March 2007

Greetings to our valued partners and friends around the world.

We present our first news edition of the Rattray Portfolio of properties for 2007. We hope you will find the content both informative and entertaining.

Travel to South Africa remains buoyant with record arrivals. While our natural attractions, friendly people and cultural heritage continue to beckon the international traveler, the nature of the traveler seems to be shifting. The advent of family travel is fast usurping the theme of “spa and wellness” in the popularity stakes. In fact, a vast seasonal shift is evidence of this fact! Where June, July and August were traditionally low season periods within Southern Africa, they have become some of the busiest months – co-inciding with European and American summer holidays. South Africa has become a thriving “global playground”, so to speak.

Both MalaMala Main Camp & Mashatu Main Camp welcome children of all ages. We have expanded our commitment to offer an experiential travel experience to include the younger generations. Our team of qualified personnel will establish the temperaments, enthusiasm and degree of independence of their young charges on arrival. Their bush experience is then perfectly tailored accordingly. On offer are the following:

“Saw cheetah chase & kill, suckling lion cub, leopard up a tree, rhino & calf
– what more is there? No words adequate!”
Paula & Stirling Hammack – USA

Miss Kirstine Vercoe, a travel agent from African Pride in the UK, visited Rattray’s on MalaMala for a brief inspection on the night of the 23 rd February 2007. She arrived in the pouring rain at 16h30 – here follows the subsequent chain of events:

4 out of 5 members of the Big 5 without having embarked on a game drive – all within an hour after arrival!

This truly is testament to the conservation practises, prime location and quality of land which attract and sustain a massive diversity of plant and animal life on MalaMala. Each of the three MalaMala camps flank the Sand River, thereby enjoying prime river frontage.

Airlink Flight Changes

There have been some changes on the Airlink routes between OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) to both The MalaMala Airfield and Polokwane International Airport (PTG).

To/ From MalaMala (AAM):

Flight numbers have changed as follows (times and route remain unchanged):

SA 8863 (was SA 8126)      JNB/ AAM      11h10/ 12h10

SA 8864 (was SA 8127)      AAM/ JNB      12h30/ 13h35

To/ From Polokwane (PTG):

Transfers between Polokwane International Airport and Mashatu are either by road to the Pont Drift Border Post (2 hours in duration) or via charter hop to the Limpopo Valley Airfield (45 minutes in duration).

We are happy to take care of all flights and transfers on your behalf.

The Trans Frontier Park is moving full-steam ahead. It is hoped that the treaty between South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe will be signed by the end of 2008.  As the only real cultural TFCA offering both wildlife as well as archaeological ruin sites that date back to 1000AD, there is a move to get the unique region operating as such as soon as possible.

It is hoped that a scheduled airline will commence flights into Limpopo Valley Airfield once the issue of Customs and Immigration has been resolved.  A proposal is that all flights into Limpopo valley will be domestic flights with South African, Botswana and Zimbabwe officials present at offices on the ground at the airfield to process immigration formalities simultaneously.  A lot has to be done beforehand, but initial feedback on the proposal has been positive. Watch this space! This will no doubt change the face of travel in this region.

Confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo Rivers - where Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe meet

“WOW! Mashatu delivers yet again!”

On Thursday the 15th February, reports from out in the field were plentiful. Four different predator species (lions, leopard, cheetah and spotted hyena) as well as a massive elephant herd were all seen within the space of a morning drive. The amazing sightings continued into the afternoon as guests witnessed the Elephant Valley Pride of lions interact with one another on the bank of the Majale River. A huge male leopard was found near Main Camp with a young zebra he had caught. In the close vicinity, two leopard cubs provided much entertainment as they played on the rocks next to the White Cliffs.

A dose of humour from the bush:

By Nils Kure:

Stories seldom lose any substance over the years that they are told, and this one is no different. I cannot vouch for the truth of its telling since it happened before I arrived at Mala Mala, if indeed it happened at all. It centres around a group comprised of the employees of a large company that had selected us as an appropriate incentive destination and had booked MalaMala almost exclusively. They all knew each other and naturally a competitive spirit was in evidence from the start - who had seen the most animals, the most birds, the best sighting and so on. These worthwhile but admittedly bland pursuits rapidly palled, and after the first day an enterprising group and their ranger upped the ante by lying (or rather standing behind bushes) in wait at a corner - loaded with desiccated elephant droppings, and pelting the unsuspecting occupants of the next vehicle containing members of their group.

Naturally the situation escalated rapidly, and the radio was soon alive with deceipt and disinformation. Rangers would deliberately announce that they were travelling on quite different roads in order to fox their opponents, and shares in elephant droppings went through the roof.

And so it came to pass that a ranger, enjoying a quiet sundown stop with his guests, heard a vehicle approaching. He and his tracker rapidly assessed its position and direction and plotted a course that would lead them to a prime interception. Best of all, they were well supplied with ammunition, and - the cherry on the top - not your average, aged, dry and light balls but fresh, moist and weighty lumps of finest grade pachyderm pellets. They reached the interception point (hastily dubbed Trinity for what they hoped to achieve) with time to spare and, breathless with anticipation, awaited the moment. Closer, closer the sound of the approaching vehicle - hold, hold - the squad leader restrained the more impatient who were inclined to go off at half cock - the fender came into sight, now the hood, and with exquisite timing the order was given and the team rose from their places of concealment with savage cries of triumph and a deluge of ordure enveloped their hapless victims.

Everything, from the moment the other vehicle had been detected, the choice of location, the concealment and the moment that the ambush was sprung, had gone off like clockwork. The missiles, even, could not have been bettered for their effect on impact. However, there was one small detail that had been overlooked.

The approaching vehicle did not belong to their group.

Legend has it that they were of a nationality disinclined to appreciate the subtleties of practical humour. Legend is divided on the topic of the outcome of the exercise, but all accounts agree that it was not a favourable one. Some of the more outlandish accounts can be dismissed as pure myth. Perhaps the entire story has its roots in a wishful imagine if situation, postulated by rangers in idle moments that in later years was transformed into a statement of fact.

The identities of anyone or ones who might happen to read this account and wish to come forward with positive eyewitness intelligence as to its veracity will naturally be protected.

Rumour has it that the ranger concerned was David Evans, our Business Manager and the Managing Director of Mashatu Game Reserve. He remains tight lipped about his involvement……………. But no outright denial has been made.

To our northern counterparts, may spring be full of new promise, energy and inspiration. To our southern neighbours, may autumn bring colour, character and revelation.

Until the dawn of the next season, we will continue to bring the Best of Africa to you with Pride!

The MalaMala and Mashatu Team.