MAY, JUNE, JULY 2001.

Winter is a great time to visit Southern Africa – and for numerous reasons. We have very little rain, the nights are full of twinkling stars, the rivers are low and therefore force the wildlife to congregate around the waterholes and pans, the days are warm and sunny.. what more do you want?

Now is the month of August and our spring shall soon start – not that we have any clearly defined seasons, and especially here in Sunny Durbs, we experience a great sub-tropical climate…. ensuring a great all-year climate!!

In this edition of Dean’s Diary:

1. Past Safaris – from Turkey, to Total Solar Eclipse, with French Canadians….
2. Self-drive and other guests – in Maputaland, Namibia, Mauritius, Cape Town…
3. Future safaris – through Maputaland, Swaziland, Kruger, Mozambique…
4. My Family and friends
5. What’s new in Southern Africa!
6. Past Clients – are you there?
7. All my pets

1 - Past Safaris: If you had remembered in my previous edition of Dean’s Diary, I had said that I was doing a safari for a colleague of mine and taking a small group of Turkish folks to Umfolosi and Hluhluwe area – well it happened and what a super group of people they were. If all Turkish people are like them, what a great nation and even better, if all the ladies were as pretty as the three in my group – wow, no wonder everyone gets married there! We left Durban and drove to Umfolosi (just 4 of them and me) and spent the afternoon game viewing and enjoyed a short walk, prior to sundowners and then my colleague, Dave, arrived with the other two Turkish folks. We had a braai for dinner that night (barbeque) and then enjoyed a good nights sleep in the bush lodge. The Bush Lodges are great – they have 4 twin-en-suite chalets, with 12 volt electricity and gas-heated water… as they are in the remote area and exclusive. They come ‘supplied’ with a cook and also an experienced Zulu Field Ranger who leads walks into the bush to view the wildlife. After the morning walk and breakfast, Dave left back for Durban and we all enjoyed a game drive in the western section of Umfolosi reserve, with a picnic lunch as well. That afternoon our walk took us pretty close to some rhinos, and proved to be rather exciting. The following morning we had to run a bit to avoid a lone buffalo who felt we were entering into his territory – very exciting and talk of the day! As we were driving out of the camp, I heard screams of excitement and instructions all in Turkish. Stopping to try and ascertain what the problem was – one of the ladies had spotted a large cat in the forest close to the road! WOW,- I turned the vehicle around to get a better look and lone behold, it was two cheetahs! What a lucky day! We sat and looked at them for half an hour and they did the same – then we had to move on – as we were due for lunch at a luxury lodge in the Lake St Lucia world heritage site. Arriving to our lovely chalets situated near the lake shore, we devoured a scrumptious lunch, then relaxed around the pool for a while, tea and cake, before setting off for an afternoon game drive to view hippos. We arrived there at sunset – and all the miggies were also there – little gnats that irritate your face! Early the next morning, we made our way to the lake shore and bordered our mukoro’s – fibreglass flat bottomed canoes – which are poled by a guide along the lake shore – where we went to view crocodiles, hippos and birds. Returning to the lodge, we took the short cut through the forest to the town of St Lucia for a boat cruise and lunch in the estuary prior popping down to the beach for an hour and a brief swim in the Indian Ocean. That evening was spent at a lovely guesthouse in Mtubatuba and we had a dinner at the local country club – which had extremely slow service! Anyway, after the usual superb breakfast, we drove to Shakaland, a Zulu cultural village for an interesting tour, beer tasting , zulu warrior and maiden dancing and a buffet lunch. En route to Durban Airport, we popped in to an old British fort in Eshowe and then I bade farewell to my new friends! Their comment in Dave’s guestbook was:

The following day after breakfast, we were met by our driver and then we drove from Kariba, via Lusaka to Kafue National Park. It was a long drive of about 6 hours and included driving over the Kariba Dam Wall. When we arrived at our lodge, things were not quite right – they were not really expecting us! Somebody had told them we had cancelled – anyway, they found accommodation for us and we enjoyed a good dinner and breakfast. Our transfer to the Busanga Plains the next day was delayed as we waited for a group of Americans to return from a morning game walk and breakfast and then we set off in a bus. The going was slow as the road was potholed and then we turned off the road into the bush. We got stuck once in the soft sand and then arrived at the camp shortly before sunset. The campsite had been set up beautifully – with flush toilets, bucket showers and a dining area. Lots of hard work had obviously gone into it. Problem – they also were not expecting us!! Long story short – somebody in Lusaka is very rich!! As it was not only us that had paid and arrived.. but about 30 other people as well!!

