My Addo
My Addo - Accommodation, Information and News from Addo and Kirkwood

TWO volunteers from America have started a programme that allows parents to make a quilt depicting the dreams they have for their children’s future.

Eileen Kugler, 59, and her husband, Larry, 60, organised the quilting programme at Addo’s AV Bukani Primary School in a bid to increase parent involvement at the school.

Eileen said: “There is a lot of research showing that when parents are actively involved in a school, pupils do better.

“When a parent is involved, the child tends to pay more attention and do homework more often.”

She said it was a worldwide problem that parents had little contact with schools. Only if a problem arose would the parents be contacted.

In cases where the families did not have had a good education themselves, or worked long hours, there was often no connection felt with the school, Eileen said. “So they tend to stay away from the school ... they think it is the teachers’ job to educate their child.

“Creating the quilt is a non-threatening way of getting parents involved.”

A parent, or grandparent in some cases, of each pupil has made a square, with the squares then being sewn together into a quilt that will be presented to the school.

The squares illustrate the hopes and dreams the parents have for their children. “On many there are children with graduation caps, to say they want their child to graduate.

“Some have specific careers depicted, like a medical doctor. Others are very personal and are decorated with things that are important to the families.

“One parent wants her child to become a social worker. So she put on a hand, saying we must always be willing to help someone and that a social worker must have a good heart.”

So far there have been seven meetings where parents work on the quilt and discuss ways of bettering their children’s school performance and future. At the end of each meeting, the parents receive a full meal, prepared by several mothers in the community.

Eileen said she and her husband had picked Addo’s Nomathamsanqa township because it was a rural area where they felt they could make a difference. This is their second visit here and they look forward to coming back next year. “The quilt is only the beginning, ” Eileen said.

The quilt will be presented to the school at a farewell for the Kuglers later today. It will then be hung at the school.

Source: Esté Coetzee, HERALD REPORTER

www.MyAddo.co.za: The area of Addo, Sunlands and Kirkwood is referred to as "The citrus route"

With the annual Kirkwood festival a massive success, "The citrus route" has proved to all visitors from far and wide that the area of Addo, Sunlands and Kirkwood can stand proud as one of South Africa’s top visitor’s destinations.

Addo, Sunlands and Kirkwood boast with South Africa’s "Big 7". Elephant, Rhino, Leopard, Lion, Buffalo, Great White Shark and Whales are all viewed from this area. The citrus route also offers other attractions and wild life, such as;

• National Addo Elephant Park
• International Class accommodation
• Worlds best citrus, local and export
• Annual Rose festival
• Bird watching
• Adventure Sports and team building
• Lion cub handling
• Top Class restaurants
• Crocodile Parks
• Beautiful view of the majestic Sundays River Valley
• Warmest Hospitality

The ever exciting crocodile and lion farm specially catering for big school and educational groups. Get up close and personal with lions, tigers and crocodiles. Or treat your employees to team building like river and mountain safaris, quad biking or even a guided tour through the Addo elephant park.

The area really delivers on most of the attractions that makes South Africa one of the worlds most traveled countries.

Submitted by: Roy Booyens, PowerShot Marketing, 079 740 1879

Avid birders should hurry to make their bookings for the Sasol Addo Birding Weekend which will be held in Addo Elephant National Park from 23 to 25 October 2009.

The weekend of birding will offer a wonderful opportunity to experience the diverse biomes of Addo Elephant National Park and the chance to spot over 400 bird species. Birders might have the chance to see the Cape Vulture and Marabou Stork which have returned to the Addo area since the introduction of lions at the park.

Organised by the Addo Honorary Rangers, birding activities will feature a choice of excursions which include trips to the marine area of the Park around St. Croix Island and the arid Karoo area around the large expanse of Darlington Dam.

Birders will join groups birding in seven different areas of the ecologically diverse Addo Elephant National Park. A 4x4 excursion will explore the Nyathi area of the Park while another group will visit the Sundays River estuary and adjacent coastline with its good tern and wader sightings. The group visiting the marine area around St. Croix Island by boat will view the African penguin colony on the island as well as pelagic birds such as skuas, petrels and shearwaters.

Birders based in the Park's main game area can count on thicket species such as the Southern Tchagra as well as Denham's Bustard and Blue Crane in the grassland patches. Fitter participants can explore the forests and fynbos of the Zuurberg Mountains on foot to sight birds from African Crowned Eagles to Longtailed Wagtails. Those based in the Park's Woody Cape area near Alexandria will explore the indigenous coastal forests which are home to Trumpeter Hornbill. Birders visiting the Park's northern-most Darlington area will look for birds such as the Namaqua Warbler on the arid land and Spoonbills and Lesser Flamingo on the vast lake.

