JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2000

      Dear All

      "Wow, time has flown. This is traditionally my quiet season and boy have we been busy"... yip, that is how I started my last entry and I have to repeat it - where has the time gone? I have been out on a number of safaris, Alice has been on leave and when here, up to her ears in work, I have been doing quotes and route descriptions left, right and center and I would rarely have a day where I can lock up the office before 9pm. Where are we going right? I can tell you - we are fast, friendly and efficient, with personal service. Our trips are tailor-made, not packages, though for some people who are really restricted in their time, we do offer packages. I have also been working on development of new projects, additional WebPages and trying to have a bit of a social life, though that has been difficult. So this entry shall briefly tell you the following:

      1. Past safaris with my guests

      2. Past self-drive vacations

      3. Future safaris and self-drives

      4. My friends and their lives

      5. International Tourist Indaba show in Durban

      6. Zululand Flying Service

      7. Floods in Kruger, Botswana and Mozambique

      8. Our office developments

      9. My Family and pets

       

      1. Past Safaris - I ended the year with a Xmas safari starting in Cape Town when Hans-Rainer, Ute, Julia, Moritz and Nena arrived there from Germany. (I was staying with some good friends of mine, Theo and Morag, who lived about 20 mins away from the Guesthouse.) Our first day was spent on the scenic Cape Peninsula Day drive - enjoying the Hout Bay Seal island cruise, then Cape Point Nature Reserve, then Boulders Penguin colony before stopping at Rhodes Memorial for the final stop. The following day we went to Robben Island in the morning and up the new Table Mountain cable car in the afternoon - nice to see all the improvements at the top of Cape Town! On Xmas Eve, Eric, my Cape Town colleague and Guide, accompanied us on the Winelands Tour - encompassing Stellenbosch, Boschendaal picnic, Franschoek memorial and finally Paarl monument. Then on Christmas Day before I went to the family, I popped in to the wandering Honeymoon couple - Brad and Sophie, and woke them up on Xmas Day at 08h30am!! (More about them later!!) Well, Hans-Rainer and family and I then drove out of Cape Town and saw us spending the morning at Gordon's Bay beach and whilst I flew back to Durban that late afternoon/evening, the family had Xmas dinner at a lovely restaurant overlooking the Atlantic ocean. My Xmas night was a disaster - briefly though - I arrived in Durban with my luggage arriving in Johannesburg - the rented vehicle had just been occupied by a sweaty local soccer team and on arrival at my locked home discovered my keys were still in Johannesburg! I had to break into my house as I still had lots of work to do - my cell phone battery was flat, no public phones within 5kms of home worked, and my Xmas dinner was a cold meat pie from the petrol station as their microwave did not work!!! SAA brought my suitcase and keys home shortly after midnight!!

      Well, the next morning, on arrival at the airport to meet me guests, two of their suitcases had remained in Cape Town, so we toured Durban for 4 hours waiting for the next plane to arrive, before driving up to St Lucia where we had a nice welcome from Monica our hostess.

      The next morning we had a lovely boat cruise on the St Lucia Estuary and the afternoon was spent relaxing at the guesthouse as it was raining! On the 28th, we drove through Swaziland to Kruger Park and arrived at the Berg-en-Dal guesthouse shortly before dark. The following day was dedicated to game viewing - and we accomplished a fair amount of ground and had some nice sightings, including leopard, elephants and lion !! Dinner that night was a late dinner as the family enjoyed a night drive.

      On the 30th, we left Kruger park and drove via Graskop to Pilgrims Rest, then to Mac Mac Falls and enjoyed our lunch at Lone Creek Falls, before driving out of the rainy area to Nelspruit and a lovely guesthouse, where we enjoyed the afternoon swimming and relaxing. The following morning after an early breakfast, we drove to Johannesburg International Airport, where my new friends Hans-Rainer, Ute and the 'children' left for a Millennium Party at Vic Falls. They had a great time there, before returning for the finale of their holiday at Sun City and jetting back to Germany.

      I drove back to Durban on the afternoon of the 31st and after dinner and attending to some e-mails, was in bed and fast asleep before 11pm - not even waking up with all the crackers and bangs welcoming in the New Year!! (Oh, I woke up at 2am with Claudia phoning me to wish me a Happy New Year!!)

