2016 At the lodge

Well, six months have flown by since my last entry. What happened to the intention of updating this blog regularly ... well we just go so busy. We had an idea of numbers we were expecting from the bookings we had received in advance but the amount of extra booking and walk-in's we received blew that figure right out the water. Not that we are complaining, its just we were not as prepared as we could have been and were run off our feet. Behind the scene many milestones have been reached, securing our establishment and enhancing the service we can offer.

The restaurant and bar area were a huge success with over 1000 meals being served - breakfast, lunch and dinners. We catered for big and small groups and Amelia had her hands full (literally) preparing and serving good old home cooked meals. Anton was roped in and was in charge of the braai area which served up some of the most tender, mouth watering steaks ever. He is quite the pro.

The second ablution was completed in August and has been enjoyed by many campers since. The ladies side has been made with extra special features, each shower cubicle sporting its own hand basin and a slightly larger shower area.

We have had clients from all over the world visit Mwandi View and have met some of the nicest people. A few of the dignitaries we have been privileged to have over have been the District Commissioner of Kasane, the Secretary to the Minister of Namibia and the Lord Mayer of London with his beautiful wife 'Sir Michael Oliver and Lady Sally Oliver'.

Mwandi View has also hosted a few functions the biggest being the National Teachers day where over 300 teachers were here enjoying the festivities of the day.

The abundance of wild and bird life have been enjoyed by all with Amelia running round with the camera snapping shots and just enjoying the views through the binoculars. Hyena had a den on the ridge behind us with two sets of pups, 100's of elephant come over the ridge using two different migration routs every night, huge herds of zebra migrated past the front of the lodge, lingering to graze in amongst the local herds of cows. Amelia saw the little zebra's playing with calves, to her delight. About 15 hippo enjoyed the Chobe river to the right and left of us, with one grazing on grass during the day on more than one occasion. Majestic Sable paraded in the marsh lands, baboons playing around us. There were a number of Giraffe, water buck and Impala on a regular basis around the lodge too. We have a regular visit from a civit in the evenings too. We have had 100's of pelicans, qualia, marabou stalks at the waters edge. Bradfield hornbills, arrow marked babblers and yellow billed kites to name but a few of the many birds we have around the gardens with the daily call of the resident fish eagles. I think the highlight for Amelia was the day Anton raced back from dropping the night watchman to fetch her to see the new born baby elephant. The huge mother was so protective and the little ellie didn't even know how to walk properly yet. A few photo's were taken before the emotion too over and the tears flowed.

Mwandi View has seen some fun and games over the past few months as well. A big lone bull elephant broke through our fence on more than one occasion causing quite a lot of damage and creating a few days work for the men folk here. Buffalo and Kudu have also come through the fence but with not as much damage as the elephant. We also had a young elephant (about 2 or 3 years old) come walking right through the gate one late afternoon. Probably saw all the green trees and thought "Yummy" so decided to come and visit us. We had quite a few campers and people in the units who all assisted in 'clapping hands' to try and get him back out the gate but he was just too scared so we helped him into the bush camp where he exited over the bottom fence, also not much damaged but shame he did get an electric shock in the process. Every night the night watch man beats the drum to remind the animals not to come too close. We have learnt that if he beats at a slow rhythm then they are a little way off but the quicker and louder he beats the closer the animals are. We have also heard the 'king of the jungle' the mighty lion roar close by on many occasions.

Our deck has been graced with the most beautiful sunsets and many photos have been taken but none do the scene proud.

The beauty that surrounds us has taken many people by surprise and we have heard many comments like :

* So calm and peaceful, this must be what heaven is like

* Too beautiful to be described in words

* How can we tell our friends how beautiful it is here, they will have to come see for themselves

* Best sunset in the whole world

* How can you cope living in such a beautiful place

* What wonderful sounds of birds and wildlife

Yes we live in a little place of heaven and I hope that we never take this for granted.

To all the many wonderful clients who have helped make Mwandi View a great success this year, we thank you and wish you a Merry Christmas and hope to see you again - as so many of you have promised.