Prizes will be presented at an evening braai function and there is an optional afternoon training session on birding and identification. A variety of accommodation units, as well as camping facilities will be made available in the Addo Elephant National Park.

Sasol has provided sponsorship for logistics and prizes while Glendower whisky has also sponsored some prizes. Funds raised by the Honorary Rangers birding weekend will go towards funding conservation support work, research and upgrade of facilities for the benefit of all visitors to the Park.

Bookings for the birding weekend close on 31 August 2009.

For more information, contact Judy Bower on judy[at]gctrials.co.za or cell 083 610 1090.

Set a Reminder.

www.MyAddo.co.za: Firefly Writes:

This past weekend we went on a trip to Addo Elephant Back Safaris in the Zuurberg Mountains. I took some great photos of elephants, spiders, mountains and all kind of things. Today I want to show a bit of what we did there and over the next couple of days I'll show off some of my other photos.

On the day of our arrival we took it easy and only went on a guided walk through the reserve. The next morning was the big event. We met the three elephants and their handlers at the reception area and the damselfly and I got to ride on Mukwa. Now we all know elephants are big, but you don't really know how big until you actually sat on one. It is a long way down. The ride took us through the bush and was quite hard on our posteriors, as you sit bareback and not on a saddle or blanket.

See the rest of the Addo Elephant Back Safaris post and Images.

www.MyAddo.co.za: Pat and Bob are on a journey from Cape Town to the Garden Coast, the Winelands and a Safari in Addo. They say:

Addo is a national conservation project intended to re-create the environment as it was before Europeans came to Africa. Counting additions to the original tract established in the 1930's Addo has grown to the 3rd largest game park in South Africa after Kruger and Kalahari and the intention is to increase it to be the largest.

See More of Pat and Bob's adventures in Addo here:

# Last impressions of an Elephant Park before moving...
# Scenes at Nguni Lodge
# Addo Game Drive - More animals

Melissa G. in her blog, Study Abroad in the Rainbow Nation wrote the following about her recent trip to Addo:

On Sunday we all went to Addo Elephant National Park and Scotia Game Reserve to finally see wild (or as wild as we are going to manage to see) African animals. We had to get up early to catch a bus that would take us to the parks. Our tour guide, Bradley, was absolutely amazing. He knew information about everything we were passing: townships, dinosaur fossils, plants, elephants, everything. Hands down, the best tour guide I've ever had. Anyway, at Addo we stayed in the bus and drove around keeping our eyes out for animals. The dung beetles are absolutely huge and illegal to run over with your car in the park. We did see an elephant. It was an exciting time. Everyone rushed over to the right side of the bus, hung out the windows, and tried to get a decent shot of the animal (considering its head was in a bush I don't think anyone got a great shot.

www.MyAddo.co.za: Natalie from Leicestershire in the United Kingdom wrote; "The park is VAST, covering 164,000 hectares and houses the big 5. We only saw elephants out of the 5 today, but boy did we see a lot of them. Must have been at least 40."

Hello! South Africa

www.MyAddo.co.za: Photographer Fiona Ayerst recently did a photographic shoot with a production company from Dubai about the animals of the Addo Elephant Park. Fiona writes; "The gorgeous presenter Danyah was so easy to shoot."

Images of Danyah

www.MyAddo.co.za: Lindy Greaves wrote recently about her families' trip to the Addo National Elephant Park (see extract below).

The animal viewing was stunning. We thought we'd struck it bad because we hit an unusual heat wave and had been told the animals would be hiding in the bushes. Well, maybe we could have seen other species, but we saw elephant aplenty. It was beautiful. The park is well set up with drives around water holes for good viewing and then also hidouts at various spots were you can get out in safety and take a closer look. We never saw lion or caracal, but we did see jackal. We also saw and heard a variety of birds: different barbets types, plovers, dikkops, weavers, red and yellow bishops, and larger birds of prey which I am not great at identifying. We also say Kudu, male and female, lots of warthog, some with cute little babies, and tortoise.

Full Article and Images: Addo Elephant Park

www.MyAddo.com: Around the world backpacker, David Lee wrote about his experiences in the Addo National Elephant Park recently:

After a nice self-catered breakfast on the backpacker's patio, we motored to the gate and collected our maps of the park, complete with a checklist of the animals we hoped to see. No more than a few minutes passed before we started to spot the wildlife.