The following morning, we enjoyed a short walk in the bush, prior to a great breakfast and then we moved ourselves up to the airstrip for unobstructed viewing of the Total Solar Eclipse. With tripods, cameras, telescopes, filters, chairs, snacks and champagne – what more could you want to view this awesome experience? At precisely the predicted time, the moon started moving in front of the sun.. and the excitement rose! Every 10 or 15 minutes somebody would make some more comments about how awesome the experience was… and then as the totality approached, the landscape moved into twilight then darkness…. The birds were quiet, the crickets started chirping and the cameras were clicking! Totality lasted for 3 and a half minutes…. A truly memorable experience. However, in all the excitement, I made a mistake with my one camera – I forgot to take it off Multiple Exposure! So this meant I had 30 photographs all on the one frame (negative!)… I have also put this onto the website, along with the other pics I took with my digital camera.

We had the Kafue game guards visit us on the airstrip.. and there are some fun photographs of them shooting the moon to get ‘their sun’ back!

Well, early the next morning we rose and left in the bus to meet our Kariba driver at the lodge near the entrance to the Park – and then after a breakfast, we drove back to Kariba town and our hotel, arriving there at sunset – another long day’s drive. The next morning Prab and Jane went off on a boat cruise to view game and then Horst went on a speed boat to a lodge on an island for 2 nights. I spent the day relaxing at the hotel. The next morning after breakfast, Prab, Jane and myself were transferred to the airport, were I boarded a charter plane for Matusadona and Prab and Jane left for Victoria Falls, where they were going to spend a few days relaxing and doing various activities. Prab, Jane’s and Horsts comments are in the Guestbook number 2.

The following 4 nights were spent in the Matusadona and Hwange areas, where I had been invited to experience the hospitality of these two areas and the lodges there. STUNNING and SUPERB are two words which come to the top of my mind. What excellent service, game viewing, meals, and especially the Guides – so knowledgeable and very experienced.

I have quite a few photos of my stay here also on the ABS photo website. After Hwange, I flew back to Vic Falls and then back to Durban. I was at home a few days and then I drove up to Johannesburg to meet my next guests.

Arriving in Johannesburg, I met Jean, June and their two daughters, Camille and Elise at the airport and then we drove to a nearby hotel for the night. After breakfast the following morning, we departed for Hoedspruit. My guests were living in Madagascar but from Quebec – and were French Canadians. The two little girls did not speak English, which I quickly discovered, but we still managed to communicate! We stopped for lunch in Graskop prior to arriving at our private game lodge – where we arrived in time for the afternoon game drive – and it was the little girls first wild animal experience – very exciting. I have a number of photos of this trip also on the ABS photo website. Savannah, the cheetah was quite a hit – and joined us for dinner! I reckon the highlight of the next morning was the bush walk, where Themba the elephant joined us for portion of it, and then the girls ‘played’ with the baby leopard afterwards. After breakfast we visited the lion breeding project and also enjoyed the open vehicle game drive. After lunch we arrived at our next lodge where the accommodation was in treehouse s! Whilst the family went on a game drive with other guests, as there was not enough space, West the owner, offered to take me for a short flight in his microlight, after he had flown some other guests around the area. What a great experience – gameviewing by microlight!! The next day, we packed our bags and left for Kruger National Park – we were in the Reserve for half an hour, when I spotted a leopard walking in the grass – what luck!! Later on we came across a pride of 6 lions, then after lunch we watched a herd of elephants swimming and playing in a dam. Just as we were exiting the reserve, we spotted two cheetahs on the rise watching the zebra and impala below! Of course we saw many antelope and other animals and birds in the reserve as well – a great day gameviewing. Just as it was getting dark, we arrived at our Forest Camp at the base of the mountains were we enjoyed the warm hospitality for our short stay – and prior to a super breakfast, we visited the rehabilitation centre for wild animals. It was so cue to see the clawless otter being fed, the baby brown hyena waiting for its breakfast, the honeybadger lapping up the milk, and stroking the serval cat.. All great experiences for everyone. Then it was time to head back to Johannesburg airport for their onward flight to Port Elizabeth, where they were to rent a vehicle and enjoy a week of self-drive vacation to Cape Town. I drove back to Durban the following day, stopping briefly at my brothers farm near Howick, for Erin’s 3^rd birthday party!

