April News – Zarafa Camp, Botswana
Winter is coming!
Many of our followers in civilization might recognize the phrase “Winter is coming…” from the television series ‘Game of Thrones’. (For those who are a little behind – it is apparently a very popular show so catch-up, you do not live in the bush!)
Well, in the Selinda Reserve winter is definitely coming! But unlike the scary and dark thoughts that might come to mind with the turn of phrase, we find that winter brings a rather pleasant change of weather conditions and scenery.
You know winter is coming when;
- The elephants are back in camp (read: IN camp)
(picture by: Marijn Letschert)
- The green grass around the lodge is getting more scarce …
- The idyllic gas heaters in the rooms are getting used again as especially the mornings are getting colder.
- And, the water levels in the lagoon are rising.
This always to the great surprise of many of our guests, as the common belief is that our rainy season equals a full lagoon. (Right?) Well not exactly, one must remember that our Zibadianja lagoon is well connected and we enjoy a flood of rain water from Angola which only finds its way to us much later in the season.
Now, summer, winter, rain or shine, the guiding team at Zarafa has recorded an abundance of sightings this month! And because sharing is caring, we have taken the liberty to provide you with our top 5;
No. 5 – African Wild Dogs
No. 4 – 2 meter long Black Mamba (No, not in camp)
No. 3 – Lion cubs
No. 2 – Cheetah
No. 1 – Pangolin (!!)
A pangolin is a very rare sighting in our beautiful concession. Issac are head guide has not seen one since 2002. Issac also managed to spot this nocturnal mammal, famous for its plate-like scales, this month again.
Other news from Zarafa is strongly Dhow Suites related, which by now have officially opened its Zanzibar doors to their guests. Everyone has been working very hard last month to open Zarafa’s (huge!) baby sister on time and a special ‘thank you’ will have to go to our concession managers Sharon and Pete. They were so engaged with the project that they even tricked Sharon’s mother into visiting us, so she could help us with unwrapping the many, many boxes that found its way to us by truck or plane. Baie dankie Hannekie!
It goes without saying, that we could not be more proud of our Dhow Suites and of the work that Lodge Builders Botswana have delivered. Words can (unfortunately for this blog), not describe the place. You will have to come see it for yourself. It is a 4 bed, 2 room exclusive use villa with your own private chef and safari guide.
With all the preparations for the Dhow Suites, one would almost think we did not have time to cook, but on the contrary! Katherine has introduced a beautiful vanilla, coconut Panna Cotta to our menu.
(picture by: Katherine Milton)
With our Dhow Suites open, we have welcomed a few new members to our Zarafa team, among which our new sculler/staff chef – Bafedile, who is actually too pretty to stand in the kitchen.
Neo, who we call “tall Neo”, as we already have a Neo in our housekeeping team.
Pony, (or PPP-Pony) who is Katherine’s new side kick in the kitchen.
Mr. OB, an absolute asset to our guiding team and a ‘golden oldie’ – Frank (a.k.a. Francolin) who has carried Zarafa in his heart for a long time, but now finally has made it is permanent home.
Winter is coming and we are ready!
(Picture by: Katherine Milton)
Cheers!
We will keep you posted.
The Zarafa Team
