The End Is Here - But It's Been Brilliant!

So the time has come to make the final post on our South African experience blog :( It has been the best 6 weeks learning about and living 'in the bush'. Thank you so much to Jacques and all our fellow volunteers over the last 6 weeks. You have all made the time what it was and hopefully we will all stay in contact, and maybe one day meet up again some place :)

To everyone at home, we will soon be around to share our tales and the odd photo or two with you!!

Here are the final week's events:

Day 36 – Saturday 8th May
Jacques was given the morning off so Andrew, Jacques boss, took us into town to use the internet and stock up on supplies. We went to Guidos for lunch, a sea front bar where we could sit outside on the deck. It was a nice day, if a little on the chilly side by the ocean. We took the ‘dirt road’ back to the house which goes right through Kariega’s neighbouring reserve. It was very scenic, but very rough for Daniel and I who were sat in the back of Andrew’s pickup – but ‘we are in the bush’ so it was all good!
Once back at the house it was mid afternoon. A few people went to sleep for a bit, still recovering from last night and the rest of us found things to do before we lit a camp fire about 5pm and sat out until it got dark. It was a very pleasant end to the day. In the evening Jacques came round and we watched England v South Africa in the Twenty 20 cricket world cup. Jacques did not stay for the end of the match – he left once it was obvious that England were going to win!!

Day 37 – Sunday 9th May
Sunday is the only day of the week we all get a lie in, and we were all looking forward to this week’s morning with no alarm. Unfortunately no-one told the monkeys! They were bouncing around on the roof from about 7am to 7:30am. I was now awake so decided to grab my binoculars and camera and sit in the tree house for a while to see what was about. There was impala, kudo and warthog all around, and I was rewarded with one of the warthog coming to the watering hole and drinking. I have been waiting for 5 weeks to get a shot of an animal drinking at a watering hole – so I have a lot to thank those noisy monkeys for!! We can sleep and lie in when back in England!
By the time I left the tree house it was just gone 9am and most of the other volunteers were now up. It was lovely hot day, about 28C, but very windy. Plenty warm enough though to continue with the Sunday tradition of sunbathing in the morning followed by a braai early afternoon. This week, the last Sunday for Miri, Anita and I, we went a bit more adventurous! Instead of charcoal we cooked on a wood fire and Miri made stick bread, which is where you make bread dough, roll it onto a long thin roll and then wrap it around a stick, which we had had earlier cut from one of the trees in the garden. You then hold the stick with the bread on it over the fire until the bread is cooked. It worked a treat, and it added to the feast which this week consisted of chicken, burgers, braais sausage, ostrich steaks and pasta salad. We kept the fire going and later on had chocolate bananas cooked in the fire before sitting out until it got dark. In the end the smoke got too much so we retreated for showers before Jacques came round and we played pool and 30 Seconds.



Day 38 – Monday 10th May
Today seems to have started a long time a go! There was a mouse in our bedroom that didn’t seem to want to leave through the door – so after an hour of moving the beds into the middle of the room and chasing the poor little mouse from one corner to the other I eventually managed to catch it and put it the other side of the garden fence (for how long is anyone’s guess!). Miri and Holly also had mouse dramas in the night and one actually climbed onto Holly’s bed and bit her toe!
When Jaques arrived at 8am we were all feeling more than a little sleep deprived so were glad when he said we would be doing Birds In Reserve Project (BIRP) this morning on KE – we were all fully expecting to be chopping trees! We had a good morning, although it is very windy and that meant that it was difficult to see too many birds. We did see a fair few though and also saw a hippo and a pair of otters as well as getting a quick look at the baby rhino who was doing what a one and a half week rhino does best – sleeping!
After lunch we were to continue the BIRP but this time on KW while we look for the elephants to continue the ear identification sheets. We didn’t find the elephants, but we did find the whole pride of lions together. It would seem that the dominance within the two males is switched back to Full Mane. Mohawk has been the dominant male for a while, but Full Mane was mating with the Aunt of the cubs so it would seem like there has been a change in the power hierarchy. We got some more good photos of the cubs and some good shots of the males and the lionesses yawning.
After the lions we took the long route home, noting down some more bird species that we saw, before having a quiet evening and an early night – much needed after last night’s mouse interrupted sleep!

