The drive yesterday with the film students was a roaring (literally!) success. There were 4 of them (2 local South Africans, 1 Aussie, 1 Yank). All had been to the bush many times before so they were going to be a hard crowd to please, but I think we did well ;)
The 2 major sightings for them were 3 rhinos, and the whole pride of lions (6 adults and the cub).
The rhinos were nice as we spotted them in the distance and got about 50 metres away. I know these rhinos (the sub-adults) are curious so i turned off the engine and they kind beasts did as i expected and walked over to us. They literally came right up to the cruiser, so the guys had a beautiful sighting. After the rhinos realised we weren't a threat (or food) they duely bumbled off.
The guys then asked if i knew where the lions were - i didn't know exactly but i did know where they had been earlier in the day so i pootled off in that direction. It took about 40 mins to drive there so Rach and i impressed with our knnowledge of fauna and flaura along the way. By the time we got to the last known sighting 2 other vehicles were also in the area looking for them. This made life easy and we foound them after a short search - they were sitting, spread over about a 100 metre area, in a huge field.
The female with the cub was closest to where we entered the field so i went to them first, and as expected the cub looked cute for photos. 20 mins later i moved the cruiser to where the 3 other females were sitting. They looked quite restless and i thought they might be about to go on the move so i placed the cruiser where i thought they would be walking. Sure enough, 10 mins later the big girls got up one by one and went on the prowl, walking to within a few metres of the cruiser. Then males being males, the 2 males lions also stired and walked after the females, again walking right past the cruiser. The guys were amazed that the lions came so close to us - but at all times my engine was off and it was the lions that chose the path to walk, so very ethical too :)
We then tracked the lions for a bit on the road, but as we were right at the back all we really saw was that back end of the male, as the females had moved off ahead by 100 metres or more. I told teh guys my plan was to come off the road, drive around one of the plains for about a mile, then re-join the road. I was hoping the lions would stick to the road (as they often do) then we would be in the road and they would pass us but facing us. Seemed like a plan and they all agreed.
Once back on theroad I called through to one of the other vehicles and sure enough the lions were still coming our way. 5 minutes wait saw the female walking towards us with little cub in tow. Followed by the other 3 females about 20 metres back, then the young male and laastly the big male about 50 metres or so off the pace.
As the female (very grumpy one, famous for charging at cars!) hgot level with us a work vehicle from one of the lodges pulled up behind me and went to overtake me. This freaked the cub out and he/she panicked and gave a yelp. The driver of the car then reversed back and parked behind me but kept his engine running (a sign of agression to animals, engine noise).
I knew what was coming next so I just said to the guys in the cruiser to stay quiet and don't move, whatever may happen. And, sure enough the female turned to us and gave us a big warning growl. Don't forget, we have no doors, roof or windows to our cruisers and we was only 2 yards from her, so this is a heart stopping noise. Luckily everyone froze. She stared at us for a bit, grumbled some more then moved off behind us.
The problem was, the cub would still not pass us and i had this bad feeling the female would come back and have another go at us. Fortunately one of the other females came up to the cub, nuzzled it, then led it past us. Then the 2 big males came through, and they looked huge :)
After all this excitement i thought it best to take the guys back to camp for supper. And were they scared - abso-blinking-lutely. they said they had never experienced anything like it before and it was so primeval to have such a dangerous animal so close and warning them. It was certainly not my intention to get a growl from the big girl but at least no one freaked and we all stayed safe/.
They were also very impressed how Rach and i stated calm and in control and wasn't scared (like they were). Not bllody likely, i sh!t myself every time these lions growl at us or charge us, but we have learnt to control this fear (through practice) in the knowledge that they are not real threats, just 'friendly' warnings!
And did they like our safari? Yes, one guy even said we should reconsider going back to London and take up the work offer, we were so professional (he'd been on other safaris in the past but loved ours). Top praise but we are sticking to our plans :) Oh, and we take them out again tomorrow - hippos and hopefully elephants tomorrow!
Monday 23 May 2011
Press up king! (or man's man level 10)
You know how young men, after a few beers in the bar, have the bravado kick in, well this happened in camp recently. The young studs, showing off in front of the girls, were arguiing who was stronger blah blah blah who could do the most press-ups etc and generally letting the testerone talk. These are all mostly kids half my age so I think they were a little surprised when i said they should have a little challenge - get down on you face and see how many press-ups they could do in one go.
The fat Spaniard managed 1. Skinny Yank about 15. A Brit 20. The muscular Afrikaans rugby player 43. Little old man me.....56, with some spare left in the tank :) Little did they know that I crank out 100 - 150 press-ups most days to try and stay in shape. At my age trying to look after yourself gets hard so every little helps. Anyway, i think they were suitably surprised, and Rach was very proud of her old man.
I'd already got the knick-name off the group as 'man's man' as i always wear t-shirts in the cold even when the rest wear fleeces and long tops ( i just don't feel the cold), but now this has progressed to 'man's man level 10'. This is a bit of a running joke now in camp, and as someone does something suitably brave/strong/manly/or stupid we up their man's man level. Thankfuly no one has reached level 10 yet apart from the old geezer.
The fat Spaniard managed 1. Skinny Yank about 15. A Brit 20. The muscular Afrikaans rugby player 43. Little old man me.....56, with some spare left in the tank :) Little did they know that I crank out 100 - 150 press-ups most days to try and stay in shape. At my age trying to look after yourself gets hard so every little helps. Anyway, i think they were suitably surprised, and Rach was very proud of her old man.
I'd already got the knick-name off the group as 'man's man' as i always wear t-shirts in the cold even when the rest wear fleeces and long tops ( i just don't feel the cold), but now this has progressed to 'man's man level 10'. This is a bit of a running joke now in camp, and as someone does something suitably brave/strong/manly/or stupid we up their man's man level. Thankfuly no one has reached level 10 yet apart from the old geezer.
Whorton and Whorton Safaris Limited
As we are not doing all the walks (because we opted out of the trails guide practicals and ARH) we can be a lot more flexible with our day and volunteer for extra curricular activities (no smuttiness please!). Camp is bus at the moment, what with us 6 monthers, 17 students from the US and now a new group of film students. So busy in fact that Rach and I are now the new guides for the film students. How cool is that!
Today (22nd May) is our first drive with them. We need to find out what they are inspired by, and what they are hoping to film, and then find it for them. The students will be here for the next 5 weeks and in this time they gave to do all the scrip writing, filming and editing to produce a 5 minute film that gets presented to Nat Geographic.
This is a great privilage for us to guide these students and we are going to enjoy every minute of it. It's also very satisfying to know that the school trusts us with their paying guests and think us good enough to be their guides. We hope we do them proud :)
Today (22nd May) is our first drive with them. We need to find out what they are inspired by, and what they are hoping to film, and then find it for them. The students will be here for the next 5 weeks and in this time they gave to do all the scrip writing, filming and editing to produce a 5 minute film that gets presented to Nat Geographic.
This is a great privilage for us to guide these students and we are going to enjoy every minute of it. It's also very satisfying to know that the school trusts us with their paying guests and think us good enough to be their guides. We hope we do them proud :)
Sunday 22 May 2011
Students turn teachers
Now we are qualified the doors have opened for us now here. As already noted we are now allowed to drive ourselves around the reserve and guide for ourselves. As it happens, we can also use skills we brought with us from London too.
One of our fellow students, a young 18 year old chap, failed his first practical assessment. He had most of the knowledge needed but his presentation skills and style were (to put it mildly) somewhat lacking. As Rach and I are very good at presenting (it is part of our real jobs in the City) the guy who runs the school asked us to take the other student out on drives and teach him how to present.
Given how shy this chap is, and how he struggles to present, I think there was a general expectation that we couldn't do it....but boy were they so wrong. We just gave him some hints and tips, set him homework (really, we did!), took him on a few practice drives, and a few weeks later he was ready for his second assessed drive.
This time he nailed it. Lee (the assesor) was very impressed....and Rach and I felt like proud parents - well the guy is young enough to be our son to be fair :) He worked so hard and put into practice the skills we gave him and we are so pleased for him.
What next for the students turn teachers?!?
One of our fellow students, a young 18 year old chap, failed his first practical assessment. He had most of the knowledge needed but his presentation skills and style were (to put it mildly) somewhat lacking. As Rach and I are very good at presenting (it is part of our real jobs in the City) the guy who runs the school asked us to take the other student out on drives and teach him how to present.
Given how shy this chap is, and how he struggles to present, I think there was a general expectation that we couldn't do it....but boy were they so wrong. We just gave him some hints and tips, set him homework (really, we did!), took him on a few practice drives, and a few weeks later he was ready for his second assessed drive.
This time he nailed it. Lee (the assesor) was very impressed....and Rach and I felt like proud parents - well the guy is young enough to be our son to be fair :) He worked so hard and put into practice the skills we gave him and we are so pleased for him.
What next for the students turn teachers?!?
Thursday 5 May 2011
Ultimate self drive safari
Now we are qualified we are allowed to take vehicles out on game drives by ourselves, which is a bit wacky. Often there are quite a few students on the vehicle but we have also had drives where it is just Rach and myself. So picture this, I'm driving through a dangerous game area in an open topped and sided game vehicle with Rach on tracker (bait) seat looking for lions!!!! So surea.
But this is why we did the course so this is the ultimate for us :)
Future safari holidays will never be the same again with other people driving and guiding for us ;)
But this is why we did the course so this is the ultimate for us :)
Future safari holidays will never be the same again with other people driving and guiding for us ;)
Saturday 30 April 2011
Afternoon tea
How British is Afternoon Tea, with a nice cuppa of Earl Grey and a chocolate cake? Well this is exactly what we had yesterday afternoon at the local Wildlife breading centre; this was a very apt day to have this as it was Royal Wedding day back in Blighty. We felt that in a small way we joined in with the celebrations :)
We also watched the start of the wedding on TV here - it was great to see London on the screen and so many people in the streets enjoying themselves. Very good for UK Plc's bank balance!
We also watched the start of the wedding on TV here - it was great to see London on the screen and so many people in the streets enjoying themselves. Very good for UK Plc's bank balance!
It's Decided
We had always planned to spend the first 6 months on this course and then travel around Africa (mostly Southern) for the second 6 months. We were (notice the past tense!) going to buy a 4x4 in SA and then use this to explore. Well, plans have changed recently for a number of reasons - firstly, cars (and especially 4x4s) in SA are damn expensive. In the UK the second hand car market is dead and you can pick up a decent car for a few grand, but here you are talking 10-15k just for a standard 4x4. Secondly, we are doing so much on this course that there will be very little left to see from a wild-life perspective, and compared to many other places in the world Africa is not as culture rich (well, not to us anyway). Thirdly, Africa is an expensive place to travel around with limited backpacking venues (we knew this before we came but it's got worse since we've been here with some countries starting to charge extra for foreign tourists..Zim!) Finally, we've just finished 10 days leave in Cape Town and we miss cities too much :)
We have been offered a guaranteed work placement by the course for 6 months, which could lead to a permanent job as a safari guide but we are declining this. Apart from the pay being crap (well, zero for the first 6 months and not much more than 500 per month thereafter),and conditions being 'basic', and the treatment of staff in some reserves being 'suspect' (by all accounts), we have come to realise that we love to visit the bush but couldn't stay here 24-7, 365 days of the year. We had heard all this before we came out and that is why we always saw this as a 6 month holiday with the very remote possibility of staying on but this was always very remote.
Course is doing exactly as we wanted though, so no worries there - just couldn't work in this industry :) Would rather earn lots of sterling in the UK and visit different countries at our leisure.
So in June we'll be heading back to the UK (as originally planned) and for the second 5 months we'll be trying pastures new. Top of the list at the moment is S.E Asia (maybe for a month or 2), China and South America (catch up with Rach's brother in Argentina then explore some of this continent for a few months). Plans still to be finalised because there is still so much of the world we want to see and there will only be 5 months left to do it in :(
We have been offered a guaranteed work placement by the course for 6 months, which could lead to a permanent job as a safari guide but we are declining this. Apart from the pay being crap (well, zero for the first 6 months and not much more than 500 per month thereafter),and conditions being 'basic', and the treatment of staff in some reserves being 'suspect' (by all accounts), we have come to realise that we love to visit the bush but couldn't stay here 24-7, 365 days of the year. We had heard all this before we came out and that is why we always saw this as a 6 month holiday with the very remote possibility of staying on but this was always very remote.
Course is doing exactly as we wanted though, so no worries there - just couldn't work in this industry :) Would rather earn lots of sterling in the UK and visit different countries at our leisure.
So in June we'll be heading back to the UK (as originally planned) and for the second 5 months we'll be trying pastures new. Top of the list at the moment is S.E Asia (maybe for a month or 2), China and South America (catch up with Rach's brother in Argentina then explore some of this continent for a few months). Plans still to be finalised because there is still so much of the world we want to see and there will only be 5 months left to do it in :(
Too Close for Comfort
When you come on safari the guides always say to you not to stand upon vehicles as this breaks the silhouette of the vehicle, that is, the animals will no longer see a 'single' shape but will be able to see individuals. This comes from the view that the animals cannot make out an individual on a vehicle under normal conditions......well that is absolute bollox (excuse my French). Lions at least can certainly pick out individuals on vehicles and we see this all the time, but my close encounter proved this without a shadow of a doubt.