      Well, the New Year had started and on the 4th I drove back to Johannesburg via my sister, Gail, who stayed in Kestel (about half way to JNB) to meet my next guests the following day at the airport. Greg, Ben and Bill had spent the New Year celebrations in Cape Town and now were ending off their South African trip with a game viewing safari.

      We departed from JNB airport for the town of Sabie and after checking into our guesthouse, enjoyed a great dinner at one of the nearby restaurants. The following day, we drove down the Kowyn Pass, and were delayed a few hours by a landslide from the previous nights rain, to our next stop - a private game reserve with accommodation in Tree houses! We went for a game drive that afternoon, but returned back to camp a bit early as the skies opened and it poured cats and dogs, or should I say, lions and hyenas! None-the-less, dinner that night was great and an early rise the next morning for a great game drive before brunch and departing for Kruger Park for one night. There had been so much rain for the previous two weeks, that we actually saw very few animals until we reached Satara camp - where on an afternoon drive we came across two prides of lions - both enjoying themselves at two different kills. Well, the chaps did not like the idea of me having to drive all the way back to Johannesburg and then to Durban, so after consultation, they decided to fly back to Johannesburg instead, and this gave them a bit more time to enjoy Kruger park as well - so after a bit of a sleep-in and breakfast, we departed for Hoedspruit airport where I bid farewell to my friends, and then I drove back to Durban (via my sister again) I drove basically 'as the crow flies' and it was great to use the minor back roads, see the farming areas and drive through small towns I do not normally visit - thanks guys for giving me this opportunity - I love exploring new areas - makes life so interesting.

      Returning back to Durban, gave me the chance to catch up on correspondence, as Alice had been on leave with her family since Xmas Eve, so there were many new enquiries to respond to and forthcoming trips to finalize before she returned on the 17th Jan.

      Alice and her family had spent the Millennium at Sun City, where they have a Timeshare in some chalets, and then they went to the Mabula Game Reserve not too far away for another week and had a marvelous time with some great gameviewing and relaxing.

      Towards the end of January, I was employed again by a colleague who books the Elderhostel Tours clients on the Zululand Extension tours - and I am the Guide/driver for the guests to their Zululand lodge - and these couples are always such nice people, keen to learn more about our country and its people - so the drives are always so interesting. Unfortunately due to budget constraints, I just drop the folks off and then have to drive the 3 hours back to Durban - and return two days later to collect them and transfer them back to the airport.

      On the 1st February, I was back at Johannesburg Airport, first to have lunch with Michelle, who had been in Jamie's safari party in September through Botswana, and was now in Johannesburg hoping to land a nice job - so I had lunch with her and as I said farewell to her, so Irene, Raul and Delphina arrived from Argentina. From Johannesburg, we drove to Pretoria and a small game farm on the outskirts, and enjoyed a short drive around their reserve, especially enjoying the two lion cubs that were only a few months old. It was then that I realized that Raul understood about 5 words of English, though he looked at me as though he understood everything. Delfi understood a good deal more and Irene was very good - seems as though I need to learn Spanish as these would be my second Spanishy-speaking guests within 6 months!! Well, Irene was making a great translator. After breakfast the next morning, we went to the Swaziland Embassy, as they needed visa's and there was no embassy in Argentina - so whilst the visa's were being processed, we went on a short tour of the Union Buildings, Voortrekker Monument, some shopping and a light lunch, returning to the embassy to collect the visa's and then we departed for Hoedspruit and to the private game reserve, arriving in time for dinner. Now, you have to laugh with me here - we arrived in the dark and being a malaria area, we promptly set about searching in the dark suitcases for our cans of insect repellant and then set about spraying our arms and legs etc - Raul being a good father - sprayed Delfi and himself, thoroughly and then gave the can to Irene, who in the dim lighting could not see the cans label, but recognized the smell as deodorant - ha, ha, boy did we have a good laugh!! After dinner, we were shown our rooms and then had a good nights sleep, only disturbed by loud lion roars very nearby!! Early rise, the next morning and off on a game walk with Eliza and Becky. Eliza was a bouncing and lively 2 year old lioness and Becky was a 12 year old elephant and they had been hand-reared and accompanied guests on the morning game walk - quite exciting - especially watching how the lions natural instincts worked on the 8 year old Chinese boy who would not listen to instructions from the Rangers or parents!! Well, after a great walk and breakfast - it was off on a morning game drive, followed by lunch and then a short rest before afternoon tea and cake and then the afternoon game drive and dinner - boy, an action-packed day! The following day, Eliza would not listen to the rangers and refused to join us for the walk, and so this was probably her last chance before being released into the special lions camps, where the lions are used for breeding purposes. So, instead, the two 3 month old lion cubs join us on their first game walk with guests - what a treat - being able to pick them up, cuddle them, watch them play and stalk the impala - and the impala even recognizing these as future killers!! Departing after breakfast, we drove to Endangered Species breeding center and enjoyed an educational tour that brought us close to cheetah, wild dogs, ground hornbills and a number of other endangered species. We continued south into Kruger Park and then the rain started that night.

