Tree Orchid

Mystacidium capense *Linn.f.)Schltr  - Tree Orchid

  

Every year, shortly before Christmas the tree orchids start blooming. They are unfortunately in the valleys high in the trees so not always visible.  At reception there are a few trees that have them too.  Some have actually been successfully transplanted.

 

It is a perennial epiphytic herb, which grows in small, and sometimes rather dense clumps on trees in this area.  The leaves are dark green, tough and leathery , with the midrib depressed above and very prominent and ridge belop.  The pex of the leaf is unequally lobed.  The flowers are very strongly scented especially at night and are borne in great profusion, arranged in two rows, on stems about 10 cm long which hang down.  This is one of our daintiest and most attractive epiphytic orchids. 

 

When you arrive at Reception, ask Alida to show you the flowers.

A few of Idwala's wildlife

All photos are courtesy of Philip du Toit. You can view more photos and join his facebook group - here

Recipe - Almond Crusted Chicken Breast

Almond Crusted Chicken Breast 

Serves 4 
40ml cooking oil
4x chicken breast
120g flaked almonds
20ml Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
12x Mushrooms
250ml cream
40ml white wine vinegar

Preheat the oven to 180degrees. Have a baking tray ready
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Seal the chicken in oil (brown on each side - quickly)
Meanwhile, make the sauce. Chop mushrooms finely.Heat cream and vinegar in a saucepan. Add the mushrooms and simmer for 10mi
Place the sealed chicken fillets on the baking tray and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with mustard and almonds. Return to oven for about 8 min.
Spoon the sauce over the chicken breasts and serve with vegetables and coucous.

Idwala's Protea Project

Southern Africa is home to the richest floral kingdom in the word.  The Western Cape is faous for its wide variety of flowering plants.  Known as fynbos, the plant in this region constitutes one of the six floral kingdoms, occupying only 0/04 %  of the earth's surface and is the smallest and riches floral kingdom on earth.

Freshly picked Proteas are ready to be taken to the lodge

Protea is the popular name given to members of the proceaceae, a striking and ancient family of flowering plants which is so characteristic of South Africa.  While Australia, Malaysia and South America also have protea, the largest and most colourful are in South Africa.  Protea takes its name for Proteus, a god from Greek mythology, who was able to assume many forms at will.

Alida made a beautiful wedding bouquet using a Protea

Ernst started a pilot project in 2007 and harvested the first flowers 10 months later.  He has since added more species to the project and has been picking flowers for Idwala and a few neighbours ever since.  Every flower remains a joy to him and he would literally go see them first thing in the morning.  In time, he has also been making cuttings from his plants, and growing some from seed - a delicate task requiring patience.  The seeds have to be 'smoked' before germination and although veld fires that occur naturally can be devastating, it is also a good thing, considering the germination that must follow.

A Protea on display at the lodge

An arrangement of pin cushions

Spring is when the pin cushions start flowering.  The waxy appearance has fooled several guest, thinking that it must be synthetic flowers, only to discover that there is real pollen on them!  The King Protea is the national emblem of the country.

The very special "Red Rex"

Wildlife Photos by Nicole Lloyd

Lion family stop for a drink of water

The eye of the elephant

Long lashes

Lion watching Rhino

Giraffe on the plain

Just another sunset

brown-hooded Kingfisher

caught in play

elephant family silhouette

Approaching Rhino


All images were taken by Nicole Lloyd at Idwala Game Lodge and remain the property of Nicole Lloyd.
If you would like information on using these images, please contact her, nicole@idwalalodge.com

South African recipe - Sosaties on the Coals!

 

This month’s recipe if for delicious venison cooked over the grill under the open skies – just how we like to do it here in South Africa. If you can’t get venison then use beef or lamb cube. Contact Morgan direct if you want a recipe for chicken Sosatie – morgan@idwalalodge.com.

Sosaties are a traditional South African entrée. The word is Cape Malay in origin, but is commonly used in Afrikaans. Sosaties are translated locally as “Kebabs” but are not to be confused with the more well known “Shish Kebabs”. We don’t wrap our kebabs in a pita, served with salad!

Venison (or beef) steak Sosaties:
 
800g Venison steak (kudu, impala or eland or beef)
100ml fruit chutney (in South Africa we love Mrs Balls)
50 ml soya sauce
100ml red wine(you can omit the red wine and use cola for tenderising)
few sprigs fresh rosemary and thyme
4 garlic cloves – roughly chopped
1x tablespoon coriander seeds
1x teaspoon cumin powder
2x yellow peppers (or green or red, but yellow compliments venison best)

(optional – small pickling onions, sliced thick)
15cm satay sticks
 
serves 4 people [2 skewers each]

Light the fire or start of the gas on your gas cooker – it all depends on how you like your braai (bbq).

This recipe can be cooked just as easily in a pan or under the grill. But we cannot be held responsible for the results!

