Luke Street | A Week In Pictures
Some of you may have had the pleasure of reading Chad’s blog from last week – the one where he got stuck twice (one of the toughest weeks in his guiding career). The point I’m making however, is not that Chad needs to go on a 4×4 course, it’s that we had A LOT of rain. And when I say a lot, I mean in total, 163mm in a little over 24 hours! Even the mighty Land Rover Defender struggles to keep up in the conditions experienced.
That much water being introduced into the ecosystem is bound to have some consequences. Although we are always mindful of when and where we go off-road, when that much rain comes down, we tend to ban all off-road driving for a week or so. This is done in an effort to protect the environment as we can really damage the ecology and cause major erosion issues should we continue to drive off-road. We always need to remember that first and foremost, we are custodians of this incredible area and we need to protect it rather than abuse it.
We have been in shut down for the last few days in order to do some much-needed maintenance and sprucing up of the lodge. It’s been a very quiet week on the wildlife viewing side. Luckily, I managed to get out on drive with Britt a few times in order to capture the beautiful wildlife that was out there.
It would seem that some of the lions in the area knew about the off-roading ban and decided to grace us with their presence just a few metres off the road. None the less, the grass was so long we could barely see the almost combined weight of 600 pounds of cat sleeping soundly within it. This is where perseverance comes in as we decided to sit and enjoy the view until the felines decided to wake up. Eventually they did and there we were watching one of the Nharhu males licking, stretching and yawning while the older River Pride lioness lay soundly asleep next to him. However, as soon as she did start to stir the male became really excited, only to find out fairly aggressively that she “had a headache”. Toward the end of the sighting, the pair began to roar beautifully before we left them for the night.
What this week has allowed me to do, being quitter than usual, is to search for worthy images. One of the routes I took and something I really enjoy, was to take some images from ground level, like the dung beetle, butterfly and grass. I also got a chance to play with some backlighting, which is always a fun and interesting way to take photographs.
I guess at the end of the day, it’s weeks like this that show we really are at the mercy of mother nature out here. There aren’t always big things with big teeth around to look at and it’s these moments that make you appreciate the intricacies and little things so much more.
I hope you enjoy this catalogue of the Timbavatifrom a slightly different angle.
Until next time, happy snapping,
Luke
Rates are quoted in South African Rand (ZAR) and include VAT. Rates are reviewed quarterly and are subject to change.
PROVISIONAL:
Bookings can be held as provisional for up to 14 days, after which the booking is required to release or confirm. A 20% refundable deposit is required to confirm the booking.
CONFIRMED:
Once confirmed with a 20% deposit, the booking is held on a status of ‘confirmed with refundable deposit’ until any of the following becomes true:
Final payment is due 60 days prior to arrival. Any outstanding balance on the total reservation value shall be required to be settled at 60 days prior to arrival.
All refundable deposits, commitment fees and full payments are held in a separate call account and do not become part of the operational cash flow until the guest has stayed.
The amount stated on the invoice is what must be received by Tanda Tula nett of bank charges.
CANCELLED
Cancellations must be received and acknowledged by Tanda Tula in writing.
‘Confirmed with refundable deposit’: bookings carry no cancellation fees up to 61 days prior to arrival.
‘Confirmed with commitment’ or ‘Confirmed with full-payment’: in the event of any reservation being cancelled after Tanda Tula has issued a confirmation, for any reason other than a WHO-recognised pandemic that impacts the booking, the following cancellation fees will apply:
All cancelled bookings that qualify for a refund, will be refunded less a handling fee valued at 5% of the refund amount.
PANDEMIC DISCLAIMER
Tanda Tula will allow postponement of a booking for up to 12 months, if travel is cancelled with a commitment fee or 60 days or less prior to arrival due to a WHO-recognised pandemic directly impacting the guests’ ability to travel (e.g. lockdown, no flights, guest not allowed to board a flight, guest falls ill due to a pandemic and unable to travel).
In the event of a WHO-recognised pandemic directly impacting the ability of Tanda Tula to meet its obligations with respect to the booking, all monies received, including the commitment fee, will be fully refunded (e.g. lockdown in RSA, government restrictions on trade).
Any refund is given at the discretion of Tanda Tula management and will be charge a handling fee valued at 5% of the refund amount.
All travellers are advised to take out fully comprehensive travel insurance with ‘cancellation for no reason’. This insurance must be able to fully cover cancellation of travel fewer than 60 days prior to arrival.
The Terms and Conditions are subject to change without notice.