      The following day it rained, however, we did see a fair number of animals and it stopped raining for the night drive, and continued afterwards! Leaving Kruger, we headed into Swaziland and arrived in the rain at our tented camp near the Pigg's Peak mountain. That afternoon, there seemed to be a break in the weather, so we left for a walk to the waterfall - and then the rain started, as we got to the waterfall - so we were wet and continued - and so did the rain! After dinner, the river that was 3 metres away from my tent had risen quite a bit into a raging torrent - during the night, I got up a few times to look at the river and by 6am, it had 20 centimeters to go before it flooded into my tent - and then the owner of the Reserve came and told us to evacuate as they were going to dismantle the entire camp area of tents etc - and so after breakfast, we drove out of the area and through the rainy Swaziland, stopping briefly at one of the craft markets near Mbabane. Due to the rain, our driving time was a bit slower and we arrive at the Tembe Elephant reserve in time for a late lunch. The game drives here did not show us much, as the rain had started and the bush was thick, so it made observing the wildlife difficult - though we did come across a few elephants!! Our stay here, as always, was great - and we departed for Durban, via the Ilala Weavers for a few curios before arriving at St Lucia for lunch and a boat cruise and then continuing to Shakaland for an afternoon tour of the Zulu village, a great dinner, followed by tribal dancing and then the rain arrived. It rained through the night and after breakfast, we decided to depart for Durban - where it had not started raining yet, however, the forecast was rain for the next 3 days!!

      That was it - Irene and Raul had come to Durban for a few days of relaxing and sun tanning - and with the past week of rain and another predicted 3 days of rain - they decided to depart for home the following day and go spend some time on the beaches in Uruguay. Now all this rain we had had, was the rain that caused the devastating floods in Kruger park and then the sub sequential flooding in Mocambique, prior to the Cyclone adding to the disaster in the poor country. I have put Irene's comments into our Guestbook no. 2

      2. Self-drives

      During January we had a number of folk traveling around on their own, after having made bookings through us - either just for car rental, or just accommodation or both. Ending off the year was the lovely Honeymoon couple, Brad and Sophie. Departing from cape Town on their last leg - they headed north into the Cedarberg Mountains, where the accomplished some hiking up the Wolfberg Cracks, and then they drove to the Orange River (also called the Gariep River in the New South Africa) and crossed into Namibia - so end the year with a splash and a bang - 4 days of rafting down the river into the Richtersveld National Park. What a party they had on the 31st - however, it seemed as though all the rafting companies that were on the Orange were having a competition as to who could make the loudest music! Not very good for a lovely eco experience!! Starting the New Year off, the disappeared into Namibia, to a lovely lodge near the Fish River Canyon for a couple of nights, before heading across inot SA to the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park - where first a few nights in a lodge outside the park, then a couple of nights camping in the park - where they experience incredible rain and road conditions - luckily the car had been upgraded to a Subaru All-wheel Drive and where the springbok and ostriches were getting stuck, they just cruised through with the puddles passing easily over the top of the car!! (Just checking who is reading this!!). After a few nights in the Park, they headed south to Augrabies Falls for a night, then to a lovely colonial style guesthouse in Kimberley, before the long and final drive to Johannesburg and so ended their adventurous, once-in-a-lifetime Honeymoon - and yes, they are still happily married and settled down nicely in San Diego where Sophie is working as a Vet and Brad is contemplating between working and retiring - just depends if Sophie works hard enough!! (Just joking!) You know, when I meet a couple like Brad and Sophie, and then have a little girl like Delfi on a safari, then it makes me really want to settle down and have a family - but when I get home and see the TV programs, hear about all the problems of families and friends - then I just want to go out into the bush again!

      Anyway, Brian rented a vehicle and all must have gone well as "no news, is good news" means just that, likewise with Leigh and friends who rented a houseboat on Lake Kariba through us.