Day 39 – Tuesday 11th May
We started today with more wattle chopping on KE but it was a relatively short session, and despite being in the same place as last Thursday was nowhere near as bad as our last efforts at manual labour. We left the infestation at about 10:30am and headed back to KW to continue the Birds In Reserve Project. We managed to see quite a few new species of birds but didn’t find the elephants to continue the ear identification drawings.

Sharon and Anita both had appointments at the Spa this afternoon so we dropped them off after lunch and went to see what we could see. We quickly came across the lions again. Today the mating pair were keeping their distance from the pride and were still on the plain. The rest of the pride had moved down the road a little bit and were basking in the sun. When we first arrived, the mum of the cubs, sub adult male and only one of the cubs were visible. We sat for a while and eventually the other cubs appeared and started playing before deciding they were hungry and stopping to suckle.
It was then time to move back to the lodge to pick up Anita and Sharon. While we were there we stopped for a drink, and I also saw the reserve gym for the first time. The exercise bike, treadmill and rowing machine etc all look out through a massive window that overlooks the main plains on KE. Motivation enough for anyone to go the gym I’d have thought!!
Once back at the house we played a few games of pool, and Anita was particularly delighted at beating Jacques, who joined us for dinner. After our food it was time to prepare our lesson plans for the weekly visit to school tomorrow – our last visit :(

Day 40 – Wednesday 12th May
Today was our last visit to the school. It seems very sad as after only 5 weeks we seemed to have built a report with the children and got to know the strengths and needs of each of them. The lessons were one hour shorter than normal as they had a football match and a netball match with another school. As it was the last week for three of the six of us some of the children put on a traditional dance for us and we had a ‘formal’ presentation of the gifts we bought, including a football and pump. The principle likes to have photos of these things in her office.
The lessons went well and we then hung around for a bit afterwards as the children played outside and the football and netball teams got changed into their kits. I then had the task of being ‘official photographer’ for both teams!
Once we said a final farewell to the children we headed back to Kariega where we had lunch before setting off to find the elephants. We had a good idea where they would be as we had seen them in the distance on the way back to the house. We found them relatively quickly as managed to do some further identification drawings, but not as much as we would have liked as the proceeded to walk into the bush where we couldn’t follow them. We went straight back to the house, all wandering if we would have a final Wednesday pizza night at Homewoods. Jacques then told us to be ready for 6pm as we would be going for a night drive. So no pizza, but I for one don’t mind a bit! We can go for a pizza any time at home – we can’t go for a night drive with the hope of seeing lion, elephant, rhino etc etc!!
It was another amazing night drive! Within 20 minutes of leaving the house we heard a noise in the bushes, and there just a few feet away from us was the big bull elephant. We reversed up and off the road so as not to startle him and let him walk calmly past our vehicle. Somehow he looked even bigger in the dark than he does in the daylight. After Big Bull had left us we continued and saw various different pairs of eyes staring back at us. The next highlight was a bush pig who was very calm. He allowed us to get much closer to him than is normal, and we were even able to get some pictures. As we progressed through the KW section of the reserve we stopped as Jacques explained the various star constellations in the southern hemisphere, we also could see with the naked eye two satellites moving around the earth. We the then stumble across an aardvark right next to the road. It didn’t hang around for long, but we were able to get a good look at it before it disappeared into the bush. Aardvarks are a very rare sighting – in the two and a half years Jacques has been volunteer co-ordinator he has only ever had 5 sightings of an aardvark and only ever one with previous volunteers! We finished off by finding the lions, still in the groups they we were in yesterday. We then headed back to the house, and it was starting to get quite cold now – we all had several layers on which helped to keep most of the cold out and I have no idea how Jacques managed to the whole night drive in just shorts and t-shirt!!!
We got home at about 8:45pm so it was a late dinner and then off to bed. We do get a lie in tomorrow though as we won’t start until 8:30am

