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NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
HAPPY 2008!!
First Quarter of 2008 Finished!
Mid Year Already
As we spring into Spring!
All will be fine in 2009 |
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HAPPY 2008!!
 Well
first and foremost …………A very very happy New year to each and
every one of you special folks wherever in the world you may be
reading this. Hope 2008 is all you wished for and more. This is
the first of our Newsletter, which we plan to send out to all
our valued guests and friends every second month. We really
would love to see you all sometime in the year but if we don’t,
have a good one, take it easy and enjoy reading our newsletters.
Live for today and always remember that all’s cool under the
African Skies. And there’s always space for you with Crazy Dave,
Bella, the kids and the Motley Crew of Animals.
We are proud to announce to all our valued guests and friends
that this year Old Vic is a decade – 10 years have flown by,
filled with hardship and happiness, wonderful memories made and
plenty still to come, as we stream ahead. Living the dream and
full-filling the dream for so many of the travelers we meet at
Old Vic Travellers Inn.
We had a really great holiday season, spent with wonderful
family and friends. Plenty to eat and drink with lots of fun and
laughter. One of the highlights was going to see “The Lion King”
it was truly spectacular. Very realistic portrayal of the
animals. One of the cleverest scene’s was with the Giraffes.
The kids are comfortably back into the routine of school, and
all the activities that go with being a kid! We very proud to
brag that our daughter Sherese is a prefect this year! What a
true honor and privilege that is – way to go Sherese!
 Collin
our placid border collie as well as the rest of the motley Crew
are all well. Babe, our big friendly pig has moved on to greener
pastures so to speak. We felt he needed more space and so he has
happily settled on a farm, just outside of town and apparently
is ruling the roost.
I am currently pounding the streets of Nelspruit as I train for
Comrades, which is the world renowned 90 kms running road race
in Kwazulu Natal which takes place in June. At least it will be
a bit of a reprieve from the heat as it is winter here then. But
before the coolness of winter sets in, this weekend Sherese and
myself will be swimming the Midmar mile, an open water dam race
that also takes place in Kwa-Zulu Natal. It’s said that this is
the world’s largest open water event.
NEWS ON OLD VIC.....
Old Vic is still as homely as ever, a true home from home. The
garden is looking stunning as we have had more than our fair
share of summer showers. Everything is green and growing
beautifully. The dorm we have converted into a 3 sleeper now –
so it comfortably accommodates 3 people. We are doing our utmost
at this moment in time to keep our rates at the 2007 prices.
 December
and January we were honored to have a group of students from one
of the largest companies in the world, B H Billiton, staying at
Old Vic!
Not long to go now and we will be welcoming our new Dutch
students who will be teaching in the rural schools of Nelspruit.
Talking students, we have our very own “Student” that has joined
our Old Vic team. Ryan is an avid animal lover (all animals but
rather prone to the wild dogs of Africa), and is hoping to be a
game ranger. We are training him on the hospitality side, he
will assist in greeting the guests, etc which is an ideal
opportunity for him as well as an excellent way to gain
experience in our wonderful field, not to mention having the
pleasure of meeting some awesome guests such as yourselves.
Bella and I are as pleased as punch to say with lots of hard
work and plenty of commitment we have opened “Krazy Kangaroo’s”
which is a mere 200 meter walk from Old Vic. It also has the
most amazing appeal and has already attracted many sporting
groups, families, students and even business men. It boasts a
beautiful pool and can accommodate 1-12 people in the three
bedrooms available as well as the usual self catering facilities
our guests so enjoy.
KRUGER FLEXI TOURS
 The
year began on a rather quiet note but the pace soon fastened.
Our first three tours all saw the Big Five as well as Cheetahs
and the very rare Wild Dogs.
As always the tours are the most awesome experience for even me.
I never tire of each and every tour. Last year ended with me
doing 70 tours to Kruger with an excellent record of sightings,
each tour saw at least four out of five of the Big Five. Every
tour was fortunate enough to see lions, some right wham bam in
your face others slightly further away but still a lion sighting
none the less.
Leopards, we have decided are most definitely the most camera
shy of all the cats.
The essential thing to always bear in mind when visiting Kruger
is that it’s not a zoo. Animals are constantly on the move, and
so they should be if they weren’t – who knows what our chances
would be of ever seeing them? It’s never a guarantee to see all
the animals. But then somedays, Lady Luck is sure on our side.
As she was on the 25th January, with our tour starting off with
a terrific bang when, as we entered the park at Malelane gate,
we saw a leopard right in front of us.
We are delighted to inform you our very special guests and
friends that for now we are trying to keep the rates for the
back-packers the same as the 2007 rates. We will for now, also
be keeping our tour prices at 2007 rates as well. Which I am
sure you can all appreciate, as the fact of the matter is, each
and every year it is expected and prices do increase and the
Kruger Park makes no exception. As well as food and petrol are
also increasing at an alarming rate.
Our promise to you is – we are going to try our utmost to keep
our prices as follows until June 2008 – whereby we will review
them
2 day 1 night is still an incredible deal at R1 950.00 per
person.
3 day 2 night is also an incredible R2 950.00 per person.
Also bear in mind; these are fall tours as we depart from
Nelspruit at 4.30 am to ensure we at the gates when Kruger opens
for the day.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS
 Everybody
always asks “Crazy Dave, how come they called The Big 5” as many
people feel that because they are big, why are the Giraffe and
Hippo not part of them – and then they could be the Big 7?
The answer to this, is the Big Five, namely, elephant, Rhino,
Buffalo, Lion and Leopard were the most dangerous to hunt a
hundred years ago.
The grass is incredibly long at the moment due to some amazing
rainfall in the Park. And although this can be lousy for the
guests (and locals) as it’s difficult to spot the animals we
were really lucky to spot 5 lions 5 meters from the car on a
recent tour.
AND LAST BUT NOT
LEAST.......REMEMBER
When booking, please bear in mind, we do need your credit card
details as well as a 50% non refundable deposit if you are
wanting to visit Kruger National Park.
 By
far the best and safest way to get to Nelspruit is either by
CityBug or the BazBus.
Their website addresses are as follows www.citybug.co.za or
info@citybug.co.za and www.bazbus.com or info@bazbus.com.
The unfortunate reality about other busing options is one really
has to be very aware and cautious in the central town of
Nelspruit, where these busses tend to have their drop off zone.
The motto is: “trust no one, and show no one” – don’t have
camera’s, cell phones hanging around your neck, be discreet when
working with your wallets/purses and any monies.
And on that note, been great catching up. Hope you’ve all
enjoyed the news from Old Vic in Nelspruit and please feel free
to drop us a line. We would love to hear your news and views
too. Mail us telling us what your think of our Newsletter, our
photo’s, of the website or even just to say “HEY HOWDI CRAZY
DAVE, BELLA AND FAMILY!!!!”
AND NOW FOR THE LAST LAUGH
The blonde and her husband are lying in bed listening to the
next door neighbour’s dog. It has been in the backyard barking
for hours and hours.
The blond jumps out of bed and says “I;ve had enough of this! As
she goes downstairs.
She finally comes back up to bed and her husband says. “The dog
is still barking, what have you been doing?”
The blonde replies “I put the dog in OUR backyard, let’s just
see how THEY like it”.
Thank You
Regards Dave
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