      Adrian and his wife had a great trip - and even popped in to visit Alice whilst they were here in Durban - thoroughly enjoyed their trip - as you can read yourself: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank you both for arranging our holiday. You covered every aspect, from hiring our car to the type of clothing we should bring with us. Dean your route details were excellent (tolls have gone up in price). Our accommodation throughout was first class, The Royal Swazi Hotel, Falaza Tents and what better way to finish our holiday than a superb apartment. Our whole holiday was most memorable and we certainly look forward to arranging another break to South Africa with you, this time taking in the Cape and then finishing at Durban so we can get together. I shall recommend "African Bundu Safaris" to my friends eliviating any concerns they may have through bookings over the Internet. Once again thanks for everything. Keep in touch, Ado and Clare"

      Sylva and Andrew had a great time on their holiday through Zimbabwe, though their Mocambique section was a disaster. We had battled to find them accommodation within their budget and when they finally told us to book a destination we found advertised in a national magazine, it seemed as though the owner of the lodge had no intention of living up to his marketing - this demonstrates the reason why I like to only recommend destinations that I have personally visited. The Macaneta Lodge seemed to be an absolute dump and a local playground - the accommodation was not up to our usual standard and the facilities were not as advertised. The Maputo agency - M-Global are absolutely useless and no help what-so-ever. Here are extracts from Sylva's feedback e-mail:" Our holiday was absolutely superb - except for surprise, surprise ... Mozambique. We thoroughly enjoyed Zimbabwe. It is an interesting country that has lots to offer and the people there are very friendly. The car change was due to its bad technical condition but it was no problem to change it. Jenny from Zindele Lodge was very helpful, she recommended many places and things to see (e.g. Chapungu Village). Vic Falls were simply unbelieveable and White water rafting was literally breathtaking (as well as the elephant riding but there were other reasons for being short of fresh air then!). I think that it was really good idea staying in two different places in Hwange park. We saw different game and the countryside has changed too. We were really pleased with the challets there as they were so cosy and clean. Now the bad news. Mozambique was a big let down and we are extremely upset and annoyed.........." Two friends of theirs were coming on the trip with them and cancelled months ago - and the Maputo agents said we would get a refund - well, to this day, we are still waiting and certainly seems as though nothing is coming - folks - please, make sure you have cancellation and curtailment insurance whenever you make any payments - most important, you can never tell what might happen.

      Tomasz and his wife and friends came out to SA during the end of February and we were lucky to have obtained a special at Phinda Reserve for them. They spent a few nights there and then went to the Garden Route area for a few more nights. Tomasz was visiting his folks who live in Pretoria and some of the comments he made were.."- Travel arrangements were great, very efficient transport to and from Phinda. . Well stocked game reserve, very pleasant and attentive service. The game rangers were friendly and knowledgeable. Overall food quality was poor considering the price, also no special catering for vegeterians........................... Beach trip to Sodwana was lovely. Zulu village a bit of a tourist trap. Forest Lodge was superb, with the glass walls opening onto the forest quite magical. Mountain lodge accomodation also excellent, great views. - Nationwide flight to George was rickety, the plane was very old and rusty, jet engines loud and shaky, not a pleasant flight. We recommend going SAA." I was suprised to read about the food - as I have always been impressed with the food - maybe it was the chefs day off? Not happy to hear about Nationwide - their flights are a lot cheaper - and I am flying on one of their planes on 14 April - so lets see if I get home in one piece!!

      Marius and his wife were going exploring Zimbabwe during February, and due to the fuel shortage - they cancelled their trip. I however only first heard about their non-arrival at their first lodge who e-mailed me and said they had not arrived - well, it took a few days to track them down and then I heard the reason - thanks to the SA Police for finding them alive and well - I had these terrible visions of them lying in a wreck down some mountain slope or even arrested by Mugabe and his silly men. Oh, by the way - never send any e-mail saying anything derogatory about the Zimbabwe government to any person in Zimbabwe - a law has just been passed that states that the government is allowed to track all e-mails and suspend the ITP server if any such e-mails pass through their system!!

      Jef and his wife, Ilse from Belgium recently completed their three week vacation through South Africa, and I look forward to telling you about their trip next time- had a brief e-mail saying they had arrived home safely and were now tired!

