Blog - Page 5

Southern Africa is in general, a very arid region, with erratic climate and seasonal rainfalls, and the Pongola Game Reserve in North East Zululand is no exception.

Since the summer of 2014, we have been experiencing one of the driest spells in living memory. Certainly this is our first major drought at White Elephant since the lodges opening in 1999 (17 years ago).

Herewith our September Newsletter. It contains a profile of Heike Zitzer, some funny images of animals caught by our camera traps and a fantastic special offer. Enjoy.

A marriage proposal in the bush must be one of the most romantic experiences for anyone.
Soon after arriving for a two night stay at White Elephant Safari Lodge, John-Louis Watt asked me to assist him in setting the scene for his proposal to Tatum Lamb. He wanted this to be the most memorable and romantic experience possible and, as a romantic myself, I was very happy to help.

Heike Zitzer our resident researcher was interviewed by Geniene Preston from Nomad at Tourism Indaba 2016 which was held in Durban from 7-9 May. Visit the SA commuters website to listen to their conversation.

An Overview
The KwaZulu-Natal Cabinet has declared the uMkhanyakude District Municipality an emergency disaster area as the drought continues to ravage the country. Areas such as Mtubatuba, Hluhluwe, Umhlabuyalingana, Jozini and Hlabisa have especially been affected by the severe drought. At Hluhluwe, the dam is extremely low at 22 percent. Prior to the drought, the normal raw water flow at Hluhluwe Phase 1 was averaging to 280 cubic metres per hour. This has since dropped to 90 cubic metres. With so many rural communities affected, the KZN Government through the Department of Cooperatives Governance and Traditional Affairs has brought the Umngeni Water Board on board. A contractor has also been hired to drill wells at the Umfolozi river bed which will help increase the daily supply from 1.8 to 10ML. (Africa News Agency)
The KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department has warned that despite the recent rainfall, which has been pouring in the province for the past few weeks, the prolonged drought remains severe.

MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, said the province would need weeks and weeks of sustained rainfall to refill its fast declining water reservoirs to return to water levels considered safe and sustainable. (SAnews.gov.za)