Wildlife Chatter No. 25 CHATTER. My dear fellow homeowners

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1 Wildlife Chatter No. 25 CHATTER JANUARY 2014 My dear fellow homeowners A New Year and new beginnings! As you all know by now Andre Cornelius our Manager has resigned. It can be very difficult to find the right words to say when someone like Andre is leaving. It has been an honour and a privilege to know him and to work with him. Andre we know you will continue to do well and achieve your milestones in life. Your loyalty and kindness to everyone on the Estate have been an inspiration to all of us and we wish you, Melanie and the family well in your new venture. We have confidence in the Board to find a suitable candidate to take Andre s place. The Estate is buzzing with new buildings and renovations. Our new contractor s gate is nearing completion. Hoedspruit Wildlife Estate Home Owners Association NEARING COMPLETION A warm welcome to all new homeowners & tenants to HWE. We wish you all a long and prosperous stay on the Estate. It is with sadness that we had to say good bye for now to Abrie & Anita Steyn who had to move to Pretoria for the time being. Understandably their children are concerned about Anita on her own as Abrie s condition deteriorated considerably during the last few weeks. Although she received a lot of help and support from family and dear friends circumstances became very difficult for her. Anita our thoughts and prayers are with you and the family during this time. Inside this issue: POINTS OF INTEREST THOUGHTS FROM NEW HOMEOWNERS LEOPARD SIGHTINGS TREE CORNER 2 HWE NEWS 3 FOOD FOR THOUGHT LEOPARD SIGHTINGS TREE CORNER BIRD LIFE IMPORTANT REMINDERS 4 MARTIAL EAGLE 4 SMALL THINGS THAT MATTERS 5 LAST RESTING PLACE 6 IMPORTANT TEL NUMBERS 7

2 THOUGHTS FROM HAPPY NEW OWNERS How we enjoyed reading the Chatter after we bought our plot in November 2012 and spent 2013 watching from afar as our house was being built! We feel truly privileged to have become part of the Hoedspruit Wildlife Estate community. Our choice was clearly the right one! We have been blown away by the friendliness displayed everyone waves a greeting on the roads as they pass, and every time you pop into the Estate office you are assured of a warm reception and the chance of meeting and getting to know other residents. Not to mention the stunning surroundings baby warthogs running around your plot, and opening the curtains early in the morning to find a herd of impala or waterbuck outside the bedroom window. In the few weeks we have been here we have witnessed many memorable sightings, including bushbabies, civets, jackals, martial and fish eagles to name a few. Having lived in Cape Town all our lives, many of our friends simply could not understand why we would give up successful careers of 30 years and all the attractions Cape Town has to offer. We succumbed to the lure of the bushveld! Annual holidays were no longer enough to satisfy our yearning for the unique lifestyle the bushveld offers. No traffic, balmy evenings all year round and game in abundance. Our choice of HWE was easy. So close to the town s amenities, yet as you enter the gate it feels as if you are entering another world and the stresses of modern living are left behind. I am sure our fellow residents feel the same! The dams and game drive routes add to the allure. So does the opportunity to have one s dogs. We decided to design and build our own home, again against the advice of many! Hoedspruit provided everything we needed and the entire build was a hugely rewarding experience. So much for the prophets of doom and gloom! We have been impressed with every local service provider we have dealt with. The future looks exciting and we hope to make a positive contribution to the wellbeing of the community. So passionate are we about the area and opportunities for a quality lifestyle in and around Hoedspruit, that for me (Richard) it was a no-brainer to switch from being a school principal to real estate. The chance to join Century 21 was too good to pass up! Now I can share my passion and excitement for the area and HWE in particular with others. I truly believe there is no better place to enjoy life! Pam is determined to share and promote our bushveld life by running a small and intimate guest house. We have called our home Nyaleti Lodge after the first leopard we were privileged to see in the Sabi-Sands. In addition we will be offering transfers to the neighbouring lodges and day trips to Kruger and our other attractions for our guests. Speak to your friends and family let s put our estate on the map, share its attractions and see it boom. That is in all our interests. Feel free to contact me at any time if you are interested in buying or selling! I look forward to meeting all your needs and getting to know as many fellow residents as possible. I have attached some photographs taken in the past few weeks during drives and walks around our Estate. May 2014 be a wonderful year for us all and may HWE continue to grow and flourish. Richard and Pam Wedderburn-Clarke 312 Maroela (Richard) (Pam) STUNNING PHOTOS!!!! WOW! A beautiful lilac-breasted roller A magnificent Kudu bull A lesser bush baby gorgeous A black-backed baby jackal To the left a White-faced owl W ildlife Chatter No. 25 Page 2

3 LILIAN MALET S AWESOME LEOPARD SIGHTINGS!!! THANK YOU FOR SHARING WITH US.. Totally relaxed at the dam look at his beautiful silhouette. What an experience Lilian. Leopard sightings are usually during day time see how relaxed he walks between the houses on the tar roads. Please be careful dear homeowners. This is a beautiful big male. Lilian did not say which time of the day this was. W ildlife Chatter No. 25 Page 3

