Yip - summer is here - well almost. Our spring rains are easing off, the heat is increasing, the sun is setting later and rising earlier and with this all, the humidity increases!!

In this issue of my Diary, the following topics, not necessary in this order though I shall try as it makes it easier for you to scan through to your juiciest of topics:

1. Feedback from past clients - Midge & Tracy, Juan & Lourdes, Neil & Tanya, Brad & Sophie, Werner, Hilda & Karin.

2. Safaris in progress - Connie & Carol, Stephano & Stefania

3. Forthcoming trips - Claudia, Michael and wife, Sylva and Andrew, Hansrainer and family, Leigh and family, Adrian & Clare, Michelle and family, Colleen & Rhonda, Gerri, Ray and friend, Brad & Sophie with Alexis, Brett, Ian, Nelson and Debbie,& finally Dianne.

4. Our recent floods

5. African Bundu Safaris Millennium Big Five T-Towel Calendar.

6. My friends 92nd birthday party!!

7. Past pupils, Scouts and friends

8. Milly & Didi

9. Zululand flying service - we are progressing!!

1. Midge and Tracy have recently return to the USA from their exciting safari which included Cape Town, Vic Falls, Kruger Park and a couple of private game reserves. When they e-mailed me yesterday, their subject heading was "The best trip of our lives" - they sure had a great time. When they were in Cape Town - they experienced the famous South Easter wind - known locally as the "Cape Doctor" as it blows everything out to sea! They still had a great time exploring Cape Town and the surrounding area. Then they flew up to Vic Falls and stayed at a lovely safari lodge which overlooks a waterhole in the National Park and they ate at the famous Boma Restaurant. Returning to South Africa from Zimbabwe, they flew to Kruger Park and then were spoilt with some excellent game viewing and leopard sightings, then to a private game ranch where there is a "tame" lioness and two elephants which went on walks with them every morning. They seemed to have fallen in love with this family run reserve and are planning to return and to definitely keep in touch with everyone there. They found the Silkworm farm very entertaining and a unique experience and enjoyed the rainforest walk and of course our stunning scenery and beauty of our land. The one hotel they stayed at in Hazyview was not top of their list and it sounds as though it needs some renovations - we shall have to investigate.

Juan and Lourdes returned to Mexico from their self-drive from Johannesburg, through Botswana and Zimbabwe and had a great time. I have put Juan's comments into Guestbook no.2.

Neil and Tanya also had a great time and especially our recommended deviation to Cape Aughlas was the highlight of their self-drive trip. I will have Neil's comments into our Guestbook no. 2 before this edition appears on my website.

Brad and Sophie phoned me from Johannesburg, immediately upon landing after their 3 weeks in Botswana. They had a great time - enjoying some excellent game sightings with a pack of Wild Dogs attacking and eating an antelope a few metres in front of them and only taking a couple of minutes to devour everything!! They visited a number and variety of lodges in various parts of the Okavango Delta and felt that the cheapest one was actually the best. A better atmosphere, gaming and accommodation - so just goes to show - the higher priced and most luxurious ones are not necessary the best. At the moment, they are on Sophies part of their honeymoon, 2 weeks in the Seychelles - oh boy, wish I was there!!

I have not personally been on many trips this past month - but did enjoy 5 days with my Austrian guests, Werner, Hilda and Karin. The trio had driven in one of our rented vehicles from Johannesburg to Kruger Park, stopping off at various places and enjoying every destination, host and facility. From Kruger, they drove through Swaziland to Pongola dam, overnighting at both and also enjoying the exciting elephant tracking at Pongola Reserve, before driving to Tembe Elephant Reserve which I think was the highlight of their trip. From Tembe, they spent 3 nights at Kosi Bay, at a lodge which I do not think I will be supporting in the future as they are not really geared up for the foreign tourist - aimed more at the local fisherman. I have however found a better lodge nearby and having now visited them, shall support them. After Kosi, they went to Sodwana Bay and really enjoyed their stay there, before driving to Hluhluwe, where I met them. After a quick visit to the local Zulu cultural village for a tour and lunch, we entered the Umfolosi Game reserve which was to be our home for the next 4 nights. It was also during this time that Durban experienced the floods, so we had a bit of rain, but nothing to stop our game viewing - which included a game walk, a night game drive and also game drives in my 4x4. With the cold and wet weather, the animals generally tend to hid in the thicker bush, so we did not have the best of sightings - though we did have a quick close sighting of 2 black rhinos and over a dozen white rhino, a few elephants in the distance, lots of giraffe very close, plus various other antelope and zebra. After returning to Durban, they then drove to the Drakensberg mountains and back to Johannesburg. I have their comments on my no2. Guestbook already.

