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!
Saturday 30 April 2011
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 :)
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