We were heading back to camp one evening and the sun was setting fast and the light was fading even faster. I was on the bait seat (tracker) and another student was driving (or tutor was on the back row next to Rach). As we came onto the plains outside camp we saw the 2 adult females ane the young sub-adult female. Nice sighting :) We followed them for a bit, they on the plains and us driving parallel on the road. They stopped and we pulled forward to the next junction and (with hind-sight, very foolishly) turned across the road junction and effectively across their natural straight line route.
2 of the females (an adult and the younger cat) were play fighting, whilst the second adult was sitting looking at the wildebeast on the other side of the plains. They were about 30 metres or so to our left.
The lone female then got up and started on her path again - as she neared us she took a detour then sent her 5 metres or so around me on the bait seat. She never really took much notice of me which frankly is how I like my lions to be when I'm playing bait!
The other 2 lions were still being frisky and as they got closer the large female (and trust me, this is one huge female lion) suddenly looked up at me and instead of walking past she actually walk towards me, closely followed by the young female. She then stopped right by my feet (don't forget, I'm on bait so am effectively sitting on the bonnet of the car). She just sat down and then stared at me, right into my eyes. Being a tad on the nervous side (!) I just stared straight back at her (I didn't notice but apparently the young female was also staring at me).
The cats eyes were wide, her ears were flat against her head, and her eyebrows were raised - a sign, apparently of defensive aggression. It appears that she wasn't quite sure what I was and whether I was a threat and so came over to investigate. She was ready to strike if I attacked first (hee hee, not likely) but was also currious.
We sat there for a minute or two. The whole car was deathly silence, no one willing to breath or move in case this spooked the lion. I remember the tutor whispering at one point for everyone to stay silent and not move, and telling me not to worry (too late). One of the students was about to take a phot at one point, and i could see the flash pointer on the lion's back, but as he realised how close she was to me he froze too (thankfully he never took the shot as we don't know what this would have resulted in).
When she finally moved off, she went 2 yards, stopped and stared again to make sure I was still safe. Then she followed the other female. Only when she was about 20 metres away did the whole vehicle suddenly start breathing again.
For me, my mind was racing through the whole experience. I was trying to work out what I should do and not do. One thing to do is to stare the lion down, and show her you are not scared. Well, I did this by keeping eye contact (and apparently I did this well) but I can tell you now I was scared and no shame in that either. I was also trying to work out what I should do if she went for me - this is not being dramatic as I (and everyone else in the car) really did think she was going to take a swipe at me.
Rach, in the back was bricking it for me. She really did think I was in big doodoo. The tutor kept whispering to her to stay calm and I would be OK but all she could see was a lion being very interested in her husband.
The tutor, well she'd never seen this behaviour before and so even for her this was new ground. She did think though that the lion was more curious than aggressive and was not on the attack but more on the defence. She did however think the lion was going to take a 'playful' (as she called it) swipe at me, which thankfully she didn't actually do.
The student driving the car went into a bit of shock - he genuinly thought he had put me in the lions mouth. Lets just say he will be thinking about vehicle positioning in future :)
This was the most amazing experience and whilst I can look back on it and say 'wow' I would rather hope it never happens again. I still ove going out to see the lions, and can't wait to walk them, but now I am 100% convinced they know we are individuals and not just a 'single' steal animal on wheels.
And yes, I did need a change of pants afterwards ;)
We were heading back to camp one evening and the sun was setting fast and the light was fading even faster. I was on the bait seat (tracker) and another student was driving (or tutor was on the back row next to Rach). As we came onto the plains outside camp we saw the 2 adult females ane the young sub-adult female. Nice sighting :) We followed them for a bit, they on the plains and us driving parallel on the road. They stopped and we pulled forward to the next junction and (with hind-sight, very foolishly) turned across the road junction and effectively across their natural straight line route.
2 of the females (an adult and the younger cat) were play fighting, whilst the second adult was sitting looking at the wildebeast on the other side of the plains. They were about 30 metres or so to our left.
The lone female then got up and started on her path again - as she neared us she took a detour then sent her 5 metres or so around me on the bait seat. She never really took much notice of me which frankly is how I like my lions to be when I'm playing bait!
The other 2 lions were still being frisky and as they got closer the large female (and trust me, this is one huge female lion) suddenly looked up at me and instead of walking past she actually walk towards me, closely followed by the young female. She then stopped right by my feet (don't forget, I'm on bait so am effectively sitting on the bonnet of the car). She just sat down and then stared at me, right into my eyes. Being a tad on the nervous side (!) I just stared straight back at her (I didn't notice but apparently the young female was also staring at me).
The cats eyes were wide, her ears were flat against her head, and her eyebrows were raised - a sign, apparently of defensive aggression. It appears that she wasn't quite sure what I was and whether I was a threat and so came over to investigate. She was ready to strike if I attacked first (hee hee, not likely) but was also currious.
We sat there for a minute or two. The whole car was deathly silence, no one willing to breath or move in case this spooked the lion. I remember the tutor whispering at one point for everyone to stay silent and not move, and telling me not to worry (too late). One of the students was about to take a phot at one point, and i could see the flash pointer on the lion's back, but as he realised how close she was to me he froze too (thankfully he never took the shot as we don't know what this would have resulted in).
When she finally moved off, she went 2 yards, stopped and stared again to make sure I was still safe. Then she followed the other female. Only when she was about 20 metres away did the whole vehicle suddenly start breathing again.
For me, my mind was racing through the whole experience. I was trying to work out what I should do and not do. One thing to do is to stare the lion down, and show her you are not scared. Well, I did this by keeping eye contact (and apparently I did this well) but I can tell you now I was scared and no shame in that either. I was also trying to work out what I should do if she went for me - this is not being dramatic as I (and everyone else in the car) really did think she was going to take a swipe at me.
Rach, in the back was bricking it for me. She really did think I was in big doodoo. The tutor kept whispering to her to stay calm and I would be OK but all she could see was a lion being very interested in her husband.
The tutor, well she'd never seen this behaviour before and so even for her this was new ground. She did think though that the lion was more curious than aggressive and was not on the attack but more on the defence. She did however think the lion was going to take a 'playful' (as she called it) swipe at me, which thankfully she didn't actually do.
The student driving the car went into a bit of shock - he genuinly thought he had put me in the lions mouth. Lets just say he will be thinking about vehicle positioning in future :)
This was the most amazing experience and whilst I can look back on it and say 'wow' I would rather hope it never happens again. I still ove going out to see the lions, and can't wait to walk them, but now I am 100% convinced they know we are individuals and not just a 'single' steal animal on wheels.
And yes, I did need a change of pants afterwards ;)
The Toys of War
Following on from passing the .22 rifle handling we moved on to the .375 rifles (elephant guns!). These are the big beasts and what you need to use if you are to become a 'trails guide', that is someone who guides guests in dangerous game areas. The whole process involves passing the Advanced Rifle Handling (ARH), a trails guide exam (to get your theory), a practical assessed walk into a dangerous game sighting, and a log book of walks (this has to be 10 walks encounters of dangerous game like lion and rhino, and a total of about 50 hours walking in dangerous game areas).
ARH starts with what is called 'dry handling'. This is where we learnt how to load and unload the gun, shoulder the gun and all the things you need to do instinctively if say a lion was charging at you. This was actually quite fun, and I could load 3 rounds into the gun, whilst blind folded, within 6.2 seconds (Rach was 7.4 seconds). So pretty impressive stuff. The problem for me started when we got to the firing range.
Shooting the .22 was a breeze as it didn't feel like a really dangerous weapon - I mean, it's a gun and the bullets are real and can kill easily, but the noise and the kick was non-existant compared to the .375 The .375 is massive and when it goes off you know you have something very dangerous in your hands, and to be honest this did not thrill me at all. Some of the guys on the course are gun mad and talk about shooting this animal and that, and this just does not appeal to me, rather it revolts me. So each time I shot the gun I was left with the realisation that by learning to shoot this gun, and having to carry one on walks, I may be put in a position of having to kill an animal.
After a couple of sessions at the range (and my shooting was pretty good, so with my dry handling I think I would have been OK on the ARH assessment) I dropped out. I've never been a fan of the toys of war and this just proved it even further. For the record, Rach also dropped out (for slightly different reasons) and this now leaves us with a few hoours extra each day to chill, which is great!!
What now for us? - well, if we don't get ARH we can't go for full trails guide but we can still sit the theory exam; we can still do all the walks and learn the theory, which for us as we don't want to go into the guiding industry, is fine. For the rest of the students, who are trying to get jobs in the industry, they are still having to go through the process - many are struggling and finding it a chore, so we are happy to be chilling and being stress free :) (Plus I now have a bit more time to update this blog!).
ARH starts with what is called 'dry handling'. This is where we learnt how to load and unload the gun, shoulder the gun and all the things you need to do instinctively if say a lion was charging at you. This was actually quite fun, and I could load 3 rounds into the gun, whilst blind folded, within 6.2 seconds (Rach was 7.4 seconds). So pretty impressive stuff. The problem for me started when we got to the firing range.
Shooting the .22 was a breeze as it didn't feel like a really dangerous weapon - I mean, it's a gun and the bullets are real and can kill easily, but the noise and the kick was non-existant compared to the .375 The .375 is massive and when it goes off you know you have something very dangerous in your hands, and to be honest this did not thrill me at all. Some of the guys on the course are gun mad and talk about shooting this animal and that, and this just does not appeal to me, rather it revolts me. So each time I shot the gun I was left with the realisation that by learning to shoot this gun, and having to carry one on walks, I may be put in a position of having to kill an animal.
After a couple of sessions at the range (and my shooting was pretty good, so with my dry handling I think I would have been OK on the ARH assessment) I dropped out. I've never been a fan of the toys of war and this just proved it even further. For the record, Rach also dropped out (for slightly different reasons) and this now leaves us with a few hoours extra each day to chill, which is great!!
What now for us? - well, if we don't get ARH we can't go for full trails guide but we can still sit the theory exam; we can still do all the walks and learn the theory, which for us as we don't want to go into the guiding industry, is fine. For the rest of the students, who are trying to get jobs in the industry, they are still having to go through the process - many are struggling and finding it a chore, so we are happy to be chilling and being stress free :) (Plus I now have a bit more time to update this blog!).
Exams are over....for now
It's been over a month now since we sat and passed our level 1 exams. The results came out mid April and not surprisingly Rach scored the highest with me a close (ish) second. In fact, Rach scored the highest out of anyone in the country (97%) and I was second in the country (95%), and overall the Entabeni school had 4 of the top 5 marks, so this does speak well for the course. Rach is such a brainy young girl!
These scores do reflect how hard we both worked rather than how easy the exam was (honest!). The pass mark is set at 75% so students really do fail this exam. I guess we were lucky in some ways as we are so interested in the subjects we were studying so the learning was never really a chore. The scores though do emphasise how much we have learnt over the past 4 months and how much more we now know about the bush :)
Late March we also both passed our SESSETA competency tests - this now allows us to shoot .22 rifles. This then leads on to the .375 rifles (elephant guns). But that's a different story :)
These scores do reflect how hard we both worked rather than how easy the exam was (honest!). The pass mark is set at 75% so students really do fail this exam. I guess we were lucky in some ways as we are so interested in the subjects we were studying so the learning was never really a chore. The scores though do emphasise how much we have learnt over the past 4 months and how much more we now know about the bush :)
Late March we also both passed our SESSETA competency tests - this now allows us to shoot .22 rifles. This then leads on to the .375 rifles (elephant guns). But that's a different story :)
Kruger National Park and Pretoria
At the end of Feb we had a 7 day break from the course where Rach and I headed to Kruger NP for 3 nights and a few days in Pretoria (it's safer than staying in Jo'berg!).
Pretoria was actually not too bad (we stayed in the student area of Hatfield) and felt fairly safe during the day although we didn't walk around at night. What is scary though is how the locals have to live, behind huge gates and electric fences. Crime is so bad that you basically have to build a fortress to live in - not my idea of comfortable living I'm afraid but this is the norm in S. Africa today. The scars and wounds of the past will take a long time to heal here I fear!
It was good to be out of the bush for a few days anyway and to get back to civilisation; the bush is great, but when you come back to the city you really do notice all those things that you've been missing (like ice in cold drinks, baths, internet, restaurants :) ). This was only a short stay though as we had hired a little car - Hyundai Atos, and by god is this car small but perfectly formed - and headed over to the Kruger NP.
This was about a 6 hour drive but the roads here are good and trafic is very light (at least compared to the UK) so it was really just a matter of putting the foot to the pedal and enjoying some spectacular scenery. And what scenery?! Some of the roads through the mountains were just breathtaking, although the little Atos did struggle up some of them :(
Kruger was actually easier to get to and navigate than I thought it would be - everything is well sign posted and the roads are well laid out. Perfect for a simple bush holiday using a hire car. Certainly something we would consider again if we wanted a fairly inexpensive safari from the UK (flights, hire car from airport, simple drive to Kruger - very easy).
