Full moon on 10 November 2011, and its reflection on the water creating a fairyland  stage for a thunderous frogs’ concert.



Star Gazing Hot Spot …. only at Treeferns Trout Lodge, Dullstroom, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Our rainy season on the Highveld came with a ‘Big Bang’ to our province and Star Gazing for the past 3 months was difficult due to the weather.

Fortunately, seasons are changing and for the past 2 weeks we could set up our telescopes and enjoy the starry night.  It’s amazing to see the changes is the night sky since August 2010.  Luckily, objects like Orion’s Nebulae is now visible from early evening and with bigger telescopes and camera’s, things like the Horse Head nebulae is easier to find comparing to August last year.

And the 2 famous planets: Saturn and Jupiter….Oh what a sight!! .. and do not forget about galaxies like Andromeda, Tarantula, and the thousands of star clusters.

With your lap top and programmes like Red shift planetarium and ‘stellarium’in your one hand, and the scope in the other:  Star gazing is just one of those pleasures we have to offer.

My 11-year old son and I enjoy these quality times together and during October we both saw 2 ‘objects’ on one night:  The one looked like a special craft and the other one was something we couldn’t make out in the milky way: A big flashing light which separated in different directions.  The same week, on a news bulletin, it was reported that quite a few ‘UFO sightings’ were reported during the month of October all over the globe! Unfortunately, after several mails to organizations like SETI (search for extra terrestrial intelligence) nobody replied to our enquiries.

Clean air, clear skies, luxurious accommodation, unforgettable trout fishing, game drives  and a magnificent view from 2000 metres above sea level:  This is a winning combination for anyone who is looking for that Star Gazing Hot Spot:  Only at Treeferns Trout Lodge, Dullstroom,  Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Stargazing is becoming increasingly a popular nighttime hobby, even more so for the beginner or amateur. There is so much to see in the sky with the naked eye.  When we were children we used to sleep outside under the open sky, and watch the stars. I can still hear the cries of delight with each new star “discovered”, or a star shooting through the clear skies. We have also noticed that the  sky and the stars are not always the same. It changes from time to time , and season to season. This is what makes stargazing so exciting and interesting.

Owing to its high altitude and clear skies, Treeferns Trout Lodge is a prime stargazing spot, anytime comparable with the well-known stargazing locations in the country.

See also “Stargazing Hotspot” under this category.

←Kenny and Annette Neville

Chris and  1.5 m telescope→

Treeferns Trout Lodge now also boasts a brand new 12″, 1.5 m Dobsonian reflector telescope.

This enables guests to view in dark moon the following stars and star clusters among others :

Small and large megalanic clouds with their star clusters and nebulae

Andromeda galaxy and two of its neighbouring galaxies

Dumbell nebulae

Tarantula nebulae

Orions nebulae

Ring nebulae

and much more, weather permitting.

The following photos show some of the most  amasing stars and star clusters  obscured for the naked eye :

With the clear skies star gazing at Treeferns Trout Lodge is absolutely spectacular.

A hot new attraction here at the lodge, is a telescope to look at the stars, milky way, star clusters, nebulae and some of the planets like Saturn, Venus and Jupiter. Other planets like Uranus and Mars are also visible later in the evenings.

Milky Way

With the  8” refractor telescope, on a clear night sky we can see the most wonderful stars our

Creator provided  us.

I have to admit, I am also only an amateur in this fantastic new field, but with new software and a laptop, we explore the night sky with amazement

People are stunned when they see the ‘rings’ around Saturn, Jupiter and it’s moons and most of times they are totally speechless when they take a look at the moon with its craters.

We are in this fortunate position to show some of the constellations like Scorpio and Orion’s Belt. With a very powerful laser beam, people can also see exactly which star we talk about when we point at it.

We also explain how to look at the night sky and find your way through it just to look at the stars, eg. the “Southern Cross/ Crux”.

If you have binoculars or telescopes, bring it with next time.

Happy gazing.

Morne.