Another Cape Mountain Leopard has been captured, collared and released as part of this exciting monitoring and conservation project which is being run by the Cape Leopard Trust.

The Cape Leopard Trust aims to facilitate conservation of the Cape Mountain leopard through simultaneously implementing conservation strategies, research projects and tourism. In the past the Cape Mountain leopard’s has proved highly resilient

However the leopard has suffered extensive range loss in the Western Cape and is now extinct in many areas of the province. Today, the long-term survival of Cape Mountain leopard populations pivots on their densities within protected areas such as the Cedarberg Wilderness Reserve. It is believed that there are many of this elusive predator in the Cedarberg mountains but as they are so shy, signs of them are rarely found, let alone sightings. Reliable population estimates of the leopards are essential for effective conservation management and so the Trust aims to collar 12 leopards and keep track of their movements.

So far, the Trust has captured four leopards starting in February 2006. One was found on Bushmanskloof Wilderness Reserve and now the fourth on Karukareb Wilderness Reserve.
This fourth cat is a stunning adult male, weighing 32kg, which is a typical size for a Cape Mountain leopard.

The trap was set on Tuesday, using no bait, in a prime leopard area high in the mountains above Karukareb Lodge. On Thursday, after a brilliant and exciting leopard tracking flight with Johan Ferreira, Quinton Martins, the Project Manager of the Cape Leopard Trust went to check a camera in the area where the cage was set up. He was horrified to discover that a female leopard had walked into the trap and managed to jump out before the doors had closed. The females have so far eluded the study. On Friday morning Quinton was out walking/monitoring on a nearby farm when he was summoned ” Daar is ‘n luiperd in die hok!” ( There’s a leopard in the cage).

As Quinton said “The sensation, after all the effort put into this project, to get this result was indescribable. I called our vet, Dr Andre van der Merwe for his assistance. He raced out to Karukareb with me. The darting & collaring procedure went exceptionally well. It was a great day.”

The leopard recovered quickly and was on his way.

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A few years ago, Zambia decided to boost its tourism appeal by introducing a Visa-waiver for visitors who had pre-booked accommodation in Zambia. It began with Victoria Falls and has spread to the whole of Zambia.

In theory this is how the process works. Our clients send us their passport numbers about three weeks prior to arrival and we send this information onto the first lodge where they are staying in Zambia as well as out clients’ total length of stay in Zambia. This information is handed into the immigration authorities at the airport or border post where the clients will be arriving. It is usually, though not always, filed under the name of the lodge. When the client arrives at the immigration desk, they tell the officials where they are staying and the official looks up their names in the file for that particular lodge or safari company. The client’s name is found and the visa is granted.

However in practice recently we’ve found that the system is not working as well as it should, and that the success rate for receiving the fee-waivered visa is hovering around 60%. It seems that certain border posts are more efficient than others.

What this means is that all clients should be aware that we cannot guarantee a fee-waivered visa. Even if you give us your passport number at the correct time and we pass it on to the lodge and the lodge hands it into the authorities, we are at the mercy of government administration. Be aware that you might have to pay, and then when it all works smoothly, you can rejoice that you received a free visa.

If you are at the immigration counter and they cannot find your name, make sure that they know exactly where you are staying. It is worth standing your ground a little bit so that they do more than just a cursory search. But the visa is not that expensive, in the context of your overall safari, so if a reasonable search does not produce a positive result, we recommend that you accept it with good grace. However please tell your lodge that the system didn’t work, as they can then follow-up with the authorities to improve the situation in the future.

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Most of our clients now stay on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls and so view the falls from the Zambian side. However in the last few months the new Zambian power plant has taken a fair bit of water from the Zambian Falls. Though this is a proverbial drop in the ocean during the high water months of February to August when the Falls are at their most impressive, it does make an impact as the dry season progresses as the volume of water over the Falls continues to drop until the end of the year.

Clients heading to the Falls between late September and December need to be aware that viewing the Falls from the traditional viewpoints  may not be as awe-inspiring as they might have hoped.

