February Floods
on Mar 07, 2023What seemed like a normal African storm starting to roll in on the night of the 8th February, turned into a night that we will never forget. The first rain started in the early hours of the morning, nothing that we are not used to. But as it kept on raining harder and harder, we knew that we were in for a long night. The dry riverbed, also known as the Msuthlu, running in front of the three lodges in the Northern sector of Sabi Sabi (Little Bush Camp, Selati Camp and Bush Lodge) filled up quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the river started flowing in full force. As the mass of water made its way through the bush, all staff members jumped out of bed to help clear water on pathways, in front of guest rooms, main areas and back of house. Every mop and broom that was available was used to sweep water away from all directions and anyone that could find a shovel dug trenches to help the water flow in the right direction.
“The Msuthlu River is rising” is a phrase that will forever be connected to this event. Little Bush Camp is where disaster struck first as it is the closest to the starting point of the Msuthlu River. Keeping the safety of our guests and staff foremost in mind, guests were moved out of their suites, to our common areas to keep everyone safe. The water kept on rising taking everything in its way with it, including the bridge that leads to the swimming pool. Sending regular updates to all the other lodges about the water levels, we did not know what exactly to expect, and how much water is coming down.
Selati Camp is up next along the Msuthlu River. Being located higher than the other lodges, the impact of the water wasn’t as bad as with the other lodges. Staff members could not believe their eyes as to how much water was flowing in front of the lodge, and comments were made that this was the most water that they have seen in years!
At Bush Lodge everyone was on their toes, waiting for the rain to stop. The river came down within an hour and before we knew it, the water level reached the pillars of the viewing deck. A slight movement could be felt as the water pushed against the pillars and quick action was taken to clear everything and everyone off the deck, to safety. Luckily all the guests were sound asleep and only saw the flooding when they woke up the next morning.
Down in the Southern Sector, Earth Lodge faced its own challenges. Water came streaming down the hill, and a river started to form in front of the lodge. The water had nowhere to go, and staff dug trenches to get a stream flowing away from the lodge and guests’ rooms.
The rain finally stopped after more than 160mm of rain in a very short period of time, but the water level was still rising, and unfortunately the morning safari had to be postponed. Not wanting to put our guests or staff members in any danger, we carefully evaluated all our options to give our guests the experience they came for, going on safari. Only a few roads were accessible after the heavy downpour, and we could not cross the newly formed river. At lunchtime a decision was made, and we could go out for a safari, before the next storm comes in.
Not knowing what to expect while we were out there, you could still feel a sense of excitement in both the guests and guides! All guides were put to test their 4x4 driving skills, navigating their way through puddles of water and mud that was on the roads. We were lucky enough to be able to finish a full three-hour safari before rain drops started to fall again, and we made our way back to our respective lodges. After being out in the bush and on the roads, we knew we had a tough few days ahead of us.
For the first few days out in the bush after the first flood, some animals - especially the cats - were nowhere to be seen. Elephants, rhinos and buffalos took full advantage of the mud wallows that were being formed and enjoyed a good wallow. It did not take the cats too long to show themselves again. Territories had to remarked after all their scent had been washed away with the rain, and leopards could be seen walking along the roads scent marking. This created amazing viewing opportunities for our guests. Slowly but surely the bush started to recover from the heavy rains.
We have had to face new challenges every day since then, from getting new guests to their lodges; departing guests to the airport for their next destination; food trucks that could not enter the reserve; and staff members that were stuck on the other side of the river could not come to work. It did not matter in which department you worked anymore, everyone jumped in where they could to help out. Our Sabi Sabi family stood stronger together than ever before.
The road fixing team was put to work as soon as possible, fixing crossings and main roads to the lodges. Everyone that had a spare hand to lend was out on the roads, helping our habitat team fix the roads. The first road to be fixed was the road in and out of the reserve. This is our closest access point to the community and was priority.
It kept on raining for the next week and a half, and with Cyclone Freddy on its way, we prepared ourselves for more rain. We knew now what to expect, and got to work, digging more trenches, and new protocols were set into place. We were ready for the next wave of rain to come. Fortunately for us, the eye of the cyclone moved further north of South Africa, and only heavy downpours were expected - and that was exactly what we got.
The average rainfall per year for this area is approximately 500mm, and in just one month we have already reached 545mm of rain. The bush is greener than ever before, and waterholes are filled up to the maximum. We are still navigating our way through the damage that was caused by all the water, but no amount of water can stand in our way!
Blog by Daniel Greyvenstein (Bush Lodge Ranger)
