For pictures see our amukela-hyves page.
|
21 July. When Miriam takes Niels to school they see giraffes and zebra's at the entrance. A guest who left that same morning saw 15 lions on the Marula drive! Guests that came back from the Krugerpark saw 5 buffalos on our drive way and that evening an elephant came to visit our water hole. 21 July. On the gamedrive guests saw rhino's and an elephant. 17 July. We saw the civet at our water hole at 4 o'clock in the afternoon already. The jackal and a duiker came for a drink as well. That night we heard the lions closeby. 15 July. Five buffalos came to drink at the Mandla-dam, and 2 of our guests are at the lodge when it happened. That evening the civet was seen as well. 14 July. Today is the first schoolday for Niels after this long holiday. He enjoys going back to school and when we pick him up he has lots of stories to tell. In the evening we hear lions, jackals and a hyena when we sit around teh campfire with our guests. 12 July. We drive around 11:30 back from Jo'burg and got bad luck: a piece of iron tosses over the road and comes under our car. A few kilometres further we are able to stop and check out the damage. Two traffic police-officers come to see if they can assist us, and we take up their details. We can drive further but the damage is considerable. Fed up with this as we had a bad month with cars, but what can you do? Take it like a man... and woman 11 July. Aroud 11:00 we are back on the Nelson Mandela square, which has transformed in Orange colors and here and there we see some Spanish fans. We enjoy the atmosphere, have brunch and some drinks. At 13:30 we take a bus to Soccer-city so we can join the Orange-fest there. Also here there's is fantastic vibe. De closingceremony is impressive, and Mandela's appearance create some Madiba-magic. And the match well... enough has been written and said, we leave with an empty feeling. But at least we were there! The whole atmosphere in the impressive football-temple Soccer City was great. I visited 12 Worlcup matches, of which 4 with Miriam. The best was for us the 1/4 final where we beat Brasil with 2-1. We will become a member of the Orange-supporters organisation and are making some plans to visit the EC2012 in Poland and Ukrain.
|
10 July. For one more time Tinyiko takes care of our 2 bushboys, as we leave the lodge at 07:00 towards Jo'burg. We arrive in the afternoon at the Nelson Mandela square, where some Orange-supporters have gathered already. Via the less formal market we manage to get 2 tickets!! Completely happy we head to our friend Kobus in Randburg -close by Sandton-. The same evening we have dinner at the Mandela-square where we all enjoy the fantastich ambiance.
7 July. We see 2 buffalo's at the Moosa-dam, and the bush-feeling is back again. I contact the FIFA, the KNVB (Dutch football organisation), several touroperators in the Netherlands, a contactperson from the dutch national tv but without any result... also the man from Mozambique whom I met after the match against Brasil couldn't help me further. Too bad, we cannot get any tickets anymore and decide to try our luck by leaving the next day for Jo'burg, de car decorated with a carton sign "Need 2 tickets - 082 3794711'.
6 July. Today the semi-final: Holland vs. Urugay. We dress in our Orange-shirts as we go shopping in Hoedspruit, with lots of positive reactions beeing the result. That evening we don't have guests, so we watch at home with Tinyiko at an exciting game. After every dutch goal we ran outside to scream and cheer, blowing our vuvuzela's. After the 3-1 we are in the 7th heaven, but the 3-2 makes it nerve recking for a couple of minutes. We are in the final!! After 32 years the Orange football team please for its 3rd time in history another final. We prepare ourselves to get tickets for the final.
5 July. 2 elephants come to visit and we realise that there is more than just the world Cup football.
3 July. Although we only fell asleep late last night we are up at 03:00 o'clock already for our journey home. We have a good drive and at 17:00 we are home were our 2 boys greet us enthousiasticely. From our staff we hear that there was a herd of elephants while we we gone.
2 July. We left directly after breakfast to PE, where we arrive around 11:00. We park the car close to the stadium and take a walk downtown to the FIFA fanfest. On the way we spot 2 ladies dressed in orange in a car. We shout and wave and they notice us, we get a lift from them to the fanfest, and later that day we meet again. Then at 13:30 the famous Orange-procession starts from the fanfest -via downtown PE- to the stadium.