2. Safaris in progress - Connie and Carol are in Kruger Park as I write this - they have had a short guided safari in the Kruger Park already and then rented one of our vehicles for a couple of days to get to another section of Kruger. They shall then depart for Cape Town for a few days prior to flying back to the USA and Mexico. I look forward to hearing from them on their return home.

Stephano and Stefania from Italy are busy driving around and exploring Namibia at the moment. They have already visited the Etosha Pan Game Reserve and then the Damaraland and right now they are in the Namib desert - from where they shall head south to the coastal town of Ludertiz before heading back to Windhoek. As they do not speak any English, a friend of theirs did all the correspondence and also my route description translation - so I hope to hear from them on their return as well.

3. I shall be out of the office from Fri 12 to Mon 29th on an Educational Safari with Claudia - visiting various lodges from the Karoo, through the Garden Route, Eastern Cape, Drakensberg and Zululand. Claudia works in a hotel in Germany and is wanting to visit places where clients can be accommodated here in South Africa - which is where she is planning on working in a few years time. Michael and his wife are arriving here in a few weeks time to explore a bit of Kruger Park, Sylva and Andrew will be spending Xmas and the New Year in Zimbabwe and Mocambique, from 21 Dec to 31 Dec, I shall be with Hansrainer and his family - first in Cape Town, then on safari from Durban to Kruger Park. Leigh and her family shall be exploring Mocambique on a self drive prior to driving into Zimbabwe and enjoy a few relaxing days on one of our houseboats on Lake Kariba. Adrian and Clare will be driving from Johannesburg through Swaziland and Zululand to enjoy a week in Umhlanga Rocks working on a South Africa summer tan!, Michelle and her family arrive later this month to explore the Cape and the Garden Route prior to flying to Durban to spend time with family and relatives and then they all drive up to Zululand for some game viewing and a night at a Zulu Cultural village. Colleen, Rhonda and another friend fly from Cape Town to Durban on Xmas day, then have an exciting short safari into Zululand to go game viewing and visiting the Battlefields. Brad and Sophie return from the Seychelles this weekend and then Sophies Brother, Alexis and a few of Brads friends shall be joining and leaving them in various stages of their 2 month exploration of South Africa - through Kruger Park, Zululand and Maputoland and then down to Cape Town through the Transkei Wild Coast and Garden Route, then into Southern Namibia for the Millennium prior to driving through the Northern Cape and back to Johannesburg. Should be an exciting safari, that again, I wish I could have joined them on! Our final client is Dianne who is going on an overland safari from Johannesburg through Zimbabwe and including a canoeing trip on the Zambezi. It should be an exciting Xmas and New Year for her. Let us have some feedback afterwards Dianne.

4. Our Durban Floods - not too sure how much you have heard or read - I was away from Durban in Umfolosi when it all happened, so can only talk from newspaper and radio reports - and of course accounts from people here. On the Sunday we had a bit of rain, likewise on Monday, but then Tuesday the heavens opened - at Virginia Airport, about 2 kms from our home/office, they had 408 mm of rain in 24 hours, of which 340 mm were in 1 hour!! Our roads, drains and properties are not designed for such a sudden downpour - so flooding occurred - cars were floating down the streets, people were panicking, buildings were flooded and even guys were using jetski's and canoes down Durban's main street!! Luckily there were no major loss of lives but many people forced to become homeless.

