Has Charlie Stopped Growing Yet?

At the end of September we thought that Charlie must have been close to fully grown. Well we were mistaken as he now weighs 336g and is 51cm long (including tail) - (Michelin man in the making). He has discovered nartjies and absolutely loves sucking on them and his favourite insects are flying ants and big juicy grasshoppers. A few weeks ago he moved into his enclosure we had built in our back garden and we now only take him out early evenings for play time and Pierre takes him hunting for insects. After that it is back in the enclosure with enough food for the night until the next evening. We often spot him hunting at night as his enclosure is built close to a light which attracts moths and other insects. He's also taking more and more risks with leaps and jumps he did not attempt before. He is still the cutest baby in Lumwana and an absolute joy.

Charlie is still Growing!

Charlie is still growing! When he arrived on 23 August he weighed 49g and measured 22cm (including his tail). He is currently tipping the scale at 168g and is now 36cm in length. Apparently their average size is in the region of 35-40cm and 150g when fully grown so I recon he's just about there. Here is a photo of him having his bottle. Is he not the cutest little thing - smelly but cute!

Charlie Goes to School

Charlie went to school yesterday for a “show and tell” session. The kids all prepared questions about Charlie and bush babies in general and I had to know my story to answer them all. Luckily Charlie was very well behaved and enjoyed all the attention. The kids had an opportunity to touch his fur and hands/feet. We also did Charlie’s weekly weigh-in as part of the activity. He has grown 2cm in length in the past week and is up from 49g last week to 66g this week. Thanks to Joanne, Jane and all the kids for having us. We enjoyed the visit very much.

Who is Charlie?

Charlie is an abandoned infant busy baby. Andy Groenewald found him on the ground under a tree. Andy and Sue took Charlie in for the first few days but they both work so it became difficult for them to care for him properly. Charlie is therefore now staying with me. The photo on the right is Sue holding Charlie. He currently weighs 49g and is 9cm long (22cm including his tail). We’re estimating his age at somewhere between one and two weeks old. Piérre suggested I give Charlie a small teddy bear to cling to and he just loves his teddy. Below is a photo of Charlie sleeping on his teddy’s head, clutching the one ear. I feed Charlie a blend of full cream cow’s milk, egg yolk, honey and yoghurt with a syringe. He sometimes drinks up to 6ml during a feed. Hopefully I’ll soon be able to get hold of a small baby or doll’s bottle and a baby hair brush. That would make it much easier to take care of him. Charlie is doing as well as can be expected and at present is really a very good baby. He sleeps all day and night (thank goodness) and only wakes up for feeds. I’m sure that will soon change and he’ll become quite a hand full!!! We’re hoping to eventually release Charlie into the bush.

Off to Joburg

I'm off to Joburg tomorrow for my six monthly shopping expedition, hair appointment, etc, etc - important and exciting stuff when you live in the middle of the bush with not much available in the line of retail therapy and pampering sessions. Pierre is probably already nervous about the bank balance taking a knock. Unfortunately that's the way it is - have to do some extra shopping for Christmas too because his parents are coming up for a visit December and I cannot let them have a boring Christmas - sal moet uithaal en wys! Anyway I only spend money twice a year so he cannot really complain. Also really looking forward to seeing the "Ou Mense" again (that's my Dad, Tannie Alba and Pierre's parents) - haven't seen them since we were last in Joburg in March. Bye now - be good!

My Backyard

Mel surprised me the other day with these stunning photos she took of my back yard as viewed from her house. They were taken early morning with the sun just rising over the bush behind our houses and it being dry season, quite a bit of dust in the air. We're all longing for the rains to start - we're having a hard time watering the gardens with our laundry/bath water as we're on strict water restrictions.

Sunday Brunch at the Dam

What a lovely spot for a Sunday brunch! A few of us went to the dam yesterday. Colin cooked us breakfast while the rest of us did some walking, bird spotting, fishing, etc - oh and the girls had a few bottles of champagne! Thanks Kath for getting us all out there. It was a great morning. This adorable photo of the little guys below is courtesy of Rachelle. They're the next generation of fisherman in the making.

