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

www.MyAddo.co.za: Cake decorating will never be the same! The "wildest" cake decorating competition in the Eastern Cape is taking place at the eighth year's Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival in June.

Hosted by Sugar Dreams and the Dolphin Coast branch of the South African Cake Decorators Guild (SACDG), the competition is set to bring out the "wild side" of local sugar-art enthusiasts.

There are six categories for both children and adults, from beginners to the more advanced decorators. The category for the children is "My favourite wild animal," whilst adults will be inspired by the "Take a walk on the Wildside" theme.

Cake Icing According to organiser of the event, Belinda Kretzmann of SugarDreams, judges will be looking at the general impression, presentation, covering and texture, creativity, degree of difficulty and execution of the techniques of the decorated cake.

Festival goers will also be treated to one of the biggest "sugar-art" displays in the Eastern Cape. "We will be bringing over 60 cakes with us for exhibition," says Kretzmann. "We will also be hosting several demonstrations throughout the festival."

In 2008, over 35 000 visitors attended the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival, which is a unique blend of wildlife, arts, crafts and live entertainment. There will also be hundreds of creative flea-market stalls and delicious food stalls with a wildlife theme. The festival, runs from June 26 to June 28, so bring your friends and have a "jol" at the wildest festival in the country!

For more information on the "Wildest Cake" competition, visit the Kirkwood Wildlife Festival Website.

www.MyAddo.co.za: Kirkwood's record-breaking annual wildlife auction will again be offering prize animals from the South African National Parks and other top reserves around the country.

"We are expecting 20 white rhino and 22 disease-free Addo Elephant National Park buffalo as the most prized game at the Kirkwood auction," says auction organiser, Jan Pienaar. "This is probably the largest choice of buffalo than any other auction in the country."

Record prices have been paid for white rhino, kudu and eland at previous auctions.

This auction has grown to be the biggest in the Eastern Cape and the second biggest in the country according to Pienaar.

This year, a full spectrum of game animals are to be auctioned including red hartebeest, wildebeest, impala, blesbuck, Burchell's zebra, bushbuck, eland, kudu, giraffe, gemsbok, waterbuck, reedbuck, sable and many more.

The main sellers of the animals, Steyl Wild, Bushveld Game Capture and South African National Parks, assure the animals on sale are of great condition and breeding.

"All animals are disease-free and well sorted to provide game farm owners with ideal breeding stock to introduce new blood into their herds," says Pienaar.

The auction, held in association with Addo Elephant National Park with support from the South African National Parks board, attracts game farm owners from around the country and overseas. These buyers plough millions of rands back into the Eastern Cape economy through this auction, with R11,2 million raised in 2008.

Buyers have the opportunity to view the animals before the auction in bomas or in catalogues. According to Pienaar, both Shamwari's and Riverbend's bomas will be full of standing game for buyers to inspect.

Buyers have the unique opportunity to bring the whole family along with ample activities available for everybody including shopping, wine-tasting, paintball, live entertainment and much much more. Adding to the fun and entertainment of the auction will be "the famous and charismatic" auctioneer Roy Hayes.

The auction will be held on 12pm on Saturday 27 June at the Absa Kirkwood Festival grounds. Buyers are urged to pre-register on the website: www.wildsfees.co.za

MyPE and BayFM will also be at the Wildlife Auction and running a Live Blog of the proceedings - images of the animals, prices, auctioneer videos and audio.

www.MyAddo.co.za: Kirkwood’s annual Absa Wildlife Festival is toasting the signing of another major corporate sponsor – Brandhouse Beverages, distributors of Windhoek and Heineken beers, and a range of premium spirit brands in South Africa.

“The three-year contract with brandhouse is a major achievement for the festival in these challenging economic times. It shows that the festival has proven itself, and is a firm fixture on the South African festival calendar,” says Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival director Jenni Honsbein.

Absa became the naming rights sponsor of the festival in 2008.

“This sponsorship is part of our commitment to the Eastern Cape and the Sundays River Valley. Our approach is to help festivals like the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival grow over the long term,” says Carel Hoffman of Oppikoppi Productions, which evaluated the festival on behalf of Brandhouse and brokered the sponsorship.

brandhouse is also sponsoring the Grahamstown Arts Festival and Oppikoppi Festival held in August.

“These are all multiple-year contracts, which include brandhouse promotions of Windhoek and other brands,” says Hoffman.