Tons of Warthogs were munching on vegetation, while a Black-backed Jackal was simply chilling out. My old friend, the Ostrich, was soon seen, as were the pretty yellow Weaver birds when we stopped at the first watering hole. John was very adept at identifying each animal or bird and sharing a quick fact about them.

When you're in a park with wild Lions, Leopards, Black Rhinos, Cape Buffalo, and hundreds of African Elephants (The Big 5), it makes sense that you don't get out of your car except for a few signposted occasions. The skeletal remains of male Kudus (antelope-type animal with long twisted horns) below us near the watering hole were a good reminder of why exiting your car is also at your own risk!

Full Story

www.MyAddo.co.za: Spring is in the air and there is a brand new mountain bike race taking place in the Eastern Cape: “The Mondi Packaging Addo Mountain Bike Challenge”.

This 1-Day event will be held in the rugged Zuurberg Mountain region of the Addo Elephant National Park, Eastern Cape, on Saturday, 1st November 2008.

This race, billed as the Eastern Cape’s “toughest Mountain Bike Challenge”, offers mountain bikers a chance to pedal through some magnificent scenery inside the Addo Elephant National Park, and includes climbing the historic Zuurberg Pass, hand-built by convict labourers in the 1860’s.

With a total of R50 000 in prize monies up for grabs and a first prize of R15 000 in the 85km race, the event promises a lot of action.

As the main sponsor, Mondi Packaging’s objectives are to create a top quality Mountain Biking event that can feature as an annual event on the national cycling calendar with the potential of becoming a multi-day event in the future. They also hope to create awareness within the local community of the Sponsor’s commitment to contribute to the development of the local community by promoting events that involve the local community and draw visitors to the area, thereby increasing the local revenue.

The Mayibuye Ndlovu Development Trust – a trust comprised of representatives of the communities surrounding Addo Elephant National Park - and a National charity, CHOC (Childhood Cancer Foundation) are beneficiaries of the event.

The Event Sponsors will also endeavour to assist four Development Cyclists, selected by the Addo Elephant National Park from the local community, by providing them with bicycles and cycling kit to take part in the inaugural event. This will be a long-term project to help develop mountain biking within the local Addo community.

The race is comprised of 3 different routes: an undemanding 30km route over gravel roads and tracks for the social rider and their family members; a 55km trail with a reasonable level of technical difficulty for the avid mountain bike enthusiast, recreational mountain bike riders and sporting celebrities who enjoy a challenge and an extreme route of 85 km with a high level of technical difficulty to attract the country’s professional and top amateur mountain bike riders to the event.

This route includes gravel roads, jeep track and awesome single track. There are also some extremely steep single track down-hills with switch-backs, river crossings and over 1700m of climbing. The event organisers, Leisure Cycle Tours & Adventures have also included a Kiddies Fun Challenge for little ones under the age of 8 years. There will also be a family festival at the start / finish venue with plenty of entertainment, food & drink stands, a beer tent, children’s games and family activities. An overnight campground is provided at the venue with “Fireside Cycling Stories” around the campfire on Friday night.

For more information and to book your place online, visit Leisure Cycle Tours or email info[at]leisurecycletours.com or call Shane on +27 74 114 4811.

www.MyAddo.co.za: Two bouts of fire in August and September have burnt vast tracts of the Zuurberg Mountain range in the Park. The fires burnt some 26 000 hectares of fynbos and grassland on the Zuurberg Mountains. Fire is a natural occurrence in both fynbos and grassland ecosystems and is vital for the proper functioning of these systems.

The first fire, started by unknown causes on a property bordering the Park, burnt from the 10th until the 15th of August, spreading into the Nyathi and Zuurberg sections of the Park.

Rangers battled the blaze for days assisted by Cacadu District fire teams and Working on Fire teams battled the blaze. Extremely dry conditions and strong winds hampered their efforts and the fires were fanned by frequent changes in wind direction.

None of the Park’s tourist or staff accommodation or infrastructure was affected, although visitors were evacuated from Narina Bush Camp on one occasion as a precaution. The Zuurberg Mountain Village, which is a private business located on the borders of the Park has sustained considerable damage, losing 31 chalets to the fire.

The second fire of significance started on Sunday 14 September and burnt until Tuesday 23 September. It was started by lightning and burnt grassland and fynbos in the Zuurberg Mountains from Zuurberg section to Kabouga and almost over to the Darlington side.

