Spring is in the air.... Summer is on the way!!! Yip, the temperatures in Sunny South Africa are climbing and especially here in Durban. I note the swimming poolwater getting warmer and it won't be long before Didi, Milly and I are swimming again. (They are my two little dogs)

With the heat comes the rains, though when we say it is our rainy season, we do not mean monsoon type rains nor days and days of rain. We mean that during the week, we might have one or two days of rain - and if it does rain, it is normally only for a few hours - so don't be put off by coming during our 'rainy season'. What it does also mean is that there is no need for the wild animals to always go to the same waterholes or rivers, there is a lot more water around for them to drink in smaller waterholes and puddles - and that is why I favour the cooler winter months for game-viewing. The bush is not as thick, the wild animals tend to use the same regular waterholes and so it is easier to view the animals in their wild habitat.

We have had numerous folks travelling around Southern Africa recently and some have had a chance already to give us some feedback. With me having been away over the past few months on various safaris, meant Alice has been very busy, answering all the enquiries, doing all the bookings and planning and generally 'holding the fort' for African Bundu Safaris. Of the many enquiries she has answered, the following folks have recently completed her planned safaris. Rhoda and her friend, Marion, from the USA, first went to Cape Town, where our colleague and guide, Eric, took them on numerous day trips around the area, plus took them on a Garden Route tour, before they flew up to Durban to spend time with her cousin. Rhoda phoned me on her arrival here and really praised Eric for his superb guiding, his kindness, his manners - so nice to hear such nice comments about our South Africa guides. They then went to Itala Game reserve for a few nights - and I had recountered to her about our recent encounter with the leopard (which you can read about in last months issue), well, lone behold, they were returning to their chalet from a selfdrive gamedrive, and a baby leopard walked across infront of their car - they were awe-struck, not only was it a leopard, but a baby leopard. Well, they were totally fascinated until they heard this snarling and growling from their right hand side - boy, the mother leopard was there, and with their windows wide open (which is great for game viewing), but they had driven between the mother and the baby - so they quickly moved out of the way (wound the windows up) and then the mother ran across to the baby and they both disappeared. Rhoda, you guys were so lucky to see that, boy I wish I was there with you then!

Arne and Elly, from the Netherlands, were here during the end of August - they were on a self-drive to Kruger Park from Johannesburg. Elly had injured her leg and when they got to Sabie, Ginny our hostess there, lent her a pair of crutches for the rest of thier journey. Elly phoned me from Johannesburg on the eve of their departure, and she said they were so pleased that everything had turned out fine. When they come out again, they will use our services again. Thanks Elly - glad to have been of good service.

We also had Jean-Pierre and Sonja from Switzerland touring around with our services, and were lucky to have enjoyed a marvellous safari from Johannesburg, through Kruger and Swaziland to Durban, enjoyed a night at one of the beachfront hotels in Umhlanga Rocks before flying back to Johannesburg. They also sent us an e-mail with some feedback saying what a marvellous time they had. In their small group they had another couple from Switzerland and an American - they said a perfect combination also with a Guide who could speak Swiss-German. (We do try to please everyone!)

Jamie and her 5 friends recently returned from their Botswana camping safari and they all really enjoyed it. Thanks Jamie for the 5 photos you sent of your trip - really had a fabulous time and stunning photos.

Dawn who has been working and living in Cape Town for a while (from the USA) went on one of the popular overland safaris from Cape Town to Victoria Falls. She was so excited about the whole trip, I think she is still recalling the event to her friends in the USA and we hope to hear from her soon.

John, Denise, Sophie, Natasha and Neil had a great time in Zimbabwe - where I personally took them on tour - I have reported already about that safari and John has forwarded comments to Guestbook no.2 My first Guestbook is full, so I had to start another one - these are found on my Tripod site. John also sent me a few photos of their trip and it certainly looks as though the last few days on the Kariba Houseboat was one of the highlights, though John reckons the White Water rafting down the Zambezi was his highlight.

Brad and Sophie have just completed their Zimbabwe leg of their Honeymoon and Brad phoned me from Vic Falls to give a feedback report on what they had experienced so far. My ladies in Kariba who handle our bookings there came out tops for service and efficiency - well done Trish - keep up the excellent work. The Chizarira Lodge came out with flying colours as the best lodge and hospitality in Zimbabwe. Ilala Lodge in Vic Falls had very friendly staff, as did Sikumi and Matobo Hills - however they would have preferred to have left out the later two. Vic Falls Safari Lodge had great views from the rooms and Sprayview is fine and more than adequate and recommended for an economical stay. I can't recall Brad saying anything about the Kariba and Mana Pools accommodation or service, so won't comment on those. They are now travelling through Botswana on one of the camping safaris we offer, prior to doing some flying in-between the Okavango Islands to various lodges. We shall hear from them at the end of the month I imagine.