A whisky tasting is planned for the Absa Kirkwood Festival, as brandhouse distributes a full range of premium whiskeys.

Honsbein says this year the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival organisers are promising an even wilder celebrity line-up including the Bala Brothers, Mean Mr Mustard and the ever-popular Steve Hofmeyr.

Over 35 000 visitors attended the 2008 event, which is a unique blend of wildlife, arts, crafts and live entertainment.

As usual, this year in addition to wall to wall entertainment on the stage, there will be hundreds of creative flea-market stalls and food stalls with a wildlife theme.

“What makes us different is that we have something for everyone included in the entrance fee at the gate – live performances on stage, specialist stalls, a kiddies entertainment area, one of the biggest vehicle displays in the Eastern Cape, a small agricultural expo, cooking demonstrations, the province’s biggest wine fair, whiskey tastings and more,” says Honsbein.

The festival, which will run from June 26 to June 29 this year, also hosts the second biggest game auction in South Africa.

www.MyAddo.co.za: "Bring us your really 'wild, wild, wacky and unusual' products for the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival" is the challenge thrown out by festival director Jenni Honsbein.

With most of the 300 stalls already taken up, she says the last few have been reserved for "something special and unusual – something that will have everyone talking and will add to the fun of the festival".

Now in its eighth year, the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival has grown into one of the biggest in the Eastern Cape, attracting some 35 000 visitors in 2008. It runs from June 26 to June 29 this year.

Many of the store-holders have become firm favourites at the festival, and book their places a year in advance.

There is careful selection of the products that will be on sale to ensure that the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival is different to most of the others. "Which is the reason that every year we reserve space for 'out of the box' items," she says.

The Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival is an ideal place to launch new ranges and to test the market," she says.

Stall holders can find out more by going to www.wildsfees.co.za or contacting Natasja van Greunen on 042-2300066.

Browse and Book Kirkwood Accommodation HERE

www.MyAddo.co.za: Bigger, better and wilder entertainment is in store for you this June, when the 7th annual Wildlife Festival is held at Kirkwood in the Eastern Cape. Over 35 000 visitors attended the 2008 event, which is a unique blend of wildlife, arts, crafts and live entertainment. This year, organisers are promising an even wilder celebrity line-up.

In addition to wall to wall entertainment on the stage, there will be hundreds of creative flea-market stalls and delicious food stalls with a wildlife theme. The festival, which runs from 26 to 29 June, also hosts the second biggest game auction in South Africa. So bring your friends to Kirkwood in June and have a "jol" at the wildest festival in the country! The latest information is available at Wildsfees.

Book Your Kirkwood Accommodation HERE

www.MyAddo.co.za: Space is being reserved for craftspeople, artists and entrepreneurs who have something "unusual and different" to offer at the 2009 Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival – but the stalls are selling out fast, says festival director Jenni Honsbein.

"With over 35 000 visitors this year despite the economic downturn and high fuel prices, the majority of the more than 300 stallholders at this year’s Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival booked for 2009 before they left," she says.

With the stalls being an important ingredient in the mix that has made the eight-year-old festival one of the most popular in the Eastern Cape, every year brings the exciting challenge of finding new exhibitors, she says.

"We are looking for people who specialise in hand crafted goods which have a wildlife theme – be they décor items, clothing, food, or camping and hunting gear. But, we welcome any "out of the box" products and ideas. The Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival is an ideal place to launch new ranges and to test the market," she says.

Stall holders can find out more by going to www.wildsfees.co.za or contacting Natasja van Greunen on 042-2300066.

www.MyAddo.co.za: Disease-free buffalo from Addo Elephant National Park once again received top prices on the Kirkwood
Wildlife Auction, raising funds for the SANParks Park Development Fund, used to subsidise the
expansion of national parks.

The auction, held on 28 June 2008 as part of the Kirkwood Wildlife Festival, saw buffalo reaching top
prices of R180 000 per animal for a family group. The top price for a buffalo bull was R127 000. Four
spotted hyena were sold on the auction at R5 600 per hyena. Red hartebeest, black wildebeest and
eland from Mountain Zebra National Park were also sold on the auction. Over R3.36 million was raised
in total.

White rhino from Kruger National Park were sold on catalogue with one of the rhino bulls generating a
whopping R640 000.

www.MyAddo.co.za: Buyers from around the country raised the turnover at the annual Kirkwood Wildlife Festival auction to a record R11,3 – million on Saturday, June 28.