      Allison and her friend went on a safari from Vic Falls to Johannesburg, through Zimbabwe and we hope to hear from her soon -

      and Maria returned to Colombia after a short trip to Kruger and e-mailed us back about her brief trip: "Thanks a lot, I enjoyed very much the Safari, everything was perfect an on time. I hope I can go in the future again to SA, because is an incredible country and people are great. Best regards. Maria."

      I did another transfer to Zululand during the first week of March, with an Elderhostel couple - who live near Toronto and farm ostriches!! This was also another week were Alice and family went off on another time-share - to the Drakensberg Mountains.

      3. Future safaris.. Of the forthcoming safaris, starting today, Andrew and his brand new wife, Carol, left Cape town for their honeymoon, and shall spend from now until 14 April exploring Namibia and Botswana with some of the highlights being the Fish River Canyon, Sossusvlei, Okavango Delta, Makgadikgadi Pans, Tuli Reserve, Sun City and the Great Karoo. We wish them well and look forward to their return with all the good news. Michael leaves home in the USA and joins an overland safari from Cape Town to Victoria Falls, before venturing further north on his own. And on the 25th my penfriends wife and 2 kids arrive in Cape Town and are hosted by our friends Theo and Morag prior to Kevin arriving on the HMS Endurance - the Royal Navy's research ship. The Endurance shall be in Cape Town for a week or so, before sailing off to the UK - and I fly down on the 31st to join my friends and take them on a short safari prior to Kevin going back to sea and then Helen and the kids fly up with me to Durban, were we then explore Zululand and Mpumalanga area, ending their exciting holiday on the 14th, when they fly back to the UK and I fly on a rusty Nationwide plane back to Durban. I have one day at home and then take Alice's brother and family on a short safari into Zululand - staying in Hluhluwe-Umfolosi, Phinda and Tembe Reserves - should have some great game-viewing. Also starting in April are some past clients, Neil and Tanya - who have fallen in love with South Africa. They are first going to Mala Mala for a few nights, then one of our Guides, Keith, meets them there and starts their tour - through Mpumalanga and Northern Zululand, before arriving in Durban / Umhlanga Rocks for a few days of relaxing on the beach! And finally, also during April, we have Janet and husband-to-be arriving here for their wedding, which Janice (our wedding specialist and photographer) has assisted to co-ordinate - they shall get married in a game reserve and then explore SA on their honeymoon.

      4. My friends... Karsten attended his brothers wedding during February, then he packed his bags and arrived in the UK - to explore and make his million, before returning to SA later this year. Finding a job is not that easy, and last word I had from him, he was off to Germany where there was some job opening - so shall hear from him later. Shannon came back to SA from the UK for 2 weeks and the two of us went to the Umhlanga Rocks hotel for breakfast a week ago - nice to see him and hear all about his adventures. Old shipmate friend, Steve and his son Lloyd needed my assistance recently when they they moved from a dump of a boarding establishment, to a lovely large house, adjoining Lloyd's school. We loaded my vehicle and trailer up and did two trips - and boy, did I sleep well that night - all the carrying of furniture, up and down steps etc - pretty tiring!! Malcolm recently bought a new house in the USA and has settled in well, as well as getting a new job. My penfriend in Germany, Hans-Jurgen was phoned by Claudia for me and they shall be visiting SA next year as they are planning on going to Nepal this year. Wesley's father was hijacked in his driveway a couple of months ago, and so his mothers new car was lost to the criminal world. My sister's friends father was severly beaten up and nearly murdered in his little house near the Lesotho border town of Fouriesburg towards the end of last year - the local criminal actually pulled the trigger after hitting him on the head and psuhing him against the wall, but the gun did not go off, and when the criminal looked at the barrel, the 'old man' hit the $#%@$^!^ idiot, breaking his nose, which made him furious and then he hit the 'old man' across the knee caps before running away into the street and escaping!!