Cut the meat into 2cm x 2cm cubes. Slice the pepper into even squares, also 2cm x 2cm.
Blend the chutney, soya sauce and red wine. Add the fresh herbs, the garlic and the spices. .
Add the meat and peppers to the marinade mixture and refrigerate for up to 12 hours. If you are using beef or lamb, you can shorten the time to 8 hours.
Skewer the meat onto the satay sticks alternating with a pepper slice. If you would like to add the onion, alternate the onion between the peppers and meat.
Plan on about 100g per skewer or as many cubes as it takes to fill the skewer. Prepare two skewers per person.
Cover the skewers in left over marinade. 
Braai for approximately 8mins or as per taste. Brush with leftover marinade.
Remember that venison becomes tough once cooked past medium and we recommend preparing only to medium rare. If using beef or lamb, cook until required doneness.

Venison contains no fat or cholestoral and is a healthier alternative to beef or lamb. You can also use ostrich as a leaner option.

Serve with traditional braai items such as potato salad, butternut cooked over the coals, fresh bread and good company.

Gaatjie's visit - photos by Lizelle & guest

Lizelle captures Gaatjie in action at the staff entrance

Gaatjie comes a little closer...

On return from game drive, a guest catches Gaatjie outside the lodge. He dwarfs the lodge vehicle!

Read more about Gaatjie here

MAVIS FUNEKA MASINGILI – Matriarch, true bread-winner and the longest standing member of Idwala

Mavis making her famous bread

Today's profile is about a very special lady who joined Idwala one week after opening, on 13 November 2005. She has been a strong member of the team and has truly grown in the past five years. 

Born on 12 April 1967, Mavis is the oldest lady employed at Idwala Game Lodge. As the third of six children, Mavis has always been surrounded by family and keeps them very close to her heart. She grew up in Seven Fountains, a small community only a stone’s throw from Idwala, and knows the area very well.

Making a poster for Rhino Day 

Her hospitality career started out in the heart of the Garden Route, at the popular local pub, Hop Inn in George. She enjoyed the brief time she spent there but needed to return to the Eastern Cape. She was visiting a relative on Rockcliff Farm when she heard that there was an oppurtunity to work at Idwala. Since then she’s never looked back! Mavis says her favourite part of working at Idwala is the breakfast waiteressing and she especially loves creating the centre pieces for the table.

With two of her colleagues at Idwala

Mamma Mavis, as she is fondly called, has two children in Grahamstown, one still at school and the other having just graduated from high school. Every chance she gets, she travels to Grahamstown to see them. Mavis enjoys sewing when she has some time off. The other ladies look towards Mavis for guidance and advice as she avoids gossip and only likes honest people. Her dream is to have a holiday by the sea.

Mavis is trained as a lodge assistant and can assist in all departments. She has a knack for cooking and preparing food. Mavis makes the delicious bread that is served every morning and she enjoys baking. Lucky for Idwala, this is where Mavis wants to stay!!

Gaatjie - Our most frequent elephant guest

This elephant bull can be distinguished from the other elephants buy the small piercing in his right ear. It’s this little hole that has led to his name – Gaatjie or Small Hole in Afrikaans. Another classic trademark is that he often rests his trunk on his left tusk. Gaatjie is a 30 year old elephant bull that was brought to the reserve from the Kruger National Park He weighs approximately 5.5 tons and is only just beginning to reach his full size. He has about 20cm left to until he will be fully grown. With Gaatjie’s recent adventures and those from 2 years ago, we can also confirm that the wooden walkway at Idwala is 5.5 ton proof! 

Elephant trunks are very agile

He has very thick tusks but they grow very slowly and due to the rate that he wears them down they’ll never get very long. Gaatjie’s tusks are used for various purposes, mainly in relation to finding his next meal! He breaks branches with them and will use them in defence.He has a great appetite, needing 300kg of food a day. This will take him far and wide across the reserve. It seems that he enjoys the inner core of aloes so much, that it often leads him to go to the strangest places and this leads to his image of bravery….or foolishness. 

Gaatjie is well known for his close visits to Idwala and many staff have a story of when this gentle giant came too close. Talented, he has learnt how to open the tap that feeds the swimming pool and he often wanders beyond the pool towards the main lodge. Unsuspecting staff has often rounded the corner at the end of the wooden walkway to find Gaatjie standing on walkway. This wooden platform is 7metres above the ground and he weighs over 5 tons. A credit to the strength of this walkway! Staff will back off and leave this elephant to be but some have been brave enough to tell him off and ask him to move. 

Everybody that works on the reserve knows this elephant. He has had more close encounters with humans than any of the other elephants. There is another story of a ranger leaving a lodge on the reserve, late one night. He turned his head as someone called him and did not see who was standing outside the door. The poor ranger ran into the back of Gaatjie! Luckily the elephant got a fright and moved off very quickly!

Happily wandering around

We like to call him the “Traffic Officer” when he comes to visit the valleys around Idwala. He loves to act like a roadblock. And often, it is as if he knows that the team are in a rush to get to the lodge or to their homes. Many a cake has burnt in the oven as the chef was stuck behind Gaatjie. At night, he knows which corners to hide behind, giving the drivers a big fright! Luckily, his bark tends to be bigger than his bite and he makes space once the game is over. 

Gaatjie is a joy to have around. He is quite a remarkable character at Idwala and we wouldn’t trade him for any other!

giving the trunk a rest!

A little bit of face paint to impress the ladies