Hello, Goeie dag, Sawubona!
Welcome to our first Ranger’s report!
It’s been a busy few months at the lodge... our babies are
growing, we have a new addition to our Glen Afric animal family and there is
certainly love in the air.
We’ve watched our tiny little treasure Sheba grow into a lioness over the last 8 months. Every day we see
her boisterous and friendly personality come to life, and every day she shows
great potential and willingness to become an actress. Luckily, her white
lioness best friend, Flora, prefers
her to take the spotlight. I took Sheba
on her first lion walk on the 8 of March, with 3 volunteers, into the back
mountain area of the game farm. Such a big step for such a little lion!
Whilst Sheba is taking big steps, on the opposite side of the farm, Marty and Hannah – aged 5 years now – have learnt quite a few lessons from their mother, Three. She’s taught them what vegetation they are able to eat and how to be behave, on most occasions. I still see the two young elephants still breast feeding from her at this age, but we all know that Three has a few more parental skills up her trunk. Being still young at heart, Marty and Hannah find bathing in our dam a game of excitement and fun. For me, it’s a delight to watch! I see them rolling around, climbing on each other and spraying water in every direction from their trunks, whilst Three keeps one eye on them and occasionally can’t help herself joining in on the fun.
The staff , rangers and I are delighted to welcome our newest addition to our ever growing family –baby Jo, the hippopotamus. She was born on the 23 of January 2013 and as we are unsure if it's a boy or a girl yet, we've safely named it Jo - as if it's a boy he'll be named Jonathan and if it's a girl we'll call her Joanne. Some of the rangers and I have watched Jo playing around with mom and dad (Modjaji and Mampoer) in one of our three dams. Whilst Sheba is taking big steps, on the opposite side of the farm, Marty and Hannah – aged 5 years now – have learnt quite a few lessons from their mother, Three. She’s taught them what vegetation they are able to eat and how to be behave, on most occasions. I still see the two young elephants still breast feeding from her at this age, but we all know that Three has a few more parental skills up her trunk. Being still young at heart, Marty and Hannah find bathing in our dam a game of excitement and fun. For me, it’s a delight to watch! I see them rolling around, climbing on each other and spraying water in every direction from their trunks, whilst Three keeps one eye on them and occasionally can’t help herself joining in on the fun.
So Sheba is growing, Jo is enjoying time with mom and dad and on the other side of the game farm, we have enjoyed viewing the relationship between Charles and Camilla. I have witnessed their unique love affair on many occasions – unique being because Charles is a kudu bull and Camilla is a giraffe. With Charles having a very impressive set of horns which any female kudu would look twice at, and Camilla our not so baby giraffe reaching new heights with her long legs – this unlikely combination shows that their romance sees no colour, shape or specie. Although Valentines Day has been and gone, I can still feel the love in the air.
Yes, it’s been a busy few months bushing around and we’ll be sure
to keep you posted on Sheba, Jo, Charles,
Camilla, Marty, Hannah, Three and the rest of the gang at Glen
Afric.
Til’ next time,
Rodger The Ranger