Juan and his wife are exploring Botswana and Zimbabwe at the moment - on a self-drive. They arrived from Mexico (on a last minute booking), and then our car rental rep met them at Johannesburg airport, from where they left for Botswana and the Okavango for a 2 night Delta excursion. Juan phoned us from Vic Falls to let us know they had arrived there safely and were looking forward to all the activities we had planned for them so far. Please remember to get your Visa's well in advance if you are going on vacation - we had panic stations over the last couple of weeks trying to get visa's organised. Luckily we had excellent co-operation from the Botswana border officials - they always are so friendly, so remember to be friendly back and you shall always get co-operation.

My Austrian colleague, Walter, has his three clients driving through Kruger Park at the moment en route to Swaziland and Maputoland, where I shall be meeting Werner, Hilde and Karin after they have spent a few days diving at Sodwana Bay. We then spend 5 days in the Umfolosi Game Reserve in one of the safari tented camps - should be lots of fun. I believe Karin has lots of campfire stories to tell of previous adventures and safaris through Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Neil and Tanya arrived in Cape Town early this week and Eric shall be taking them on a couple of tours, before they drive to Cape Agulhas and Knysna for a few days. We hope to hear from them on their return. Alice (and I) is always pleased when clients actually call her and have a chat on the phone - very nice to have some personal touch to all her planning, so thanks Neil.

Of the forthcoming tours and safaris, we have been busy planning for Brett and Alexis. Alexis is Sophies brother and with Brett, a friend of Brad's, shall be joining them in Johannesburg in November for a few weeks in Kruger Park, then at the end of the Kruger stay, Alexis goes home and Ian, Nelson and Debbie join the trio - continuing through to Swaziland, Maputoland, Mocambique, Umfolosi and finally Durban. Brad and Sophie continue down south to Cape Town, whilst the others return home. So a lot of planning and co-ordinating has been required here and it has kept Alice very busy with all the bookings.

Midge and Tracy arrive in a weeks time, to start their holiday in Cape Town, before flying up to Vic Falls and then continuing to Kruger Park, where our local team will be hosting them for a week with game viewing in open-vehicles, a couple of nights at private game reserves (including going on walks with orphaned lions and elephants!!) and then a visit to a Shangaan cultural village, before returning to Kruger for a final night and then flying back to Miami.

Michael and his wife arrive in December for a few days in Kruger Park, flying into Nelspruit and then hiring one of our cars for 3 days to enjoy some great gameviewing in the southern part of the Park. We have also organised for them to enjoy some early morning and night drives in open vehicles. With it being summer, we managed to secure accommodation in the restcamps which have swimming pools - really important in summer, as by late morning, the temperature is so high, all the animals have a siesta, so the tourists also need to!

During November, as mentioned last month, Claudia is coming out from Germany, taking a couple weeks leave from her busy hotel, and the two of us shall be on an educational tour from the Garden Route, through the Eastern Cape and Sani Pass, then through Zululand and Swaziland to Kruger and finally back to Durban - so I will be out of the office again, and appreciate Alice and all her hard work and long hours she dedicates to keep the company going. Also during November, Michelle and her family will be exploring the Cape and the Garden Route area - who knows, I might even bump into them when I am in Knysna!

During December, Sylva and Andrew shall be in Zimbabwe, followed by the Millennium in Mocambique - unfortunately her two friends are not able to join them anymore, so they shall be on their own - but they shall still have a great time.

We are already planning safaris and vacations for past and new clients for next year and also 2001 - the highlight of 2001 being the Total Solar Eclipse on the 21 June in NE Zimbabwe and Zambia. Apparently most of the accommodation up north has already been booked out - absolutely amazing - and so we are now trying to secure some beds/lodges for our clients.

The actual eclipse lasts for nearly two hours, with the total coverage of the sun lasting for between 3 and 4 minutes. It shall be visible in a band across Angola, Zimbabwe, Mocambique and Madagascar. I hope to be able to be there as it will be my first total eclipse to experience!

As most of you are aware, we specialise in tailor-made safaris, though we still have some people who type out a request and then "copy and paste" it to an e-mail and then send it to 10 or 20 other Tour Operators, asking for us to send brochures and more information. I presume these folks don't read my webpage or past editions of Dean's Diary. We are a small and personal company, offering fast, efficient and friendly service. We are not a normal Tour Operator who has 9 to 5 office hours - when I am not on safari, I work until 10pm to be able to reply to my North American clients qickly. We normally manage to exchange 2 or 3 e-mails in one evening, if they are on line, so they get answers quickly. We do not have a credit card machine, at the moment. I am in the process of applying for one - but it does incur extra charges, which those folks who prefer to pay by cc will have to pay. I am not sure what some people have against paying by bank telegraphic transfer - they seem very suspicious of this method! To me it is safer and cheaper to transfer funds via bank tt, than it is by credit card, but for those 'plastic people', we are planning to get a machine before the year is out. For those of you who are reading this for the first time - welcome, but please, when you send your enquiry, try and be a bit more friendly and personal - both Alice and I have names - we prefer to be on first name terms with our clients - who become our guests and friends.