      I believe that in the USA on the TV, there was some footage saying that Johannesburg was the most dangerous city in the world - what a load of rubbish - do you honestly believe everything you see on TV - have you not realised that when there is nothing dramatic or sensational happening, the reporters and journalists HAVE to go and find something - as good news does not sell - only the bad news - so they need to sensationalise happenings and events. Over the last week, the SA Police have been having a blitz, a clean-up in Hillbrow - the 'Bronx" of Johannesburg - and there are many illegal immigrants - mainly from Nigeria, living there, and they deal a lot with drugs - and so the police are raiding apartments and flats and getting rid of the rubbish - and shipping the illegal folks back home! Which tourist really wants to go from their home town to have a holiday in a CITY - get real!! People come to Africa, come to South Africa to enjoy their holiday with fun and excitement - and the main activities are sightseeing and game viewing - no big city in the world can provide those two activities - so 98% of tourists would land at Johannesburg airport (which is 20 kms out of town) and then either start their safari from there by road or fly to Durban, Cape Town or Kruger Park - or even Zimbabwe or Botswana - Johannesburg is used as an entry point. Same with the floods and malaria in Kruger Park - a colleague of mine has had to change routing and itinerary for a German school group - as the parents saw on TV the floods and heard people were dying of malaria and refused to allow their children to go if Kruger was included - wake up people - when would ANY Tour Operator plan a route that endangers the lives of their guests??? Malaria has been in Kruger since Noah landed his Ark and it has more tourists than any other game reserve in Africa!!!

      Anyway - there I go off on a limb again - it just frustrates me when people believe that what is on TV is the gospel - same like those stupid chain letters - pass it on or else!!

      Glenn has recently completed his training at the local centre and is now working at the Illova factory. Tyrone is working for his folks doing repairs to houses and apartments that they lease/rent out - and it was good to see him recently when he came around to do a plumbing job for me. I spoke to Craig a few weeks ago and his motorbike riding seems to be going well and he has cut down on his fishing now. Claudia is working as hard as ever in Germany at her family hotel and is planning on visiting me again during July and August, as well as her friend who does not live too far away from here. We shall probably go down the Wild Coast for a few days, unless I have a good trip booked in the meantime, then she shall have to join in the safari as an assistant - she is a good cook!! Alicia and Brett popped around recently - Brett is returning overseas to continue his sailing career - this time to Miami area. He has had a great time with the charter yachts in the Med and Seychelles and now is trying the USA waters!

      5. Indaba / Satour - show in Durban is here again, in May - and I look forward to getting the latest information, tariffs and meeting old friends and colleagues at this annual display of the best what Southern Africa has to offer. Satour host this annual show and with me being a Satour Guide and in regular contact with the Satour offices world-wide, it is important to keep up-to-date with current affairs. I had the honour of being invited by Satour Head Office to sit on the Satour panel of examiners early this month - when new Tourist Guides have their final oral examination prior to obtaining their badge. It was an interesting exercise and I look forward to repeating it again in the near future! Please, when / if you phone the Satour office in your country and you want to check on me and my company - please ask to speak to somebody who is not new - twice the person who answered the enquiry was new and did not know of me - I mean, who in the world would know all the companies that operate in South Africa??!! I nearly lost the opportunity to organise my guests holidays!! We have Satour offices in numerous countries around the world and if they have not personally heard of me, ask them to check with head office in Pretoria - or the London or New York offices!!

      6. Zululand Flying Service - will be launched in July. We have now conducted two different 'test runs' and seem to have finalised our routing and timing and pricing. You will have seen that we have an additional webpage which gives extra information about the service and we would like to see at least one plane a day take off from Virginia for Zululand, filled with tourists and passengers. Zululand is an exciting destination with lots to offer - great game reserves, lakes, beaches and scenery - plus we have the World Natural Heritage Site - St Lucia Wetlands as a major attraction. Our planes can land at virtually any airstrips that are over 700 metres in length - and we have a variety of planes to choose from - the Cessna Grand Caravan, the Cessna 402 & the Beechcraft Baron - being the most popular for our use. The price of R1500 pp for a round trip enable you to board the plane twice and disembark twice. We are working towards a system of hopping on and off as you please - but lets walk before we run! Remember, we do not have 200 people on board - these are flights with 4 to 11 other people on board only, and before you ask me if they are safe - YES, I would not risk your life, let along mine or the pilots, or my companies name - this is my living and bread and butter - the planes have VERY strict control and regular services and checks.

      7. Floods in Kruger, Botswana and Mocambique have hit the headlines here in SA for a number of weeks now, and recently also overseas as well - took a while though! The terrific rains that lashed Kruger Park and area during the first week of February caused hundreds of thousands of Rands loss and damages - to roads, bridges, accommodation, infrastructure and animals. Thanks to Arne and Elly, I have a number of photos, which I put onto a website - visit it and have a look at the devastation:
      http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/ResortRd/africanb/ (I am putting a link on my Tripod website to there as well.)

