DREAMHOTELS AND RESORTSDREAMHOTELS AND RESORTS

Successful birding weekends,with Duncan Pritchard

BIRD WATCHING

NIBELA LAKE LODGENewsletter

Good rains transform the bush after a long dry season

FIFTY SHADESOF GREEN

Sarel enjoys takingguests out to fight the

Spotted Grunter

REEL NICEFISHING

Nibela hosts a beautiful African dinner.

AFRICANDINNERS

WHEELCHAIRACCESSIBLEUNITS

KIDSACTIVITIES

NIBELA LAKE LODGE

WELCOME TO THE FIRST NIBELA LAKE LODGE NEWSLETTER.

We had a very productive year, with plenty of projects undertaken as well as staff training designed to improve our guests’ satisfaction and comfort. The 2015 projects are already lined up and we look forward to achieving our long awaited 4-star grading

For the casual birder there is everything from Fish Eagles to Flamingo’s; Pelicans to a whole host of colourful forest birds that will certainly brighten up and enrich your holiday experience. For the more serious birders, Nibela is THE place to be to fill those gaps on your list. Nibela is home to a variety of very special species including, Pink-throated Twinspots, Narina Trogon, Green Malkoha, Eastern Nicator, Gorgeous Bush Shrike, Rudd’s Apalis, Neergard’s Sunbird, African Wood Owl, Crowned Hornbill, Green Twinspots and African Broadbill.

During the year there were two very successful birding weekends, with Duncan Pritchard as guest speaker. Our area supports in excess of 400 species of birds, including numerous rare and endemic species.

Just a short drive from the lodge, and a must for any nature enthusiast, are the nearby floodplains; probably one of the best places in the world to see the highly sought after and beautiful Rosy-throated Longclaw or Lemon-breasted Canary to mention just a few. About a half hour drive from Nibela is Muzi Pans, one of the most famous areas in S.A to see the Pels Fishing Owl. Guests can also be entertained by Lucky, our tour guide, with his bird calls.

There is a variety of guided trails to be enjoyed on our Suzuki Quad Bikes - something adventurous to do while enjoying our very relaxed environment. All the trails are marked and can be explored with or without a guide. We have received excellent feedback from mountain bike fanatics on some of the trails.

BIRD WATCHING

FIFTY SHADESOF GREEN

Our rainfall during the year was terrible, not a drop till 25th September. We have had good rains since and the bush is once again turning fifty shades of green.

It’s hard to believe that Lake St. Lucia is 80 kms long and 23 kms wide at its widest point and home to over 800 hippos and 1200 crocodiles. With no rain, the level of the lake has gone down by about 400mm, but we still offer our scenic and fishing trips - it’s just a bit more fun now, with guides having to push the boat off the sand bank along the jetty.

Being a very keen fisherman, Sarel enjoys taking guests out to fight the Spotted Grunter

We moved our boma down to the lodge and host a beautiful African dinner every Tuesday and Saturday evening, with Zulu dancers or our Kitchen Choir.

We are in the process of revamping all units, modernising the bathrooms and updating the bedrooms. Some work will be completed by the end of November, with the rest finished by May 2015.

UPDATES

Additionally, unit 205 has been made into a wheelchair accessible unit.

Work has started on the very difficult task of replacing the entire hand railing from Reception through to unit 211. It a long process and, between all the rain, fishing, birding and other maintenance, we hope to have at least half of it finished by Christmas. There are no renovations planned during the peak season.

With Nibela being in a tribal community, the resort works very hard to maintain a good rela-tionship with the Chief and Indunas in order to keep our staff and guests safe. Through this involvement with the community, together with our great resort staff, we can say Nibela is still a very safe place. The resort has been involved with the Chief in community education upliftment through motivational speaking and bursaries for students to go into the Hospitality sector. The Chief’s inauguration takes place next year and we look forward to attending this ceremony.

DREAMHOTELS AND RESORTSDREAMHOTELS AND RESORTS

NIBELA LAKE LODGENewsletter