What should clients do?
If seeing Victoria Falls is one of the key highlights of your Southern African safari, then I would recommend planning your safari to co-incide with the best time for Victoria Falls which is generally May to August. At this time the rains have stopped which means that the Falls are not hidden behind clouds of mist and spray. But the volume of water over Victoria Falls remains high and your photographs will be spectacular. This time of year is also the best time of the year for game-viewing in the rest of Zambia and neighbouring Botswana.

However game-viewing remains superb and even improves into September and October and so many people choose to visit Victoria Falls later into the dry season. What advice do I have in this case? I recommend three options

1) Supplement your visit to the viewpoints of Victoria Falls with either a helicopter flight, the so called Flight of Angels, or even a microlite flight for the more intrepid. You will fly over the whole breadth of the Falls, over 1km in length.
2) Consider staying at one of the country lodges which lie a little upstream from Victoria Falls. The advantage of these lodges is that they offer a fully inclusive experience with a tour of Victoria Falls, sunset boat cruises, game drives in the National Park, canoeing, village visits all included in the price. What this means in practice is that you enjoy all of the many aspects of the Zambezi River including, but not limited to, Victoria Falls itself. Personally I enjoyed canoeing on the Zambezi River as much as viewing the actual Falls.
3) Finally you can visit the Falls from the Zimbabwean side. You can either stay in Victoria Falls town at one of their excellent hotels or you can purchase a Zimbabwean visa and walk across the border to view the Falls from the other side of the Zambezi. This is a relatively expensive exercise especially if you are from the UK (as the visa costs more for certain nationalities) but worth considering.
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Overlooking a natural fynbos garden which cascades down towards a long stretch of protected sandy beach, Grootbos Private Nature Reserve offers a breath of fresh air. This exclusive 5 star  eco-lodge is situated in the Overberg, less than 2 hours from Cape Town, close to the small fishing villages of Gansbaai and Hermanus.

We arrived late at night and felt completely secluded as we drove up through the enchanting fynbos forest to the beautiful Garden Lodge of Grootbos. We were met by the friendly and well-trained staff with a welcome drink. I couldn’t wait for the following afternoon as we were booked on a whale boat trip and I knew, with the whales in season, our sightings were going to be great! After a wonderful breakfast we were taken on a tour of the garden and were introduced to one of the many projects that make this a very special place to visit.
Michael Lutzeyer, Managing director of Grootbos, introduced us to Green Futures, a horticultural school for the local community - “This unique project provides annual, practical-based training programmes for unemployed people in the fields of fynbos landscaping, horticulture and ecotourism. The project is designed to develop nature-based sustainable-livelihoods for people from local communities around Grootbos”. Many wonderful stories were exchanged and we were also taken to the local township and visited the pre-school funded by Grootbos. Anybody that ever has the privilege to spend a few moments with Michael, or his father Heiner, will realize that without their absolute passion for conservation and their dedication to the local community, projects like the Grootbos Foundation can never work.

That afternoon we had a roller coaster whale boat ride and I have never seen so many whales in close proximity, as well as a large seal colony and a few penguins seemingly trying desperately to get away from us. As the Great White Shark’s main food source are the seals of the area it might have been that the penguins were aware of the sharks lurking deep in the dark blue water.

The following afternoon we were also treated to an exhilarating coastal flight over the area with an aerial view of the whales and the wonderful surrounding mountainous landscape.

I have stayed at many game lodges but was pleasantly surprised of how uniquely different and busy one can be on a nature safari. Of course children will love all the animals in the reserve, the horse-riding, the beautiful long beaches, or even playing soccer with the local children on the new soccer field that Grootbos are building nearby. Yet Grootbos appeals to children and adults alike. 

Indeed perhaps its because you feel like a child again when you stay at Grootbos as I read in their guest book. After 3 days I have fallen in love with nature again!

Voted 2nd place in the Conde Naste Best Eco Lodge &
Best Family Hotel in the World 2005/2006 by Tatler Travel Guide.

For more Information & Travel ideas visit our main website at http://cedarberg-travel.com/