We stayed in the Skukuza camp which is the largest in the reserve - it has a shop for all food stuffs, a restaurant if you don't fancy cooking for yourself, an info area, a post office, and even a petrol station. We stayed for 3 nights in a river view lodge/hut with our our kitchen area and brai (bar-b-q). We brai'd every night and felt like real Saffer locals :)
Despite having a tiny car we drove around the reserve every day for about 5 hours - we saw loads of elephants, buffalo, birds etc, but sadly no lions, hyena, leopard or cheetah. These predators were spotted whilst we were there (the camp has a map showing what animals were sighted and where today and the previous day, which is really useful) but sadly not by us!
We woke up at camp each morning to the sound of hippo calling in the sabie River. The other very local wildlife were the little Vervet monkeys that have learnt how to open fridge doors, and on more than one occasion I was havingto chase the little buggers way from the fridge as they went to raid it - I wouldn't mind if they had gone for the salad and veg but I was convinced they were going for my beer.... the little gits.
Pretoria was actually not too bad (we stayed in the student area of Hatfield) and felt fairly safe during the day although we didn't walk around at night. What is scary though is how the locals have to live, behind huge gates and electric fences. Crime is so bad that you basically have to build a fortress to live in - not my idea of comfortable living I'm afraid but this is the norm in S. Africa today. The scars and wounds of the past will take a long time to heal here I fear!
It was good to be out of the bush for a few days anyway and to get back to civilisation; the bush is great, but when you come back to the city you really do notice all those things that you've been missing (like ice in cold drinks, baths, internet, restaurants :) ). This was only a short stay though as we had hired a little car - Hyundai Atos, and by god is this car small but perfectly formed - and headed over to the Kruger NP.
This was about a 6 hour drive but the roads here are good and trafic is very light (at least compared to the UK) so it was really just a matter of putting the foot to the pedal and enjoying some spectacular scenery. And what scenery?! Some of the roads through the mountains were just breathtaking, although the little Atos did struggle up some of them :(
Kruger was actually easier to get to and navigate than I thought it would be - everything is well sign posted and the roads are well laid out. Perfect for a simple bush holiday using a hire car. Certainly something we would consider again if we wanted a fairly inexpensive safari from the UK (flights, hire car from airport, simple drive to Kruger - very easy).
We stayed in the Skukuza camp which is the largest in the reserve - it has a shop for all food stuffs, a restaurant if you don't fancy cooking for yourself, an info area, a post office, and even a petrol station. We stayed for 3 nights in a river view lodge/hut with our our kitchen area and brai (bar-b-q). We brai'd every night and felt like real Saffer locals :)
Despite having a tiny car we drove around the reserve every day for about 5 hours - we saw loads of elephants, buffalo, birds etc, but sadly no lions, hyena, leopard or cheetah. These predators were spotted whilst we were there (the camp has a map showing what animals were sighted and where today and the previous day, which is really useful) but sadly not by us!
We woke up at camp each morning to the sound of hippo calling in the sabie River. The other very local wildlife were the little Vervet monkeys that have learnt how to open fridge doors, and on more than one occasion I was havingto chase the little buggers way from the fridge as they went to raid it - I wouldn't mind if they had gone for the salad and veg but I was convinced they were going for my beer.... the little gits.
Wednesday 27 April 2011
First Aid and Snakes
First Aid course first, followed by snake handling.....hhhmmmm, wonder why it is that way around :)
We both passed our first aid but boy was it hard work. For the practical the trainer made us 'save' a guest who had been 'mauled' by lions out on the plains. And they made this realistic by using false blood, torn limbs etc on one of our students (the biggest one) and really did place him about 500 metres from the school out on the plains. So not only did we have to deal with his injuries we also had to put him on a stretcher and carry him all the way back to the school.
It was a hot day and to say we were sweating buckets afterwards would be a slight understatement. We were exhausted although you will be pleased to know our patient survived. We have now put the patient on a strict diet of lettuce leaves and salad from now on though as he seriously needs to lose weight!
Another 'fun' part of the first aid training was the pictures that Jens (trainer) showed us. He is also a paramedic in Jo'berg and he had some pretty gruesome pictures of injuries including lion maulings, snake bites, and our favourite, someones hand shreaded in an office shreader. Trust me, it sounds as gruesome as the pictures looked - it's gonna make me think twice about using the shreader in future.
The snake handling part of the course was, to put it midly, brilliant :) We specificaly chose the Entabeni course because it had extra courses like this so we were pleased to find it as thrilling as we expected.
Jens, the trainer, brought 4 of his most venemous snakes along for us to handle (and this included the most venemous snake in S. Africa, the Boomslang). The 4 snakes were the Puff Adder (this accounts for the most snake bites in S. Africa), the Boomslang (as I say, the most venemous), the Rhinkals (spits and bites) and the Snouted Cobra (a very aggressive snake indeed).
The way to handle most snakes is via a 'snake hook', which is basically a long stick (say a golf club shaft) with a small hook on the end. The idea is then to hook the snake at the head end, and grab its tail to pick it up - this way (hopefully) it can't bite you. Luckily Jens had a piece of string (!) for us to practice on before he let out the snakes....hmmm, hope this goes well!
First snake out was the Puff Adder - quite a short bodied snake but quite bulky and slow. Due to its small length we couldn't grab its tail, we just had to use the hook. Jens showed us how to do it (looked easy) and one by one we had a go too, and yep, it was quite easy. But at all times we had to keep reminding ourselves that what we were handling here was the snake responsible for the most bites in S. Africa, and estimated to bite about 1 in 50 South Africans!
We then had a go with the Rinkhals - this is a smlalish (about 1 metre) snake with a hood like a cobra. It is black and white and in addition to biting it also spits venom, so we had to wear eye goggles. For this last we could do the 'hook and tail' technique (again Jens showed us how to do it first). This was so much more personal than the Adder, as with the Rinkhals by grabbing its tail you were actually touching the snake. It just felt so weird to be grabbing the tail of a dangerous snake, and holding it up in the air. It was a fairly aggressive snake but we all easily controlled it.
Jens then brought out what I can only describe as one pissed off Snouted Cobra. About 1.2 metres long and intent on biting anyone who was stupid enough to come close - and a bite of this bad boy would put you in hospital for some time!
The first go I had with this snake went really well - it turned its back on me (I'd like to think I manouvered it perfectly into position but I think it fixed on someone else to bite first), so I hooked it and tailed it in one fell swoop. How much easier could it be - everyone was impressed as the guy before me had struggled somewhat as the snake kept lunging at it :) Rach also struggled the first time for the same reason (hee hee).
We put the snouty away and Jens got the Boomslang out - this was a massive 1.8 metres and far too fast for us to handle safely ourselves so Jens hooked and tailed it for us and we just got to hold her. And she was the most magnificient snake - if you don't know what one of these looks like have a search on the internet and you'll see what I mean. A beautiful green snake, perfectly adapted to life in the trees which is where they live.
After we all had a hold of the Boomy, Jens got the Snouty back out for those of us who wanted more practice. Clearly, as I had been such an expert the first time it seemed only right that I show everyone how it is done a second time. Oh, how wrong was I ;) This time the Snouty fixed on me and attacked me time and again - each time she struck I had to jump backwards to avoid being bitten.
She was never that close to me in reality, but at the time it felt close. This time, anyway, it took about 3 or 4 minutes at least to get behind the snake to hook her correctly so that I could also grab her tail (there were many failed attempts in between where I grabbed the tailonly for the head to come lose and have her strike at me). I think by the end of it we were both nackered but it was a great experience and showed Rach and I exactly how to catch a snake correctly without getting that fatal bite.
In all we had a superb time and a big thanks to the big German Jens :)
We both passed our first aid but boy was it hard work. For the practical the trainer made us 'save' a guest who had been 'mauled' by lions out on the plains. And they made this realistic by using false blood, torn limbs etc on one of our students (the biggest one) and really did place him about 500 metres from the school out on the plains. So not only did we have to deal with his injuries we also had to put him on a stretcher and carry him all the way back to the school.
It was a hot day and to say we were sweating buckets afterwards would be a slight understatement. We were exhausted although you will be pleased to know our patient survived. We have now put the patient on a strict diet of lettuce leaves and salad from now on though as he seriously needs to lose weight!
Another 'fun' part of the first aid training was the pictures that Jens (trainer) showed us. He is also a paramedic in Jo'berg and he had some pretty gruesome pictures of injuries including lion maulings, snake bites, and our favourite, someones hand shreaded in an office shreader. Trust me, it sounds as gruesome as the pictures looked - it's gonna make me think twice about using the shreader in future.
The snake handling part of the course was, to put it midly, brilliant :) We specificaly chose the Entabeni course because it had extra courses like this so we were pleased to find it as thrilling as we expected.
Jens, the trainer, brought 4 of his most venemous snakes along for us to handle (and this included the most venemous snake in S. Africa, the Boomslang). The 4 snakes were the Puff Adder (this accounts for the most snake bites in S. Africa), the Boomslang (as I say, the most venemous), the Rhinkals (spits and bites) and the Snouted Cobra (a very aggressive snake indeed).
The way to handle most snakes is via a 'snake hook', which is basically a long stick (say a golf club shaft) with a small hook on the end. The idea is then to hook the snake at the head end, and grab its tail to pick it up - this way (hopefully) it can't bite you. Luckily Jens had a piece of string (!) for us to practice on before he let out the snakes....hmmm, hope this goes well!
First snake out was the Puff Adder - quite a short bodied snake but quite bulky and slow. Due to its small length we couldn't grab its tail, we just had to use the hook. Jens showed us how to do it (looked easy) and one by one we had a go too, and yep, it was quite easy. But at all times we had to keep reminding ourselves that what we were handling here was the snake responsible for the most bites in S. Africa, and estimated to bite about 1 in 50 South Africans!
We then had a go with the Rinkhals - this is a smlalish (about 1 metre) snake with a hood like a cobra. It is black and white and in addition to biting it also spits venom, so we had to wear eye goggles. For this last we could do the 'hook and tail' technique (again Jens showed us how to do it first). This was so much more personal than the Adder, as with the Rinkhals by grabbing its tail you were actually touching the snake. It just felt so weird to be grabbing the tail of a dangerous snake, and holding it up in the air. It was a fairly aggressive snake but we all easily controlled it.
Jens then brought out what I can only describe as one pissed off Snouted Cobra. About 1.2 metres long and intent on biting anyone who was stupid enough to come close - and a bite of this bad boy would put you in hospital for some time!
The first go I had with this snake went really well - it turned its back on me (I'd like to think I manouvered it perfectly into position but I think it fixed on someone else to bite first), so I hooked it and tailed it in one fell swoop. How much easier could it be - everyone was impressed as the guy before me had struggled somewhat as the snake kept lunging at it :) Rach also struggled the first time for the same reason (hee hee).
We put the snouty away and Jens got the Boomslang out - this was a massive 1.8 metres and far too fast for us to handle safely ourselves so Jens hooked and tailed it for us and we just got to hold her. And she was the most magnificient snake - if you don't know what one of these looks like have a search on the internet and you'll see what I mean. A beautiful green snake, perfectly adapted to life in the trees which is where they live.
After we all had a hold of the Boomy, Jens got the Snouty back out for those of us who wanted more practice. Clearly, as I had been such an expert the first time it seemed only right that I show everyone how it is done a second time. Oh, how wrong was I ;) This time the Snouty fixed on me and attacked me time and again - each time she struck I had to jump backwards to avoid being bitten.
She was never that close to me in reality, but at the time it felt close. This time, anyway, it took about 3 or 4 minutes at least to get behind the snake to hook her correctly so that I could also grab her tail (there were many failed attempts in between where I grabbed the tailonly for the head to come lose and have her strike at me). I think by the end of it we were both nackered but it was a great experience and showed Rach and I exactly how to catch a snake correctly without getting that fatal bite.
In all we had a superb time and a big thanks to the big German Jens :)
Tuesday 26 April 2011
It's been too long....
...... since i last updated the blog and I apologise. We've just been so busy here (excuses, excuses!)
Anyway, I'm writing up the blog now so new entries will be here over the next few days, including how Rachel nearly became a widow and i nearly became lion food (again).
What this space, if you want :)
Anyway, I'm writing up the blog now so new entries will be here over the next few days, including how Rachel nearly became a widow and i nearly became lion food (again).
What this space, if you want :)
Saturday 26 February 2011
Whatever you do, don't run... (Rachel's version)
Watch this space...she's still writing it :) I think she is still in shock ;)
Whatever you do, don't run... (Carl's version)
There are two very different experiences here so I'll give my version and Rachel can give hers. Both are true but different (you'll see why).
I'll start by saying that one of the often quoted phrases in the bush is "whatever you do don't run". This is because the only things that run in the bush are food (prey species) so if you don't want to become lion food the rule is stand your ground. As you'll read, this is not always wise!!
It starts from where I left off with the cheetahs. We had got the call that the lions were going to be darted next (they were after two adult females and the sub-adult female). The vet had already headed to where the lions were so we followed. We then waited just out of the actual darting area so as not to spook the lions. After about 20 mins we had the call to come into the field.