4 THE TREE CORNER : UMBRELLA THORN/HAAK & STEEK Acacia tortilis These beautiful photographic trees are photogenic because they are so distinctive. They make lovely silhouettes. This deciduous tree has an umbrella shaped crown. The leaves of the Umbrella thorn are very nutritious because they grow in fertile soil. For this reason the tree has spike thorns and this may be a deterrent to overbrowsing. The herbivores do browse but move more readily to the next tree. The thorns are in pairs with both hooked or straight or one hooked and one straight, hook thorns short hard and sharp (thus the Afrikaans name haak & steek). Flowering time is November/December and the white florets are sweet scented and typical of the Acacia species. Flowers could be sporadic depending upon rain. The fruit (pods) of the Umbrella thorn are tightly coiled spirals and high in nutritional value loved by giraffes, antelopes, elephants & baboons. The wood of the Umbrella thorn is very hard and is unfortunately being used for curios because of the growing tourism demand. Sometimes after an Umbrella thorn is injured it has an edible gum which Bush babies love. The Umbrella thorn is fairly drought resistant but grows slowly. Very distinctive in HWE. Fruit/pods Leaves, thorns & flowers MARTIAL EAGLE /BREëKOP AREND/Polemaetus bellicosus This magnificent large eagle has been captured by Richard and Pam Wedderburn- Clarke (one of our new homeowners). The Martial Eagle is very large, the head, upperparts and breast are dark brown. The underparts are white with dark spots. This Eagle is a powerful hunter. They hunt on the wing and spend hours soaring at great heights in search of prey which may be observed at a distance of up to 6km! They prey on a variety of mammals, hares, mongooses, small antelope & reptiles especially monitor lizards. This is a shy, elusive Eagle and avoids humans. It sometimes perches on top of a tree or pylon and is usually silent. If its prey is too heavy it will feed on the ground. What an amazing moment! Thank you Richard and Pam I trust this will be the first of many experiences you will share with us. Wildlife Chatter No 25 Page 4

5 Frans Smit, friend of Rozaan Kilian sent me the following photos which he captured during their visit to Chris & Frida Kilian over the Christmas period. They were also fortunate enough to photograph the leopard in broad daylight. Take a look at the size of this magnificent leopard no wonder we only have 2 Tsessebes left on the Estate! Frans also took the following photos in Chris & Frida s garden. The black headed Oriole/Swartkopwielewaal was not intimidated by his presence at all - Maybe the Oriole wanted to take a well deserved nap I mean it is Christmas time! The following photos from Frans of the Woodpecker/Speg were also taken in the their garden. This was at their entrance into their garden and the Woodpeckers were minding their own business making their little nest as comfortable as possible and quickly disappeared inside the hole hoping nobody sees them! Frans was so excited, patiently waiting and watching to photograph these birds in the garden. What lovely moments. REMEMBER IT IS THOSE SMALL DAILY HAPPENINGS THAT MAKE LIFE SPECTACULAR AND SPECIAL!! Wildlife Chatter no 25 PAGE 5

6 EVEN THE TREES ON THE NEIGHBOURING FARMS KNOW WHAT IS THE BEST FOR THEM!! This tree on Welverdiend s property fell onto our fence during the Christmas period. It eventually found its last resting place on HWE side thanks to Hein and the Estate employees. A friendly Reminder : Renewal of security discs for vehicles of owners & tenants. Take necessary precautions for malaria during Summer months. Thank you for the lovely photos and contributions. I cannot do it without you. As you can see from this edition your photos do not necessarily have to be only Wow moments there are so many special small happenings of huge interest which we would appreciate if you share them with us. A special thanks in no particular order to Andre (for old times sake), Lilian Malet, Frans Smit, Richard & Pam Wedderburn -Clarke, Gerhard, Charlotte and as always Bill. I would like to close with the following : Pray more, worry less, laugh more, stress less, hug more & hurry less. A good marriage is the union of two good forgivers Ruth Bell Graham Till next time take care Kamila Nortier address : nortbenz@gmail.com Wildlife Chatter No 25 Page 6

7 BOARD Of DIRECTORS Joe Meyer Chairman HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION No 5 Admin Shop Main Complex (At Main Gate) HOEDSPRUIT 1380 Tel No : Fax No : operations@hwe.co.za Gerhard Brits Legal Danie Cronje Fauna & Flora Meisie Franck Financial Mark Graves Aesthetics Barney Smith Security Stuart Woodhead Communications WILDLIFE ESTATE Co Reg. No 2004/01076/08 IMPORTANT NAMES & NUMBERS ESTATE MANAGER: POSITION VACANT OPERATIONAL MANAGER: Hein Groenewald Cell Nr: OFFICE: Gerhard Brits Charlotte Brits Telephone numbers : ( As above at physical address) SECURITY COMPANY: QUEMIC Main Gate Rhino Wildlife Convention Centre ALL PERMITS TO BE ARRANGED AT THIS NEW ADDRESS OFFICE TEL NO: QUEMIC MAIN GATE: Cell No : HEAD OF QUEMIC SECURITY: Phillip Jonker : Cell no Wildlife Chatter No 25 Page 7