Saturday 30 November 2013

The Count is On! (Part One)

I was lucky enough to be one of the six “chosen ones” to help out with the game count at Ubizane last month.  The game count is done annually to do a ‘stock take’ of the animals we have. This helps us to get an idea of how our animals are doing and to what extent poaching has affected our game.  We use this opportunity to analyse the population growth and decrease in order for us to make sure the animals are living in healthy circumstances without any serious fluctuation.  Being part of such an important part of conservation at Ubizane was truly exciting and knowing the technicalities that go into the final numbers, I simply enjoyed the events during the day which made this a fun outing for me! So this is my story:


Our general manager informed me early the morning we would do a game count later on the day and I must get ready because they need an extra person. Lucky for me I had a camera ready and a skin in much need of sunlight so I was first choice to fill the extra spot! I grabbed my camera, a pen and a hat and rushed to the Land Rover. I was paired up with the trusty Hamilton – our Game Ranger – and he chose the strong tough Landy called “Elephant” for our adventures and off we went to the “old gate” where we would meet up with the others.


Elephant - our tough Land Rover!


At “Old Gate” we gathered and discussed the plan of action.  Each Land Rover (with two people each) received a sector of the Ubizane grounds to count in which every single road and track needs to be covered to ensure the most accurate count possible.  And when finished we were to meet again at Tree Lodge to hand in our findings. Now as a first timer I have to admit I was a little bit scared we would have to jump into the bush and chop down thicket with Panga’s, in my mind looking like a scene straight out of Rambo, until we found animals to count and add to our ‘stock sheet’ which I had the pleasure of filling out.  With Hamilton laughing away at my ridiculous ideas, he told me we will be sitting in the Land Rover safe and sound without any Panga’s needed for any excursions in the bush.  With a big sigh of relief I took my pen and I was ready to count those Impala...and the Nyala, Zebra and whichever other animal we were to find.  The ‘stock sheet’ contained a column for species, babies, young male, young female, adult male, adult female, pregnant female and unknown for those Zebra and Blue Wildebeest who are just too fast to make out the gender. No animal will be left behind in Ubizane’s game count!

Even Matthew & Zequenya joined in the fun!

We started at 10am and drove through the Ubizane plains and bush, staring down each little bush with each movement our eyes caught.  We soon realised the heat did not help much and made our task a lot harder as animals were hiding away under trees in the shade or staying low in between the grass to catch any cool air they could find.  In the first two hours we counted a staggering 12 Impala.  Out of the hundreds we have on the farm (if you were wondering) this was not a good result for us. Since we were still in the “busy” part of the reserve near Safari Lodge we decided we will probably find more interesting and larger number animals further in the quiet bush of Ubizane.


And interesting it most certainly was...

(Part Two will be published in the first week of December so keep checking our blog and don't miss out on the next part of this adventure!)


Monday 25 November 2013

Guess and WIN!

This month's competition has to do with your skills in puzzle solving! Guess the animal that we recently released by liking our Facebook Page and commenting with your answer! Hints will be posted throughout the week on our Facebook Page and Profile so don't miss out on an opportunity to win a 25% off voucher to stay at one of our luxury lodges!


Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/UbizaneReserve
Facebook Profile: www.facebook.com/Ubizane.wildlifereserve

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Pool dinner

We have decided to have a dinner by the swimming pool on Monday to celebrate the nice warm weather! Here are the pics from setting up to the dinner:

 
Set-up started late on Monday afternoon
 




At night, the dinner site was lit up by the candles and the pool light

A magical evening starts

The tables are ready for the guests arrival

The view of the area with guests enjoying the interesting set-up

Yummy food served by Candlelight

Guests enjoying the evening

We try to keep it different by serving dinner in different venues, weather depending of course. So next time you're at Ubizane enjoy the unique set-ups and send us your photo's the following day!