Lunga River Lodge

We spent a few great days at the Lunga River Lodge on the border of the Kafue National Park in June for Piérre’s birthday. The distance of about 320km from us (Lumwana) to the lodge took 7½ hours to drive. Visitors to Kafue usually fly in but we decided to do the trip by car (seeing that we have wheels now). The road between us and Kasempa (about 1½ hours) is a lovely tar road. However, from Kasempa it is very testing to say the least. The 79km between Kasempa and Kamakechi took us over two hours and the 20km between Kamakechi and Jifumpa about an hour. The 5 minutes/3km from Jifumpa to the hearpin bend that turns off to the lodge itself is not too bad. Once you turn off to the lodge it is another 28km which takes about 1½ hours as it is on a little bush track which already falls in the Game Management Area (GMA). We encountered swarms of tsetse flies on this section. But! It was all worthwhile as the Lunga River Lodge is a stunning place. It is run by a lovely Dutch couple, Rob and Ingrid. They made us feel welcome and special from the very moment we set foot. They also have a few special touches to make your stay even more comfortable like a wake‑up call in the morning with a tray of coffee and biscuits and a warm water bottle waiting in your bed when you return to your room after dinner. They also have knee blankets to see you through the cold evenings around the dinner table and fire pit. The lodge is set right on the Kafue river and the chalets are on the river bank (definitely not a place for children though). They have 6 chalets in total and can sleep up to 14 people. Each chalet has a bedroom that opens onto the river view with a patio under the beautiful trees. It also has a lovely modern bathroom with a shower/basin/toilet/large mirror and view onto the river. Bird life is absolutely amazing with all kinds of birds (including turacos) perching right above your head! The bar/lounge area has a wooden deck slightly overhanging the river. Our meals were all really great (they serve you something every four hours so no chance to get hungry). The venues for meal times were moved around so we had our meals in different locations all the time. They have a cosy boma facing a grassland towards the back of the lodge, a patio under the trees right on the river bank, a covered/open plan dining area and a fire-pit spot under the starry African sky. We did some game drives, went on a guided walk in Kafue National Park accompanied by three guides of which one was armed (in case we encountered any dangerous animals) and did some fishing on the river. The rest of the time we just relaxed and Piérre spent some time catching up on work. The Friday evening we were the only guests in camp. What a treat – people pay lots of money to have a camp exclusively to themselves and here we had it out of the blue. Our last evening, on our return from the game drive, we arrived at our room and had a lovely surprise waiting – a romantic dinner for two on our patio. They served us a great three course dinner and while we were enjoying that, we heard an odd sound. The next morning we were informed that there was a leopard outside the chalet while we were having dinner on the patio. Wow! Luckily he’s not into cream bruleé! The lodge is closed from Desember to June every year because during the rainy season it is impossible to get there. We were their first guests for this season. Guests usually fly in as they have their own landing strip. Apparently we were their first guests ever to arrive in our own vehicle – they thought we were mad! We’re already planning another trip there later this year. We have to go – I forgot my pillow there so I now have an excuse to go back.

Yes I'm Still Around

Yes I'm still around. My apologies to all my loyal readers for not posting anything on the blogs over the past couple of months. Some technical difficulties, a hectic social life and a fantastic holiday in Thailand all contributed to my silence. I hope to get back into the swing of things now and should be posting some items soon. Thanks very much also to all my fellow Lumwana residents who have been forwarding some great photos for the Lumwana Wildlife Blog. I'll be trying to make sense of it all very soon. Until next time.

We've Got Wheels

We've just purchased a second hand Pajero so we now have wheels. We're planning to do a few weekend trips around the country this year. Since Shoprite in Solwezi burned down it also now means we have to go all the way to Chingola, Kitwe or Ndola to get some groceries so it helps to have your own vehicle. We took the car for a run to Solwezi last Saturday. Here we are at the BP garage where Pierre is checking the tyre pressure.

Casper the Squirrel

This little cutie has become a daily visitor in our back garden so I decided he needs to be named. He will therefore from now on be known as Casper. Now Casper loves apple and last Sunday we watched him polish a quarter apple all in one go. This morning, I saw him running up and down Perky’s cage (Perky is the little Meyer’s Parrot with the crook foot). Perky was not very fazed by Casper’s antics – just sat on his perch watching Casper trying to find a way into his cage. I recon it was because the piece of apple I put out on the feeder tray yesterday was not there anymore and Casper obviously knows that Perky has some apple inside his cage. After Casper realized that he won’t be able to get into the cage, he returned to the feeder tray. He then must have seen that yesterday’s piece of apple fell off the tray onto the ground and ran down to grab it. He ran back up onto the tray with it and sat there finishing the apple. He then ran through the garden up to “Piérre se Plek” and sat there for a while, investigating the area. This photo of Casper on our feeder tray was taken by Melinda last week – isn’t he too cute for words? Thanks Mel – it is a lovely photo.

Pierre se Plek

Yes I know - haven't written anything for a while. Well, during this "quiet" period, we had a nice "outdoor kitchen" built for Pierre on our back verandah. I decided that he makes too much of a mess when he prepares fillets, etc for a "braai" so I've thrown him out. He's a messy cook - splatters blood everywhere, drips soya sauce and the likes all over the place, etc, etc - you know what I mean.

So here is what his special place looks like - complete with a bar counter for the boys. It is called PIERRE SE PLEK which translates to Pierre's Place. We had its inauguration (or commissioning as Harry called it) a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure we're going to have many more wonderful gatherings out here in future.