FANJOVE PRIVATE ISLAND

News from a natural wonder.

Hello everyone!
It has been a wonderful month here at Fanjove Private Island.

You know August is nearing when you can see the ocean’s floor from atop the deck. The clarity and quality of the waters here are what remains the exceptional part of the archipelago.

The Jetty is now fully operational and makes for an ideal checkpoint where we meet our guests for a boat trip to the island.

The south wind had dropped down to a few knots, making encounters with bottlenose dolphins and migrating humpback whales more frequent.

Most of the erosion caused by the north wind from the last season has now recovered; a natural process that most islands endure with sea level rises and global warming.

We are redesigning a small portion of the bar area and adding new cabinetry and storage cubicles at the dive center plus guests can now enjoy their own private hammock in front of their private beach.

Thanks to Remy Simon and Joseph Ryen for sharing with us their beautiful pictures: Fanjove’s nature in its best!

Keep telling friends and family about Fanjove Private Island and all there is to do here.

Hassan, Hakim and all Fanjove Team.

LAKE MANZE CAMP

News from Selous Game Reserve

Unexpectedly a young Elephant walks straight through the dining area one afternoon. It’s one of those priceless moments when nobody has a camera ready. Luckily we could get some pictures after the fact. What happened to its trunk was a discussion point but without any evidence or knowledge we will never know.

Sitting down for lunch and a young male Lion walks past the dining about 40 meters away next to the Lake. Wow. After giving a loud grunt he dashes off into the brush. Again nobody gets the shot. What an amazing unexpected experience that guests will cherish forever.

Winter sunsets are like the finger print of the bush. Everyday is extraordinarily different. You will never have two of the same.

We have at last had some time to decorate the guest toilet with some animal images. Hopefully it has added some character to our loo. You be the judge.

Lion and Leopard sightings have been consistent over the month with very excited guests returning from game drives. The Manze pride of lions has been hunting on a regular basis which makes for some great memories and photo opportunities.

Thanks to Tom Arkell for sharing his stunning pictures with us this month!

Safe travels.

By Shaun, Milinda and all Manze Team.

MDONYA OLD RIVER CAMP

News from the wild side

Cool winds have blown reminding us that we are in winter and the leaves are beginning to fall off the trees, the nights have been very clear making for wonderful star gazing. The colourful pods from the Apple ring – Faiderbia albida trees have started to fall and the impala, elephants and zebras are often seen at the base of the trees eating the fallen pods.
The water table remains high compared to this time last year, the Mdonya waterfalls are still flowing, scattered waterholes are still holding water and lonely hippos can even be found in some of the bigger ponds.

The buffalo herd has remained in the Mdonya area and on occasions we have been able to hear them from camp.
Carnivore sightings have been fantastic and on two occasions our guests were lucky enough to watch a pride of lions hunt, kill and eat their prey. Only 5 minutes away from camp there was a good sighting of a cheetah, an unusual sight in our woodlands.

A new game viewing track that our drivers and guides recently opened has become a popular track provided our guests with interesting sightings of leopards and 2 male lions eating a young elephant.
Caracal, Eland, wild dog and some other rarely seen animals such as “Mr Porcupine” delighted us with special sightings as well as a thrilling fight between 2 Egyptian Mongoose and a Puff Adder.

By Rebecca, Andrea and all Mdonya Team.