Day 41 – Thursday 13th May
Today was Miri’s last day as she leaves for home tomorrow morning, and the weather could not have been kinder! The sun was a bit hazy at times, but the temperature has been warm all day – it was 19C at 8:15am and got up to 29C! Not bad for a winters day where we still saw some locals wearing woolly hats! We set off at 8:30am and went on a drive around various parts of KE where we saw many of the game species, rhino, ostrich and giraffe. We then came back to KW where we sharpened the machetes and washed the vehicle with the power wash. From the workshop we saw the elephants in the distance, so that is where headed next. Just before we got to the herd we saw the Big Bull (the same elephant that we saw on last night’s night drive) who was browsing right next to the three rhinos on KW. We stopped to take a few photos and then proceeded to the main herd where frantically tried to identify the members that were present – a task that is becoming easier with some of the elephants but equally hard with others. If only they would stand still! It was another amazing elephant experience though at one stage we had some of the herd coming from the left of the vehicle and they got within just a few feet. On the other side of the vehicle Half Moon, one of the cows with a calf, was only about 15 to 20 feet from us and proceeded to cover us in dust as she sprayed it over her back.
We then headed back to the house for lunch, and once there Jacques said that, if we wanted to, we could go in to Kenton-On-Sea for some lunch and then a walk on the beach doing beach ecology. It didn’t take for everyone to decide that this was a good idea, so off we went to Homewoods where pizza was eaten and beer was drunk before the walk and learning about the beach. We stopped off at Spa for essentials (not that we needed very much for a day!). Unfortunately Jacques then got a puncture but luckily we were at the petrol station, which also has a tyre service so it could have been much worse!
This evening we all had a braai, our final braai in South Africa, for now at least! It was dark when I started to cook, so it was a braai by torch light! It was still warm enough to eat outside and we had a really nice relaxing evening looking at photos on the lap top, having our final springbok shots and playing pool.

Day 42 – Friday 14th May
So this is our final day of our Kariega experience. As I always thought would happen, the six weeks have absolutely flown by! I cannot believe that a month and a half has been and gone since that Saturday afternoon when we first arrived wandering what the next six weeks would bring. The day started with a very short drive over to reception for 9am as we had to drop Miri off for her long flight back to Zurich via Johannesburg and Dubai! It was then off to do our final Wattle chopping which we did until about 10:30am. I think I am finally getting the hang of a machete!
After lunch Jacques asked what we would like to go and see as it was our final afternoon and we decided a final farewell to the lion cubs would be the perfect ending. It didn’t take us long to find them – they were in more of less exactly the same spot as when we last saw them on Wednesday’s night drive. I say more or less because they had moved into a small piece of clearing that we could not get to. The male lion was lying in the road and two of the cubs poked their heads out say goodbye (at least that’s what we chose to believe!). We then went off for a drive around the rest of the reserve and saw the rhinos, plenty of game, black backed jackal and many different birds. We couldn’t find the elephants but we did have a very good sighting of them yesterday.
So our final game drive is over and we have seen so much. One last meal in the house followed by our first desert made by Sharon (apart from the Braai chocolate bananas!), has it really taken her 6 weeks to discover we have all the ingredients for a really nice apple tart??

