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About the owners.
We are Corné and Miriam van Dongen, owners of Amukela Game Lodge. After our first expedition in 1997, where we discovered Tanzania and Zanzibar, Africa got a special place in our hearts. The years after that trip we travelled through South-Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya.
In 2002 we decided that our future was here in South-Africa, and we started to make serious plans. In May 2003 we bought an old and dilapidated building on 21 hectares in the Balule Nature Reserve, which is now incorporated in the famous Greater Kruger National Park. Balule is home to the Big Five and many other animals and is perfect situated for visiting the Drakensberg, the Krugerpark and many other attractions in this region.
In 2004 we spent almost a year in the building of our lodge, and problems like no water and power were the first challenges that we had to overcome.
Our lives changed dramatically, from office jobs in the Netherlands, to a new life in Big-5 country! We love the space and wildlife here and thanks to the fantastic climate we live outdoors the whole year. We are very happy on our own little piece of Africa. |
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| On 3 September 2006 our son Niels was born here in South Africa. | ||||
| He is a real bush child and interested in all the animals, big and small. | ||||
| On 15 December 2008 his brother Dennis was born. | ||||
| Niels is a very sweet big brother and he and Dennis are best friends. | ||||
| It will be a great experience for them to grow up in this environment! | ||||
| We love the African bush, and will be your hosts, ensuring to give you the same bush-experiences we had. | ||||
| Miriam van Dongen-Broers & Corné van Dongen. | ||||
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from left to right: |
| Dennis | ||||
| Family | ||||
| Niels | ||||
| Brothers | ||||
| In januari 2009 a Dutch filmcrew came to Amukela for the TV-programme "Onverwacht bezoek". (unexpected visit). | ||||
| Off course we didn't know that it was for this programme otherwise it would no longer be a suprise. | ||||
| In November 2008 we received an e-mail from Stokvis Production, the company that produces emmigration programmes. | ||||
| They had seen the website of Corné's father and were interested in filming here for about 4 days. | ||||
| We were very excited, a part of our life here in the bush on the Dutch national TV! | ||||
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| They were here in January 2009, and it were very busy but special days. | |||
| Dennis was only a month old and Niels was almost 2 1/2 years old, so Miriam made very long days. | |||
| The crew existed of a cameraman (Vincent), sound (Tjodi), presenter (Marion) and productionleader (Hester). | |||
| They filmed on our lodge, in and around Hoedspruit, at the Elephant back safari, Moholoholo | |||
| rehabilitation centre, on a gamedrive here in Balule and in the village of Tinyiko. | |||
| The biggest surprise came on the last day. Miriam took Niels and Dennis to a tea-party. | |||
| At this tea-party were some neighbours and friends of Miriam and to her big surprise she was offered a bisquit | |||
| by her own sister Henja! | |||
| Henja wasn't able to visit us before and it was a very emotional reunion. | |||
| Later we were told that the program is called "unexpected visit". | |||
| Well it was defenitely unexpected! | |||
| click on the pictures below to enlarge | |||
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Miriam had a fantastic week with her sister. |
| from left to right: | |||
| * back to Amukela after the surprise | |||
| * sisters | |||
| * on gamedrive | |||
| About the history of Amukela | |||
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| In January 2004 we packed our whole life in a huge 20ft. container, and moved to the bush in South-Africa. | |||
| The place we bought consisted of an old, empty and dilapidated building, and a small rondawel where now the reception, | |||
| breakfast area and lounge are. | |||
| In march 2004 we started to renovate the buildings, and we also built a boma, lapa, terrace, bar and ablution block. | |||
| We builted 4 cosy rondawels for our guests on the bank of a dry riverbed, called the Leeuspruit (Lion-creek). | |||
| Later we builted our house and made a fence around the camp to keep the animals out; especially | |||
| elephants who already damaged the water pipes once. | |||
| Off course there were setbacks, like the fact that all electricity cables were removed from the buildings. | |||
| It also turned out not to be so easy to get water. Our borehole had to be cleaned first and we needed a new pump. | |||
| Still we look back with pleasure at this period in our lives where we had all our belongings packed in boxes and had to miss all the, in the Netherlands, so common luxury. | |||
| Although the lodge wasn't finished yet, we started hosting guests from July. | |||
| In the beginning of 2005 we finished the lodge and made the swimming pool. | |||
| More about us and building up the lodge on the website of Corné's father, with a lot of pictures. | |||
| click on the pictures below to enlarge | |||
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from left to right: |
| sleeping between the boxes | |||
| our bushtoilet: the longdrop. | |||
| building up the rondawels | |||
| back to Corné en Miriam | |||
