Emdoneni News

Emdoneni Lodge’s Beekeeping Diaries by our beekeeper Craig Munro

8/8/17 Both hives now have bees in them. Exciting times! The strength of the swarm will be checked regularly before Spring and Summer. 19/12/17 Full inspection of all frames were done today. They are doing great and I’m very happy with their growth and health. The one colony had a minor hive beetle infestation but all have been destroyed so the bees can work without pests. Both hives are almost ready for the honey supers but I put them on now as I am satisfied the colonies are strong and ready. God willing we will have a honey harvest within the next two months 30/1/18 Ok, inspection done! Some good news, some great news and some exciting news! Good news: Number two hive, is very strong and very healthy. Packed with happy, working bees and no evidence of disease or pests again. Not even one hive beetle seen. The brood chamber is full, all ten frames with a huge honey crown above the brood combs (slight concern that they are not using the space above in the super but will monitor this). They are drawing out the comb in the super now which is good but if the queen excluder is slowing them I will remove it next time. Great news: number one hive is phenomenal! From a small colony that moved in during winter and through a dearth period they have exceeded expectations massively! These guys are the real deal? The super is filling up fast, seven nearly full frames and drawn comb in the other three. They will need another super chamber within the next week. Gorgeous acacia honey coming soon!! Exciting news: The eucalyptus plantations are just coming into flower, from now until April/May there should be a rich abundance of nectar available to the bees in every direction! If the weather conditions are right they should produce a very good crop. Hold thumbs and pray. We can split the hives after the harvest and create another colony as well. 25/4/18 I inspected all your hives yesterday. They are healthy, with no obvious pests or parasites present. They seem to have just stopped making, this was evident on the last inspection as well. A bit strange but possibly because the source of nectar was abruptly cut off. Anyway, the bees are fine. Perhaps they will reward you with a nice spring crop. 13/6/18 Your new hive is in place and ready for bees which I will bring soon. (Unless a swarm moves in by themselves) I have returned the empty super chamber and placed it on top of the 3rd hive, I also returned the frame to the 1st hive. I have completed a full inspection of all three occupied hives and am very happy with their overall health. Number one and two are still strong with plenty of honey in the brood chamber to see them through winter. Number three is a bit weak with less honey but I am not worried about them as they have a healthy laying queen and eggs in the cells. There are no parasites or signs of disease in any of the hives. I have removed the new swarm from the cupboard area and cut away all the combs, the queen is also captured so there is no chance of re-establishing themselves. I will check the hives again around end of July, there are signs that they have found some winter food which will mean strong colonies ready to take advantage of the spring nectar. 5/2/19 There are now four healthy beehives situated in the peace of the bush at Emdoneni. The bees have done very well to maintain their strength through winter and a few tough months so far this summer with almost no surplus nectar around. The latest inspection shows that they are now finding a good strong flow of nectar and starting to produce a divine Acacia and Eucalyptus honey which should be ready to harvest soon. 28/3/19 Beekeeping course today at Emdoneni! Four interested beekeepers arrive with huge excitement to learn more about this amazing specie. Over the last two years Emdoneni experienced joyousness moments as we observed the healthy activity of our local liveliness bees. Our beekeeper carefully planned the process and unquestionable worth the wait, our bees’ produced the most delightful pure, raw, natural organic honey. We recently bottled our second batch of honey, made with utmost love, at Emdoneni by our hard industrious and diligent bees. What a beautiful (bee-autiful) natural event to witness! We are really chuffed with our resident busy bees who have worked extremely hard throughout the drought to offer us their exceptional natural gift. Emdoneni’s owner, Cecillie Nel also qualified as a beekeeper and will take on the duties along with Craig Munro to make sure the hives and bees are happy and healthy. What a privilege to be able to observe and to work with these clever little creatures!

