BK NEWSLETTER

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Dear {name}, there is life after lockdown. In fact, there's a whole world to re-discover, re-appreciate and re-visit. While our human world may be on hold, the bush, the wilderness, the plains and the veld are teeming with wildlife, going about their age-old ways of living in harmony with nature.

This time is especially tough on people who love the outdoors. People who feel alive when they are in tune with nature, with the sounds and sights of animals and the touch of plants and untainted earth. People like us. People like you. We're thinking of you during these trying times, and we're holding the fort at BK to make sure everything is ready for when the world opens up again to travel and tourism. We can't wait to collectively breathe that long-awaited deep sigh of relief!

We thought it a good idea to check in with you, just to make sure that everything is alright. No special offers in this newsletter, no event announcements, just a bit of news from the farm, a reminder that not all is doom and gloom, and that this too shall pass. Stay safe xx

FULL BOARD | B&B | HERON HOUSE | WILD OLIVE

[ LATE SUMMER ] April - May is a wonderful season around BK and the Elandsberg Nature Reserve. The scorching mid-summer heat has gently stepped aside and made room for a much more gentle late-summer sun. There's a crisp chill in the air in the early morning and late evenings.

[ PHOTO : Drone photo of the farmhouse, dam and reserve ]

[ TORTOISE RESEARCH PROGRAM ] The geometric tortoises have started hatching. With the help of the reserve manager's son Connor (who is on holiday due to school closure), hospitality manager Lesley and chef Louise, we have managed to find eight so far in the nesting camp. Daily searches should yield a whole lot more by the end of the month. The first hatchling found this season was named Retha (after the late Professor Margaretha Hofmeyr, who headed the Tortoise Research Program from the 1980s till earlier this year) followed by Corolla and Rover (the naming theme for the year is car types ;-). Note the egg teeth on the tortoises’ noses that help them emerge from the egg, and the groove across the underside from when they were curled up in the shell – this later flattens out.

[ PHOTO : newborn geometric tortoise ]

[ PHOTO : newborn geometric tortoise ]

[ PHOTO : newborn geometric tortoise ]

[ ELANDSBERG CANDELABRA LILY ] The Elandsberg Candelabra Lily, which only grows in our reserve, has started flowering and is providing a bright splash of pink in the otherwise dry and dusty veld. The Elandsberg Candelabra Lily is a flowering plant of the Amaryllis family, native to southeastern and southern Africa from Tanzania to the Cape Province. Elandsberg Candelabra Lilies are tender bulbs, winter-growing and summer-dormant, generally flowering in early autumn. 

[ PHOTO : Elandsberg Candelabra Lily ]

[ CAMERA TRAPS ] The camera traps have been yielding a number of new pictures of animals as they have been coming down to the waterholes to drink.

[ PHOTO : Bontebok ]

[ PHOTO : Eland ]

[ PHOTO : Cape Spurfowl ]

[ PHOTO : Large Grey Mongoose ]

[ PHOTO : Red Hartebeest ]

[ PHOTO : Cape Genet ]

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