We welcome the winter months following a cool, windy and dry month of May at Ingwelala.
This month we celebrated our staff with our annual Long Service Awards Ceremony following a Board Meeting on the reserve. We also focused on a variety of activities, including fire safety preparations in camp and on the reserve, completed veld rehabilitation of the savanna biome, the construction of a new boilermaker’s workshop, and several new road signs and cairns.
Rainfall for the month was recorded as 2.5mm, while temperatures have been dropping consistently through the month. Wind conditions were gusty and unpredictable, and the veld has started to dry out quickly, especially the grasses, shrubs and forbs.
Our Fire Danger Index was mostly “Moderate” during the month and escalated to the “Dangerous” level by the end of the month. We continue to encourage you to be mindful of fire safety conditions and use caution when making any fires in camp or at designated sites. No fire should be left unattended.
Lowest Temp: 5.7°C (Avg: 11.4°C)
Highest Temp: 32.8°C (Avg: 28.6C)
Rainfall for the month: 2.5mm
(Avg: 7.3mm)
Projects of the month:
Emergency Assembly Point
Our designated Emergency Assembly Point in camp is situated in the large, open space of the car park at the Members Area, where it is central, open and easy to find, and easy to navigate to and from while still having the ability to maintain emergency contact via Wi-Fi or radio signal. There is upgraded signage for this designated point, which you will see in the middle of the carpark, backing onto the lawn in front of the swimming pool. This area has also been cleared to enable more space and better visibility. This Assembly Point, with new signage, has been installed by Ruan du Preez. Thank you, Ruan!
Should any emergencies occur, and it is necessary to congregate at the Emergency Assembly Point, please make your way to the carpark at Reception. We would like to request that vehicles are not parked in front of the Emergency Access Point should an emergency occur, so that we can keep the pathways and space clear, easily accessible and visible. Thank you!
New Reflective Signage and Cairns
During the month, Ruan and his team have been exceptionally busy updating and upgrading the cairns and road signs in camp. This has been an ongoing task to improve the camp. Over the course of the month, there have been multiple new cairns built, some older ones replaced, and signage on many cairns replaced with reflective signs that will be easily visible in the dark.
We would like to thank Ruan and his team for their incredible work - it is looking fantastic!
New benches at Aloe Ridge and Nkhoro Drive
Following the full re-build of the Aloe Ridge structure, which was necessary after the substantial rains, one of the benches also needed replacement due to water damage over time. We are happy to inform you that the new benches are in place at Aloe Ridge and are a welcome addition. The remaining, undamaged older bench has been moved to the southern side of the structure, where the wooden bench and coffee table are situated on their own.
Similarly, a new picnic bench has been placed at the viewing site on Nkhoro Drive, where one of the existing benches was recently broken by elephants. We would like to thank everyone who has reported benches turned over or broken by elephants and wish everyone many pleasant stops at our stunning viewing sites, hides, and bomas at Ingwelala.
New Boilermaker’s Workshop
A designated space has been created for use as a Boilermaker’s Workshop at Ingwelala - a space for heavy-duty welding, construction and invention. This space is within the general Maintenance and Workshop space and has been converted into a protected space for welding and metalwork. Ruan built this workshop himself and has created an ideal area that will allow any heavy-duty work to be completed in a closed space that is safely tucked away from any stored vehicles, infrastructure, flora and fauna.
This workshop was created with the focus of safety in mind - not only the safety of surrounding assets and items when welding, grinding or working with metal and high temperatures, but also to ensure no stray sparks or other potentially hazardous by-products can reach any flora or fauna, or accidentally start any fires. The new Boilermaker’s Workshop looks amazing! Thank you, Ruan, for making such a suitable space for use at Ingwelala.
Veld Rehabilitation Completed for the season
As mentioned in previous reports, our Conservation team has been hard at work ensuring the preservation of the Savanna biome at Ingwelala by actively managing encroaching species. This has been a mammoth task and has officially been completed for the 2024/2025 season. This has taken longer than expected, largely due to unpredictable and severe rainfall conditions over an extended period of 3 months causing the bush to become incredibly thick and lush, reducing visibility drastically.
We are incredibly proud of the outcome and the visible differences thus far, and the value that has been added already. Areas targeted during this season included the previously open Savanna biomes that were severely encroached/overgrown by other plants, most of which were at some point or another associated with farmlands and agriculture. These areas included small sections near Mermaid Crossing and the Platform, Wahlberg’s Plains, Farmhouse Crossing/Elephant Pan Hide, Buffels Hide, small sections on Sibon and a larger section on the northern side of Buffelsbed.
With the encroaching Grewia bushes removed, these areas will become more open and will hopefully be sprouting plenty more palatable grasses in the coming years. These areas will still require monitoring and light maintenance through the years to come, but with most of the encroachment removed, this will be much more manageable and easier to achieve in future.
Thank you to the Conservation team and the Bush Clearing Solutions team for their amazing efforts in this regard. The hard work and dedication to this project has certainly paid off, and we are grateful for the opportunity to put so many hours into conserving the natural habitat here at Ingwelala.
Our Staff Member of the Month
This month we celebrate the hard work and dedication of Convey Mashabane as our Staff Member of the Month.
Convey is a dedicated member of the Housekeeping team who has been at Ingwelala for 11 years. She always has a smile on her face, a warm greeting for everyone she sees, and is extremely passionate and hard-working. You’ll never see her looking down!
Thank you, Convey - we appreciate you!
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, # 163 still in progress, all Chameleon Builders.
- Bungalow #49: Chameleon Builders; Approved May 2025. Demolish and rebuild.
- Bungalow # 129, Chameleon Builders; Rethatch, internal renovations and new fire pit.
- Bungalow # 70, Dukes Construction, approved Feb 2025, Internal and patio changes.
- Bungalow # 158, Dukes Construction, approved Feb 2025, demolish and rebuild.
- Nyala house: Mpumalanga Roofing & Projects; Duke’s Construction; Complete roof replacement and internal renovations.
Notes from the Conservation Team
We are excited to announce that Bush Walks are officially open again! We thank you for your patience as we focused on our veld rehabilitation projects over the past few months and putting safety first in these incredibly thick veld conditions!
Bush Walks are a fun, unique experience and a totally different way to appreciate the bush and the smaller things, and if you’re lucky a fantastic way to see wildlife from an entirely different perspective. Should you wish to book a bush walk with us, please email
As a refresher, here are the most important items to note regarding bush walks:
- Booking in advance is crucial (with a minimum of 24 hours), as bookings fill up quickly!
- Walks are weather-dependent, so closer to the time of the provisional booking we will meet with you to discuss the best options for what the weather has in store for us.
- Walks are focused on safety, so close-up encounters with any wildlife are never a guarantee. This will only be possible if the conditions and situation safely allow it!
- Walks are focused more on the experience of being in the bush on foot, so this is a great option if you want to stretch your legs while seeing things from a different perspective - often an appreciation of the smaller things in the bush.
- We cannot take more than 8 people on a walk at a time, so if your group is bigger, we’ll need to split the group into two walks instead of one.
For more information, reach out to us directly. We look forward to taking you on a walk!
Josh and Tess
Words by Tess Woollgar, images courtesy of Ruan du Preez, Tess Woollgar and Josh Hibbett