Unfortunately the field was very long grass, and whilst the vet had successfully darted two females (one adult, one sub-adult) they had scatered into the grass and only the young female had been located. She had been loaded onto a flat back truck (you know those flat loaders, but they are called backies over here) and sent to the old workshop where the vet was going to carry out his tests. The older female had not been found though so our cruiser, the vet cruiser and a game management vehicle was now scouring the field after the (hopefully unconscious cat). After about 10 mins myself and another guy jumped on to the back of the game mngmt vehicle to try and spot the cat from there (extra eyes). THen when this was no good either, the helicopter was called into the search. THis was much better and within minutes the cat was located. She had been out now for about 30 mins we guess.
We put he into a stretcher and 6 of us lifted her onto the back of the game mangmnt vehicle. Now I'm a strong chap, but this cat was still very very heavy to lift. She weighed about 250 Kg, she was one beast of a cat. Once on the vehicle game management needed to get her quickly to the old workshop to be tested so myself and 2 others jumped on the back of the vehicle too.
So what we now had was a huge, in her prime lion riding in the back of the vehicle (flat bed truck) with us. My god was this an out of this world experience. She was completely under the drugs but this was still a very nervy experience - I mean, if she woke up (as if that would happen!) what the hell would we do. The journey was about 30 mins over very bumpy dirt roads and the cat was sliding about the truck quite a bit so we were having to hold her in position.
hen we arrived at the old workshop, where the vet would do his tests, we saw the other young female was also there. This cat was only 18 months old, and considerably smaller than the older female that we had just travelled with, but she was still a very impressive cat. Even at this age she was hunting for herself and along with her brother of the same age can easily take down an animal the size of a wildebeast.
We had time to take lots of pictures of both cats; very close up! We had the chance to hold their paws, open their mouths and look at their teeth, and generally mess with a live lion the way you can't when they are awake :) After about 30 mins I noticed that the big lioness's tongue was moving slightly when she was breathing and the female vet on hand said this was a sign that the drugs were slowly wearing off but not to worry as she'd be out for ages longer.
Our cruiser then turned up with Rachel and the rest of the students, along with the vet's car. Rachel and the others now had the chance to get their close up photos of the cats and the vet started his tests (anal probes, blood tests, etc).
When all was finished it was decided to drive the two cats outside the gates of the old workhouse compound and put them under the shade of some trees about 100 yards away and let them wake up by themselves. I jumped onto the back of the same van as I had travelled with previously to help carry the big female off (Rachel stayed in the truck with the smaller lighter female). In all there were 7 in our truck and 6 on Rachel's, all holding on to whatever space we could find given teh trucks are not large and there was a lion on the back with us. Anyway, the drive would be quite short so this was not a big issue.
We drove out of the compound first and headed towards the trees, Rachel's truck was behind us as we left the compound then stopped after about 10 metres. We banged on the top of the drivers roof saying that the other truck had stopped and shouldn't we be letting the cats go at the same place? This is then what I saw...
People started jumping off Rachel's truck and I saw some running to the gates of the old workhouse. Our first thought was they were going to shut the compound gates. Then we noticed that some of the people were actually on the inside of the gates which seemed a bit strange as they would be needed to help carry the cat off the truck. I then saw one of the students (Albert) run to the side of the truck and hide behind it. A second later, moving off to our left as we looked back at teh truck we saw the lioness walking away from the truck. We then saw Albert stumble to the ground as his legs seemed to give way.
We were completely comfused by this as we had agreed to let the lions go away from the compound and not right by the gates. Assuming there had been a change of plan we reversed our truck back to the other truck. It was only now that things started to make sense.
Aparently their lion had woken up on the back of the truck whilst everyone was sitting with it. Rachel's version will give all teh details, but for us on our truck this was hilarious (no one had been hurt, only shocked, and we were literally pissing ourselves with laughter that their cat had woken up and decided to get off the truck by herself).
Just to be sure though the game ranger on our truck tested our cat; tapping her eye for a reflex to check she was still under the drugs, and she was. We therefore deceide to get off our truck and unload where we were so the two cats could at least be in teh same location. The driver backed the truck into the same tree line that the first cat had moved to (she was still only about 40 yards away, but she was clearly very groggy still). We then got the carry equipment and manhandled the cat off the truck. Unfortunately as she came off the truck her head 'bumped' onto the ground slightly! This proved not to be ideal.
A number of the carriers were now on teh opposite side of the cat to me and picked up the carry balcket to tip her off this onto the floor properly - there was no space for me that side so I stayed where I was. As they tipped the cat her head again bounced, but this time on my foot as she rolled towards me. She then opened her eyes, looked at me (don't forget her head is vertually on my foot so she is very close to me), and raises her head. No one on the other side of the cat can see this as they can't see her face.
I stepped back and uttered something like... "fookin hell, she's awake" and quickly backed off. A couple of people leg it past me and jump onto the back of the other truck. I see the get up and then I'm out of there although I didn;t make it to the other truck as I turned around and saw the cat move in the opposite direction. The guys on the opposite side to me reacted about a second after me and dived behind the truck, some running for their lives. The people from Rachel's truck were already on their truck and watched all this action unfold.
After about 10 seconds (time runs so slow in this situation but it was in reality a short time) there was outbursts of laughter as we all suddenly realise what had happened. Quickly everyone jumped back onto the trucks and we drove quickly into the compound and shut the gates. Addrenalin pumping everyone was just buzzing and telling their story. Albert, who we'd seen at the side of Rachel's truck explained how once their cat had moved off his legs just gave way under him (he also had a very nive claw mark on his she where the cat had turned over and slammed her paw onto his foot). Rach explained that she had been sitting at the head end and seconds before the cat woke up she had been stroking her head and tickling her ear. I recalled how brave I was and when the cat woke up and looked at me I causally mentioned to the others that she was awake and I strolled off (or run like a girl, I actually wasn't 100% sure to be honest).
What we had just experienced though was a massive rush. Maybe we weren't reacting as we should have done from such a dangerous and life threatening situation, or maybe this is normal behaviour from people who have had this experience - not sure. Even the vet and the game management team seemed high on addrenalin so maybe this was exciting even for these pros.
When we got back to camp we found out that Thyrza had filmed the second release. It's not the most clear story off what happened but it does tie pretty well with my version. You can see me on the far side of teh cat, you can see my reaction to what I saw of the cat waking up. Then a split second later you can see the poeple on the opposite side to me (including Thyrza who was filming) start to run for cover as the cat gets up and moves behind the vehicle. A coupleof seconds later you can hear lots of laughter from behind Thyrza, which would have been me and the guys on Rachel's truck. I'm hoping to get a copy of this video so I can put it on facebook at some stage.
After all this excitement we were fine so no real harm done :)
I'll start by saying that one of the often quoted phrases in the bush is "whatever you do don't run". This is because the only things that run in the bush are food (prey species) so if you don't want to become lion food the rule is stand your ground. As you'll read, this is not always wise!!
It starts from where I left off with the cheetahs. We had got the call that the lions were going to be darted next (they were after two adult females and the sub-adult female). The vet had already headed to where the lions were so we followed. We then waited just out of the actual darting area so as not to spook the lions. After about 20 mins we had the call to come into the field.
Unfortunately the field was very long grass, and whilst the vet had successfully darted two females (one adult, one sub-adult) they had scatered into the grass and only the young female had been located. She had been loaded onto a flat back truck (you know those flat loaders, but they are called backies over here) and sent to the old workshop where the vet was going to carry out his tests. The older female had not been found though so our cruiser, the vet cruiser and a game management vehicle was now scouring the field after the (hopefully unconscious cat). After about 10 mins myself and another guy jumped on to the back of the game mngmt vehicle to try and spot the cat from there (extra eyes). THen when this was no good either, the helicopter was called into the search. THis was much better and within minutes the cat was located. She had been out now for about 30 mins we guess.
We put he into a stretcher and 6 of us lifted her onto the back of the game mangmnt vehicle. Now I'm a strong chap, but this cat was still very very heavy to lift. She weighed about 250 Kg, she was one beast of a cat. Once on the vehicle game management needed to get her quickly to the old workshop to be tested so myself and 2 others jumped on the back of the vehicle too.
So what we now had was a huge, in her prime lion riding in the back of the vehicle (flat bed truck) with us. My god was this an out of this world experience. She was completely under the drugs but this was still a very nervy experience - I mean, if she woke up (as if that would happen!) what the hell would we do. The journey was about 30 mins over very bumpy dirt roads and the cat was sliding about the truck quite a bit so we were having to hold her in position.
hen we arrived at the old workshop, where the vet would do his tests, we saw the other young female was also there. This cat was only 18 months old, and considerably smaller than the older female that we had just travelled with, but she was still a very impressive cat. Even at this age she was hunting for herself and along with her brother of the same age can easily take down an animal the size of a wildebeast.
We had time to take lots of pictures of both cats; very close up! We had the chance to hold their paws, open their mouths and look at their teeth, and generally mess with a live lion the way you can't when they are awake :) After about 30 mins I noticed that the big lioness's tongue was moving slightly when she was breathing and the female vet on hand said this was a sign that the drugs were slowly wearing off but not to worry as she'd be out for ages longer.
Our cruiser then turned up with Rachel and the rest of the students, along with the vet's car. Rachel and the others now had the chance to get their close up photos of the cats and the vet started his tests (anal probes, blood tests, etc).
When all was finished it was decided to drive the two cats outside the gates of the old workhouse compound and put them under the shade of some trees about 100 yards away and let them wake up by themselves. I jumped onto the back of the same van as I had travelled with previously to help carry the big female off (Rachel stayed in the truck with the smaller lighter female). In all there were 7 in our truck and 6 on Rachel's, all holding on to whatever space we could find given teh trucks are not large and there was a lion on the back with us. Anyway, the drive would be quite short so this was not a big issue.
We drove out of the compound first and headed towards the trees, Rachel's truck was behind us as we left the compound then stopped after about 10 metres. We banged on the top of the drivers roof saying that the other truck had stopped and shouldn't we be letting the cats go at the same place? This is then what I saw...
People started jumping off Rachel's truck and I saw some running to the gates of the old workhouse. Our first thought was they were going to shut the compound gates. Then we noticed that some of the people were actually on the inside of the gates which seemed a bit strange as they would be needed to help carry the cat off the truck. I then saw one of the students (Albert) run to the side of the truck and hide behind it. A second later, moving off to our left as we looked back at teh truck we saw the lioness walking away from the truck. We then saw Albert stumble to the ground as his legs seemed to give way.
We were completely comfused by this as we had agreed to let the lions go away from the compound and not right by the gates. Assuming there had been a change of plan we reversed our truck back to the other truck. It was only now that things started to make sense.
Aparently their lion had woken up on the back of the truck whilst everyone was sitting with it. Rachel's version will give all teh details, but for us on our truck this was hilarious (no one had been hurt, only shocked, and we were literally pissing ourselves with laughter that their cat had woken up and decided to get off the truck by herself).
Just to be sure though the game ranger on our truck tested our cat; tapping her eye for a reflex to check she was still under the drugs, and she was. We therefore deceide to get off our truck and unload where we were so the two cats could at least be in teh same location. The driver backed the truck into the same tree line that the first cat had moved to (she was still only about 40 yards away, but she was clearly very groggy still). We then got the carry equipment and manhandled the cat off the truck. Unfortunately as she came off the truck her head 'bumped' onto the ground slightly! This proved not to be ideal.
A number of the carriers were now on teh opposite side of the cat to me and picked up the carry balcket to tip her off this onto the floor properly - there was no space for me that side so I stayed where I was. As they tipped the cat her head again bounced, but this time on my foot as she rolled towards me. She then opened her eyes, looked at me (don't forget her head is vertually on my foot so she is very close to me), and raises her head. No one on the other side of the cat can see this as they can't see her face.
I stepped back and uttered something like... "fookin hell, she's awake" and quickly backed off. A couple of people leg it past me and jump onto the back of the other truck. I see the get up and then I'm out of there although I didn;t make it to the other truck as I turned around and saw the cat move in the opposite direction. The guys on the opposite side to me reacted about a second after me and dived behind the truck, some running for their lives. The people from Rachel's truck were already on their truck and watched all this action unfold.
After about 10 seconds (time runs so slow in this situation but it was in reality a short time) there was outbursts of laughter as we all suddenly realise what had happened. Quickly everyone jumped back onto the trucks and we drove quickly into the compound and shut the gates. Addrenalin pumping everyone was just buzzing and telling their story. Albert, who we'd seen at the side of Rachel's truck explained how once their cat had moved off his legs just gave way under him (he also had a very nive claw mark on his she where the cat had turned over and slammed her paw onto his foot). Rach explained that she had been sitting at the head end and seconds before the cat woke up she had been stroking her head and tickling her ear. I recalled how brave I was and when the cat woke up and looked at me I causally mentioned to the others that she was awake and I strolled off (or run like a girl, I actually wasn't 100% sure to be honest).
What we had just experienced though was a massive rush. Maybe we weren't reacting as we should have done from such a dangerous and life threatening situation, or maybe this is normal behaviour from people who have had this experience - not sure. Even the vet and the game management team seemed high on addrenalin so maybe this was exciting even for these pros.