Since that trip, I have done two road transfer from Durban to an upmarket lodge near Mkuze – the first was for Arina. She had just flown in from Hong Kong and her plane was deviated from Johannesburg Airport to Durban due to thick fog on the runway! So she was ‘stuck’ in Durban and needed to meet her husband and parents at the game lodge – so I met her at the airport and drove the approx 5 hours to the lodge. As they were fully booked, I could not sleep there and so drove to nearby Leopard Mountain Lodge and enjoyed their warm hospitality for the night, prior to driving back to Durban the following day. The 2^nd transfer I did was for Andy. Andy is a creative director for an advertising company and was here filming and making an advert for a diamond company. They had finished and he needed to join his colleagues at the lodge, who had arrived there a few hours earlier. Andy was my first guest from the Far East – and so now I have one pin in China on my world map, which is in the office. Mkuze Falls is a stunning lodge with great accommodation and gameviewing – and we all enjoyed some good laughs around the dinner table that night. The next morning, I returned to Durban.

Then obviously you click on the label with the icon in the middle and then select which album you want to look at. Pics of our office, Zululand, the above safaris etc.

2 - Self-drive Vacations: Laura had a train journey from Cape Town to Pretoria and

then rented the microbus.. and assume she and her family had a great time. I met Judy’s brother at the Mtubatuba guesthouse when I was with my Turkish guests.. small world, and then the following day I met Judy at the airport prior to her taking off for her flight to Kosi Bay. Aidree and her family went to a lovely game reserve not too far north from Pretoria and then flew to Cape Town and rented a ca from us for their exploring of the Garden Route area. They were enjoying it so much, they extended the rental by two days!

Other self-drives where the Grahams who came up from Cape Town for a wedding and then booked accommodation through us in June. Sarah and her parents came to visit her sister in Pretoria and they rented a vehicle from us to explore the countryside. Sarah and I had worked out a nice itinerary with accommodation, but then her dad had organised something else, a pity, as I had gone to a lot of effort to organise it all for them! Alexis and her newly wed husband, together with her parents and sister, arrived from the USA to do a short self-drive in Namibia, visiting Swakopmund and Sossusvlei, prior to flying to Vic Falls and then enjoy Chobe and Hwange reserves plus the activities of Vic Falls themselves. Once they arrived back in Johannesburg, Alexis and Gustavo went off for a weeks Honeymoon in Mauritius. I spoke to Alexis briefly when they arrived back in Johannesburg and she said they had enjoyed themselves greatly and would send me some feedback once they return to the USA. I believe Oprah Winfrey was her guest of honour at her graduation ceremony in Chicago, shortly before they got married! So, Alexis – looking forward to hearing from you!

You might remember Carl and his dad Chas, who I took around for 2 weeks in April – well, they enjoyed Leopard Mountain so much, Chas took his family and in-laws there for a few days at the beginning of July, prior to a week at a friends holiday house near Salt Rock. Carl was very lucky, as it was his 14^th birthday when at Leopard Mountain and they baked him a nice cake! After I returned from June and Jean’s safari, I went to visit Chas and family for lunch – and returned with Carl, who wanted to cut a piece of bamboo to make a didgeridoo. Haynes was out in Durban from the USA, to spend time with his friend here, so stayed in a self-catering apartment in Umhlanga Rocks for 12 days. A lovely couple that I met in Botswana last year – Alan and Julie, were spending 4 weeks here and we organised a day trip on the Banana Express steam train for them. Unfortunately, my timetable did not gel with theirs so it was not possible to personally take them on the trip – pity, maybe next time! Well, that seems to be everyone, I think!