5. At this moment as I am typing, I have a limited number of beautiful cotton T-Towels being printed. I hope to get a photo of them shortly, but to described them to you - they have an artists picture of the Big 5 animals on them with the 2000 calendar printed below the picture. Obviously our company names appears at the top of the calendar. We have only had a limited number printed so it is a collectors piece. Once I receive them, I shall take a photo, and print it onto a special page on our website. If you wish to purchase one, we will gladly take orders. The exact cost will be advertised on the website, but it shall be in the region of R90 each (includes postage and packaging) or about US$15 each. (Locals will get slight discount on the cheaper postage.) If you would like one or two to be booked for you - please let us know and then we can reserve one or two for you. They would make great gifts for family or even your boss!!

6. You might recall that a year ago I attended a friends Grandmothers 91st birthday party - well last weekend we celebrated her 92nd birthday. We all met at a new Greek seafood restaurant in Amanzimtoti and thoroughly enjoyed a lovely seafood platter - crayfish, prawns, calamari, mussels and fish - along with savoury rice and fish and some lovely wine. Boy, I wish I could be as bouncy and bubbly as Cathy is when I reach 92 - she is so full of life and energy!!

7. I had a suprise visit yesterday from a past Scout of my, Greg. He joined my Scout troop at the age of 11 and worked his way up the ranks to become one of the Patrol Leaders. He is now a manager and shareholder of a restaurant and really enjoying life. We had a good sit-down and chin-wag about the past and the future. Michael who I have mentioned before is a past pupil of mine - in fact when I left teaching he was one of my favourite std 6 pupils and we have kept in touch. He has been enjoying the Waterpolo season and has done well in his lifesaving and now has been appointed Deputy Head Boy of my old school - well done Mike - very proud of you!! I also heard from Wesley who was in std 7 when I left, and he is really getting into his cycling and writing his finals at the moment - good luck Wesley and even more luck next year at Tech. Shannon who is in the UK enjoyed his visit to Germany and the Beerfest and now is concentration on getting bigger than Arnold!! Seems as though he and Justin are working hard at work and then harder in the gym afterwards - guess these guys want a role in a Hollywood movie soon ? I am also glad to hear that Dawn is much better having recovered from her illness and back at her teaching job in Bangkok. Dawn, you are lucky our Springboks let the Aussies win the rugby world cup this time around - like our past president, Nelson Mandela, we believe in sharing, so it would not have been fair to keep the trophy for two periods!!

8. Our two dogs, Milly and Didi are both well and having a great time playing with each other around the house and office. Milly still has the bad habit of jumping up all the time, so with the rains that we have had, she gets shouted at a lot and learning quickly!! Luckily we have had the driveway tarred otherwise we would have had muddy paws all the time!! I still have to teach her to swim, though I can see she already loves the water. She lies on the side of the pool and with her front paws, hits the water and splashes everywhere!! She is so cute when after you have arrived home and go to close the gates, she runs and picks up a beautiful flower in her mouth and then brings it to you!!

9. What an exciting day Tue 9 November was. We had our trial run of our flying service to Zululand and Maputoland. The day was like this - 06h15 - all meet at Virginia airport - coffee, tea and quick briefing. 06h35 - board plane, in the rain and take off. Fly 800 feet above ground level along the coast sighting dolphins, whales, fishermen, cottages, rivers etc along the way - 07h20 - low flypast Richards Bay airport - continue along the coast over the town of St Lucia - then 300 feet over Lake St Lucia spotting Hippos, crocs and birds - land at Hluhluwe airstrip - disembark. We met local lodge and Tour Operators who wanted to see our plane - which was a Cessna Grand Caravan and to also meet us. The two companies that were there were Dinizulu Safaris and Falaza Game Park. (I had invited 9 in total to meet us!)

After a short stop, we took off, flying over the pineapple and sisal fields to Sodwana Bay where we circled the lodge and resort there, before flying over the forests and then Lake Sibayi landing at the airstrip in amongst the plantations. This was quite an exciting landing as the trees created thermals and the wind was also blowing very strong here. Coming down to land with trees rushing past on either side was very exciting and built up a healthy appetite! The new Sibayi Lodge owners met us and then transferred us to their lodge for a quick guided tour and a superb breakfast. What was really an excellent touch was the greeting and farewell from their staff - really unique and not artificial at all. From Sibayi, a short flight over huge forest plantations then tribal grazing fields, landing at Kosi Bay airstrip.. This airstrip was in amongst Zulu huts and fields and we, as passengers, did not even notice it until we banked steeply to land. That was another really exciting part of the flying - when they bank the plane to land - they really bank it - and I remember Joanne stating that this was her most exciting part of the flight!