This is over R2-million more than the R9,2 million turnover in 2007, according to organiser Andrew Spies.

More than 600 animals were on sale, with the highest prices going to those which had already been captured and were on view in four bomas.

The highest single price was R640 000 for a 15-year-old white rhino bull from the Kruger National Park.

Addo Elephant National Park buffalo family groups went for between R142 000 and R165 000 a head.

A hand-reared buffalo cow calf was sold for R180 000.

There was also much interest in four black rhino bulls that were on sale.

They went for between R190 000 and R310 000 a head.

This year’s auction was the biggest ever held, and shows continued growth in the eco-tourism industry, says Spies.

Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival as popular as ever

Drawn outdoors by sunny and warm weather, some 35 000 people enjoyed the stalls, food, music and company at the 2008 Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival, which was held from Friday, June 27 to Sunday, June 29.

A concert under the stars by Steve Hofmeyr on the Thursday evening attracted around 3 000 fans.

“We said we were going to put on such a good show that we would not be affected by the general economic doom and gloom, and we were proved right,” says Festival director Jenni Honsbein.

She says Friday attendance was affected slightly by drizzle in the evening, but the enthusiastic crowd that was there kept the musicians on stage.

Saturday’s attendance is estimated at around 17 000 – about a thousand less than in 2007, but this was made up with record crowd for Sunday.

“We promoted Sunday as a family day, with the entrance fees unchanged from the previous years and it worked. The festival grounds were filled with young families, and with babies and youngsters in prams.

“One of our goals for this year’s festival was to make it as wheelchair friendly as possible, and this also worked in favour of the mothers and fathers as we had removed all obstacles such as cables following our research into the need of visitors last year,” she says.

According to Honsbein, the festival was largely incident free.

“We did have a mother go into labour at around 12:30 on Saturday evening, but the paramedics were on hand and took her to the hospital next door.

“There were one or two other minor incidents which were quickly handled by our security staff”.

The one “sad note” of the festival was an accident involving two young women at the Sunlands Bridge between Kirkwood and Addo after the festival had closed.

An ambulance based at the festival went out to the scene.

One of the women was killed and the other seriously injured.

“Our sincerest sympathies go out to the families,” says festival chairperson Johan Swart.

www.MyAddo.co.za: Living in the online travel world can be a bit lonely and daunting at times;

First, you start out with an idea of how you want to make life easier for people looking for accommodation.
Second, you have to try and anticipate what people will type into the search engines when they are looking for your specific 'flavour' of accommodation.
Third, you optimise your web site so that you can appear on the first page of the many search engines.
Fourth, you try as hard as possible to get your web site visitors to make that buying decision before they move on - quite a difficult and daunting task when all you have to rely on is content and visuals, which are controlled by myriad of factors outside of your control - the type of browser, the type on broadband or dial up connection, availability of your web site etc. etc.

Of course when you start out you want to compete with the BIG BOYS and want to rank high for the narrowest but broadest possible terms - like being in the first place for the search term 'Addo' or 'Kirkwood'. Let me digress a little and talk about the Ancient Egyptians: the height of the pinnacle of a pyramid is dependent upon the size of the base of the pyramid. HUH? Simple, Let us take the search term keyword, 'Addo' as representing the height of the pyramid. In order to make your pinnacle rise above all the other noise and clutter you need to build a solid and large base of relevant keywords and search terms. The only way to do so is over time. If you present a search engine with a brand new web site with thousands of pages, alarm bells will start ringing. These alarm bells have a special sound when the clapper strikes the sound ring - instead of dong dong dong, it sounds as follows: spam spam spam.

Consider the special case of the guest house owner who wants to rank well in the search engines for his home town Kirkwood, the capital of the Sundays River Valley Municipality which includes towns such as Patterson, Addo and Enon with a total population of about 70 000 people. Type 'Kirkwood' into a Google Search Box and you are presented with over 9 000 000 results - 128 results for EVERY resident in the entire Sundays River Valley area. This is quite insane!

Along with running a guest house we now expect the owner to be an internet marketing search engine expert and rank well enough to get heads on beds. Sure, a small percentage of the many guest house owners do manage to rank very well for such competitive keywords. But, when doing a search for accommodation I am always left with the niggly feeling that I could be missing out on an incredible guest house for the lack of it's Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing savvy!