Emdoneni Lodge’s Beekeeping Diaries by our beekeeper Craig Munro Read Post »

Emdoneni News

Emdoneni Lodge Accommodation

Accommodation at Emdoneni Lodge and Spa Emdoneni Lodge with Cheetah Project and Spa, is a high quality three star lodge and is situated on a small game farm, with sand forest vegetation. Guests can relax and enjoy the true South African hospitality while viewing all Zululands’ resources. If you ever dreamt of getting close to nature, Emdoneni Lodge with Cheetah Project & Spa is the place to visit! Close to the National road (1.5 km), Emdoneni Lodge is accessible for any visitor who still wants to experience the luxury of a bush environment and also be close to the main attractions such as Hluhluwe/iMfolozi Game Reserves (23 km) and St Lucia World Heritage Park (from 30 km away). This intimate multi-award winning lodge is the ideal location from which to explore the wildlife and coastal reserves in Zululand. Nature lovers & enthusiasts will appreciate the abundance of our wildlife and the scenic splendours of this rich and diverse region during game drives offered at Hluhluwe/iMfolozi Game Reserves, guided and non-guided walks done at the lodge, cultural excursions close by and relaxing boat cruises at Lake St Lucia. Our passionate and very knowledgeable guides cannot wait to introduce you to our region! Emdoneni Lodge offers guests elegantly decorated, intimate and comfortable accommodation in Hluhluwe in chalets and/or rondavels, on a bed & breakfast or dinner, bed & breakfast basis. There are mainly showers in the rooms, with the exception of two rooms which do include baths. WiFi is available, free of charge, to all our guests. The accommodation is enhanced by facilities which encourage our guests to unwind, relax and enjoy the tranquil lodge surroundings, including a boma, swimming pool and sky deck. Walk with the wildlife including Zebra, Impala, Nyala and Red and Grey Duiker. The bird life in Zululand is also abundant. The surrounding area is renowned as a mecca for bird lovers. Some of the specials one might go in search of are: Narina trogon, Blue Crested Lourie, Mangrove King Fisher, African Broadbill, Pink Throated Twin Spot, Blue Billed Fire Finch. Come and be mesmerised by the beauty of the Caracal, enchanted by the playful Serval, astonished by the speed & agility of the Cheetah and delighted by the African Wildcat… We offer educational tours daily, Monday to Sunday with a feeding during the afternoon tour only. ALL tours to the Cheetah Project will be FREEof charge during the duration of your stay when you book, on DBB directly from our website and not through an online travel agent. It is impossible to run out of things to do in this little slice of wilderness heaven. Some of the activities at Emdoneni Lodge are visiting the cat centre, taking nature walks amongst the animals, join a game drive to the Game Reserve or book an activity for the kiddies whilst pampering yourself at our Spa! If you feel like a day out to explore the surrounding areas, there is plenty more to do. Visit the Hluhluwe Game Reserve (around the corner from us) or Mkuze Game Reserve and take a game drive in search of the elusive and famous Big Five. If its Zulu culture and education you’re after, then visit the Zulu Cultural Village. Those of you in search of water-based activities have the option of visiting any of the following: Lake St Lucia, Cape Vidal Snorkeling Safaris, Sodwana Bay, St Lucia Wetlands, Jozini Dam and Kosi Bay. Chalets Spacious and elegant chalets with an authentic atmosphere to maximise comfort. Each chalet has an en-suite bathroom (shower only) and a lovely view on the garden. Two chalets adjacent to each other with a split patio. We offer twin beds or king size beds with an en-suite bathroom. Tea and coffee making facilities are also available in all rooms. Rondavels This unique African-style, round, thatched roof is called a rondavel. The unit consists of two bedrooms, each with its own bathroom (with shower only). Each unit has an adjoining door between the two bedrooms, making it ideal for families. The rondavels have a view over the garden and it is in close proximity of the swimming pool and restaurant. The units are elegantly decorated with an authentic atmosphere. Extras: Air conditioners, ceiling fans, bar fridge, as well as coffee and tea making facilities. Honeymoon Suite The Honeymoon Suite, Windfall Cottage, is privately situated under Marula trees and offers great comfort and privacy. It consists of a lounge with DSTV, romantic bedroom, en-suite bathroom with a free standing bath, leading to an outside shower in a privately fenced Boma area. Sit and relax on your private patio, having your morning coffee or tea. In the afternoon, enjoy a glass of wine and watch Zebra, Nyala and Impala roam around the cottage. Ideal for honeymooners or for those looking for a romantic weekend away. Our Facilities The accommodation is enhanced by facilities which encourage our guests to unwind, relax and enjoy the spectacular surroundings of one of South Africa’s most popular tourist destinations – Northern KwaZulu-Natal. Available at Lodge : 24 hour reception Wi-Fi internet available in public areas Swimming pool Sky deck Boma for evening dinners Restaurant Bar Office facilities Housekeeping and laundry service Safe for valuables Air-conditioning and ceiling fans Parking available View and photograph cats at the Emdoneni Cheetah Project Family friendly Fun activities for kids, by experienced guides Babysitting available Walking and hiking trails Small Game Reserve with wildlife including Zebra, Impala, Nyala, Wildebeest, Red and Grey Duiker Excellent bird watching opportunities Housekeeping and laundry service Available in Rooms : Night Guard Amenities Housekeeping Laundry service Safe for valuables Air-conditioning Ceiling fans Safes for valuables in all rooms Bar fridges in all rooms (not stocked) Coffee & Tea making facilities (Plunger filter coffee) Own patio