When we got back to camp we found out that Thyrza had filmed the second release. It's not the most clear story off what happened but it does tie pretty well with my version. You can see me on the far side of teh cat, you can see my reaction to what I saw of the cat waking up. Then a split second later you can see the poeple on the opposite side to me (including Thyrza who was filming) start to run for cover as the cat gets up and moves behind the vehicle. A coupleof seconds later you can hear lots of laughter from behind Thyrza, which would have been me and the guys on Rachel's truck. I'm hoping to get a copy of this video so I can put it on facebook at some stage.
After all this excitement we were fine so no real harm done :)
Darting job number 1
Alarm went off at 4:45 and we were all at the cars ready to go by 5:30. We only had one cruiser this morning so Diana drove us all to the game management office to meet the vet (and hope the lions hadn't been lost in the night). We got to the meeting point by 6, to find the 2 male cheetahs in the area. One of them had a collar that was no longer working and needed changing but as these cats had not been seen recently we didn;t think they would be darted. But as they had been found we would be lucky enough to see this male darted too. We were asked to watch where the cheetahs went and stop them from going into deep undergrowth (and watch out for the vet's car as he hadn't turned up yet).
We duely obliged and the vet turned up and loaded his dart gun. Problem was that he couldn't drive and shoot so he asked one of our guys (Tom) to drive him to the cheetah so teh vet could shoot the dart. Tom of course jumped at teh chance and they were off. 2 failed dartings later and the vet was on foot and got his 3 shot off successfully. The male went down and the vet moved in (with Tom following close behind and filming). We were still on our cruiser watching from about 50 metres away and waiting for the vet and game management to say we could join them.
Looked like the sedative was slow to take because the first time the vet approached the cheetah he jumped off and stumble away. Also the 2nd cheetah in this coalition was still hanging around. Cheetah brothers like this form a very strong coalition and they very rarely leave each other so the 2nd cat was staying close. Tom found this out very quickly, as he was watching the vet test if the first cheetah was out, the second cheetah had come around behind him and from his reaction we could see he got quite a fright. A few seconds afterwards the vet called us all over so we got off the vehicle and sauntered (no running don't forget) over.
Talk about a privelege. We we right next to the sleeping male cheetah. The vet even let us stroke the cat, take close up photos of him (hte paw photos are really useful to help with tracking) and generally appreciate this beautiful cat. I then looked up nad noticed the other cheetah was still around and was wathcing us from a couple of metres away. He wasn't being aggressive but was clearly concerned for his brother. So despite all the humans around this cat would not leave hi coallition partner. THis was now even more special - not only did we have the chance to get close to a sleeping cheetah, we got to stand a few metres away from a very much awake wild cheetah.
The cat circled us a few times then took up a position where I guess he had the best view of his brother. He then started 'cheeping', which is the way cheetah call to each other when they get seperated to help pull the cats back together. THis was so heart bracking, to hear the brother calling for his sibling whilst us humans all stood around the darted cat.
Anyway, the vet finished his work and applied an anti-sedative to wake the cat up. We all moved back to our cruiser and instantly the undarted cheetah went to his brother, licked him and then when there was no immediate response just lay by him and watched us. One of the game management cars stayed by the cheetah until the darted one was awake and we headed off to where the lion darting was supposed to take place.
We duely obliged and the vet turned up and loaded his dart gun. Problem was that he couldn't drive and shoot so he asked one of our guys (Tom) to drive him to the cheetah so teh vet could shoot the dart. Tom of course jumped at teh chance and they were off. 2 failed dartings later and the vet was on foot and got his 3 shot off successfully. The male went down and the vet moved in (with Tom following close behind and filming). We were still on our cruiser watching from about 50 metres away and waiting for the vet and game management to say we could join them.
Looked like the sedative was slow to take because the first time the vet approached the cheetah he jumped off and stumble away. Also the 2nd cheetah in this coalition was still hanging around. Cheetah brothers like this form a very strong coalition and they very rarely leave each other so the 2nd cat was staying close. Tom found this out very quickly, as he was watching the vet test if the first cheetah was out, the second cheetah had come around behind him and from his reaction we could see he got quite a fright. A few seconds afterwards the vet called us all over so we got off the vehicle and sauntered (no running don't forget) over.
Talk about a privelege. We we right next to the sleeping male cheetah. The vet even let us stroke the cat, take close up photos of him (hte paw photos are really useful to help with tracking) and generally appreciate this beautiful cat. I then looked up nad noticed the other cheetah was still around and was wathcing us from a couple of metres away. He wasn't being aggressive but was clearly concerned for his brother. So despite all the humans around this cat would not leave hi coallition partner. THis was now even more special - not only did we have the chance to get close to a sleeping cheetah, we got to stand a few metres away from a very much awake wild cheetah.
The cat circled us a few times then took up a position where I guess he had the best view of his brother. He then started 'cheeping', which is the way cheetah call to each other when they get seperated to help pull the cats back together. THis was so heart bracking, to hear the brother calling for his sibling whilst us humans all stood around the darted cat.
Anyway, the vet finished his work and applied an anti-sedative to wake the cat up. We all moved back to our cruiser and instantly the undarted cheetah went to his brother, licked him and then when there was no immediate response just lay by him and watched us. One of the game management cars stayed by the cheetah until the darted one was awake and we headed off to where the lion darting was supposed to take place.
Babysitting lions
It all started yesterday (7th Feb) we had a call at the office here asking whether we would like to 'babysit' the lions for 4 hours during the night as the vet needed to dart them the next day and do some checks on them. This would mean sitting with them (we had to find them first as the game management department hadn't found them by the time we turned up at 9 o'clock) and then sit with them until game management came back on at about 1:30 in the morning. The 'payment' we would get for this would be to watch the darting the next day and if we were lucky, to take a few pics of the lions up close. We all gladly said yes - in fact, the opportunity to do this was one reason we chose Entabeni as we knew this activity was going to be a possibility.
Anyway, at 8-30 we left camp and headed out to the area of the reserve where the lions had last been seen; this was a 30 mins drive for us so we had someone on the bait seat spotting in case we saw anything interesting (we saw a Spotted Eagle Owl and a White Faced Scops Owl, which was nice). We had 2 cruisers, one driven by Ed (our cruiser) and one with Diana; there we six on ours and 7 people of Diana's.
We got to the area where the lions were last seen and relieved the game management team who wished us luck finding the cats as they had no idea where they were. Well, 20 minutes later Diana had found their tracks and tracked them to an area of low bushes. We had taken a different route so she called us in. It was pitch black (no light pollution in the bush) so as we pulled into the field where they were supposed to be (we couldn't see a thing) we suddenly found ourselves about 7 metres from a female and 10 metres from the big male. The problem was that the other cruiser knew roughly in the field where the cats were but not exactly where. Anyway, no harm done and we settled in for the night. People nodded off for a bit, the cats snored (seriously they were) and the bats flew around our heads picking off the damn mosquitoes.
One of the guys on our cruiser had a pair of night vision goggles and he had been trying to find the cats in the bushes but with no luck. We could hear a low rumble/growl/snore every now and then but the visual was zero, despite the powerful flashlights. Anyway, I had a quick look and as I was looking to my righ one of the big females stood up and walked towards me - she had gone from about 7 metres to about 3 metres. Trust me, when looking through those night vision goggles, and all the world looks green, seeing a big cat suddenly loom out of the darkness is a tad scary. Anyway, she was just after a comfy place to lie back down and she duely found just to my right and went back to sleep. At about the same time the big male stood up, looked at us, rolled back over and went back to sleep.
At 1:15 the game management guys came to relieve us and we headed back to camp. We got there about 30 mins later to hit the sack for a short sleep as we needed to be back out again at 5:30 if we were to see the cats darted by the vet.
Anyway, at 8-30 we left camp and headed out to the area of the reserve where the lions had last been seen; this was a 30 mins drive for us so we had someone on the bait seat spotting in case we saw anything interesting (we saw a Spotted Eagle Owl and a White Faced Scops Owl, which was nice). We had 2 cruisers, one driven by Ed (our cruiser) and one with Diana; there we six on ours and 7 people of Diana's.
We got to the area where the lions were last seen and relieved the game management team who wished us luck finding the cats as they had no idea where they were. Well, 20 minutes later Diana had found their tracks and tracked them to an area of low bushes. We had taken a different route so she called us in. It was pitch black (no light pollution in the bush) so as we pulled into the field where they were supposed to be (we couldn't see a thing) we suddenly found ourselves about 7 metres from a female and 10 metres from the big male. The problem was that the other cruiser knew roughly in the field where the cats were but not exactly where. Anyway, no harm done and we settled in for the night. People nodded off for a bit, the cats snored (seriously they were) and the bats flew around our heads picking off the damn mosquitoes.
One of the guys on our cruiser had a pair of night vision goggles and he had been trying to find the cats in the bushes but with no luck. We could hear a low rumble/growl/snore every now and then but the visual was zero, despite the powerful flashlights. Anyway, I had a quick look and as I was looking to my righ one of the big females stood up and walked towards me - she had gone from about 7 metres to about 3 metres. Trust me, when looking through those night vision goggles, and all the world looks green, seeing a big cat suddenly loom out of the darkness is a tad scary. Anyway, she was just after a comfy place to lie back down and she duely found just to my right and went back to sleep. At about the same time the big male stood up, looked at us, rolled back over and went back to sleep.
At 1:15 the game management guys came to relieve us and we headed back to camp. We got there about 30 mins later to hit the sack for a short sleep as we needed to be back out again at 5:30 if we were to see the cats darted by the vet.
Friday 25 February 2011
Some new animals today
Looks like some of the younger guys stayed up too late last night and subsequently missed the drive today. They will get a kicking for this - the expectation is everyone turns up for all drives, no excuses (baring illness). The penalty will be to clean the 3 land-cruisers and appologise to the rest of us.
They may have had an extra hour in bed but they missed some good sightings this morning. We started with tracks again with Ed and found some really good ones, including a Serval which we hadn't seen before, and a rodent hole with the remains of a snake egg outside it. Clearly a snake had hatched recently but we couldn't tell what type.
We then got a call of lions on a young giraffe kill about 15 mins drive away. We jumped on the cruiser and headed off there. Then out of no-where there was a Serval in front of us. This was a great spot as they are so rarely seen here (the grass on a lot of the plains is very long). We followed him for a few minutes but he vanished into the grass. One guy got a very faint photo but not much else, never-the-less we were all very happy.
By the time we got to the lions the 2 females had gone and only the sub-adult male and female were still there. They were under a bush just chilling out with fat stomachs. 2 other cruisers turned up so we left and headed back to camp. We needed to be back by 10 as a guy was supposed to bringing a 4x4 for Rach and I to look at and maybe buy (in the end he didn't turn up and re-arranged to come on Monday or Tuesday instead).
This afternoon (after JP laid down the law on none attendance of drives) he took us on a drive and within minutes we found 3 of the rhinos; the big male and the sub-adult male and female). We had a few minutes Q&A (JP asking the Q's, us trying to answer) and then headed off for some more tracks and trails. We got to a place on the road where there was a nice snake track (probably an African Python). We were all standing around talking about the track, how to identify the direction it was moving etc when Javi spotted a snake in the grass - JP insisted we all jump on the cruiser quickly and there about a yard away was a very venomous Snouted Cobra (this guy did not make the track). Unfortunately he got wind of us and quickly slithered off into the bush and out of sight - again showing that even snakes choose flight rather than attack.
We then headed to a plain (Termite Plain) to look for signs. We were checking out wilderbeest marks (rubbings) on trees when Thyrza looked across the next plain and casually pointed out that 2 cheetah were sitting watching us (about 100 yards away)! So we had been looking at trees, whilst cheetah were wondering what the hell we were doing and why we weren;t interested in them. The cats were on a kill (an impala we were to find out) but were very relaxed. We walked back to the car and drove down to them - by now the one cat had moved a few yards away from the road and the other was back on the kill eating, all the time looking around for other predators.
This is a natural behaviour as in most reserves, where there are spotted hyena, cheetah often lose their kill to the bigger animals. There are no spotted hyena here (only brown) or wild dogs, and leopards are rarely seen, so these cheetah very raerly lose their kill. There was a jackal watching the 2 cats from a short distance away, waiting for them to move off so he could move in and pick the bones.
We called the kill in and the 1 monthers plus a tourist cruiser turned up. The tourists were japanese, and true to form they took their one photo and departed, leaving the way for another cruiser of tourists to turn up and meaning we could stay in the lock (technical term for a sighting).
The cats moved off and we followed (we can't go off road for cheetah so as they headed across the plain we circled round to where we thought they would cross the raod again). We got the judgement perfect and the cats actually walked between 2 of the parked cruisers and scent marked on a tree directly (a yard) away from the 1 monther's cruiser. The one cheetah then jumped into and climbed the tree to scent mark higher up - very cool sighting and rarely seen action by a cheetah. The faces on the 1 monthers was one of utter amazement - in our cruiser we captured the moment nicely :) When we spoke to the 1 monthers later all they could say was how fast their hearts we beating, having a cheetah a yard away and in a tree looking down on them.
The cats moved off and we left the lock. On the way back to camp we have a new bird sighting - a Combed (or knob billed) Duck. It was a fly-over in dusk so the photo is not as cool as the sighting!