The key to a well trafficked web site with a targeted audience is as follows:

1. Relevant domain name.
2. Relevant content.
3. NEW content.
4. Regular content.
5. Targeted content.
6. Easy navigation.
7. The RIGHT backlinks.
8. Easy on the eye visuals that DO NOT dominate the message.
9. Time.
10. Patience.

Notice how content is a recurring theme. Another analogy, if I may? One of the most visited web sites in the world relies on ONE image, but people do not visit that web site for the image, but for the information - Google. Google will not win any 'traditional' web design awards, but in terms of all of the above 10 points, Google has top marks.

What am I saying?

Separate web design from the purpose of why your guest house needs to be on the web. You may have the most stunning web site in the planet, but, without relevant content it is dead dead dead. If you want to rank well in the search engines be prepared to pay someone a decent amount of money to do it for you OR spend two years and a lot more money experimenting and teaching yourself through trial and error.
Rather make sure that your guest house has a compelling sales message and spend the money on decent advertising on web sites such as MyAddo and MyPE than faffing around for two years trying to make up your mind.

Okay, now the actual reason why I started writing this was to show off with a few keywords that bring visitors to www.MyAddo.co.za. Typing the following search terms into Google will reveal some of the MyAddo Google FIRST page results. (The total number of results, at time of writing, is in brackets after each link):

kirkwood (9 640 000), my addo (568 000), accommodation kirkwood addo (196
000), protea hotel addo (41 100), narina bush camp (763), guest houses kirkwood (25 600), kirkwood accommodation (176 000), kirkwood accomodation (45 300), hilgard van niekerk (230), african bush elephant (26 600), african bush elephant (24 100 images), african elephant (34 300 images), matyholweni (2 870), kirkwood self catering (12 400).

And, just for fun the following web sites have also sent visitors to MyAddo (number of visits in brackets after the site):

Addo Accommodation (453), Khomani (496), Addo Accomodation (96), Wikipedia (86), Ananzi (126), Aardvark (102), MyPE (98), Don Bell (23), Google (7 256), MSN (532), AOL (39) Yahoo (19), Ask (5).

How long did it take to get the results that you see above? So far, two years.

Two tools that can help you in your endeavours:

1. Axandra - a desktop search engine optimisation and link building management program, OR
2. Give Alan a call for a consultation on how to navigate the SEO minefield.

OR, consider dipping your toes into a bit of advertising - CLICK HERE

www.MyAddo.co.za: Four “desert” black rhino bulls have been added to the selection of nearly 600 quality animals that will be on sale at the annual Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival auction.

“This is a real breakthrough for the auction, and confirmation that it has become one of the top game auctions in the country,” says auction organiser Andrew Spies.

The rhino bulls (Diceros bicornis bicornis) are being by Tswalu Kalahari Reserve.

Tswalu is a 100 000ha conservation project in the Northern Cape (between Vanzylsrus and Hotazel).

The rhinos were all born on Tswalu and are currently free-roaming on the reserve.

Spies expects them to attract a number of buyers. “It is very seldom that reserves are given the opportunity to purchase single black rhino. They will want these animals to add to the gene pool of the rhino they already have,” he says.

Also on sale will be rare disease-free buffalo from the Addo Elephant National Park and South
African National Parks white rhino.

Held in association with the Addo National Elephant Park on Saturday, June 28, the auction is one of the biggest in the Africa, according to Spies.

It had a turnover of R9,2 million in 2007.

“We are expecting to beat that record, judging by the enquiries we are receiving from around the country and the quality and variety of game that will be on offer,” he says.

The high quality of the animals on offer attracts buyers from around South Africa and neighbouring states.

The game will be auctioned from bomas as well as off catalogues. Most of the boma animals can be viewed before the sale in the Addo National Park, at River Bend and Shamwari.

Animals in the bomas will include buffalo breeding groups, adult buffalo bulls, red hartebeest, black wildebeest, blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, impala, blesbuck, Birchell’s zebra, bushbuck, eland breeding groups, eland bulls, kudu, gemsbok, waterbuck, common reed buck, sable antelope and more, he says.

Adding to the fun and entertainment of the day will be “the famous and charismatic” auctioneer Roy Hayes.

“The auction is one of the few in the country where buyers can bring the whole family to be entertained by the many things to do, see, touch and taste at the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival itself,” says Spies.

The festival, which includes live performances by more than 50 national and local artists, takes place from Friday, June 27 to Sunday, June 29.