      A week after those rains ended, the rivers in Mocambique flooded, due to the rainwater taking a while to reach this poor country - and the rains from the Botswana floods, that rushed into the Limpopo River that borders Botswana and SA and also Zimbabwe and SA, caused millions of dollars damage in the Limpopo valley and then with the Cyclone Eileen arriving at this same time, the Save river also flooded and then the Zambezi also flooded - and so the various countries in the world sent in support - helicopters, rubber dinghies, medical supplies, food, blankets, clothing, fuel, money, man-power - nice to see everyone working together.

      8. Office developments - with the tremendous summer heat and humidity we experience, I managed to scrape enough money together to buy an air-conditioner and this has made Alice very happy and hopefully more efficient - a happy person always works better! With our business growing as it is, and the new Flying Service, I am also looking at doing some building alterations to the house to make a double size office - and thus allowing two people to work in the one office, rather than the system at the moment where Alice is in the lovely air-conditioned office and I work from the spare room in the hot house, requiring me to keep jumping up and down to get files and other material when working on various jobs - so, hopefully in May, we shall have new and bigger premises - I just need LOTS of more tourists to keep paying the bills. Many folk do not realise the overheads we have to encounter, even as a small business. Apart from the insurances and rent, we have a high telephone bill, now a higher electricity bill, plus maintenance and repairs to equipment we use and a salary for Alice, so logic says, more clients, more business, more efficiency, so roll up folks!! I still have some enquiries which are totaly impersonal - you can see the sender has sent this same enquiry to 5 or 10 other Tour Operators, which is disappointing - as I would think they would have had the time to read this edition of Dean's Diary, our Guestbook and other links on our webpage - and then say - "Dean, we like your style and wish you to take us on safari...." - these people will become good friends!! We have Arne and Elly who are returning in October this year with some friends and we are planning their holiday for them - with part being self-drive, other part being with me and then Jamie is hopefully coming to have her Honeymoon here, Debbie and Pinta are planning another trip in the near future, Rhoda is planning another trip, but to East Africa - so we are getting quite a few repeat clients - so happy about this. Quite a number of my past guests are sending their friends and family to us - so this is all good - as it saves those people the frustrations that the original enquiries involved - who is Dean, is African Bundu Safaris a real company, what can they offer etc, etc - as I say to folks who ask such questions - contact any person in my guestbook, contact any Satour office, contact any of the South African Embassies or consulates and ask them to verify with their head office in Pretoria, or even contact my bank manager at the First National Bank in Durban North!!

      9. My family and pets - My mother and I visited my brother Sean and his family a few weeks ago - had a lovely day and afternoon braai (barbeque). My God-daughter, Erin, has grown up so much now - she is walking by herself, understands English though I cannot understand her but she is very possessive - not good! My Nephews, Sven and Bjorn are doing well with their swimming, and at a recent school gala, Sven broke a few records which had been standing for a very long period! My older sister, Gail, along with three nursing friends, has bought a farm - yip a farm - she has no farming experience and neither do her friends, but they are so keen on this new venture - they now want to stock it with something - still to decide what and then they have to try and make an idea of how to make money from it - it is situated 12 kilometers from the town of Bethlehem -so still about half-way to Johannesburg for me!! My two little girls, Didi and Milly, still bring hours of fun to me - we swim together, play fetch-the-ball, hide and seek and all sorts of things little dogs love doing. Milly is very jealous of me giving Didi too much love and attention - so barges in between us and insists in being overloved! Milly of course still loves swimming - and the moment she or Didi hear me changing into my swimming costume, they go beserk and Milly runs to the swimming pool and dives headfirst into the water and then swims around until I dive in, then she'll swim to the steps, runs around the side of the pool, diving in and trying to land on top of me!! Never seen another dog behave like her near water!!

      I have recently acquired the Microsoft Word programme and if you have it, you will know what I am talking about - there is this little paper clip character on the right of the screen, and he is quite comical in his actions and expressions - if you do not make him do any work, his eye lids droop and then he curls up in a little ball and falls asleep - if you suddenly make a different move, he stands up quick and asks you what you want him to do - really cute!! Watch him when you do spell check as well - those eyes of his scanning across the document! (I used him for the first half of this document and he assisted me to correct the grammar - though USA grammar and spelling is different from UK and different from SA !!)

      Well, this must be the end of another long entry - sorry, but as you can read - I have been sooo busy, I just have not had the time to sit down and compile this edition. I trust you have enjoyed reading it and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

      All the best

      Dean


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