MOLELO
Tau Pride Newsletter
Welcome folks to the Tau Pride newsletter. Tau has great aspirations that this newsletter will reach you all, wherever you might be and in doing so hope to rekindle those breathtaking memories of the sights and sounds of Africa.
News
It’s that time of year again where the lodge is abuzz with the excitement of the festive season. Christmas decorations have been put up and all guests and staff are in good spirits. After all, Tis’ the season to be jolly!
Over the last few months we have been working on something big in preparation for the summer and we are proud to announce that we have successfully introduced five crocodiles into our waterhole. The croc introduction was done with the help of the North West Parks and Tourism Board and Bakwena Crocodile Farm.
The crocodiles are approximately two meters in length and are three years of age. We have erected a croc proof fence around the lodge to ensure that the crocs enjoy the water hole and not the well-manicured lawns around the lodge and chalets. There is also a healthy population of fish in our waterhole for the crocs to feed on, in addition to this we have brought in loads of fine river sand forming a sand bar and providing them with a comfortable area to bask on.
Photo by Brad Leighton
Sadly we have said goodbye to Morah-Leigh Cooper in November. I am sure that her fellow rangers and everyone else at Tau will miss her dearly. Thank you, for all your hard work and dedication to Tau over the past four years and good luck with your future endeavours.
We also bid farewell to Merlin Jones, our Assistant Head Chef who left us at the end of November. Go well and all the best Merlin.
On another note there are always sad goodbyes but also welcome another new ranger, Garth Harrison to the Tau Team. Garth has studied Nature Conservation and has been involved in Madikwe helping our resident ecologist in various exercises for practical experience, one such project was the recent buffalo auction that was held in Madikwe which was a huge success. Here’s to a productive future at Tau.
Garth helping out with the recent buffalo capture for auction..
Bush News
The bush is starting to green up after our first big rainfall of the season and summer is once again upon us. This time of the year is particularly very special as we are starting to see the general game start to calf. This is providing some lovely sightings of the youngsters playing and learning from their mothers.
The sightings have been particularly good with leopard becoming an almost every day occurrence. One leopard in our area, the Maokeng Male has become very used to the vehicles and allows for great photo opportunities. He has also been seen outside of our crocodile introduction boma on several occasions, providing some very accessible sightings for our guests.
Maokeng Male: Photo taken by Megan Matern
The wild dogs have also been active around the Tau concession over the last while; they are looking healthy, as active as ever and constantly hunting. The picture below is of one such successful hunt where they managed to bring down a large Kudu female in Tau’s waterhole. Being such efficient hunters they manage to kill around 75% of the time. The carcass was finished up within the space of 45 minutes, once again providing Tau’s guests with some fantastic photographic opportunities.
Wild dogs at Tau’s waterhole: Photo taken by Gerard Ramage
Did you know?
· The average age of a crocodile is between 50-60 years, but some have been known to live to over 100 years of age.
· They can reach swimming speeds of up to 40 km per hour. (25 mph)
· A crocodile has the ability to grow new teeth to replace the old teeth
· Crocodiles have salt glands on their tongues to expel salt making them more tolerable to living in saline water. Alligators do not have this ability.
· Crocodiles can grow to lengths of 16-18 feet (4.8-5 meters).
From the kitchen
Our Executive Chef, John Carelse has been nothing but outstanding and has continued to create some culinary delights. Again a big thank- you and well done to all the staff in the kitchen. Below are a few things John made for high tea for a group recently.
Sweet treats for high tea: Photo by Markus Kleinhans
Chocolate fudge cake: Photo by Markus Kleinhans
We thank you for taking an interest in our newsletter and trust we can keep your passion and interests alive for this beautiful place we like to call home.
Regards
Brad, Markus and the Tau Pride
Ps: We would love to post some of our guest’s pictures, experiences and suggestions in our newsletter. If you would like to share your adventures with others, please send it to gm@taugamelodge.co.za
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