Our Environment
The beginning of July was mild in temperature averaging highs of 21 degrees and lows of 13 degrees, but towards the middle of the month the temperatures dropped, averaging maximum temperatures of 17 degrees and minimum of 2 degrees.
The water level in the beginning of July was at 2.7 metres and the river is currently at 3.5 metres. As per our daily meter readings the water level has stabilised and has only risen 6cm in the last week. The Department of Water Affairs has been paying regular visits to observe the water levels, and they brought us an extended water meter that reads a maximum of 4 metres.
The vegetation has not changed much since the month of June. It is still very dry. We have had quite a bit of wind in the last couple of days.
Sightings and Wildlife Experiences
Birdlife in general has been amazing with sightings of the following species:
Buffalo Weavers, Mayor’s Parrots, Crimson Breasted Shrikes, Osprey, White throated Bee-eaters, 2 resident Fish Eagles, Secretary Birds, Pearl Spotted Owls (seen on night drives)… this is just to mention a few.
Birders have really enjoyed the sunset cruises we have been offering, and these have given them a different perspective of Leroo La Tau. Instead of just doing the ordinary game drives they get to see the park from the river, where many big herds of Zebra and Wildebeest congregate to drink water. With the abundance of water we have seen a lot more of the crocodiles in the Boteti: one measures at least 2.5 metres!
We have experienced a few sightings of African wild cats in camp, and a leopard has been heard in and around the lodge on a few occasions. We have two resident Bushbucks that are not shy at all, grazing midday between rooms. There are 4 elephant bulls that have been lost in our concession for the last week; it seems that they cannot get their way back to the Park! They have decided to make your average trip to the airstrip an obstacle course, whereby they have pushed three trees onto the road.
We had guests in camp that experienced a great sighting whereby lions killed a wildebeest right in front of them. Another interesting sighting we had was a group of at least 20 vultures that “sun-bathed” and drank water on the opposite bank of the Boteti River (in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park). They gave hours of entertainment to guests during their siesta in camp. We were also fortunate enough to have seen the new male rhino that was introduced into the Makgadikgadi National Park during the month of June.
We have noticed that the zebras and wildebeest have developed a pattern whereby the come down to the river to drink on a daily basis. They usually come down to drink in the afternoons, especially when new guests arrive in the camp… very convenient.
Our People
We have welcomed Thsepho Tsito into camp. He is currently training to be a Manager and has been a great asset to our team. He is always willing to please and not afraid of learning. We did not have any staff birthdays in the beginning of the month, but will be celebrating two staff member’s birthdays at the end of the month, Phatsimo on the 27th July and Mokgosi on the 30th July.
FRED KARAPO
Fred Karapo is the Camp Manager at Leroo La Tau and he has been working in this lodge on and off since 1988. From 1988 to 1989 he was employed as a gardener. From 1989 to 1990 he was a tracker, based at Camp Okavango. From 1990 to 1992 he was a trainee guide before working as a Guide at Camp Moremi from 1992 to 2004, during which time he received the Best Guide Award (2003) and served on the Staff Member Committee.
In 2004 Fred left guiding to take a role as Assistant Manager, and was promoted to Relief Manager in 2007, rotating through the lodges while the permanent managers were on leave. In 2008 Fred was promoted to Manager and he has remained at Leroo La Tau ever since. A warm and friendly person, Fred is the father figure of the lodge.
The following key staff members were in camp during the month of July:
Managers: Juan, Priscilla, Tshepho and Molemi
Guides: Captain, Patrick and Lance
Our Guests
On the 22nd of July we offered a tree planting ceremony to our honeymoon couple in camp, Fabian and Priska Huwyler.
Other Information
Leroo La Tau’s choir has been entertaining the guests on a regular basis – see attached a video of the choir in full throttle.
We launched bush walks for the first time in Leroo La Tau and the guests have really been enjoying it! We have taken guests on Nxai Pan day trips, as well as trips to Baines Baobabs.
We had a mystery guest in camp – Elise Shaw. She was a pleasant lady, and gave quite a few of us Yoga lessons. Patrick (the guide) tried the different positions, but soon realised that guiding is a lot easier!
Excerpts from Guest Questionnaires
“Juan & Priscilla are a fantastic couple, they are lovely, the staff appear to be happy. 5 star service… actually 6 star. Gladys kept my room beautiful, I love her creativity. Captain tries hard to keep his guests happy, I enjoyed all the activities. Molemi and Kay show so much enthusiasm. LLT is a lovely lodge in a magical setting with lovely staff. Tshepho, I wish him a great career, he is delightful”
Elise Shaw (Australia)
“Thank you very much. We enjoyed our stay. It’s beautiful here!!”
Patrick & Kathrin Wyttenbach (Switzerland)
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