Blog - Page 19

A warm and friendly hello to all our wonderful guests, past, present and future.

In 1989, Marco and Marie Schiess had a vision to create a camp in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve. The purpose was to develop a place that encapsulated their vision of having a true wilderness experience, an African adventure in a camp that blended into nature and was built out of natural materials. 20 years later, Umlani is one of the most popular lodges in the South African Lowveld as it has remained true to its initial core philosophies. 2010 marks a very special year for Umlani as we celebrate 20 years of providing guests with this unique wilderness experience.

“I bless the rains down in Africa,
Gonna take some time to do the things we never have”
Toto, Africa

Winter in the lowveld is always a very fascinating time of year. The bush has morphed from its usual lush green terrain to a parched, dusty landscape. The deciduous trees have lost all their leaves standing like skeletons against the blue, cloudless sky. We witnessed numerous pans in the area dry up and leave less and less water for our increasingly desperate animals. The sun would come out and relieve us from the chill of the early mornings only for the temperature to plummet once again at dusk. Ski jackets, beanies, gloves and scarves were a necessity on morning and evening game drives and hot water bottles made for a cozy night’s sleep in the huts. Then almost as soon as winter had come, it went again. In the beginning of September we felt a sudden heat wave that left us sweltering in the heat for a few days before we had a respite of cooler ones again. Temperatures have reached the high 30’s already and the swimming pool has become a refreshing refuge for our guests.