Went to TV room after the drive whilst waiting for dinner to catch an old episode of Top Gear.....wonder if our friends back in the UK miss us?
They may have had an extra hour in bed but they missed some good sightings this morning. We started with tracks again with Ed and found some really good ones, including a Serval which we hadn't seen before, and a rodent hole with the remains of a snake egg outside it. Clearly a snake had hatched recently but we couldn't tell what type.
We then got a call of lions on a young giraffe kill about 15 mins drive away. We jumped on the cruiser and headed off there. Then out of no-where there was a Serval in front of us. This was a great spot as they are so rarely seen here (the grass on a lot of the plains is very long). We followed him for a few minutes but he vanished into the grass. One guy got a very faint photo but not much else, never-the-less we were all very happy.
By the time we got to the lions the 2 females had gone and only the sub-adult male and female were still there. They were under a bush just chilling out with fat stomachs. 2 other cruisers turned up so we left and headed back to camp. We needed to be back by 10 as a guy was supposed to bringing a 4x4 for Rach and I to look at and maybe buy (in the end he didn't turn up and re-arranged to come on Monday or Tuesday instead).
This afternoon (after JP laid down the law on none attendance of drives) he took us on a drive and within minutes we found 3 of the rhinos; the big male and the sub-adult male and female). We had a few minutes Q&A (JP asking the Q's, us trying to answer) and then headed off for some more tracks and trails. We got to a place on the road where there was a nice snake track (probably an African Python). We were all standing around talking about the track, how to identify the direction it was moving etc when Javi spotted a snake in the grass - JP insisted we all jump on the cruiser quickly and there about a yard away was a very venomous Snouted Cobra (this guy did not make the track). Unfortunately he got wind of us and quickly slithered off into the bush and out of sight - again showing that even snakes choose flight rather than attack.
We then headed to a plain (Termite Plain) to look for signs. We were checking out wilderbeest marks (rubbings) on trees when Thyrza looked across the next plain and casually pointed out that 2 cheetah were sitting watching us (about 100 yards away)! So we had been looking at trees, whilst cheetah were wondering what the hell we were doing and why we weren;t interested in them. The cats were on a kill (an impala we were to find out) but were very relaxed. We walked back to the car and drove down to them - by now the one cat had moved a few yards away from the road and the other was back on the kill eating, all the time looking around for other predators.
This is a natural behaviour as in most reserves, where there are spotted hyena, cheetah often lose their kill to the bigger animals. There are no spotted hyena here (only brown) or wild dogs, and leopards are rarely seen, so these cheetah very raerly lose their kill. There was a jackal watching the 2 cats from a short distance away, waiting for them to move off so he could move in and pick the bones.
We called the kill in and the 1 monthers plus a tourist cruiser turned up. The tourists were japanese, and true to form they took their one photo and departed, leaving the way for another cruiser of tourists to turn up and meaning we could stay in the lock (technical term for a sighting).
The cats moved off and we followed (we can't go off road for cheetah so as they headed across the plain we circled round to where we thought they would cross the raod again). We got the judgement perfect and the cats actually walked between 2 of the parked cruisers and scent marked on a tree directly (a yard) away from the 1 monther's cruiser. The one cheetah then jumped into and climbed the tree to scent mark higher up - very cool sighting and rarely seen action by a cheetah. The faces on the 1 monthers was one of utter amazement - in our cruiser we captured the moment nicely :) When we spoke to the 1 monthers later all they could say was how fast their hearts we beating, having a cheetah a yard away and in a tree looking down on them.
The cats moved off and we left the lock. On the way back to camp we have a new bird sighting - a Combed (or knob billed) Duck. It was a fly-over in dusk so the photo is not as cool as the sighting!
Went to TV room after the drive whilst waiting for dinner to catch an old episode of Top Gear.....wonder if our friends back in the UK miss us?
A Close Encounter
Today (4th Feb) was a tracks and trails in the morning. Sometime during may we will be tested on how well we can track animals, identidy prints, marks on the ground, poo and any other sign an animal might make. To prepare us for this we are doing quite a bit of practice. This consists of one of the trainers (it was Ed's turn today) to drive to a spot, jump out, walk down the road and circle 'spoor' (markings etc). We then follow behind and try to work out what it is.
Ed had literally pulled out of the school area and parked up on a track called Nungu - this was a favourite area for tracks because there is a tree line a small wood to the left and a plain to the right. Therefore all manner of animals pass this way.
He started off and got about 50 yards away, then called back that Rach and I could start going through the sequence - once we are done with the first track the next 2 students start and so it contniues. Ed had marked 6 tracks so we started our way through.
After about 10 minutes we had got to track 6, by this time Ed had walked on a bit further and found track 7 and 8 and was looking at what he wanted to be 9.
Rach and I started to walk towards him when there was a very deep, and menacing growl. Unknown to any of us but on th eplain, about 40 yards to Ed's right (and about 100 yards from where Rach and I were was a lion. No, make that 3 lions. One of the big males, a female (the one with cubs that is very aggressive and charges without any provocation) and the sub-adult male. This was a little interesting now!!
Ed called to us to stay where we were and go no further (we had reached tarck 7). I called back to the other students who were behind us to carry on what they were doing but "don't run". Ed kept an eye on the cats and made his way back to us at a walk. A few minutes later the female, followed by the big male, walked across the plain and into the tree line to our side - we had now lost sight of them. The young adult moved a little closer to us but sat in the open on the plain and watched us. We carried on what we were doing but kept an eye on the cat we could see, and kept checking the tree-line to see if the other 2 cats had moved closer.
After about 15 mins or so the young male looked across to the tree-line, stood up and then when to the trees himself and out of sight.
We had finished our tracking there anyway so we headed back to the cruiser (which was about 100 yards away, so if the lions charged us we would not have made it back there - hence the pointlesness of running from lions.
What this encounter taught us was that lions (or any other animals) rarely want an encounter with man and with choose to move off if they can. The lion growled to warn us that we were getting too close and were in his confort zone - up until Ed got to within 40 or so yards of him the male was clearly comfortable with us as he didn't growl or warn us. Had Ed ignored the warning, the next likely action by the lion would be a warning charge. Only if they didn't deter Ed would the lion choose flight or fight and make an attack. So yes, lions are scary and can kill people but as we have seen here already, if you respect them and look at what they are 'saying' you can control the situation.
In the next few weeks we will be walking dangerous game (lions, hippo, rhino, eliphant etc) - that is, trying to get close to the game to view them but hopefully without the animals knowing that you are there. We will almost certainly have a lion charge us, or an ellie being unhappy at our presence, but the idea is to teach us how to handle this situation (preferably without soiling our pants or getting anyone killed :) ) this evening we headed off to waterberry pool, by the waterfalls, for a braai (bar-b-q) and a few beers. This was a good night and the new 1 month students joined us too so we got to meet our new camp pals for a beer and chat. We didn't party too hard as we, as always, have a 5 o'clock start in the morning....
Ed had literally pulled out of the school area and parked up on a track called Nungu - this was a favourite area for tracks because there is a tree line a small wood to the left and a plain to the right. Therefore all manner of animals pass this way.
He started off and got about 50 yards away, then called back that Rach and I could start going through the sequence - once we are done with the first track the next 2 students start and so it contniues. Ed had marked 6 tracks so we started our way through.
After about 10 minutes we had got to track 6, by this time Ed had walked on a bit further and found track 7 and 8 and was looking at what he wanted to be 9.
Rach and I started to walk towards him when there was a very deep, and menacing growl. Unknown to any of us but on th eplain, about 40 yards to Ed's right (and about 100 yards from where Rach and I were was a lion. No, make that 3 lions. One of the big males, a female (the one with cubs that is very aggressive and charges without any provocation) and the sub-adult male. This was a little interesting now!!
Ed called to us to stay where we were and go no further (we had reached tarck 7). I called back to the other students who were behind us to carry on what they were doing but "don't run". Ed kept an eye on the cats and made his way back to us at a walk. A few minutes later the female, followed by the big male, walked across the plain and into the tree line to our side - we had now lost sight of them. The young adult moved a little closer to us but sat in the open on the plain and watched us. We carried on what we were doing but kept an eye on the cat we could see, and kept checking the tree-line to see if the other 2 cats had moved closer.
After about 15 mins or so the young male looked across to the tree-line, stood up and then when to the trees himself and out of sight.
We had finished our tracking there anyway so we headed back to the cruiser (which was about 100 yards away, so if the lions charged us we would not have made it back there - hence the pointlesness of running from lions.
What this encounter taught us was that lions (or any other animals) rarely want an encounter with man and with choose to move off if they can. The lion growled to warn us that we were getting too close and were in his confort zone - up until Ed got to within 40 or so yards of him the male was clearly comfortable with us as he didn't growl or warn us. Had Ed ignored the warning, the next likely action by the lion would be a warning charge. Only if they didn't deter Ed would the lion choose flight or fight and make an attack. So yes, lions are scary and can kill people but as we have seen here already, if you respect them and look at what they are 'saying' you can control the situation.
In the next few weeks we will be walking dangerous game (lions, hippo, rhino, eliphant etc) - that is, trying to get close to the game to view them but hopefully without the animals knowing that you are there. We will almost certainly have a lion charge us, or an ellie being unhappy at our presence, but the idea is to teach us how to handle this situation (preferably without soiling our pants or getting anyone killed :) ) this evening we headed off to waterberry pool, by the waterfalls, for a braai (bar-b-q) and a few beers. This was a good night and the new 1 month students joined us too so we got to meet our new camp pals for a beer and chat. We didn't party too hard as we, as always, have a 5 o'clock start in the morning....
The Scorpion King
No, not me but an expert on scorpions (and all arachnids) calleds Jonathan Leeming. And ex-Brit (and like me an ex-IT contractor) Jonathan has now become a respected scorpion expert and travels around camps in Southern Africa teaching guides and tourists alike about scorpions and spiders. He has been with us for the past 2 days and I can safely say that I know more about scorpions now that I thought I would ever know.
Yesterday we had a lecture with Jonathan followed by him showing us a couple of scorpions that he brought to show us. One was a very venomous beast that we didn't handle, but the other was the worlds largest and also the world's least venomous so we got to hold this one. Given the pain Rachel went through last week when she was stung by a scorpion I never had myself down for holding one a week later. This scorpion though, a rock scorpion, was mean looking but very mild mannered. She just sits in your hand and relaxes - if she starts to move you just push her pincers together, fold her tail up and place your free hand on top off her (this makes her feel like she has a rock on top of her).
In the afternoon we went up on one of the ridges searching for scorpions and found a male of this same species - he was a bit larger but equally as chilled. We also found a scorpion of the same species that stung Rachel and Jonathan said that the sting off this was a '3' (out of 5) so confirmed how painful it is - not that anyone needed to convince Rachel, she knew already! It was a very hot day up on the escarpment so on the way back down we headed to a waterfall and took a dip in the cooling water - this helped the sun burn a bit.
We set some scorpions pit-fall traps near school too in the hope of catching a different type of scorpion. These are burrowing scorpions and have a bee-sting type sting but are again effectively harmless. Jonathan normally asks for a volunteer to get stung by one of these for the class and all the matcho-types have of course volunteered - but not me, as I don't see the point.
Today (2nd Feb) we set out early to see what the traps had caught, and we were in luck as we had a good sized scorpion. Like the rock scorpion yesterday this chap was very relaxed and whilst he can sting he chooses not too except as a last resort. We all held this chap too and had some nice photos taken (I will post them once we get decent internet access).
Back at school after the lecture from Jonathan he asked for a volunteer to be stung and got 9 (6 from our course, a trainer and 2 from another course). Despite seeing a video showing someone else get stung with pretty much no pain or reaction people still wanted the macho story to tell. This probably would not have been a problem for me, but seeing how relaxed this scorpion was and how much he had to be prodded and pocked and generally pissed off before he would commit a sting really wound me up.
From an education point it was very interesting to see that the scorpion only stings as a last resort (in Rachel's case, she lay on it and the scorpion was stinging for its life). Its first instinct was to run away - then it was held in place by someone whilst the volunteer to be stung squashed its pincers with their arm. Even then the scorpion tried to get away and sent warning 'stings' (like dry shots with the blunt of the stung and not the actual sting). Only after all else failed did the scorpion send out a stung.
And the reaction from the first person? Hardly felt anything (which is to be expected from the scorpion they were using). But still 8 more people lined up (some more than once). The poor scorpion by the end was so exhausted that it couldn't lift its sting. I hate seeing any animal treated this way; maybe I'm weird but I don't agree with this (1 or 2 people as education, but not the circus it turned into). Sometimes us humans need to respect animals more!
I did learn a lot about scorpions though so appreciate Jonathan's time. No longer will I look at a scorpion again and think it could kill me - only a very few have the potential to kill, and only then for the old, young or weak. Most people will have very little reaction to a sting, except the pain that Rachel felt.