Emdoneni Lodge Accommodation Read Post »

Emdoneni News

How to survive Load Shedding

Load shedding. Power cuts. Rolling blackouts. Call them what you will, they’re a reality and Eskom has warned they’re here to stay for most of 2015. Load shedding is about Eskom balancing the power scales; it needs to be able to supply enough electricity to meet the country’s demands. When supply matches demand, everything is fine. But when the country needs more power than Eskom can generate, either because of an increase in demand or a drop in supply, then we’re in trouble. If the country’s demand outstrips the amount of electricity that Eskom can supply, power stations start taking some serious strain and the system can be badly damaged. That, in turn, can lead to a national blackout – a truly worst case scenario. LOAD SHEDDING STAGES AND WHAT THEY MEAN Stage 1: Eskom needs to shed 1000MW to keep the national grid stable. Stage 1 is the least disruptive of the schedules. Your area is likely to be hit by 2.5-hour blackouts once every second day**, Monday to Saturday between 05:30 and 21:00. Load shedding won’t take place overnight or on Sundays. **If you live in an Eskom-supplied area in Johannesburg, you’ll be in for a 4-hour cut once every 4 days. Stage 2: Eskom needs to shed 2000MW to keep the national grid stable. Stage 2 involves double the amount of load shedding planned in Stage 1. Your area is likely to be hit by 2.5-hour blackouts once a day, Monday to Saturday between 05:30 and 21:00. Load shedding won’t take place overnight or on Sundays. Stage 3: Eskom needs to shed up to 4000MW to keep the national grid stable. Stage 3 involves double the amount of load shedding planned in Stage 2. Your area is likely to be hit by 2.5-hour blackouts up to three times a day. The load shedding will take place 24 hours per day and will also happen on Sundays. Stage 4: Eskom needs to shed more than 4000MW to keep the national grid from collapsing. Stage 4 is as bad as it gets in terms of load shedding. Eskom starts additional, unscheduled power cuts wherever it needs to and outside of its schedules. This means your area can be hit by blackouts at any time without any warning. The country hasn’t reached this stage since 2008. Stage 4 load shedding is the final option for Eskom to prevent a national blackout. BEYOND STAGE 4: WHY LOAD SHEDDING IS THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS Power cuts are inconvenient and frustrating but compared to the worst case scenario that load shedding is designed to prevent, the rolling blackouts that we have to contend with are child’s play. If load shedding fails to protect the national power grid, South Africa runs the risk of a complete national blackout. Eskom says the chances of this actually happening are exceptionally remote, but they are there. Plainly put, power cuts are a form of short-term pain that needs to be endured to prevent long-term disaster. The utility has been very careful so far to prevent the country from reaching this point of no return; load shedding is one of the tools being used to protect South Africa from a national blackout. If the national power grid were to collapse it could take at least one week – and as many as three – to get it back up and running, meaning that South Africans could be without power for a prolonged period of time. Other countries are able to rely on help from neighbouring nations and tap into their electricity systems in an emergency, but South Africa doesn’t have that option because its neighbours aren’t strong power providers. We import very little of our electricity. Eskom would have to restart its own power stations from scratch. This process is called a “black start” – when a power station can’t rely on an external electricity supply to get itself back up and running. Essentially it has to pull itself up by its own bootstraps. But one of the problems is that not all power stations in South Africa are equipped for a black start. In some cases a small in-house generator at a power station (usually diesel-operated) can be used to start larger generators, which can in turn get the station’s main generators back online. Once one station is back up and running, it can help provide the jump start that others need. Gradually, these power stations can be linked to form an interconnected system. But this process would take time, lots of time, because each island of power created by a black start would need to be synchronized and reconnected. In the meantime, South Africa would be in the dark. If a complete national blackout were to hit, it would have severe consequences. At the moment, when load shedding is implemented, facilities like hospitals, train networks and airports are spared; but in the worst case scenario Eskom would not have this option. Within hours or days, most UPS systems and backup generators would run out of juice. Hospitals would close, trains would not run and airports would shut down. Police and fire stations would be unable to function properly. Banks would be unable to operate. Cell phone towers would run out of power within hours so even if you had a charged handset, it’s unlikely that you’d be able to make calls. After a while, some water reservoirs would start running dry because there would be no power to pump water into them. Sewage systems would be hit as well; fuel pipelines (and eventually your car’s tank) would run dry. Sounds like an almost doomsday-like scenario, doesn’t it? That’s why Eskom is so dogged in implementing load shedding where necessary. So the next time you’re hit by a rolling blackout, it’s as well to remember that the alternative could be far, far worse. TIPS AND TRICKS TO SURVIVE LOAD SHEDDING: Go Solar. Install a solar geyser, get solar lamps to put outside in the garden

