Nov 09 2020
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Hippos @ Sibaya Lake – Sodwana Bay ~ South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

The hippopotamus is recognisable by its barrel-shaped torso, wide-opening mouth revealing large canine tusks, nearly hairless body, columnar legs and large size; adults average 1,500 kg (3,310 lb) and 1,300 kg (2,870 lb) for bulls and cows respectively. Despite its stocky shape and short legs, it is capable of running 30 km/h (19 mph) over short distances. Source: WikiPedia See if you can spot the Baby! [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb_QqCS11sE[/embedyt] Below is a picture of our Second encounter with Hippos… This time were able to find not just 1, but a whole pod of Hippos with babies as well… They were basking close to the Shoreline. At first we thought it was a carcass, but upon closer inspection found out it was a pod of Hippos! Our Second encounter with Hippos… This time were able to find not just 1, but a whole pod of Hippos with babies as well… They were basking close to the Shoreline. At first we thought it was a carcass, but upon closer inspection found out it was a pod of Hippos! Fun facts about the Hippo’s of Lake Sibaya: Lake Sibaya has the second largest population of Hippos in Kwa-Zulu Natal! Unfortunately this number is decreasing due to poachers, erosion and loss of habitat! We need to protect these gorgeous creatures, especially with Lake Sibaya been a world heritage site and a wetlands park protected area! Have any suggestions? Try stay clear of these unpredictable animals! Although it is amazing to find a hippo and see them in their natural habitat, you definitely don’t want to be to close to them, if you find a hippo to close to land or outside the water rather stay in your car or put some distance between you and the hippo, before admiring these majestic animals… They will charge if spooked or feel threatened… Think of a Hippo as a miniature Elephant! Hippos are the third largest land mammal after the Rhino and Elephant! I always thought a hippo was bigger than a Rhino – Guess I was mistaken… Interestingly enough hippos are more closely related to dolphins, whales and porpoises among other mammal sea creatures! Hippos can hold their breath up to 5 minutes underwater, which is quite impressive for such a heavy animal! Hippos spend up to 16 hours a day in the water! They try stay mostly in water to keep their skin cool and moist… Although Hippos are actually not great swimmers! They mostly stay in shallow waters where they can submerge to the point where only their eyes and nostrils breach the surface, the don’t go much deeper than what they can stand, the deepest a Hippo will go is how deep it can bounce off the surface and reach the water surface to breath…. Meaning don’t underestimate shallow waters, keep your eyes open for strange movements in the water! It is certainly not recommended to swim in a Hippo or Crocodile infested lake or any water bed! If the crocodiles don’t object to your presence the Hippos certainly will… Hippos are very social animals, but also a close community… They don’t just let anyone join in on their group especially if they have young! Hippos Schools usually consist of about 10 – 30 members per School, although some Schools have been reported to have almost 200 individuals in 1 school… Never the less – Hippos are not sexist like most other herding/pack animals  they don’t mind having males and females in their herd… Although there is always an alpha male that should never be challenged and always respected! Hippos are nocturnal grazers, every night in the coolness of the dark skies hippos will start grazing on grass. An adult Hippo can eat up to 35 kg in a single night and travel up to 10 km just to get their fill! Now that’s devotion. Hippos can live up to 3 weeks without food and although mostly herbivore – It has been observed that hippos eat carcasses of dead animals as well including dead hippos! Female Hippos pregnancy lasts about 8 months in total! That’s almost as long as a human pregnancy… The calf will suckle on it’s mom for the first 8 months of it’s life and will reach maturity between 5-7 years… The average life span of a hippo is 35 years! Our factual sources for this article came from: Sodwana Bay Information, WikiPedia and Live Science

Nov 04 2020
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Join OUR Adventures – Koa Sinag

By Sodwana Bay

Koa Sinag If you haven’t yet please Join our ADVENTURES > KOA SINAG YOUTUBE God has given us so much to live for but we get stuck in places and circumstances which is sometimes our own doing or totally out of our control. God also want us to be Brave and LIVE! Live a LIFE which is boundless and limitless… FREE! We must Shine our brightest so the world can see… see a ray of light in most darkest places. Koa Sinag is a mix of two languages Koa (Hawaiian) Sinag (Philippines) – Koa means Brave & Sinag means Ray of Light. So basically Brave Ray of LIGHT. You always told to SHINE so now we are SHINING!  