Yesterday we had a lecture with Jonathan followed by him showing us a couple of scorpions that he brought to show us. One was a very venomous beast that we didn't handle, but the other was the worlds largest and also the world's least venomous so we got to hold this one. Given the pain Rachel went through last week when she was stung by a scorpion I never had myself down for holding one a week later. This scorpion though, a rock scorpion, was mean looking but very mild mannered. She just sits in your hand and relaxes - if she starts to move you just push her pincers together, fold her tail up and place your free hand on top off her (this makes her feel like she has a rock on top of her).
In the afternoon we went up on one of the ridges searching for scorpions and found a male of this same species - he was a bit larger but equally as chilled. We also found a scorpion of the same species that stung Rachel and Jonathan said that the sting off this was a '3' (out of 5) so confirmed how painful it is - not that anyone needed to convince Rachel, she knew already! It was a very hot day up on the escarpment so on the way back down we headed to a waterfall and took a dip in the cooling water - this helped the sun burn a bit.
We set some scorpions pit-fall traps near school too in the hope of catching a different type of scorpion. These are burrowing scorpions and have a bee-sting type sting but are again effectively harmless. Jonathan normally asks for a volunteer to get stung by one of these for the class and all the matcho-types have of course volunteered - but not me, as I don't see the point.
Today (2nd Feb) we set out early to see what the traps had caught, and we were in luck as we had a good sized scorpion. Like the rock scorpion yesterday this chap was very relaxed and whilst he can sting he chooses not too except as a last resort. We all held this chap too and had some nice photos taken (I will post them once we get decent internet access).
Back at school after the lecture from Jonathan he asked for a volunteer to be stung and got 9 (6 from our course, a trainer and 2 from another course). Despite seeing a video showing someone else get stung with pretty much no pain or reaction people still wanted the macho story to tell. This probably would not have been a problem for me, but seeing how relaxed this scorpion was and how much he had to be prodded and pocked and generally pissed off before he would commit a sting really wound me up.
From an education point it was very interesting to see that the scorpion only stings as a last resort (in Rachel's case, she lay on it and the scorpion was stinging for its life). Its first instinct was to run away - then it was held in place by someone whilst the volunteer to be stung squashed its pincers with their arm. Even then the scorpion tried to get away and sent warning 'stings' (like dry shots with the blunt of the stung and not the actual sting). Only after all else failed did the scorpion send out a stung.
And the reaction from the first person? Hardly felt anything (which is to be expected from the scorpion they were using). But still 8 more people lined up (some more than once). The poor scorpion by the end was so exhausted that it couldn't lift its sting. I hate seeing any animal treated this way; maybe I'm weird but I don't agree with this (1 or 2 people as education, but not the circus it turned into). Sometimes us humans need to respect animals more!
I did learn a lot about scorpions though so appreciate Jonathan's time. No longer will I look at a scorpion again and think it could kill me - only a very few have the potential to kill, and only then for the old, young or weak. Most people will have very little reaction to a sting, except the pain that Rachel felt.
Bait
For those who have not been on a safari you are probably not aware of what a 'bait seat' is. Well, imagine a seat stuck on to the bonnet of a jeep...well, this is basically it. And it's called a bait seat as you are the closest to the hungry animals and when you sit up there yards from lions you really do feel like bait!!
It is actually a great vantage point for viewing game as you are raised up and do not have people getting in your way. You also see the road first so it's great for tracking...but when the cruiser pull into sightings you are very very close to the game.
The first time for me we went into lion and Rhino sightings - flippin scary stuck I can say. The male lion was about 3 metres from the car; I'm sure he could smell my fear (I certainly could!).
Rach also went bait in the first week and she also got close and personal to the lions (mostly lionesses). I have some pics of this somewhere and will add them to this when I get the chance.
It is actually a great vantage point for viewing game as you are raised up and do not have people getting in your way. You also see the road first so it's great for tracking...but when the cruiser pull into sightings you are very very close to the game.
The first time for me we went into lion and Rhino sightings - flippin scary stuck I can say. The male lion was about 3 metres from the car; I'm sure he could smell my fear (I certainly could!).
Rach also went bait in the first week and she also got close and personal to the lions (mostly lionesses). I have some pics of this somewhere and will add them to this when I get the chance.
The Scorpion Queen
I hope you realise this story is about Rachel and not me (never saw myself as much of a queen - I think the beard would be a turn-off) and before I start can I say she is now compeletly recovered (did that get your attention.
So, Rachel has a new nickname - "The Scorpion Queen". Why? Well, because she was stung 8 times by one at night. Fortunatly it was not one of the very venomous ones but none-the-less was very painful and made her feel ill for a few hours and the pain took about 8 hours to subside. She likened it to someone sticking red hot pokers into her back ... nice!
It was a bit unfortunate, but we had had a few nights (and some days) of very heavy rain so we think the scorpion had come into the tent for shelter. We think it had crawled into the thatch of the roof only then to fall into Rachel's bed. She'd then turned over in the night and lay on it, only for the scorpion to sting out in defense.
She woke up in pain at about 2 o'clock and i checked her back and there were 5 'mosquito' bites. Half her back was red but we had no reason to think it was anything but a mozzie. We put some sting cream on her back, spraid the room and nodded back off - well I did, Rach was still in pain. About an hour later she jumped out of bed in more pain and shouting that something had stung her again and was in her bed. I flicked the light on and jumped into action - and there, in her bed was a dead scorpion. She had clearly squashed it, and as its last action it had stung her 3 more times.
Rachel was having a bit of a panic by now that she had been stung by what we city folk consider a dangerous beast. We sat awake monitoring her symptoms until the sun came up when I went to see one of the trainers to get his advise. By now Rach was a bit better but still feeling a bit nauseous and her back was hurting a lot. The trainer offered to get a doctor but Rach didn't feel that ill; we missed that day's events to rest and fortunately by midday she was feeling better. But at least now she has a story to tell :)
So, Rachel has a new nickname - "The Scorpion Queen". Why? Well, because she was stung 8 times by one at night. Fortunatly it was not one of the very venomous ones but none-the-less was very painful and made her feel ill for a few hours and the pain took about 8 hours to subside. She likened it to someone sticking red hot pokers into her back ... nice!
It was a bit unfortunate, but we had had a few nights (and some days) of very heavy rain so we think the scorpion had come into the tent for shelter. We think it had crawled into the thatch of the roof only then to fall into Rachel's bed. She'd then turned over in the night and lay on it, only for the scorpion to sting out in defense.
She woke up in pain at about 2 o'clock and i checked her back and there were 5 'mosquito' bites. Half her back was red but we had no reason to think it was anything but a mozzie. We put some sting cream on her back, spraid the room and nodded back off - well I did, Rach was still in pain. About an hour later she jumped out of bed in more pain and shouting that something had stung her again and was in her bed. I flicked the light on and jumped into action - and there, in her bed was a dead scorpion. She had clearly squashed it, and as its last action it had stung her 3 more times.
Rachel was having a bit of a panic by now that she had been stung by what we city folk consider a dangerous beast. We sat awake monitoring her symptoms until the sun came up when I went to see one of the trainers to get his advise. By now Rach was a bit better but still feeling a bit nauseous and her back was hurting a lot. The trainer offered to get a doctor but Rach didn't feel that ill; we missed that day's events to rest and fortunately by midday she was feeling better. But at least now she has a story to tell :)
The Pride of Entabeni
In all game reserves probably the highlight for tourists is the lions, and at Entabeni they have their own pride of lions. Due to the size of the reserve there is only one pride but it is very interactive and fairly relaxed so good viewings are common.
The pride itself has 7 lions - 2 pride males, 3 big females and 2 18 month old sub-adults (one male, one female). There is also a suspicion that one of the females has cubs but these have not been seen yet. If this is true then this may prove a headache at some stage for the reserve as they only have space on the reserve for 7 lions.
There is a strange dynamic in the pride as the old male is 17 years old and the younger (but bigger) male, the son, is 8 years old. To those in the know this is interesting because males usually hit sexual maturity at aged 4 (ish) and get and keep their pride to about the age of 8 (ish). The average age for a wild lion is 8 years old. So here we have two males who, due to a lack of competition, are bucking the trend. The old male though is by no means past it; he is still very much in charge and still beats up his son to get the food first.
Of the other lions, two of the females are quite relaxed (for lionesses) whilst the one with cubs is known to be 'temperamental', to say the least. A lot of the rangers are wary of her as she frequently charges vehicles and 'revs' them (that is roars at them and shows her distaste).
Update : late Feb. 3 cubs have now been seen and are thought to be about 10 weeks old. The female is still vary wary of cars so there is a block on approaching her and the cubs for now.
Update 2 : late Feb. The old male went missing for a week and was feared dead. Apparently he had a big fight with his son and came off the worst. Game management were very concerned for him and asked us at the school to help in the search for him (or what might be left of him). We spent 2 days searching for him and did find tracks but others rangers were convinced that we have found tracks only of the older male. Anyway, the following day the old boy was found safe and well and sitting on a kill - he was in the area where we had seen the tracks so we are pretty smug about finding him first ;)
The pride itself has 7 lions - 2 pride males, 3 big females and 2 18 month old sub-adults (one male, one female). There is also a suspicion that one of the females has cubs but these have not been seen yet. If this is true then this may prove a headache at some stage for the reserve as they only have space on the reserve for 7 lions.
There is a strange dynamic in the pride as the old male is 17 years old and the younger (but bigger) male, the son, is 8 years old. To those in the know this is interesting because males usually hit sexual maturity at aged 4 (ish) and get and keep their pride to about the age of 8 (ish). The average age for a wild lion is 8 years old. So here we have two males who, due to a lack of competition, are bucking the trend. The old male though is by no means past it; he is still very much in charge and still beats up his son to get the food first.
Of the other lions, two of the females are quite relaxed (for lionesses) whilst the one with cubs is known to be 'temperamental', to say the least. A lot of the rangers are wary of her as she frequently charges vehicles and 'revs' them (that is roars at them and shows her distaste).
Update : late Feb. 3 cubs have now been seen and are thought to be about 10 weeks old. The female is still vary wary of cars so there is a block on approaching her and the cubs for now.
Update 2 : late Feb. The old male went missing for a week and was feared dead. Apparently he had a big fight with his son and came off the worst. Game management were very concerned for him and asked us at the school to help in the search for him (or what might be left of him). We spent 2 days searching for him and did find tracks but others rangers were convinced that we have found tracks only of the older male. Anyway, the following day the old boy was found safe and well and sitting on a kill - he was in the area where we had seen the tracks so we are pretty smug about finding him first ;)
Rain, Rain, Go Away
The first 1 1/2 weeks here was wet wet wet. As Brits we didn't mind too much; for one thing, the rain was warm so we quite enjoyed it :) Since then though the rain has gone and we have had nothing but sunshine - this does unfortunately mean that our pale skin has started to turn a dangerous shade of pink, but hey, that's what us Brits do best in a hot country ... burn.
The Work Begins
Well not too much, but the first week does see some lectures, text books being given out and 2 game drives a day (which is typical).The routine is fairly standard each day... up at 5 o'clock and on the vehicle for 6 o'clock sharp for the first drive of the day. Back to the school for 10 ish and brunch at 10-30. Lecture follows at 12 ish for an hour or so. Then personal study time until 3-30 when we go out for the second drive of the day. Back for 7 ready for dinner at 7-30. Then pretty much off to bed ready for the next day's early start.
There is a bar area where we sometimes pop down after dinner for a quick beer and a game of pool. But we are generally in bed by 9 at the latest.
The FGASA syllabus is fairly wide and detailed, anything from astronomy, mammals, reptils, weather, biomes of SA and many more. We also need to learn how to track animals, become first aiders and obviously learn how to drive a game vehicle and approach dangerous (i.e. animals that might kill us and all in the vehicle) safely. Hmm....they do realise we are city folk don't they?? Oh, yeah, we also have to learn how to walk with dangerous game (lions, rhino, ellies etc) again without getting anyone killed - it's Ok though, they will also teach us how to shoot a gun!!!!
There is a bar area where we sometimes pop down after dinner for a quick beer and a game of pool. But we are generally in bed by 9 at the latest.
The FGASA syllabus is fairly wide and detailed, anything from astronomy, mammals, reptils, weather, biomes of SA and many more. We also need to learn how to track animals, become first aiders and obviously learn how to drive a game vehicle and approach dangerous (i.e. animals that might kill us and all in the vehicle) safely. Hmm....they do realise we are city folk don't they?? Oh, yeah, we also have to learn how to walk with dangerous game (lions, rhino, ellies etc) again without getting anyone killed - it's Ok though, they will also teach us how to shoot a gun!!!!
The Reserve
The reserve itself is called Entabeni and within this (in addition to the school) there are about 5 tourist lodges. Some are quite rustic whilst others (like Legend) are top of the range resorts complete with multiple golf courses, quad biking, beauty spas etc. So from a tourist point of view, something for everyone.
It's a 'big 5' reserve which is a big plus. This means it has the 5 most desired animals to see: White Rhino, Lion, Cape Buffalo, Leopard, Elephant. At the time of writing this (after 3.5 weeks here) we have onloy seen 3 of the big 5 as we haven't yet seen a leopard or buffalo. In addition to the big 5 there are plenty of other animals about including Brown Hyena, Kudu, Eland, Honey Badger, Blesbok, Hippo, and the list goes on. There are also hundreds of bird species both seen and heard.