3 - Future Safaris: On the 2 August, I met Greg and Jennifer, who had recently got married, and arrived at Durban airport for the start of their Honeymoon. A lovely young American couple who I showed briefly a bit of Durban and then left them to spend the remainder of the afternoon at their guesthouse in Umhlanga Rocks. The next day I met them after breakfast and drove them to Virginia Airport to board their ZFS to Sibayi Lake. AS there was space on the plane, I joined them for the scenic flight – and took numerous photos as well. As we approached Richards Bay, the wind was bumping the plane around, so we climbed up to 3500 feet and it was much smoother, plus we could see further! After they disembarked from the plane, the Sibayi Lake Lodge ranger was there to take them to their Honeymoon chalet – and the pilot and I flew back to Durban. I shall be driving up to Tembe Reserve on the 8^th to rejoin them, and then we explore more of our beautiful country, ending their honeymoon at Johannesburg airport on the 15^th. I will return to Durban and a few days later, meet Mike and Robby – two brothers from the USA (wives and kids staying behind) and then we set off for Kruger, Swaziland, Mozambique, Sodwana, Umfolosi, Thula Thula and the Drakensberg before returning to Johannesburg and then me to Durban. I shall have a couple of weeks at home – time to catch up on all the paper work and admin stuff, then Celine and Nick arrive in Durban for their Honeymoon. They’re from Montreal, Canada. We shall have a good ole camping safari, staying at Mkuze, Itala and Umfolosi Game reserves, where we shall have some great gameviewing by 4x4 and on foot. After the safari, they fly off to the Seychelles for the rest of their Honeymoon, before flying back to Canada. I’ll be home then for a couple of weeks, before travelling down to Port Elizabeth – where I meet Arne, Elly, Dick and Joost. These four adventurous folks are from the Netherlands and I shall take them on an exciting safari starting in Port Elizabeth with Arne’s birthday and ending 2 weeks later in Durban. The actual itinerary is a secret!! They want it all to be a surprise, so I cannot tell them where we are going, they must discover it themselves as we drive along – reading the signposts and maybe a clue or two from me as I am driving – so, sorry, I cannot tell you now where we shall be going – except there will be gameviewing, some beach, some bush, some mountains…. Gee, that could be anywhere!! You’ll have to wait until November!!

Well, whilst this is happening, we have Paul and Carey flying out from New York to enjoy their honeymoon, but earlier than that, at the end of August, Durban shall be hosting the World Racism conference and we are expecting approx 12 000 people to descend on our city during this period. We have been working with a dozen people and have booked them into accommodation with rental cars, for their period here, including some extra activities during their ‘free time’. We have also got Dana and Beth, two ladies from the USA joining my cousin on one of his safaris from Johannesburg to Cape Town, and shall end off relaxing on Camp’s Bay beach. Gwen and Paul shall be touring with their two children also in August, prior to going to a conference in Kruger Park – so from them and the others, we hope to hear from them all after their trips, so we know how it all went – we thrive on feedback – both positive and constructive (negative), so that we can improve on our services. Michelle’s mother is much better – and Michelle had returned to the USA a month ago, and now work brings her back here. So she has one of our cars for a month and shall be visiting a private game reserve with bushmen families living on it, near Cape Town, so looking forward to hearing from her shortly.

So, now you can see why we have been so busy – lots of organising and planning –and I have only mentioned the few privileged people who have confirmed trips with us within the next few months – we already have bookings for June and August of next year!

What is disappointing are the people who leave their enquiries to the last minute – and I mean a month or two before they are due here, some even just one or two weeks before they are due to arrive. Some folk even book all their air tickets and then start surfing around to try and organise a safari. This makes their dates totally not flexible and if me or one of our Guides is not available, then they shall have to settle for another company and I cannot promise them the same excellent service they would have got from us. The down side of booking via the Internet is you never know who you are dealing with or how legitimate the company is who is offering you a safari. Well, from the many clients we have had, I hear the concerns and trepidations when they first contacted us – and how their confidence had grown and how thrilled and relieved they were once they arrived – BRAVO – glad to have met you and made friends and obviously to have made you enjoyed your vacation. The disadvantage now is that there are so many companies on the internet and so many choices – so, who do you choose? You really need to do a bit of homework – and I believe the best way is to contact previous clients of the company and check on the satisfaction of the service. Also, is the company offering you what you asked for and within your budget? Does the company respond to your enquiries promptly and efficiently? We pride ourselves in all of the above and know that some colleagues are aware of our services and skills and try to mimic them, but we know that they can never compete with us. Between Alice and myself, we have an in-depth knowledge of the entire sub-continent and the many lodges and establishments, so we can talk from 1^st hand knowledge. Of all the companies and their owners that I know, I have travelled the most extensively and can therefore take or direct you to virtually any corner of Southern Africa, with confidence. So, instead of spending hours corresponding with 5 or 10 other companies and playing the one against the other – either choose us or take your chances elsewhere! We have two guestbooks and all those past clients of ours have given us permission to allow their names to be published and you are welcome to contact them for referrals. Quite of few of those people have in the past contacted earlier guests of ours and themselves now appear as our guests!