After an exciting game that the Netherlands win with 1-0 from Brasil we drive back to Cradock. We are extatic, we beat the great Brasil and made it to the semi final!
1 July. We drive for about 3-4 hours and then take a break, changing seats. This works quit well. We drive through Limpopo, Gauteng, the Free State, a bit of the Northern Cape and then the Eastern Cape. We like the arid semi-desert land which we encounter in the Eastern Cape. At the end of the day we encounter some road-works where we have to stop, here we meet other Dutch football-fans as well as Brazilians. Word goes that about 18,000 Brazilians fans will attend the match! Just after 17:00 we arrive at the Guesthouse in Cradock.
30 June. Because we want to leave early we sleep in a rondawel. Around 22:00 we fall asleep and at 03:00 we leave for a day-long drive.
28 June. Miriam and I watch Holland-Slovakia at home, and we are excited with the 2-1 victory. For this means we can plan our trip to Port Elizabeth, a journey of more then 3000 km's... The opponent is Brazil... a Worldcup classic! And we will be there...! We book 2 nights in a Guesthouse in Cradock, which is about 260 km. north of PE.
25 June. The last match with Jan Roelfs: North-Korea vs. Ivory Coast in Nelspruit. Because our own car is at the garage, I hired a rental. Bad luck, as underway I hit a straydog who suddenly decided to cross over. I cannot avoid a collission and hit the poor dog. Although the car is damaged we can drive further. I am fed up with this, until Jan arranges that I can also declare the own risk: Thanks Jan!
Ivory Coast wins, but they're out. Nevertheless the Ivorians celebrate their victory, and they go back to a football-world which is unknown to non-Africans.
24 June. I have a suprise for Nicolas: a ticket for the match Paraguay vs. New-Zealand in Polokwane. He is thrilled and also Jan has a suprise for the 2 employees at the Kuname lodge. We head towards Polokwane, and Nicolas sees his first Worldcup match in his own country. We also discover 2 Dutch spies (Arthur Numan and Ronald Spelbos), as Paraguay might be the next oponent for the Netherlands.
23 June. Australia-Serbia in Nelspruit. Before the match we enter the pitch as Jan want to chat with his friend Pim Verbeek, coach of Australia. After 5 minutes the FIFA security-team gets a bit nervous and we are asked friendly to leave. Australia wins (2-1) but is out of the tournament (as is Serbia).
22 June. After a restday, today we head for Polokwane. Greece takes on Argentina. In the media-centre we notice that there's is a lot of attention for this match. The fans of Argentina celebrate loudly, and before the game kicks off Maradona enters the pitch, waving to all these fans. Fantastisc! His squad beat Greech by 2-0.
20 June. After 6 hours of sleep the timer rings, and at 10:00 Corné leaves again: with Jan Roelfs on his way to Nelspruit for the match Italy against New-Zealand. The all-whites stunt with a sensational draw (1-1)!
19 June. After a good night sleep we wake up in a very cold Mooi river. We drive to Durban to another Orange party. In the beautiful Moses Mhabida Stadium over 63.000 people see Holland win with 1-0. There are at least 25.000 Oranje fans and a huge banner is unfolded.
With an euphoric feeling we leave Durban, and via de rural roads we arrive around 02:30 home. Dead tired but content we stumble into a rondawel.
18 June. On our way to Durban! We leave here at 10.30 and only arrive at 20:30 at Argyle's Arms in Mooi River. We have supper is this cosy pub were we wer in 2004 once and see England against Algeria.
17 June. I pick up Jan Roelfs for the game France-Mexico, and with 20.000 Mexicans we see France lose with 2-0. On our way to the stadium we see Zidane and Viera.
14 June. At 5:00 am we start driving to Pretoria were we pick up our friend Kobus. The three of us drive to Soccercity in Johannesburg for the game Netherlands- Denmark.
There are many Dutch supporters and it is one big party, espacially as the Netherlands wins. More than 30.000 fans in orange enjoy the fantastic atmosphere in Soccer City. In total there are more than 83.000 people in the stadium.