Aug 14 2020
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Catwalk

By Sodwana Bay

Catwalk at Sibaya Lake Don’t get confused with models and fashion… it is our dog cat – she thinks she’s a dog. When we whistle to call the dogs she also comes running. She loves her outdoor walks with us…   [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRiupBhcYxk[/embedyt]

Apr 10 2020
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List of Hospitals in South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

Sodwana Bay Clinics and Hospitals Sodwana Bay at present does not have any Hospital facilities. You will either have to drive to Mseleni Hospital which is about 35km or you can visit a Doctor in Mbazwana. If you want to be admitted at a Private Hospital your closes option will be Richards Bay. View our list of important numbers of Clinics and Hospitals in the surrounding areas of Sodwana Bay. Mbazwana Doctors: Dr Okosela Shop 12 Ithala Ctr, Sodwana Bay Rd Telephone‎:  +27(0)35 571 0056 Dr. Nkosi Sodwana Bay Medical Centre, Mbazwana Main Road, Mbazwana Telephone‎:  +27(0)35 571 0592 Mseleni Hospital: Telephone‎: ‎+27 (0) 35 574 1004 Email‎: ‎Mseleni.PRO@kznhealth.gov.za Fax‎: ‎+27 (0) 35 574 1559 Website: http://www.kznhealth.gov.za/mselenihospital.htm Richards Bay Hospital: The Bay Hospital – 035 780 6111 Address: 6 Kruger Rand Road, Richards Bay Central, Richards Bay, 3900 Website: https://www.netcarehospitals.co.za/Hospital/Netcare-The-Bay-Hospital   Also browse the list of all Hospitals in KZN below. Hospitals in  KZN: A Addington Hospital Dr M Ndlangisa 16 Erskine Terrace South Beach, Durban Tel: (031) 327 2000 Fax:(031) 327 2387 Mthetheleli.Ndlangisa@kznhealth.gov.za Appelsbosch Hospital Mr TL Gwele From PMB, take Greytown road and then take Wartburg rd. Go past Wartburg, do not turn at Dalton, carry on until you reach the sugar mill, then turn right and pass Fawnleas, Glenside, Montebello and Appelsbosch Supermarket (on left). Then look for sign for Appelsbosch hospital Tel: (032) 294 8000 Fax: (032) 294 0126 thando.gwele@kznhealth.gov.za B   Benedictine Hospital Mr BR Khumalo 3950 Main Road, Nongoma Tel: (035) 831 7000 Fax:(035) 831 0740 Bonginkosi.Khumalo3@kznhealth.gov.za Bethesda Hospital Ms S Nkonyane N2 North to Mkuze, left at T-junction, 3 km to Ubombo, turn right and go 18 km Tel:(035) 595 3100 Fax: (035) 595 1973 nkonyane.sibongile@kznhealth.gov.za C   Catherine Booth Hospital Mrs TR Vezi N2 North from Gingindlovu to Amatikulu Sugar Mill, turn right and travel 12 km along gravel road through sugar cane and banana fields until you reach the hospital.  The route is well sign-posted. Tel: 035 474 8407 Fax: (035) 474 7694 Tholakele.Zulu@kznhealth.gov.za Ceza Hospital Mr SP Zulu Go to Ulundi , from King Dinizulu Highway go about 20 km’s North to Ceza hospital. Tel: (035) 832 5000 Fax: (035) 832 0027 zodwa.mncwango@kznhealth.gov.za Charles James Hospital Dr S Ntshanga (acting) No. 6 Sompukane Road, Ezimbokodweni 4125. (Old south coast main road) Tel: (031) 905 4222/3 sbongile.ntshanga@kznhealth.gov.za Charles Johnson Memorial Hospital Ms MZ Khanyile Lot 92, Hlubi Street,Nquthu Tel: (034) 271 6400 Fax: (034) 271 0234 zodwa.khanyile@kznhealth.gov.za Christ the King Hospital Mrs SW Maseko 3276  Peter Hauff Drive, Ixopo Tel: (039) 834 7500 Fax 086 539 2800 Siphiwe.Maseko@kznhealth.gov.za Church of Scotland Hospital Mrs B Dlomo On the Greytown road go through Greytown and look for a board saying Tugela Ferry. Turn left at that board and go on until you reach Tugela Ferry town. On the left and right you will see shops. Look for board