Were were met by the Ranger, the chef and his wife and promptly shown around the Kosi Forest Camp - wow, what a great place - only thing missing is a splash pool - as I personally would not be too happy to share the adjoining lake with the resident hippos!! The chalets each have their own outside bathroom, with the bath sunk into the seasand! The chief Ranger here was David - who I did not recognise at first as he was wearing a cap - but I first met David in the 1980's when I took Scouts camping onto his fathers farm near Howick. David's mother, Gill, and I still correspond and I never even recalled her saying that David was working there, so a really fantastic suprise. Knowing that David is there, I would have no hesitation in recommending the camp as David, I know, is an expert on birds and plants -a great chap to have around.

After tea and snacks (lovely cake and crunchies!) we returned to the airstrip and took off, flying over Lake 4 and Lake 3, then Kosi Lodge and headed towards Tembe Elephant Reserve. This was going to be our first test strip, as neither of the pilots had landed here before and also the strip was only 700 metres long - no problem for the Caravan which is designed for bush flying! As we were approaching the runway, we spotted a breeding herd of elephants about 100metres away in the bush near a water pan. Anyway, the landing was exciting as the grass was very long (the Nature Conservation authorities tractor had broken down the day before) and also we stopped about 30 metres short of the end - no problem.

Mark and Sibisa were there to meet us and drove us the 25 mins to the Lodge where his wife Theresa had prepared a light lunch for us. We did a quick inspection of the luxury tented safari camp and relaxed around the pool. As it was midday, the airstrip was short with trees at either end and the grass long, the pilots had decided to be 100% safe and fly half of us to Ndumo airstrip, returning with an empty plane to collect the other half. Those of us that had been to Tembe before left on the first plane trip - and had no problem in clearance taking off. None of us had the co-ordinates of Ndumo, as it was not planned to land there, so it was very much navigation by sight. I thought the pilots had been there before and knew the way - no way - I realised this when I noticed them following the river in the wrong direction - so I went up to the front and pointed them in the correct direction and then they spotted the airstrip and down we went with another exciting steep banking to the landing. We all climbed out, and Nic took off, returning with the others about 20 minutes later.

We then took off and climbed - to get over the Lebombo Mountains. The view of the Makatini Flats was awesome and descending over the mountains to land at Mkuze airstrip was great with a low flypast the front of Ghost Mountain Inn. They met us at the airstrip and then we transferred us to the Hotel - where we had some refreshing fruit juice and then were shown a bedroom and their lake, prior to enjoying some tea and scones. We were also lucky to have met Anton from Mkuzi Falls Lodge and Lindi from Shayamoya Lodge. (I had invited 7 in total to visit us). We returned to the plane feeling like veteran flyers and took off with an absolutely stunning view of the mountains, the hills, then Hluhluwe and then Umfolosi Game Reserves. The winding Umfolosi river was a great landmark and I even spotted the cliffs we sat on during our wilderness trail for lunch in September!! Our most exciting landing was about to take place - at another un-tested landing strip. Thula Thula Exclusive Private Game Lodge. This was a real bush airstrip - situated in the valley, next to a river and in the bush with 700 metres of grass. We flew over the strip then began our descent and banked to the left spotting giraffe, zebra, kudu, impala all in the bush below. Coming in to the final approach, the tension in the plane climbed high - the adrenaline was pumping - we could see an electric fence and a road and trees waiting for us at exactly 700 metres from this end of the airstrip - we cruised over the tops of the eastern trees, descended even lower and as the wheels were about to touch the grass runway, the pilots had to swerve to the left a touch to avoid a branch from a large acacia tree - as the wheels touched, we bounced one small hop, then clipped the small bushes on the left with the tip of the wing and clearing the larger tree by a couple of metres. Then we went whizzing past the hosts who had tremendously large eyes, standing on the side of the runway half way down the length, and we came to a grinding halt with about 15 metres to spare - hmm, this runway needs widening and lengthening before we use it again. We taxied around and stopped halfway down the length, disembarking. Rickus in this exciting moment had totally crushed his packet of cigarettes which were in his pocket!!