13 June. Corné has his first game in Polokwane: Slovenia-Algeria 1-0. Fantastic to watch the match from the commentators seat. On the headphone we hear the NOS studio.
11 June. Corné picks up Jan Roelfs, the reporter, from Hoedspruit airport and takes him to his lodge. Together with our staff we watch the opening of teh World Cup and the first match of South Africa.
10 June. The buffalo is seen again in the riverbed.
9 June. Because Corné has to drive the Dutch tv commentator to the games in Polokwane we already go and have a look at the stadium.
8 June. We get visitors from Balule Nord, Sander en Kim also Dutch. While we chat 2 buffalos walk past.
5 June. We decorate the lodge with flags, balls an shirts for the upcoming world cup..
May 2010.
One afternoon we hear a lion roar and with Niels and our guests we go in our Landy to have a look. On the Marula drive we find a big male. After a while he gets up and starts walking down the road. We follow him for at least half an hour and see him marking his teritory and hear him roar a couple of times. When we drive home Niels says, "That was cool dad, we must do that more often!" At school Niels goes on a game drive and they saw a herd of buffalos. He is very enthusiastic about this.
Dennis is starting to talk now. He says words like "house", "out", "moon" and if he doesn't want something he shouts "NO, NO". When he needs his vaccinations again we go to Nelspruit for a day where we visit the Mombela stadium.
Many animals are seen around the lodge and on gamedrives. We see giraffes, impala's, jackals, kudu and the porcupine. On the gamedrives lions and elephants are regularly seen.
Guests who came back late in the afternoon saw a leopard on the Marula drive.
At the end of the month we spend 3 nights at Bucklers Africa on the bank of the Crocodile river. On the other bank starts the Kruger park and we see rhino's and elephant grazing there.
April 2010.
This month we often hear the lions closeby. When we go out in the Landy with our guests we see them as well.
One afternoon they kill a kudu very close to our entrance.
Our winter visitors, the porcupine and the civet, have been seen again. We also see elephants.
March 2010.
Again a buffalo is seen regularly around our camp. We see a couple of times an elephant and also giraffes, zebra's, impala's and waterbuck are seen.
Corné and Niels drive on Marula drive at around 16:30 one day, in our Landrover when suddenly an animal crosses the road. It is a leopard!
In the 6 years that we live here now we saw twice a leopard on this road.
We still have hot days and we enjoy the swimming pool. Dennis wants to do everything his big brother does and he tries to jump into the water as well.
It is starting to cool down in the evenings and for the first time we put on a jersey.
February 2010.
Tinyiko send us a sms that she has given birth to a healthy daughter. Her name is Thubelihle Emotion and she weighs 6 pounds. Thubelihle means "nice chance".
With Sjaak and Ineke, who are back in Balule, and Remco and Marianne we visit Tinyiko. She has a beautiful baby girl and is very happy. When we arrive Niels gives her a big hug and says from the bottom of his heart "I missed you!". Dennis hasn't forgotten her either and happily sits on her lap.
We regularly see elephants again this month. One morning when I want to take Niels to school there is one right in front of our gate. After a few minutes he walks away far enough that I can open the gate and drive out but I call Corné to close the gate because I don't dare to get out the car to do it myself!
For the first time we see a hyena at our watering hole. The buffalos visit us again.
January 2010.
We discover a boomslang in the knobthorn tree, just next to the office. This dangerous and venomous snake has entered the nest of the green woodhoopoe.
Miriam's friend Linda gives birth to a healty son. Nathan weighs 3.3 kg.
Another 74 mm of rain and the leeuspruit flows! In 2 days time 130 mm. of rain!
We spend 2 nights in Graskop on a lodge just outside this pittoresque village for a short holiday. Dennis can walk on his own now and we have to watch him carefully.
The new schoolyear starts and although it's a bit difficult the first morning, Niels likes going back to school.
Fire in the bakkie! An electrical wire was not taped off sufficiently, and caused a short-circuit under the chair. Lucky enough not much damage was done.
3 buffalo enjoy themselves in and around the Moosa-dam.
December 2010.
We see the first baby impala of this year!
One evening we hear growling and when we go and have a look in our Landrover with our guest we see 16 lions around a giraffe carcass.