Buyers are urged to pre-register on the website: www.wildsfees.co.za</a>

www.MyAddo.co.za: Steve Hofmeyr is determined to be back on stage in time for the Kirkwood Wildlife Festival in June.

Hofmeyr spokesperson Lindi du Preez told the festival organisers "this will be one of his first Waarmaker performances after his operation, and he is looking forward to it.

"I can guarantee you that Steve is determined to continue his ABSA Waarmaker tour as soon as possible".

"This is great news for Steve fans in the Eastern Cape. We have booked the biggest stage and sound system ever seen in the Sundays River Valley to welcome him," says festival director Jennifer Honsbein.

"We can with certainty say that Steve is doing much better and the doctors are very pleased with his recovery," said Du Preez.

Popular demand and the milestone 7th Anniversary of the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival prompted the organisers to bring icon Hofmeyr in to open the event at the Afskop Concert on Thursday 26th June.

He will perform at the Kirkwood Wildlife Festival Grounds in the main arena.

The concert starts at 8pm but gates will open from 5pm to facilitate crowds, according to Honsbein.

"Many of our top food stalls will be coming early, so the family can picnic on the grass while watching the sun go down before the concert," she says.

Tickets cost just R80 and are available from Computicket and at all Shoprite and Checkers stores. The festival office and gatekeepers will also have tickets on hand for sale.

www.MyAddo.co.za: The annual Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival is getting even wilder this year.

“We are focusing on our roots – the natural beauty and heritage of the Sundays River Valley – says Walk on the Wildside Marquee organiser Natasja van Greunen.

A stroll through the Walk on the Wildside marquee will include experiences such as meeting Kirky (aka Nqwebasaurus thwazi) coming face-to-face with the venomous African Cape Cobra and numerous other deadly (and friendly) African snakes, putting your toe in some elephant poo, and chatting to the always enthusiastic Friends of the Baviaans Wilderness Area (Fobwa).

Getting to know you … Claire Warneke with Kirky.

All displays are child-friendly, with the snakes under the care of expert handler Darren Kleynhans.

“The Walk on the Wildside is what makes the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival different. It has something for everyone in the family,” says van Greunen.

The amble through the wild side will include the opportunity to watch a DVD of the Addo Elephant National Park. Visitors to the Addo Elephant National Park stand will also be able to touch and feel elephant dung.... and see a display of conservation in action in the park.

Free drawings of the Park’s Big 7 will be there for children to name and colour in.

There is also going to be a lucky draw where Wild Cars will be won. The Wild Card allows free entry into any South African National Park for one year.

In addition, a competition for children will be hosted where they will answer a question about the park and win a two-man tent.

The walk will also take visitors past exhibitions of indigenous plants and animals. There will be talks and demonstrations all day in the marquee, according to van Greunen. Kirky is making a comeback as the mascot of the festival.

Other exhibits to look out for are one by Eastern Cape journalist Wilma Kemp, with a fauna and flora photographic exhibition, the Birdlife Eastern Cape stall, and a presentation by Dr Matt Dicken about marine life and sharks, encouraging learners to develop an interest in marine science.

The Friends of the Baviaans Wilderness Area will also be telling visitors more about the Eastern Cape’s only World Heritage site.

Snuggled under the beautiful Rietburg mountain, the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival is home to over 300 specialist stalls, and will feature more than 30 artists, including big names like Freddy Mong, die drie Stoutstes Bobby van Jaaarsveld, Jakkie Louw, Emo Adams, Patrick Lindoor, Arno Jordaan, Nicholas Louw, Juanita du Plessis, Bok van Blerk, Eclipse and Tobiy Jooste.

The 2008 Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival runs from Friday, June 27 to Sunday, June 29.

And, on Thursday, June 26, fans will be able to “Go Wild” with Steve Hofmeyer in his first ever concert in the Sundays River Valley.

For more information, go to Wildsfees

www.MyAddo.co.za: Now in its seventh year, the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife festival offers an exciting mix of conservation, eco-tourism, wildlife, entertainment and shopping, where you can take a kudu home with you, hug a snake, and even adopt a baby – well, a very life-like replica of one, anyway.

Ronel Hamaty from Port Alfred will be one of the many exciting specialist marquee stall-holders at this year’s Festival, and her life-like baby replica collectibles are sure to cause many double takes.

“I have been making these life-like collectibles for nearly a year now,” says Ronel, who used to be a master porcelain doll maker and calls her enterprise ‘Sweet Dreams Nursery’.