Francois, Lawrence and David then took us to see the new chalets and lodges that they are rebuilding in the absolutely stunning forest setting alongside the stream. There will be 6 en suite chalets with a boma, splashpool and entertaining area, plus a Lodge. This will be the fully catered Elephant Safari Camp - in honour of their 5 baby elephants and two mother elephants that they recently introduced. These incidentally are the first elephants in the greater Empangeni area in the last 100 years!!

After visiting the Elephant camp, we then visited the other camp where there are going to be 8 self-catering units, also with a great setting in amongst the trees and a stunning view over the river and grasslands. Enroute to the main lodge for sundowner drinks, Nic phoned us from the plane to inform us that he was not happy to take off with us in the plane, so was going to take off and fly to the Empangeni airstrip and we should meet him there. This was great - a test of our contingency plan being implemented and reassurance tat the pilots are very safety orientated!! After a couple of drinks and snacks, we then departed from Thula Thula, along the gravel roads and made it to Empangeni just in time, before it got too dark to take off. Bidding farewell, we then took off and flew back to Durban, marvelling at the twinkling lights below and enjoying the drinks and snacks provided on the plane.

Now, this was a test run and a feasibility run to determine where our flying schedule will fly to and obviously if there is a need and economical possibility of such. The idea is to give you the tourist and also the business man, an alternative way to travel to Zululand and the Maputoland Lodges. It is normally a 2.5 to 6 hour journey from Durban to any of these lodges and we thought it would be quicker, safer and more relaxing to fly from Durban to these lodges and Game reserves. Our idea is to have a return ticket price with a discount for a one-way flight. A one way flight would be ideal for those of you who wish to fly to a lodge, enjoy a few nights there and then a Tour Guide meets you there and continues taking you on a land safari, or even your rental car arrives for you to continue driving. We will probably start off with 2 or 3 flights a week, and then as the demand increases, we shall have a daily flight then eventually a morning and an afternoon flight. The lodges and areas we are looking at covering include, Richards Bay, Hluhluwe and all the lodges around there, Phinda Game Reserve, Sodwana Bay, Lake Sibayi, Rocktail Bay, Kosi Bay, (which would also feed Ponto Do Ouro in Mocambique), Tembe and Ndumo Game Reserves, Mkuze and Pongola Game Reserve and any other possible lodges or Reserve which have a demand for such a service and will fall within the routing of our circuit. If you are a lodge owner, or a Tour Operator or a Tourist or a Business person and you see a need for such a service, please drop us a line (e-mail) and let us have your thoughts.

Please note - our telephone number will be changing from 22 November to 572 4559. At this number, we have a telephone, answering machine and fax. Our 24 hour fax number is 562 1542.

Our e-mail servers seem to have completed upgrading their equipment, so hopefully we should be able to access our e-mails more often without problems. For your information, we check our e-mails from 3 to 6 times a day, so you should always have a reply within 48 hours. If you have not, please do resend it, as possibly something has going wrong. We will be closed from 24 December until the 2 January - so no replies from a human-being will be forthcoming during that period!

To all my e-mail friends - please do not send any chainletters or promises of winning a holiday or fortune or letters of plea... plus no jokes with attachments. We are battling to cope with so many e-mails and enquiries as it is and these, in all honesty, are blocking up our system and create more admin work. AS you know there are many virus's and virus scares that are circulating daily - the latest being Bubble Boy - we do not need take any such risks - so delete any such e-mails immediately. Please be considerate and accommodating.

I also cannot give jobs to people as I am not an employment agency - plus, I would never employ someone via the Internet - you gotta meet a person in reality first!

We are in the process of obtaining our credit card machine - which has taken a lot of time and negotiating to obtain one, and this is on request of so many clients who only want to pay with a credit card. We should hopefully have it installed within a week.

Of the future - I wish you all a very pleasant winter and summer (depending if you are northern or southern hemisphere) and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

All the best

Dean