on your right saying hospital. Tel: (033) 493 1000 Fax: (033) 493 1124 bukeliwe.dlomo@kznhealth.gov.za Clairwood Hospital Dr NBL Gwala 1 Higginson Highway, Mobeni Tel: (031) 451 5000 Fax: (031) 462 1993 njabulo.gwala@kznhealth.gov.za D   Don McKenzie Hospital Mrs T Khanyile 10 Zulu Reserve road, Botha’s hill Tel: (031) 777 1155 Fax: (031) 777 1717 tiny.khanyile@kznhealth.gov.za Doris Goodwin Hospital Mr A Ndlovu Edendale road, next to Edendale hospital Tel: (033) 327 3500 Fax: (033) 398 1050 andrew.ndlovu@kznhealth.gov.za Dundee hospital Mrs TT Vilakazi 121 Mckenzie Street, Dundee 3000 Tel: (034) 212 1111 Fax: (034) 212 3245 Teresa.Mkhize@kznhealth.gov.za Theodorah.Vilakazi2@kznhealth.gov.za E Edendale Hospital Mrs NT Nxaba Main Road, Edendale Tel: (033) 395 4911 Fax:(033) 395 4060 nelisile.nxaba@kznhealth.gov.za E.G & Usher Memorial hospital Ms N Binase Corner of Avenue & Elliot Streets, Kokstad Tel: (039) 797 8100 Fax: (039) 727 2564 nomawethu.binase@kznhealth.gov.za Ekombe Hospital Dr BP Zungu From Melmoth proceed to Nkandla, before your reach Nkandla watch and take the turn off to Eqhudeni and Vuleka. From there drive about 30 km until you take the turn off to Eqhudeni, then you’ll drive 5 km to Ekombe Hospital Tel: (035) 834 8000 Fax: (035) 834 8012 Bonginkosi.Zungu@kznhealth.gov.za Ekuhlengeni Psychiatric Hospital Miss NS Padayachee Old South coast road, Umbogintwini Tel: (031) 905 4775/6/7/8/9 Nalini.Padayachee@kznhealth.gov.za Emmaus Hospital Mrs MAN Mzizi 3340 Cathedral Peak Road,Winterton Tel: (036) 488 1570 Fax: (036) 488 1330/ 488 1156 Ndileka.Mzizi@kznhealth.gov.za Eshowe Hospital Mr. PN Sangweni From N2 North take the Dokoweni off-ramp. Follow signs to Eshowe (30 km).  Take the second entrance to Eshowe, Kangela St. Hospital is 1,8 km from this entrance on the left hand side Tel: (035) 473 4500 Fax: (035) 474 4914 Nhlanhla.Sangweni@kznhealth.gov.za Estcourt Hospital Mr MP Bekenya 3310 Old Main Road, Estcourt Tel: (036) 342 7000 Fax:(036) 342 7116 thembile.hlongwa@kznhealth.gov.za Mthandazo.Bekenya@kznhealth.gov.za F Fort Napier Hospital Mr S Mthethwa 1 Devonshire Road, Napierville PMB Tel: (033) 260 4300 Fax:(033) 345 5730 truelove.ngcobo@kznhealth.gov.za G General Justice Gizenga Mpanza Regional Hospital (formerly Stanger Hospital) Dr N Vabaza Cnr of King Sharka & Patterson Street, Stanger Tel: (032) 437 6000 Fax: (032) 552 2767 noxolo.vabaza@kznhealth.gov.za G.J. Crookes Hospital Mrs TC Wanda 4180 Hospital Road, Scottburgh Tel: (039) 978 7000 Fax: (039) 978 1295 Grey’s Hospital  Tertiary Dr K Bilenge 3200 Townbush Road, PMB Tel: (033) 897 3000 Fax: (033) 897 3398 ben.bilenge@kznhealth.gov.za Greytown Hospital Ms KJ Mngadi Go to Greytown and take Bell street and ask for hospital that is next to township Tel: (033) 413 9400 Fax: (033) 413 2809 khanyi.mngadi@kznhealth.gov.za H Hillcrest Hospital Mrs MM Mkhize 50 Hospital Road, Hillcrest Tel: (031) 761 5880 Fax: (031) 765 3712 thulile.gordon@kzhealth.gov.za Hlabisa Hospital Mr S Mkhwanazi (acting CEO) 60 Saunders Street Hlabisa Tel: (035) 838 8600 Fax: (035) 838 1117 sihle.mkhwanazi@kznhealth.gov.za I Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital Dr T.T. Khanyile 800 Bellair Road, Cato Manor, Durban Tel: (031) 240 1000 Fax: (031) 240 1050 thandeka.khanyile@ialch.co.za Itshelejuba Hospital Mrs TM Vilakazi N2 North, about 30 km past Pongola and +- 70km from Piet Ritief Tel: (034) 413 4000 Fax: (034) 413 2545 thembi.vilakazi@kznhelth.gov.za K King Dinuzulu Hospital Complex Dr Z Dlamini (acting) Corner of Dr R D Naidoo drive and Viola Road  Sydenham Durban Tel: (031) 242…