4 – Family and Friends: I went to Penny’s wedding last weekend – and had a great time. Penny is a colleague from another company – and a young lady who I would have been happy to share my life with – alas, Andrew ‘got’ her first! But, phew, what a large family they have.. after the actual wedding vows and before the reception, there was a family photos and I counted about 95 people!! My family photo would be a dozen maybe! Except if my bride-to-be had many brothers and sisters.

My sister, Gail, has decided not to emigrate to the UK, as she was offered a better job here and so can stay on her farm. Unfortunately, the actual farmland was burnt two weeks ago. She was at work at the time – and her boarder phoned her. She rushed home in record time to find all the neighbouring farmers dousing the fire and thus saving the farmhouse and animals. Lucky her – but now she has to buy fodder for the earless cows! Sean and family are keeping well – in fact on Friday night they treated me to dinner and movies. I was in Zambia (Kafue Park) when I celebrated my 40^th birthday – (thou Prab and Jane did bring a bottle of bubbly and a card from the UK for my birthday – and Horst being totally unaware it was my birthday, wished me well). We went to see the movie Shrek – all about an Ogre. Really was quite enjoyable. They also bought me a cartoon book – copies of some of the cartoons from various newspapers in SA and for my guests to giggle over in the vehicle! Erin as I mentioned earlier had her third birthday and I popped in for the tea party.. so good to enjoy it with them. My other sister Lynn, well, have not heard from her for months, so no news there! My dear old mother is still working at the library and battling with the dishonesty & corruption that takes place within the municipality – she is not really that old, but extremely honest and trustworthy, which is not how her colleagues could be classified! Carol who worked for us for a short period last year – she is going through a divorce with her husband, the local minister, as he saw fit to entertain the church secretary for a few months – so she and her lovely daughter are moving. My friends Steve and Lloyd came around for dinner a week ago – just Lloyd forgot to tell his dad that I had invited them, so they had two dinners that night. Lloyd is trying to stop smoking – heck, he is only 16 years, and even though I can have a good influence on him, he is a naughty teenage boy and always in trouble, so his dad keeps grounding or restricting him, so I never get to see him frequent enough to help him. Steve has at long last bought a brand new motor car – about time. For the past 15 or 20 years, he has always been fixing old Landrover s or cars to keep him going. So, now he has splashed out and bought something new – great idea Steve! Glenn, my past pupil, had a terrible accident with a fire a good few months ago.. but has recovered well I believe. He has a good job and proudly tells me he is earning more money that his mother! I have not had much news from friends abroad, so that ends this section!

5 – What’s new in Southern Africa! Nothing really – Mugabe is still needing to contract malaria or Aids to solve the problems of Zimbabwe, our own government has some good clean and honest individuals, but there are not many of them and difficult to keep them in responsible positions. Seems the more corrupt you are, the more friends you have! We lost our last mayor of Durban recently. He had ‘invited’ two young men / teenagers to his guesthouse at his home, for a massage of his thighs and buttocks – which he often has them do for him….. well, he did not see the sun rise – instead the 18 year has been arrested and in prison, waiting for the court case. Mayor Mike did a lot of good for the poor and the community, so we are told, but he seemed to have a different private life, which family and friends deny. I mentioned last time about our City council having an extravagant workshop 4 hours drive away from the City, well since then, our mayor Mlaba had asked for a new luxury 4x4. So the council agreed and bought him a Pajero – as he had said he need a 4x4 to go to some official functions. (Heck, he should improve the roads as he promised to the people!!) – well, he had not had the car 2 weeks, when he said that he needed a bigger and better 4x4, in fact, he said the Toyota Landcruiser, as the Pajero would not last on the roads he travelled on! Maybe he should have been told the Pajero participates very well in the Dakar to Cape rallies!! Then if that was not enough, we read in the papers that the Zulu king is getting a car imported from Germany to the value of R1.8 million !!! And what about the thousands of orphans whose parents have died of Aids, about the lack of schooling and health facilities, etc, etc. I hate communism and this is close to it! The rich get richer and the poor poorer!!

On the positive side, it was revealed recently that Durban was one of the safest cities in South Africa – MUCH safer than Cape Town, than Johannesburg etc – so come and visit us!!! I notice that Israel is not such a good destination for holidays and that the IRA seemed to have started bombing again – pity, just when peace was starting to prevail.

