An eventful busy October has now passed as summer and the associated rainfall is slowly making an appearance.
Temperatures and rainfall in this reporting month were 7/37 (min/max) accompanied by the total of 32mm of rain that fell on 3 separate occasions.
This October will sadly be remembered for the tragedy of the fire that engulfed bungalow #117 on the 19th after an unpredicted thunderstorm late in the morning on that day, the accompanying lightning strike was felt and heard throughout the camp area, Our best efforts at extinguishing the fire were in vain as its momentum was impossible to stop, we did however manage to stop the fire spreading with the aid of some steady drizzle that continued to fall throughout the day. A sad day for the owners, however, our sincere appreciation must go out to Motswari Game Lodge (Walter) N’tsiri, (Andre and staff) The Umbabat (Martin, Rieghardt and staff) Chameleon builders (Francois and staff) and all the Ingwelala members that assisted on the day, we are most grateful.
Elephant impact in this October report was reduced to one incursion only, I’m pleased to note that this had no bearing on the new fence but purely a very stubborn frustrated bull that demanded access to our camp area, this he achieved by entering at the main gate. There are those of you who may remember a similar incident from 2018, suffice to say it is the same bull…. This weak point was addressed the following morning by installing an overhead live wire to prevent him from re-entering which proved successful. Damages during this incursion were water and tree related. His exit from the camp through the fence had the crew replacing Y-standards and wiring near the Giraffe gate. There have been a further seven separate attempts by various bulls to breech the camp in this month, none have been successful. The coming month will see the installation of 2 separate electrified boom gates for the main gate, this will be the last stage of the fence project and should deter and prevent any incursions in the future, we again remain cautiously optimistic a permanent solution has been found.
It was concerning to see that we have had three separate collisions with the new automated gates, two of which were reported by the members responsible, it needs to be stressed that a certain amount of vigilance and patience is required to familiarize ourselves with this new addition to the infrastructure.
Electric fence work has again continued during October as we have continued with comprehensive repairs to the low-profile fence that surrounds Vuka Ingwe. All the old, rusted wiring as well as the old supports were replaced where necessary, this project is 95% complete.
In addition, we have also commenced with the same repair to the Sibon fence surrounds, this project is 40% complete.
Further work at Sibon has included the grass seeding of the lawn area inside the entrance, this is a continuation of the work done on the Ingwelala lawns from last summer, propagation has been good, and we expect full growth within the coming six weeks.
Prickly pear was again targeted in the same areas as last month, there is a severe infestation in the area east of klipspringer, 114 plants were treated in this month, further spraying and follow ups will continue as visibility allows before the bigger rains.
I will again stress that there is some confusion that has developed over the opening of the Owl crossing in the Camp area, to date no official decision has been taken regarding this and it remains closed until such time.
As October came to its conclusion, we sadly said farewell to one of our longest serving staff members, Alfret Namane, who had reached retirement age. A function was arranged to give him the proper send-off he deserved on the 28th of the month. This was well attended and well received.
Alfret, on commencement of his employment in 1997 joined the Conservation crew and was the designated tractor driver responsible for the road maintenance, in the 25 years of service he gave to Ingwelala he became so much more than that. I had the privilege of working with Alfret on my two separate employment contracts here firstly between 1998 and 2003 and then my current contract from 2018-, In both periods he stood out as the man to get a job done, there was no problem that couldn’t be solved, his skills stretched across all facets of the job but were mainly focused on the roads and electric fence work, this included the removal of elephant from the camp area.
There are few people who could manage a tractor and blade with the skills and finesse he possessed, he was a true master at work.
Alfret was a popular character amongst the village staff and management alike, He goes into a well-deserved retirement now to support his beloved Kaizer Chiefs and possibly enjoying a small Carling Black or two.
His absence will certainly be felt for some time.
Go well Alfret and thank you.
by Chris Mayes