How to survive Load Shedding Read Post »

Emdoneni News

These are how many travellers from Africa visited KwaZulu-Natal

Looks like KwaZulu-Natal is fast becoming a must visit destination for travellers from Africa. The latest statistics from South Africa Tourism confirm that an increasing number of tourists are already visiting KZN from across Africa-and that they represent the biggest portion of international arrivals to the province. “In 2017, almost 60% of the international arrivals in KZN were from the African continent, which demonstrates the importance of this growing key market,” said Phindile Makwakwa, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of TKZN. “For the past two weeks we’ve hosted “Spotlight on Africa” workshops in Lusaka, Zambia, Gaberone and Namibia to engage key trade partners through workshops to educate them more about the province, so to ultimately bring more numbers from these regions to KZN. “Our aim is to get KZN in the all-important holiday brochures that the agents give to their clients.” TKZN is currently hosting 34 tourism buyers from 17 countries across Africa who are already keen to sell KZN and other South African regions to their customers. The hosted delegates, who form part of the Central, East and Land trade team, arrived in the province on Sunday and will be exploring the region’s hidden gem tourist attractions. The SA Tourism research revealed that more than 7, 5-million tourists from across Africa visited the country in 2017, which represented 73,5 % of the total arrivals into South Africa. Between January and October, 2018, arrivals from Africa increased by 2.9% to 6.4million. Arrivals into KZN from across Africa in 2017 were 485 775, up from 464 863 from the previous year. Further research reveals that the top activities that international tourists enjoy in KZN are the beach, theme parks, adventure and wildlife followed by visiting natural attractions. The visitors come from a range of countries and do not hold back when it comes to spending on their holidays and business trips when they get here. When it came to the Africa arrivals who flew into KZN in 2017, the top four source countries are Nigeria (3 564 passengers), Tanzania (3 013), the DRC (2 582) and Kenya (1 968). These visitors stayed the longest and were among the top spenders. While the number of visitors from Ghana (726) was low, the tourists stayed the longest and spent the most and thus this was a market with potential to grow, researchers felt. The Ugandan and Angolan markets had similar potential. As for the tourists who arrived via land borders, Swaziland topped with list with 292 038 visitors, followed by Botswana (49 741), Lesotho (48 922), Zimbabwe (40 799) and Zambia (9 690). The top big spenders were Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Lesotho. And those who stayed the longest in the province hailed from Malawi, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Mozambique. From May 2-4, KZN will host to the Africa Travel Indaba, which is a meeting place for buyers where the gems of South Africa will be marketed and sold. “These platforms have provided TKZN with an opportunity to position KZN as a top-of-mind ‘must visit’ destination. It’s a chance to educate agents about the province’s wide diverse tourism offerings as we drive the campaign to grow the number of tourists and get more people arriving at King Shaka International Airport,” Makwakwa said. Source credit: www.iol.co.za