When we have no guests we decide to go to the Krugerpark. The first time we go in at Phalaborwa and drive to Mopani, a beautiful route and a nice camp. Although this is not the best route to see game we see a few big elephants, a herd of buffalo and a rhino.The other time we enter at Orpen. We drive to Satara and have a picnic at Bobbejaanskrans. We see nice game: 2 cheetah's, a leopard, buffalos, one elephant, zebra's, wildebeasts, giraffes and a terrapin. Also the carmine bee-eater.
This month Dennis celebrates his first birthday and Tinyiko celebrates her 28th birthday. Meanwhile we are already 17 years happily married.
A lonely buffalo spends most of the day at our watering hole and in the riverbed. Through the telescope we look at Jupiter which we see beautiful. Even the equatorial bands and 3 of the 4 Galileian moons. Also the moon looks impressive through our telescope. Furthermore we look at the Orion nebula, the Eta Carina nebula and the Pleijades.
Guests who came back from Hoedspruit are very lucky: they see a lioness who just killed a young zebra, just next to the road!
On another occasion I receive a phonecall at 18:00 from our neighbour: 17 lions have been seen. With our guests we drive in the Landrover to the land of friends where we see them. After a while they walk away, directly next to our Landrover. It is a breath taking moment for our guests.
It's the last day of the year already and because our guests go to bed at 22:30, we celebrate with our staff. At 24:00 we toast with champagne to the new year.
November 2010.
This month the good rains start. In 2 days we had 130 mm. The leeuspruit was flowing for several hours (something that in the 6 years that we live here never happened so early in the raining season). The bush quickly becomes green again.
One evening around 23:00, while we're almost asleep, our bedroom is enlighted by a very powerful lightbeam.... The next day we learned it was a meteor, travelling through the atmosphere from Pretoria to the Kruger Park. It burnt out before it could hit the earth's surface, making the official tem for this phenonemon a fireball.
On 13 November we see and hear the first woodland kingfisher, a bird that with his arrival announces the start of summer.
We have no guests and go 2 days to Pretoria. The kids stay at home in the good care of Tinyiko. When I call home in the evening Niels quicly sums up what he has done today and is gone before I can say goodnight. With our friends from Pretoria we go for dinner at the Carnivore, a restaurant where you can eat all sorts of game meat.
We see more snakes now. At the house we found a sandsnake and in the office an egg-eater. These are not dangerous but you have to stay carefull, especially with the children.
When Nicolus is busy cleaning up the camp after the storm he hears something at our borehole. It is a puff-adder that got in the manhole for our pump. Corné catches him and releases him in the bush again.
October 2009
It rains! This first rain of the season brings us only 4 mm. Not much but just enough for the bush to become a little greener...
This month we regularly see elephants and buffalo's. A big male giraffe comes to the Moosa-dam to drink. Guests see on the morning game-drive the rare black rhino!
The septic tank which has been used for our house and the guest toilets is full, after 5,5 years of use. No problem, we call a company who cleans the 2000 litre tank within 3 hours.
From ex-guests who visited us in 2005 we received an uncommon request. They send us 2 boxes full of stuffed animals, requesting us if we knew a good destination for them. Tinyiko, our staffmember since 2006, contacted a church-school for young children in Acornhoek where we handed tem out.
September 2009
For the first time we use the telescope to show our guests Jupiter.
Our borehole is cleaned, and Michael van Eck (he's the one who drills boreholes) suggests to drill deeper as he thinks there might be another well. He drills an extra 16 metres, so our borehole is now 60 metres deep!
Dennis is now crawling well and stands up on his own. Nothing is safe anymore fir his little hands and we regularly have to say " Dennis, no..." .
Niels turns 3 years old, and this is celebrated on the pre-school with cake and gifts. At home, in the company of our staff Tinyiko and Nicolas, all the gifts are unwrapped.
August2009
Niels is still not quite at ease at school and says with tears in his voice "goodbye".
Dennis is now 8 months old and is trying to stand up. When he finally succeeds with wobbely legs he looks at us with a big smile!
It is Corné 's birthday, some friends visit us in the afternoon.