“They are made out of vinyl and cannot break. It is an intricate job to create one of these baby masterpieces, especially when it comes to the hair, which is pure mohair and is rooted in one strand at a time!”

Come and see Ronel’s wonders (and maybe even take one home with you, complete with birth certificate) at this years’ Kirkwood Festival in the Eastern Cape’s beautiful Sundays River Valley.

“Every year the festival offers something different and special, built around nature as Kirkwood is the Wildlife Capital of South Africa. There is no other festival in the country which combines all aspects of wildlife and eco-tourism with top-class entertainment,” says Festival co-ordinator Jenni Honsbein.

Highlights include the Walk on the Wildside Tent, wine tastings, over 300 specialist stalls, the annual Kirkwood Wildlife Festival auction and entertainment late into the night.

“All of this is included in the cost of the entry ticket,” she says. The festival will be held from Friday, June 27 to Sunday, June 29. For more information, go to www.wildsfees.co.za

www.MyAddo.co.za: The annual Kirkwood Wildlife Festival is poised for continued growth through to 2010 after Absa signed on as the naming sponsor, of the “Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival”.

The Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival is built around its core event being the annual auction of top quality game from the neighbouring Addo Elephant National Park, other national and provincial parks and private reserves.

In 2007, the auction had a record turnover of R9,22-million, making it one of the biggest auction of game in South Africa.

“The Eastern Cape is fast becoming renown for its quality of breeds of game by national and international buyers, and the outcomes of previous auctions held at the festival are proof that the area is becoming a source of quality stock for national and international investors and buyers.

Absa is proud to partner with this major event in the Sunday’s River Valley which has a positive impact on the communities that directly benefit from its activities and proceeds” says Tienie Schietekat, Regional Manager Absa Corporate and Business Bank.

“Absa’s sponsorship is a vote of confidence in the economy of the Eastern Cape and in the Sunday’s River Valley in particular,” says Johan Swart, Chairperson of the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival, “It means a lot for tourism, the local community and the game industry in the Eastern Cape,” he added.

The Absa sponsorship will take the seven-year-old festival to a new level. In 2007, the festival attracted a record 35 000 people over three days and the organisers are confident that, with the support of Absa and the South African National Parks, the festival will continue to grow.

The Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival is a community initiative run by a Section 21 Company. Surplus funds are invested in community projects and in promoting the Sunday’s River Valley as an all-year-round tourism destination.

“With the support of a big corporate like Absa, we will be able to do more. Already doors are opening as other major national sponsors realise how powerful the festival is as a marketing tool,” says Swart.

Absa began its relationship with the Festival from its inauguration seven years ago when it gave a donation to help the organisers get the Festival off the ground. The relationship has continued and grown over the years.

Steve Hofmeyer will be opening the festival with his first ever concert in the Sunday’s River Valley on 26 June 2008. The game auction will take place on Saturday 28th June 2008 at the auction tent on the Festival grounds.

For more information go to: www.wildsfees.co.za

www.MyAddo.co.za: Rare disease-free buffalo from the Addo Elephant National Park and Kruger National Park white rhino will be among the 500 quality game animals on offer at the annual Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival auction.

Held in association with the Addo National Elephant Park on Saturday, June 28, the auction is one of the biggest in the Africa, according to organiser Andrew Spies.

It had a turnover of R9,2 million in 2007.

“What makes this sale special is the fantastic co-operation between South African National Parks Board and the private sector,” he says.

The high quality of the animals on offer attracts buyers from around South Africa and neighbouring states.

“Interest shown in the auction is a tribute to the many years of excellent management by the Parks Board, which has resulted in very high quality animals. That breeding and those genes are made available to the private sector through the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival auction,” he says.

The game will be auctioned from bomas as well as off catalogues. Most of the boma animals can be viewed before the sale in the Addo National Park, at River Bend and Shamwari.

Animals in the bomas will include buffalo breeding groups, adult buffalo bulls, red hartebeest, black wildebeest, blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, impala, blesbuck, Birchell’s zebra, bushbuck, eland breeding groups, eland bulls, kudu, gemsbok, waterbuck, common reed buck, sable antelope and more, he says.

Adding to the fun and entertainment of the day will be “the famous and charismatic” auctioneer Roy Hayes.

“The auction is one of the few in the country where buyers can bring the whole family to be entertained by the many things to do, see, touch and taste at the Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival itself,” says Spies.

Buyers are urged to pre-register on the website: Wildsfees