These are how many travellers from Africa visited KwaZulu-Natal Read Post »

Emdoneni News

7 benefits of aromatherapy massage

Aromatherapy is a form of Eastern medicine that has been in use for over 4,000 years. There are many powerful benefits of using aromatherapy massage for both physical and mental health. Here are 7 of them. 1. Better circulation With an aromatherapy massage, parts of the body are gently manipulated, which increases blood flow to the muscles and vital organs. An aromatherapy massage enhances the flow of blood via the absorption of oils through the skin and into the bloodstream. Essential oils used to encourage circulation and strengthen capillaries are cypress, frankincense, grapefruit, juniper berry and sandalwood. 2. Decreased anxiety A massage combined with aromatherapy can calm the senses and induce relaxation. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, aromatherapy massage decreases anxiety levels by stimulating the release of endorphins, which are the body’s natural painkillers and stress reduction hormones. Essential oils used to eliminate anxiety are rosewood, sandalwood and vanilla. 3. Enhanced mental awareness The scents of essential oils and stimulation of massage on the body activates the olfactory nerves in the brain, which amplifies serotonin production and enhances a person’s mental capacity. Essential oils that are used to stimulate the body and mind include juniper berry, sage and vetiver. 4. Headache relief Individuals who suffer from constant headaches may possibly find relief with an aromatherapy massage. Essential oils typically used to conquer headache pain include peppermint and ylang ylang. 5. PMS relief Premenstrual syndrome affects millions of women each month, plaguing them with bloating, fatigue and increased sensitivity to pain. Fortunately, the unpleasant markers of PMS are known to be eliminated via aromatherapy massage. Oils that are used to treat PMS symptoms are birch, jasmine and patchouli. 6. Restful sleep To help prevent bouts of insomnia, calming methods like aromatherapy massage are recommended to induce sleep. When used as a tool to encourage sleep, it’s advised to receive an aromatherapy massage in the later afternoon or evening. Oils that promote restful sleep are lavender, marjoram and spikenard. 7. Toxin removal The gentle manipulation of the body along with the purifying scents of essential oils encourage lymphatic drainage, which assists in the elimination of toxins. Lemongrass and myrtle are a couple of essential oils helpful in the removal of toxins from the body. Caution Many common health issues have been known to improve with the use of aromatherapy massage. Please note that individuals with bleeding disorders, heart failure and kidney failure are advised not to receive this type of massage. Book your Aromatherapy Massage at Emdoneni Spa now for the ultimate relaxation treatment! Aromatherapy Massage 60 min A gentle, therapeutic full body massage using a blend of aromatic plant oils to induce relaxation and equilibrium in the body. Contact Emoneni Spa at: office@emdonenilodge.com +27 (0)35 562-7000/7001 +27 (0)82 713-3686 Source Credit: www.yellowpages.ca

7 benefits of aromatherapy massage Read Post »