The rerun of our episode of "onverwacht bezoek" (unexpected visit)is broadcasted this month.
Tinyiko has a very pleasant surprise: she is pregnant. And these days she walks around with even a bigger smile then normally. Congratulations Tinyiko!
We pay a maternity visit to Glory, and see a proud mother with her 10 day old son.
270 different bird-species have been identified in our reserve, which is an impressive number when we look at the eco-zone in which we stay.
July 2009
We regurlarly see elephants this month and they even push over the tree next to our water hole. A young elephant bull got badly wounded during a fight with another bull, and had broken his neck. After consultation with nature conservation it was decide to take the wounded Elephant down.. To prevent the carcass causing bad smelling for weeks they cut him up, and thus the lions, jackals and vultures had a free and easy meal.
We find lion tracks around our water hole a few times this month.
Niels goes to pre-school for the first time. He found it a bit scary but the teacher told us he played nicely.
The Eco-club in Hoedspruit organises an astronomy-evening. At the Southern Cross School Vincent Nettmann, an extreme enthousiastic astronomer, tells about what is also our great passion: Astronomy. First we have a look at Saturn and we do see the rings. Then we go inside for a slide-show, after which we go outside again. Jupiter with it 4 Galileo-moons look beautiful through an 8" Dobsonian telescope. Shortly before 9 the Moon is rising, again an amazing sighting! We also take a look at some nebulars and open star clusters. Then I ask VIncent about his opinion regarding the Dobsonian 10" telescope, which I want to buy, and he fully agrees with that choice. Something tells me we will meet again.... maybe it is written in the stars....
We receive the DvD of the tv-programme onverwacht bezoek. It still is a strange idea that this was broadcasted in the Netherlands.
June 2009
Via internet we were able to see the programme they filmed here in January, a day after the broadcasting in the Netherlands. In contrast with our families in the Netherlands, who are addressed by strangers in their hometowns, we still have an anonymous life here.
We do receive lots of reactions, mainly by e-mail and lots of hits on our website, this indicates the impact of the tv-programme.
According to the game-warden's report, a herd of more then 100 elephants has moved into the Olifants-West section of Balule. One elephant was collared with a transmitter and he has also visited Mozambique, again showing the importance of transfrontier parks. We regurlarly see elephants now.
A black rhino, released in the neighbouring Klaserie Nature Reserve, has also found its way to into the Olifants West-section of Balule.
We painted the Mercury-stardeck in a dark color, resembling the dark nightsky. The deck is being used frequently now to observe the breathtaking stars.
May 2009
With Corné's parents we spend 2 nights in Olifants camp in the Krugerpark. Then it is already almost time for them to leave.
Although we still get some rain the bush starts to look dry already. The giraffes frequently visit the new waterhole.
April 2009
It is autumn now and the civet has been seen a couple of times already. Another regular visitor is the porcupine who brings a surprise for us one evening; 2 babies! The stardeck is nearly finished now and the laserpen, donated by observatory Mercurius in Holland, has arrived.
We hear the lions frequetnly this month.
March 2009
The parents of Corné arrived the 2nd of March and they will stay for almost 3 months here in Balule.
In the meanwhile we are busy with the star deck. The new, bigger, waterhole has been discovered by the animals already. We regularly find tracks and on one evening a lone buffalo came to the waterhole to drink.
February 2009
The first of February Miriam's parents arrived here. They stayed for a month and spent most of their time with us and their newest grandson.
We finally saw elephants again at our waterhole after they had been gone for a long time.
It is still summer allthough it is not so hot as it was in January. We have started building our star deck and the new waterhole is almost finished.
Dennis makes his first trip into the Krugerpark, he sleeps most of the day but his brother Niels enthousiastically spots the animals.
January 2009
This month we had the most rains of this season, over 100 mm in just 3 hours!
One of the big trees next to the mainbuilding fell over, one day before the Dutch filmcrew arrived. We had 4 very busy but special days with the filmcrew of the Dutch programme
'Onverwacht bezoek' (unexpected visit). Miriam's sister Henja is the unexpected visitor and they had a wonderful week together after the filmcrew left.