as the day turned to night  ranger campbell

and crew  sit around the campfire at elephant plains

it was a great  show for all us africamers to see

~ Out of Africa ~

4 december 2007

LIVE on Africam from Elephant Plains !

click here live radio broadcast  click here here

first day for all africamers to see the new

ELEPHANT PLAINS CAM 04  DECEMBER  2007

CAM CAM ON AIR IN  -TEST MODE - ON

JULY 13 2007  FOR SOME MEMBERS

i watched it in late  june 2007

on Fri, 13/07/2007 - 5:51am.

CLICK HERE

it was a great day and a important part of africam history

another new cam added -

A POSTING FROM THE NK- HISTORY BOOK 

THE NKORHO COOK GETS INVOLVED

TO VIEW ALL THE  COOK OUT

THANK YOU NKORHO LODGE

AND STAFF

CLICK HERE

Chateau Libertas WAS THE CHEF WESELY  WINE

THE LADIES OF NKORHO - SANG AND DANCED

N K O R H O    -  M A P

SEE WHERE THE  NKORHO LODGE IS

CLICK  HERE

Tembe Elephant Park, KwaZulu Natal .

click here

Tembe Elephant Reserve Volunteering- Report

click here

very intersting  culling of animals

or game management

Population control   of game in the park

something quite interesting  at least to me on tembe park

lions

Bhazol is now destined to be stuffed and sold to a local dignitary, for which the park will get 10,000 Rand, and the other 3 lions will go the same way in due course.

As well as lion and elephant monitoring we also had the opportunity to go along on the culls, which happened every couple of weeks.

NYALA  POPULATION IN 2005 - 1800

IMPALA POPULATION IN 2005 - 700

The culls involved driving a specific route and shooting every impala and Nyala possible along the route, which can be anything from 3 to 30 animals. The purpose of the culls is to keep the numbers of animals under control to protect the vegetation,

but it is also important in maintaining good relations with the local community,

as meat from the cull is sold to the locals for

10 Rand   =  1.42 candian    1- per kg.  2.2 pounds

for your currency converter      click here

MPALA MEAT

Impala meat has a beautiful red colour and has no visible fat.

Even the haunch parts are very tender, the fillets and tenderloins are extremely soft as well.

Tembe maintains a pretty good relationship with the local community, who voluntarily gave up their land to form the park in the first place.

In return, they receive meat from the culls and profit from the one lodge, and they are also allowed into the park to harvest reeds at certain times of the year.

for the rest of the story

click here

MAHLASELA  PAN TREE

Weeping Boer-bean

thanks to gerda & margot stewert 

for  the i.d. from tembe facebook 

images click here

Trees of Southern Africa (Palgrave) says: Weeping Boer-bean " A large tree, up to 16m in height, with a rounded crown.... Flowers: deep red with slender pink petals... borne on old wood, copious nectar is produced (Sept to Oct). Common name because the nectar drips from the flowers.. the bark can be used to make a decoction for heartburn and also to alleviate a hangover

click here

Raucous Toad ~ Bufo rangeri ~;;

• Also known as Ranger's toad
• Breeds in rivers, streams, dams and ponds but spends most of its time away from water.
• Calls can be heard mostly at night .
• Adult frogs attain a body lenght of approx. 115 mm.

FROGS    &TOADS

YOU HEAR THEM ON CAN

WE SEE HERON AND STORKS EAT THEM

click here for  africam reptile data base

click here

two frogs rangers said are at the pans

Raucous Toad, Ranger's Toad, Kei Road Toad / Lawaaipadda

click here for pic  then click on the phot to see large view

click here photo and info

click here

Common Platanna, Common Clawed Frog, African Clawed Frog / Gewone Platanna

In the 1930s, it was discovered that a female common platanna would spawn if injected with the urine of a pregnant woman (the hormone chorionic gonadotropin being the active ingredient). In the 1940s and ‘50s, this was the only available pregnancy test and many hospitals around the world kept and bred platannas so that they could perform such tests.

click here

click here

oct 01

Varanus albigularis (Rock monitor, White-throated monitor)

click here

images  click here

info click here

rock monitor cam pic krukab

nk - second one i have seen

sept 28

Gyps africanus (White-backed vulture)

click here data sightings at djuma 100

nkorho we have seen

click here

info       click here

images click here

tembe cam

Where Is Elephant Plains?

click here

Marlet Swart

My best moments at EP

Often my guests at Elephant Plains would ask me what some of my favorite moments have been while guiding here over the last three years, so I thought I would share a few of them with you all.
Lions
When it comes to the king of the jungle, I've been fortunate to witness quite a few amazing encounters. Early one evening we were on our way home after a great afternoon drive. It was already dark and we were only a few hundred meters from the lodge when we heard what sounded like a buffalo giving a distress call. We went off in that direction with my tracker shining around with his spotlight when out of the darkness appeared a buffalo with nine lions on its back and around its neck. These were lions from the Nkuhuma pride and it took them about twenty minutes to bring it to the ground. They then started feasting on it and over the next few days we had amazing sightings of their interaction around the kill. When they finally left, the hyenas moved in, to finish what was left.
Elephants
Elephants are some of my favorite creatures. They are highly intelligent and form strong family bonds. I have been lucky enough to be there just as a youngster was born. We were on drive and saw a herd of elephants in the distance. When we got there, they were all milling about, not even noticing the vehicle. There was a group of adults a few meters from my vehicle, huddled in a tight circle. My tracker pointed out the large pools of blood all over the ground. It was then that one of the adults stepped aside and we saw this tiny, pink body lying on the ground, trying to catch its first breath. One by one all the members of the heard strolled past to touch and sniff the new arrival and welcome it into the herd. After about 45 minutes he was standing on his wobbly feet. During this whole time the herd allowed us to stay and watch and not once did they show any form of aggression towards us.
Leopards
There is something very magical about leopards. It doesn't matter how many times you see them, there is always something special about the sighting. We have a female in this area who we call Salayexe. She has been around for about five years and we see her around the lodge on a regular basis. About two years ago she had her first set of cubs. We called them Rulani (male cub) and Nzele (female cub). The first time I saw them was in the riverbed, not far from the lodge. We found Salayexe sleeping on the sand and after a few minutes a hyena appeared and walked towards her. She jumped up, growling loudly and with that these two unnoticed balls of fur rocketed up a nearby tree where they would be safe from the jaws of the hyena. They stayed there until their mother called them down and when the coast was clear from danger the family walked off into a thicket for a bit of privacy. Over the years I've watched those two cubs grow up and it is fascinating to still sometimes see them in the area, knowing exactly who they are and where they’re from.
So there you have it. A few of my absolute-most-favorite moments that I have been lucky enough to witness over the years here at Elephant Plains Game Lodge. I hope that you join me on one of these drives soon!
For our weekly updated sightings, please visit our website at www.elephantplains.co.za

if you think tembe has big  tusker

these one.s   were  at nk  2 times

African elephants are highly intelligent,and they have a very large and highly convoluted neocortex, a trait also shared by humans, apes and certain dolphin species. They are amongst the world's most intelligent species.

tusk that are different

click here click here

elephant with strange  tusks click here

ELEPHANTS - Senses.. click here

Elephantine Intelligence         click here

i watched this elephant pull down branch

then step  on it so it could rip off pieces with trunk

and eat it-  SMART-    they say the have same intelegents

as a 4 year old child