Most of the efforts of Park rangers were focused on assisting farmers on the borders of the Park to prevent the fire spreading onto their land. Again, none of the Park infrastructure or accommodation facilities were affected.

Smaller animals such as tortoises, snakes and rodents were probably most affected by the fire. Larger animals such as eland, kudu, red hartebeest and bushbuck are usually able to escape to the forest in the mountain valleys. Forest does not burn very easily so provides some sanctuary to wildlife in times of fire.

Since these fires, the vegetation on the mountain has been slowly regenerating. Fire lilies (Cyrtanthus species) have bloomed in bright reds and grass has sent up new shoots.

www.MyAddo.co.za: The Addo Elephant Park’s achievements and milestones of the past six months (April – September 2008):

• Four spotted hyena and three lion cubs were born. Five cheetah cubs were born in the Kuzuko Contractual Area – the first cheetah ever to be born in the Park.
• Addo Elephant National Park is home to more than half the population of the black rhino bicornis subspecies (or so-called desert-adapted rhino) in South Africa.
• The Coast Care programme cleaned up 4356 kg’s of waste from the Sundays beach area.
• 5 762 children and 611 adults participated in environmental education programmes in the Park.
• The unit occupancy in Camp Matyholweni rose (compared to last year) by 11% to 52.8% while camping occupancy rose by 4% to 52.8%.
• 53 369 people visited the Park from April to September, representing a drop of 8.1% compared to the same period in 2007. This is the result of the Easter weekend – a very popular holiday time - falling in March (whereas it was in April last year) as well as the effect of an increase in fuel costs.
• Only 67.6 mm of rain was recorded in the Addo section of the Park, compared to the long term average (average over 10 years) for April to September of 165.1 mm

www.MyAddo.co.za: Addo Elephant National Park’s Hop-on Guides have received a boost with a donation of two pairs of binoculars from Mr. John Walton of the UK.

The Hop-on Guides are a group of local community members who provide guiding services to visitors in the comfort of their own vehicles. While they run their own business, Addo Elephant National Park provides support in terms of marketing, training and the provision of an operating base.

The Park’s Marine Rangers received a very welcome donation of two pairs of water-resistant binoculars as well as six waterproof cases for storage of equipment during marine patrols. “The binoculars are a very useful addition to our equipment and will prove vital in our efforts to apprehend marine offenders”, said John Adendorff, Addo Elephant National Park’s Conservation Manager, who accepted the binoculars on behalf of the Marine Rangers.

Walton also handed over a pair of binoculars to William Dodo, a community elder who acts as a guide in the Park’s Imbewu programme. Dodo leads groups of high school learners on three-day trips into the Park to sleep under the stars and learn about nature as well as their cultural legacy.

Addo Elephant National Park’s game drive guides received a fourth pair of binoculars. “I hope that this donation will encourage visitors who support conservation to make similar contributions where they have the means to do so”, said John Walton. Walton, who is involved in law enforcement in the UK, recently visited the Park to hand over the binoculars and also to enjoy a holiday with his wife.

www.MyAddo.co.za: Addo Elephant National Park rangers were evacuated from Bird Island in Algoa Bay on Monday the 1st of September when high seas caused the water level to move about 15 meters inland.

The rangers were evacuated by means of a helicopter provided by the SA Defense Force as the Park’s boat could not be mobilized in the 9-metre high seas. Before their evacuation, the rangers reported that the sea water had reached the back of the lighthouse building and the front of buildings that house staff on the island.

The Park’s rangers were able to return to Bird Island on Tuesday afternoon, the 2nd of September, again by helicopter, to assess the damage caused to both infrastructure and the birds that breed on the island.

African penguin chicks, aged between two and four months old, were drowned by waves which flooded their nests. However, the extent of penguin chick deaths is difficult to estimate as their bodies were washed away.

Rangers captured some adult penguins with broken legs which were taken off the island for rehabilitation. The African penguin colony on Bird Island numbers about 2 675 breeding pairs. The Cape gannet breeding colony on Bird Island – the largest of its kind in the world at about 80 000 pairs – was not affected by the high seas except for flooding of some peripheral nest sites by sea spray. Rangers took measures to drain these sites. Black Rocks, which houses a 400-strong colony of Cape fur seals, was completely submerged by the high seas, as were Stag and Seal Islands which lie close to Bird Island.

There was also extensive damage, estimated at up to R1 million, to the newly constructed jetty on Bird Island with gabions broken and washed away. The damage will not affect Park ranger patrols in the marine area.