Scotch and the group of guests will be at the hide on Sunday morning. Looking forward to meeting them!

:o)

EDIT Sunday 30 November:

well... that was a lovely visit! It was a real pleasure meeting you all and share the experiece at the hide for a while. And such fun to meet people who know Tembe Elephant Park! I am still planning to go there again.

David (a keen birder with a good eye AND ear for birds. Thanks for sharing that David!) stayed here at the hide while the rest of the group went on a short gamedrive. When you came to pick him up, he told you about the hairless baboon. For those of you who pretended to have a little doubt about this baboon...

;o)))

I hope we'll meet again someday!

:o)

 Thank you Makena :o)

Thanks for the quick reply Afke. I'll ask our guide to contact you and hope to see you in a couple of days.

Cheers,

Scotch

 To Afke and all my Mashatu friends, Nat Geo and Pondies:

http://www.americangreetings.com/ecards/view.pd?i=476115429&m=4601&rr=y&source=ag999

Hi Gaylen, I'm sure lulu will be happy to tell you about her experience as a volunteer here at Mashatu. And maybe others that visit this thread on the forum...

Hello Scotch, Thursday, that's soon, great! It is very simple to arrange a visit to the hide. Just ask your guide to call the pond or me and we can make a plan. It will be lovely meeting you here. See you in a few days then!

:o)

Hi Afke,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I'd like to know what I need to do to visit the hide? I'll be in Mashatu from Thursday, staying at Rockcamp. I'd love to see how you operate the camera and maybe take some pics to include on the Pete's Pond page of my website.

I see the rains have started - looking forward to visiting one of my favourite places in the world!

Scotch

 Hi, I would love to hear more about experiences people have had volunteering at Mashatu.  I visited in July 08 and just wanted to stay and learn more.  I am sure volunteering is quite different from being a guest.    Gaylen

I see one of the male waterbucks walking left to right along the beach.  Haven't seen any of the others yet.

Oops, sorry, wrong thread!  See what happens when Afke isn't here to keep an eye on us? 

 lulu, you are right. The volunteer program is very different from being a guest at Mashatu. I am happy to know you enjoyed it so much. You might have missed out on gamedrives, but got to do and see many other interesting things.

I remember how you and I were jumping up and down at the release of the Wild Dogs because we were so excited lolol

Let's hope you'll see cheetah when you come back next time

:o)

TWC0972:

 

 

My avatar is from a photo my husband took at Mashatu.  I, also, have as my screen saver.

Have a good day!

Tammy

 

 

 I didn't see any cheetahs when I was there (except for the one killed by a farmer's dogs on the day I was with Rex).  I would really love to see some when I return.  I saw plenty of lions and one leopard but no cheetahs.  Of course, when you are a volunteer, game viewing isn't the main priority.  I did see plenty and loved being in the volunteer program.  I wouldn't trade that for anything!!!

Hello Tammy,

It is a wonderful photo. I am happy you got to see cheetah here. They are wonderful to watch aren't they.

I will give Bill and Derek your message. I am certain they will be happy to hear from you. I always enjoy meeting them. They are great experts, each in their own field. And yes, good tourguides too AND fun to be with.  :o)

When you are at Mashatu again, we can arrange a visit to the hide. You just let your guide and/or camp manager know and they will call me to make arrangements. It's that simple. It will be lovely to spend some time at the hide.

By the way, Joe was very excited to hear from you. He is looking forward to seeing you again in 2010.

:o)

Thanks for the updates on all the visitors.  When you see Bill Branch and Derrick with National Geographic give them our best.  They were great guides on our trip in '07.

I hope next time I will be able to spend more time at the pond.  I am working on our plans for late July in 2010.   We are going to drive this time and see some of the countryside. 

My avatar is from a photo my husband took at Mashatu.  I, also, have as my screen saver.

Have a good day!

Tammy

 Here is a fun trip report and photos from a recent visitor to Mashatu who saw the lion cubs:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=4&tid=35166325

 Tammy, I can imagine you miss being here. It IS a lovely place. I hope we'll meet at Mashatu again too :o)

We had guests at the hide this morning. One of the tour guides that visits Mashatu with the National Geographic groups was here for a private visit with friends and they spend some time at the pond. It is so nice to have people here that really enjoy. Even when it's quiet like today. Birds, Fatty, Terrapins and the bush turning green... we watched and discussed it all. Lovely. And one of them would make a good camera woman I think. She did a great job at showing you what was here.

I have been told that the next NG group will spend New Year here at Mashatu, so that'll be fun

Yesterday evening I had diner at Rock Camp. The guests there were kind enough to invite me for diner when they visited the pond the day before. One of them I met in Johannesburg a few times before I came to Botswana (Hi Jackie!) and two others always watch the pond from New Zeeland. It was a pleasure to meet you Bruce and Joy, and I specially thank Bruce for standing guard last night, keeping an eye on Fatty's movements while I put plastic over the microphone to protect it from the rain. I hope to see you again in the near future!

:o) 

thank you so much.  I miss Mashatu everyday.  As I have said before, it is a magical place!  The animals, the landscape, and the people make it so.  Have a wonderful day.

Tammy

 Hi Tammy :o)

I've passed your message on to Joe. He will be thrilled!

I hope to see you then too

:o)

 Afke,  will you do me a favor and tell Jou the Chitwood's said hello and we are working on coming back late July of 2010--after the World Cup!   I would come every year if I could!  We love it there.  Next time we are also going back to Mala Mala.  Hope you will still be there, too.

Tammy Chitwood

 I just found what I was looking for:

http://www.mashatu.com/newsletters/Wild%20Dog20Oct08.pdf

Now I can go to sleep and dream of the wild dogs.  Nite, nite!

(Hope they come and visit you soon)

 The Limpopo is still dry, but yes, it the Limpopo is flowing, the dogs would stay here. The river would be too strong to cross.

I am not sure about the biofence. I have to ask Craig about that

:o0

 That is great news Afke. Someone on another forum gave me an update after I posted the question here.  Is the Limpopo River filling up again?  If the dogs are on the Botswana side and the river is flowing, chances of them crossing over into So Africa would be slim then? I hope I understood that correctly.  Do the researchers have to maintain the biofence?

Hi lulu! 

They were in SA for over a week, but Craig or Rex were with them every day. They couldn't hunt there, got hungry so came back. I think this might have been a good lesson for them... cross the Limpopo and you get hungry. Go back and there is plenty of food... It might help them to deside to stay on this side I hope

:o)

 How long were they gone?  Did they have to be encouraged to return or did they come back on their own?  I really, really hope they stay!!!

 Makena, the wild dogs have been back here for over a week now and are doing very well. They hunt successfully every day :o) They haven't been at the pond though...

 That is too funny Murphy!  The Lomotil will help with the one problem, but that vervet better also find some Rogaine for the hair loss problem!!!!