Thanks to Dries for his e-mails and feedback from his adventurous holidays - good to have some fresh information. Good luck with your new venture and website as well.

Alice is actually on a weeks leave as I write this and is planning on returning fully refreshed and feeling like a new person - ready to answer those enquiries for the new Millennium! Also happening at the moment is our driveway is being tarred. We have had the old concrete and grass strip driveway for so long, and with the dogs running up and down, there is more sand than grass. We also seem to have more and more of our clients pop-in to say "hi" and meet Alice or myself, so it is important to have a nice entrance. My only complaint is that my two Fever trees on the pavement and grass that I have been trying so hard to grow now has rubble and stone and old sand piled up on it, and I am going to battle to get it right again! Penny, a colleague, who also pops in occassionaly is glad it is being tarred as whenever she comes to visit, the dogs get so excited to see her (she is such a lovely young lady), that she has to go home and change her clothes afterwards!

I presume you have heard of the terrible bus accidents that we have read about in the press recently. I do not know what the answer to the causes are - each one seems to have had different circumstances, but they have all been awful. My older sister, Gail, is a nurse in the town of Bethlehem and the one buses casualties spent time in her hospital - it was horrific. Rest assured though, I do not deal with coach tours or buses - unless you have specifically asked for such a tour. There are hundreds of buses on the road daily, so it is a bit short-sighted to cancel a holiday because of other buses having accidents. It's similar to saying never cross the road again as someone was killed whilst crossing it yesterday - and same with car accidents, crime, rape etc - it does happen to many people, but you can't live in a cacoon hoping it will never happen to you. You have to take every precaution with your safety and life and hope all goes well. Just today on the news was the terrible event of a pilot in Botswana who took off in an aeroplane, called up the control tower and said he was committing suicide and promptly crashed into two planes parked infront of the control tower - boy, he must have been desperate! It is tragic how some people are forced to end their lives.

On a happier note, last week Steve and his son Lloyd came around for dinner last week and also helped me the following day to repair some fencing at the back. Our neighbours at the back have two dogs that bark continuously during the day - if they can see us or my dogs, so by erecting a screen, now they can't see us! Over the weekend I went for a nice braai with Tom, Johness, Dominque and friends - Tom and I were shipmates back in the 70's and 80's - and travelled around the world together for a few years. They recently came back from a weeks fishing holiday at Cape Vidal and never caught one fish!! Where had they all gone?
I had a nice phonecall from Glenn, one of my ex-pupils last week - nice to hear about his plans and studies and future - he also has e-mail now, so easier to stay in contact. Then I had a suprise e-mail from Ian, also an ex-pupil - he had read past editions of Dean's Diary and then thought he better drop me a line. Good on you Ian, stay in touch - looking forward to your next e-mail.
Then a real suprise when I had an e-mail from Glen in Australia. Glen came out to SA as a 16-year old Scout, along with two other Scouts, back in 1988. I was their Guide to show them around SA for 5 weeks and we all had a great time. Glen and I stayed in touch for a few years, and then as he progressed with his studies and job, we lost contact. His dad, Rob, has apparently been reading my diary every month - and brings Glen up to date with the news - well, Rob, how about an e-mail from you? Glen, good to hear all your news and the charity work you have done - well done. Talking of Oz, I hope Dawn is OK - she was not well a few weeks ago and needs to get better before going back to Asia for her missionary work. Also had an e-mail from John and Liz, who have emigrated to Australia. John is to become my agent in Australia, so I am looking forward to having some kangaroo-type clients soon!

Finally, my one nephew, Sven, is turning out to be a real champion swimmer. He has been swimming through the winter (in a heated pool) and now has entered a number of gala's, and obtaining various medals. He was thrilled (in fact I think my sister, Lynn, was more thrilled) to have met our Olympic winner, Penny Heyns at the one gala and to have his costume and tracksuit autographed by Penny, plus a photo with Penny. Penny was so thrilled with the enthusistic crowd, she told them she would try break another record for them - and into the pool she dived and broke not one, but two world records!! What a girl!!! Apparently the crowd almost broke the windows and roof down with their screaming and cheering.

So, on that happy note, I shall end, looking forward to hearing from you soon.

All the best

Dean