The reserve is large and split into 2. There is the lower crater that the school is in and an upper escarpment where there are some more camps. There is a very steep road (inside the reserve) going up to the top escarpment. At the bottom we have the lions, cheetah, some rhino, ellies etc and at the top there are no introduced predators (leopards and jackals are around there but they pretty much go where they like). They have also seen wild dogs on the top before which appear from time to time - so despite the reserve being fenced because the area is so hilly/mountainous it appears to be hard to completely enclose the place. This is one of the reasons I believe that there are no lions on top, as they may just start visiting neighbouring farmers who wouldn't welcome the mained guests!
The area itself is dominated by the waterberg mountain range and whithin this are 2 prominant bits, the Entabeni mountain (hence the name of the reserve) and the Hanglip (which looks like the face of a man). I wish I could load some pics to the blog to show both of these but due to the school not wnating us to use all their internet bandwidth we are requested not to upload or download files (emails and this text blog take no space so I'm happy with this :) )
The range is very impressive and gives a stunning backdrop to the reserve. When the late afternoon sun hits the mountain it is truly stunning.
At 2 points of the steep climb to the escarpment there are 2 natural pools at the bottom of waterfalls. These are popular swimming areas and there are tables etc set up there for use as sundowners/afternoon drinks etc. We been there a coupld of times already and it is so relaxing in the water, and great fun to sit under the waterfalls. For those who are stronger swimmers than me there are plenty of rocks to throw yourself off into the pools - I may have to brave this one time, so long as one of the guys is happy to save me when I drown!
It's a 'big 5' reserve which is a big plus. This means it has the 5 most desired animals to see: White Rhino, Lion, Cape Buffalo, Leopard, Elephant. At the time of writing this (after 3.5 weeks here) we have onloy seen 3 of the big 5 as we haven't yet seen a leopard or buffalo. In addition to the big 5 there are plenty of other animals about including Brown Hyena, Kudu, Eland, Honey Badger, Blesbok, Hippo, and the list goes on. There are also hundreds of bird species both seen and heard.
The reserve is large and split into 2. There is the lower crater that the school is in and an upper escarpment where there are some more camps. There is a very steep road (inside the reserve) going up to the top escarpment. At the bottom we have the lions, cheetah, some rhino, ellies etc and at the top there are no introduced predators (leopards and jackals are around there but they pretty much go where they like). They have also seen wild dogs on the top before which appear from time to time - so despite the reserve being fenced because the area is so hilly/mountainous it appears to be hard to completely enclose the place. This is one of the reasons I believe that there are no lions on top, as they may just start visiting neighbouring farmers who wouldn't welcome the mained guests!
The area itself is dominated by the waterberg mountain range and whithin this are 2 prominant bits, the Entabeni mountain (hence the name of the reserve) and the Hanglip (which looks like the face of a man). I wish I could load some pics to the blog to show both of these but due to the school not wnating us to use all their internet bandwidth we are requested not to upload or download files (emails and this text blog take no space so I'm happy with this :) )
The range is very impressive and gives a stunning backdrop to the reserve. When the late afternoon sun hits the mountain it is truly stunning.
At 2 points of the steep climb to the escarpment there are 2 natural pools at the bottom of waterfalls. These are popular swimming areas and there are tables etc set up there for use as sundowners/afternoon drinks etc. We been there a coupld of times already and it is so relaxing in the water, and great fun to sit under the waterfalls. For those who are stronger swimmers than me there are plenty of rocks to throw yourself off into the pools - I may have to brave this one time, so long as one of the guys is happy to save me when I drown!
The School
First impressions are very good. It feels more like a safari camp than a school which of course is to be expected as we are deep in the bush. We were greeted by one of the trainers, and larger than life Afrikaana called JP. He's lived in the UK for some time so he knows our sense of humour and wit quite well so a bit of banter was given (started in part by the fact we are the only maried couple here and I was wearing a rugby shirt).
The rooms are great - Wooded pole structure and tent material, so for the next 6 months we will be living in a tent. There is a bedroom area with 2 single beds (we can improvise when needed ;) ), a study desk each and side table with light. At the back is a curtained off area with a toilet, shower and hand basin. All perfectly nice and pretty much what we expected - also not dissimilar to what we have stayed in before when we have stayed in nice safaru lodges before.
The tents are raised off the ground and there are wooden raised walkways around the camp. I guess this is partly for safety as the camp has no fences around it and the animals (including lions) can and do walk through the camp. JP was very particular during the briefing that we always keep our touches on us and use them when around the camp at night as the lions are never far away.
Apart from the tents there is a lecture room, a dining room and a bar/tv/pool (the ball game variety) room. This will prove to be a popular place to meet up for a few frames of pool before evening meals.
The 3 trainers have their own tents (JP his own, ED and Diana who are a coule share a tent) and Lee who runs the school has a house attached to the school. This is where the office is, a snake room and where we can (very infrequently!) access the interenet for e-mails and my dreaded tax returns.
We met up with 2 other students at the school - one a local Saffer chap (Ian) and the other a Scottish lass (Thyrza) who actually lives in South Africa due to her father's work. The age mix overall in the group is quite good, with enough youngsters to keep the oldies in the group young (at least at heart!).
The rooms are great - Wooded pole structure and tent material, so for the next 6 months we will be living in a tent. There is a bedroom area with 2 single beds (we can improvise when needed ;) ), a study desk each and side table with light. At the back is a curtained off area with a toilet, shower and hand basin. All perfectly nice and pretty much what we expected - also not dissimilar to what we have stayed in before when we have stayed in nice safaru lodges before.
The tents are raised off the ground and there are wooden raised walkways around the camp. I guess this is partly for safety as the camp has no fences around it and the animals (including lions) can and do walk through the camp. JP was very particular during the briefing that we always keep our touches on us and use them when around the camp at night as the lions are never far away.
Apart from the tents there is a lecture room, a dining room and a bar/tv/pool (the ball game variety) room. This will prove to be a popular place to meet up for a few frames of pool before evening meals.
The 3 trainers have their own tents (JP his own, ED and Diana who are a coule share a tent) and Lee who runs the school has a house attached to the school. This is where the office is, a snake room and where we can (very infrequently!) access the interenet for e-mails and my dreaded tax returns.
We met up with 2 other students at the school - one a local Saffer chap (Ian) and the other a Scottish lass (Thyrza) who actually lives in South Africa due to her father's work. The age mix overall in the group is quite good, with enough youngsters to keep the oldies in the group young (at least at heart!).
The Long Road Out
Whilst being long and convoluted it wasn't in reality too bad. We left Tipton in the morning, thanks to Rachel's Mom and Dad driving over and with my Mom taking us to the local train station. Sad goodbyes were said but no tears shed - at least not on our side as we were starting our adventure!
A local train to Birmingham was followed by a train to Reading and a coach transfer to Heathrow airport. Everything ran perfectly and we got to the airport with 4 hours to spare. We checked our bags in anyway and just chilled until the flight was due. We had been concerned the week before that our outbound flight might be delayed and we might miss our Jo'Burg connection at Nairobi (Kenya) but the flight left on time and got us to Nairobi 30 mins early. The flight itself was nothing special - as comfy as 9 hours sitting down can be but we managed a few hours kip so we were not in too bad a shape when we got to Nairobi.
We had a 3 hour transfer wait in Nairobi but this gave us a chance to freshen up a bit, grab and drink and reflect and what we were about to embark on. We met a few other Brits at the airport who were also in transit so we could all share stories and plans, which was nice. One couple were heading to Burundi to work at a school for 4 weeks - they had brought books, pencils etc to help out the locals. The previous year they had gone there to help build the school.
A short flight later and we were in Jo'burg. I actually love this airport; so clean, efficient and so far has never lost my luggage (am I tempting fate here?!). We got through passport control, grabbed our bags and headed to meet our transfer to the school. We had booked the transfer via the internet so there is always a bit of doubt but there were 3 other students sharing ourt lift so we knew between us we would be fine. Anyway, no need to worry as the Mad Dog Adventures guy was there waiting for us.
Also with us was 1 other Brit (Tom), a Spaniad (Javi) and an American (George). There was supposed to be another Brit too but his visa hadn't been finalised yet so he would be following in a few days time. The transfer to the school was about 4 hours and quite univentful, and quite quiet as I think we were all so knackered. We got to the school gates and for me anyway, the addrenalin kicked in. When I say school gates try not to think of normal school gates, but an entrance to a safari park complete with electric fencing and lion warning signs. Yep, this was for real.
We drove to the school for about 5 minutes through part of the reserve. We saw a few animals (impala, wildebeest, blesbok) which was a nice start.
A local train to Birmingham was followed by a train to Reading and a coach transfer to Heathrow airport. Everything ran perfectly and we got to the airport with 4 hours to spare. We checked our bags in anyway and just chilled until the flight was due. We had been concerned the week before that our outbound flight might be delayed and we might miss our Jo'Burg connection at Nairobi (Kenya) but the flight left on time and got us to Nairobi 30 mins early. The flight itself was nothing special - as comfy as 9 hours sitting down can be but we managed a few hours kip so we were not in too bad a shape when we got to Nairobi.
We had a 3 hour transfer wait in Nairobi but this gave us a chance to freshen up a bit, grab and drink and reflect and what we were about to embark on. We met a few other Brits at the airport who were also in transit so we could all share stories and plans, which was nice. One couple were heading to Burundi to work at a school for 4 weeks - they had brought books, pencils etc to help out the locals. The previous year they had gone there to help build the school.
A short flight later and we were in Jo'burg. I actually love this airport; so clean, efficient and so far has never lost my luggage (am I tempting fate here?!). We got through passport control, grabbed our bags and headed to meet our transfer to the school. We had booked the transfer via the internet so there is always a bit of doubt but there were 3 other students sharing ourt lift so we knew between us we would be fine. Anyway, no need to worry as the Mad Dog Adventures guy was there waiting for us.
Also with us was 1 other Brit (Tom), a Spaniad (Javi) and an American (George). There was supposed to be another Brit too but his visa hadn't been finalised yet so he would be following in a few days time. The transfer to the school was about 4 hours and quite univentful, and quite quiet as I think we were all so knackered. We got to the school gates and for me anyway, the addrenalin kicked in. When I say school gates try not to think of normal school gates, but an entrance to a safari park complete with electric fencing and lion warning signs. Yep, this was for real.
We drove to the school for about 5 minutes through part of the reserve. We saw a few animals (impala, wildebeest, blesbok) which was a nice start.
Monday 3 January 2011
One day to go
Yep, we are almost there. Tomorrow we fly, today we pack. We have gone through a number of test packs, which has proved both useful and scary - I mean, how do you pack for a year away?
Well we are trying to be sensible and pretend we are going away for a week and packing for just that amount of time. It's more difficult than it sounds and only time will tell whether we have been successful or not. We each have one rucksack and one hand luggage - it's a good job I lost weight, as at least my underpants are a size smaller now!!
So what have we done since I last wrote - apart from packing bags, we had a nice week in Cornwall with Joe and Laura, have survived Christmas and celebrated New Year with my Carol, Mel and Jen. Mel put on a lovely spread and I don't think we did it justice - and I went back for seconds and thirds :)
Our week in Cornwall was cut short by a day due to the weather. We had kept an eye on the forecasts and decided to travel back a day early and this proved to be a good call. This journey was still a nightmare and took 7 hours rather than 4, but the snow that caused the bad journey lasted all through Christmas so had we not left that day I don't know when we would have got back. Joe and Laura would have been stuck with us longer and have to make their Christmas duck stretch to 4.
Despite the bad weather though I do like driving in the snow - we had (note the past tense, we no longer have a car!) a nippy little Peuguot that skid quite nicely on the snow and ice. Always made the drive exciting :) I never actually lost full control, but sometimes the back end would flick out and there I was imagining I was a rally driver. I wonder how this will transfer to 4x4 driving in Africa?
Must dash - things to do. Wish us luck on our journey.
Well we are trying to be sensible and pretend we are going away for a week and packing for just that amount of time. It's more difficult than it sounds and only time will tell whether we have been successful or not. We each have one rucksack and one hand luggage - it's a good job I lost weight, as at least my underpants are a size smaller now!!
So what have we done since I last wrote - apart from packing bags, we had a nice week in Cornwall with Joe and Laura, have survived Christmas and celebrated New Year with my Carol, Mel and Jen. Mel put on a lovely spread and I don't think we did it justice - and I went back for seconds and thirds :)
Our week in Cornwall was cut short by a day due to the weather. We had kept an eye on the forecasts and decided to travel back a day early and this proved to be a good call. This journey was still a nightmare and took 7 hours rather than 4, but the snow that caused the bad journey lasted all through Christmas so had we not left that day I don't know when we would have got back. Joe and Laura would have been stuck with us longer and have to make their Christmas duck stretch to 4.
Despite the bad weather though I do like driving in the snow - we had (note the past tense, we no longer have a car!) a nippy little Peuguot that skid quite nicely on the snow and ice. Always made the drive exciting :) I never actually lost full control, but sometimes the back end would flick out and there I was imagining I was a rally driver. I wonder how this will transfer to 4x4 driving in Africa?
Must dash - things to do. Wish us luck on our journey.
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