Apr 02 2020
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Blind as a “SNAKE”??? Schlegel’s beaked blind snake @ Sodwana Bay ~ South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

Afrotyphlops schlegelii, commonly known as Schlegel’s beaked blind snake or Schlegel’s giant blind snake, is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is endemic to eastern and southern Africa, and bears the distinction of being the world’s largest typhlopid. It is harmless to humans and lives exclusively on a diet of termites. Source: WikiPedia We usually tell someone they are as blind as a bat, but why do we only use bats as illustrations to describe how blind we are? There are a lot of other creatures out there that are just as blind or even blinder than bats, but they never get credit for their way of navigating the world! Living close to a nature reserve without borders can bring excitement almost every day… We live next to the Isimangaliso wet lands park a world recognized heritage site, but occasionally there might be a few strays that stray outside the protection of the park, such as – the occasional hippo, monkeys, monitor lizards, mongoose and of course snakes wandering out of its borders. You wake up in the morning wondering what excitement the day will bring in your own yard… No need to go to a nature reserve to find some fun, exciting things, they decide to come to us… Although sometimes I wonder how the larger creatures such as monitor lizards and tortoises manage to get into our yard through a tight fence… We have encountered a few snake species around our yard and even in our house before, to name a few snake species – the brown house snake, an Eastern Green snake falling on our Tv and than later found on a nearby tree next to our house, a East African Shovel snout snake tryna hide away in our door post (We thought it might’ve been a Stiletto snake), these are just to name a few… Our latest snake find is the Schlegel’s beaked blind snake… It has a weird crown on its head, black and white spotted with a white belly and it is hard to tell it’s head from its tail, as we discovered this morning while it couldn’t stop wriggling… Apparently it is a really rare find as they usually stay under ground… I wonder what this one was doing above ground? It tried to burrow a hole to get away from us, but we know better than to just leave an unknown snake close to our house, especially not knowing of it’s venomous or not… So far we have been lucky enough only to find non-venomous snakes, but still stay cautious… Although all the snakes mentioned above are non-venomous they still have teeth and mouths big enough to bite if feeling threatened… Our family freak out every time we show them a new snake… Some find it fascinating and exciting, whilst others vow never to come visit while there are snakes around… It is really funny seeing different peoples reactions to snakes… A few fun facts about these tiny snakes: They only grow up to 60 – 70 cm or maximum of 95 cm… So maybe up to a school ruler and a half… That is really not big for a snake… These snakes live solely on termites and their larvae and are no threat to humans… Now I know why the snake was above ground… These Snakes often emerge above ground after heavy rains… I guess their houses might be flooded underneath the ground or they chasing after the termites that have now started making new nests? These snakes have no idea when to stop eating – well that is my opinion… Ever heard of an obese wild snake?! I have never heard of any wild animal living in the wild ever been obese till now… Schlegel’s beaked blind snakes are as blind in sight as they are in their appetite… These snakes often over eat themselves – who knew termites could be so fattening…. I get why there tails are so fat and not pointy like almost every other snake out there! These obese snakes are awesome snacks for predators such as birds of prey and other carnivorous snakes – more like cannibal snakes! I think these snakes are blind for a reason… They live most of their lives underground and have very little use for their sight… They have scales that cover their eyes, so they are not completely blind, but don’t see well at all either… Sort of like a mole… The Schlegel’s beaked blind snakes are the largest snake in their family… Makes you wonder how small can snakes be before been classified as worms? Our factual sources for this article came from: WikiPedia and Snake Bite institute Send us an email about any exotic or scary encounters you have had under the water or on land and your story might go viral! Please go checkout our  Patreon Page Below… We wanna start giving you guys who are committed to us exclusive content and be able to further our channel and provide better content to our Patrons… To do this we need funds and all the support we can get… Also check out our YouTube Channel when you done reading this… Every view is one step closer to our goal, we need 4000 hours of our subscribers views and 1000 Subscribers to be able to start making money and better content for you guys, YouTube is free please watch all our videos till the end… and subscribe – It’s Free – if you haven’t already and don’t forget to share the video when you done.

