – Adam Duncan | Giant Kingfisher – Maureen KirkIf you want to share photographs and/or videos with us for our files, Social Media pages or the website and report, please send an email to
Notes from the Conservation Team
We want to thank everyone for being mindful of the wet conditions on the reserve this month. There have been very few incidents of people getting stuck, and we appreciate your care when using the newly repaired river crossings as well.
As much as our attention has mostly been drawn to roads, crossings, and the fence, following the rains, moving into February we will be focusing on another large-scale veld rehabilitation project on Buffelsbed. As before, we are aiming to clear Grewias from the northern section of Buffelsbed where they have encroached into the previously open areas.
As a reminder, Bush Walks will hopefully be re-opened in March, as soon as veld conditions and other safety aspects allow it. Thank you for your patience during this season while the walks have been closed, and we look forward to taking you on a walk soon.
We will be hosting some very interesting talks in the Members Area during the Easter holidays, if you’d like to join us. Included in this is a live animal demonstration on snakes and scorpions of our area, presented by Tim Baynham from Wildlife Safety Solutions. The aim of this talk is to share information on the various species, how to identify them, basic emergency measures should an incident occur, and how to safely handle situations where we may cross paths with them in the bush. There will be an opportunity to handle certain of these animals, should you be willing and interested. We look forward to seeing you there!
We hope you enjoyed the January report, and we’ll see you soon.
Josh and Tess
Words by Tess Woollgar, images courtesy of Tess Woollgar and Josh Hibbett.