Quite a few of the lodges have a low season now, so we have been able to secure some special rates for some people – nice to have a flexible vacation period. Our winters are not that cold, except when we have a cold front or two pass the Cape and if it is a severe one, then snow can occur on the mountains – and with the wind blowing, it becomes very cold. However, there is very little rain and this means the river levels drop, the dams dry up and forces the wildlife to congregate near the existing waterholes and much easier for gameviewing!

6 – Past clients – are you there? This I often wonder – how are you keeping, have you been on other vacations, are you planning on returning to Southern Africa, how is the family – who has graduated or married, etc, etc. I had quite a few of you respond to my pin in map request – thanks. To those of you who do not know what I am talking about – I bought a map of the world and a bunch of coloured pins – and then looked up all our past guests cities and put a pin in to the map of where they came from. It looks great – gives us a huge idea of where the majority of our guests live. I’ll take a photo and put it up on the website later. My only problem is I could not locate all your cities or towns. Thanks to the responses, we even now have a pin in New Caledonia – a small island in the Pacific Ocean! So, if you did not respond earlier – please tell us your nearest & largest city where you live, then we can put a pin in for you. Recently a future client of ours contacted half a dozen of you, to confirm that we were a legitimate company – thanks to those of you who responded and special thanks to Dave & Bernie, my first Honeymoon couple who as a gesture of thanks for their trip, designed and host their own website and allowed me to put a link to it from our webpage. Numerous future clients contact Dave and Bernie who live in Scotland and they always I believe give us such glowing reports. Thanks again to all of you who assist the future clients of African Bundu Safaris. I was thinking of creating a simple webpage where I can put letters of recommendation up for everyone to read – and if need be, contact as well. What do you think of that idea?? Would you be willing to write a letter of recommendation for a webpage?

As regards references, please note, that there are numerous organisations that as a Tour Operator we can belong to and just because you contact one organisation who we are not a member of, does not mean that we are ‘no good’. I am a SATOUR registered Tour Guide. SATOUR is the South African Tourist Board – a government body, through which you have to register to become a legal tour Guide. I am registered for 4 provinces in our country – lots of my colleagues are only registered for 1 or two provinces. Most of the Satour offices around the world know me, or are aware of African Bundu Safaris and our excellent service. I am also registered with KwaZulu Natal Tourism Authority – our local government tourist board. They appointed me as their Tourism Ambassador for 2001. So, without needing to contact the Pope or the Queen of England, there are two very well know and respected authorities that can verify our legal status, apart from past guests.

7 – All my pets – Milly, my spaniel, is normally very good and listens to me – except I bathed her this morning and then after lunch, she went an rolled in bird droppings! She tends to often do this – either roll in the bird faeces or the monkey droppings! WHY ?? So I scolded her and re-bathed her, now she is sulking! Those of you who have seen the movie Shrek, the donkey who is the co-star, reminded me so much of Milly – floppy ears, rolls on her back, wants lots of attention, is loveable, pretty intelligent and kinda cute! Didi on the other hand, is still ball crazy. If she is concentrating on her tennis ball, nothing can interrupt her, apart from dinner! She loves her food, and we have to watch her, to control her figure! The goldfish are all flourishing well. I have a total of 5 fish, 3 are Comets and 2 are Shubunkins – all goldfish. And they all have names – Gulp, Oops, Chase, Look-at-me and P ‘n P. Look-at-me was the first bright orange one. Gulp was the 2^nd one, Chase got its name after the other fish were chasing it around, Oops was the 1^st Shubunkins and dark colour and then I did not have a name for the 5^th one, and Claire or a UK company suggested PnP after I said it was a no-name brand – and Pick ‘n Pay have lots of no-name brand food! Anyway, all five of them are doing well, almost double in size. Gulp once went down the waterfall with Oops and spent a few hours near the pump until I rescued them. Chase got caught in the safety net that was since erected by the waterfall – but other than that, they enjoy themselves, doing what goldfish always do! They have two air stones what allow lots of fine bubbles pass through their water and also the inlet water fall operates 3 times a day – otherwise I loose too much water??!!

And so ends another edition of Dean’s Diary. Sorry it is 3 months long, I know some of you wish me to write every month, like I used to, but not having a laptop, means I have to wait until I get back to the office and have some time.

Looking forward to hearing from you again.. and for first-timers – I look forward to meeting you!

All the best

Dean