Mar 23 2020
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Honey Combs of the Sea – Honey Comb Moray Eel @ Sodwana Bay ~ South Africa

By Sodwana Bay

For those who follow our blogs you must’ve read the article about the cute small Snowflake eel.. They may be ankle biters, but no real harm will come from them, especially that they are so small and are super shy rather choosing to flea then attack! But what do you do when you encounter their much larger cousins that might be able to bite your ankle right off given the chance… Well our solution was to flee to the nearest, shallowest smallest rock we could find! Ok, let me reverse too the beginning! We were on our way back to shore after experiencing a super awesome neap tide… The water was only 0.3 m high in low tide and was the shallowest we have ever seen in Sodwana! It was already quite an eventful day, we found a puffer fish, a lionfish and a snowflake eel all in one day… That has to be a record of how many exotic creature we found in one day! We were almost back on dry land when Tom stopped us dead in our tracks, luckily he spotted the eel, we were literally heading straight for it and if Tom didn’t see it might even have stepped on… We switched the GoPro on to try film it – wasn’t aware about how it loves the camera spot light. It left it’s sunbathing spot to come show off to the camera, but obviously a wild animal swimming straight to you especially with razor sharp teeth usually means RUN!!!! Like I mentioned before, we chose the smallest, shallowest, nearest rock we could find… I think the people that saw us standing on this tiny rock must’ve thought we were crazy! Our eel was not very happy, if it really wanted to, it could’ve grabbed one of our legs, but instead it swam as close as possible to rock and swam past us… We later watched the video of this encounter, unfortunately nothing worth showing, but we figured out the poor eel was just so excited to have it’s picture taken and was really just tryna pose for the camera… I think this poor Eel was very disappointed in us for running away from it and got mad tryna get one more shot of it’s self in the camera… We have heard of a really friendly moray Eel that loves the attention of cameras, obviously we always thought the eel lived in the open deep water seas, where all the Scuba divers go to swim… But now we know it likes to visit the snorkelers as well… Kinda disappointed now because we could’ve had really awesome footage of a beautiful Honey Comb Moray Eel… The worst part about it all was that while doing some homework about these creatures to my article – I found out all though they might be dangerous, they don’t really care to hunt during the day and will much rather sleep or sunbathe than attack anything… You really have to annoy the poor creature for it to even think about fighting you off in the day time – although night time is an entire different story, you don’t wanna be mistaken for food… Next time I encounter a Honeycomb Moray Eel, I will definitely be cautious, but not so afraid to give it, it’s 15 seconds of fame… A few Fun Facts about these beautiful creatures: These Honeycomb Eels has numerous names due to it’s numerous different spotted patterns… Some have more leopard spots that are quite large almost resembling patches, whilst others like the one we encountered is super spotty like a cheetah. Their main color an vary between light yellow and white, like we have experienced it all depends on how the light hit the Eel and how deep it is! The spots on the Eel can vary from the Eel its self or because of its environment… Such as if the Eel lives in clear water close to reefs, the spots could be much larger as apposed to those who live deeper in the water without much reefs around… The ones we discovered is actually the opposite way round, but maybe that’s just Sodwana… Like most Eels the Honeycomb Eel loves warm water and will even settle for the red sea… These Eels can be found anywhere in the indo-west pacific ocean… They like to stay close to the reefs during the day and are ready to hunt at night! Next time you wanna plan a vacation make sure to book a beach trip to Sodwana – These Eels are real characters… Honeycomb Eels love tight spaces… Like any other Eel Honeycombs love hiding away in tight fitting holes, that’s if they can find a spot that is uninhabited by another creature… If there are no small holes which the Eel can sleep in they will also reside to lying under coral/rock ledges, since they are nocturnal, they are rarely seen active during the day, if seen at all! We were extremely lucky to have found this Honeycomb Eel Sunbathing during the day out in the open! Honeycomb Eels are super efficient for their environment, they help keep invasive species at bay, such as the Lion Fish. Most already know that lion fish can be super invasive and destroy entire coral reefs if not kept in check by their natural predators… I am so glad we have Moray eels in our reefs at Sodwana Bay, we have spotted a few Lion Fish in the rock pools already, good thing they will never the opportunity to take over our reefs… There are to other popular names for the Eels: the laced Moray or Leopard moray, makes sense on their color variations… Honestly I always imagined every Eel been really ugly… Since the most popular Eel is the electric Moray Eel and that one is super ugly!!! But meeting a couple Snowflake eels and now the Moray Eel I found that the myth of all eels been ugly is just…