Day 43 – Saturday 15th May
So it is time to go home. I have enjoyed the last 6 weeks so much and learnt so much. It was on the way from the reserve to the airport when I saw numerous things from fork tailed drongos to wattle trees to being able to identify the call of hadeda ibis to knowing we could see a ‘dazzle’ of zebra and a ‘sounder’ of warthog that I really realised how much new information I had absorbed – so thank you Jacques as it was all down to you :)
The transfer from Kariega to Port Elizabeth airport picked us up at 10am, which seemed ridiculously early as all the other guests on this flight were picked up at 12:30pm. As it was Saturday we went with it as it did make life a bit easier for the other guys heading into tow, and it’s not like we were missing out on a final game drive as a result. It did mean we had 4 hours at PE airport, but it went quite quickly as we had lounge access where we could use the internet, and watch as a light aircraft landed on the runway and flipped on to its nose! No-one was hurt and fortunately the runway wasn’t shut for long so it didn’t make our flight to Jo’burg late! The flight to Jo’burg was painless and once there, we saw how much more ‘world cup fever’ seemed to have infected the place! We spend time in the ‘Out Of Africa’ store, spending way too much in the process! Then it was on to the plane and the 11 hour flight to Heathrow. Again the flight was painless enough – we managed to get some sleep, and the flight actually landed early at 6:20 am on Sunday – thank you Hugo and Fraser for getting up at 4:30 am to pick us up, much appreciated :) We just made it in time as later on Sunday the airports would again close due to the ash from the volcano. Thank you also to Oliver and Emma for the Welcome Home poster when we arrived :)
So the Kariega adventure is over and now it is back to adjusting to all these buildings surrounding us and far too many people in one space. On the plus side, it will be nice to catch up with family and friends, and no doubt bore you all over time with tales of what we got up to and the odd picture or two!!
We hope you all enjoyed the blog, and see you soon
Simon & Anita xx

Is It Really Only 1 Week To Go?????

Day 29 – Saturday 1st May
As with every other week of out stay at Kariega, Saturday is town day. The realisation hit this morning that we only have one more town day left as two weeks today we will be heading home :( but we are not thinking about that just yet!!
We went into Port Alfred as normal and firstly used the internet cafe and then wandered around the few shops there are in town. We started early today for a Saturday trip, so we went for an early lunch at Ocean Basket, the fish restaurant on the Kariega River. It was another lovely meal and the weather was also very good – sunny and warm, probably in the mid 20’s.
After lunch we went to the mall to do our weekly shop for luxuries at Spa, which despite thinking we didn’t need anything this week, still managed to fill two carrier bags!! On the way back to the reserve we stopped for a drink at a bar that sits up high and overlooks the Kariega River – it was a very picturesque setting. Once back at the reserve we sat in the garden chatting enjoying the last warmth that the sun had to offer. Our garden was surrounded by wildlife, we had zebra, wildebeest, kudo, impala, vervet monkeys and warthogs! I moved a chair to the edge of the fence to just sit and watch the behaviour of the grazing zebra, much to the amusement of the other volunteers who have now decided I am an animal nerd!!! They also played a joke me – I had come into the house, and as I returned to the garden they were all sat transfixed, telling me to ssshhh and looking through binoculars – I crept as quietly as I could so as not to disturb whatever it was that had taken their attention away from the wine and cider they were drinking, only to get there and them all start laughing!! It was all good fun, and I took it on the chin!
We are keeping our fingers crossed that tomorrow will be the fourth Sunday in a row that the weather is really good! The forecast is not great, but it wasn’t great for today and turned out to be lovely day :)
 
Day 30 – Sunday 2nd May
I woke at 5am to the sound of running water! A bleary eyed peer out the window told me it was coming from outside our window. It didn’t seem to be raining so I got dressed and went to investigate. As soon as I stepped outside the door it was obvious – it was raining, a drizzle as opposed to heavy rain, but clearly it had been raining for long enough to let the water flood over the guttering and down the outside of the down pipes!
I went back to bed and hoped it will have stopped by the time it was light. No such luck! It rained all morning – now this is not the type of Sunday weather we have got used to, or the type of weather that was conducive to cooking a braai, the contents for which we had all bought during yesterday’s shopping trip. By about 1pm it had stopped raining, so we decided to cook the braai anyway, even if we had to eat it indoors. It was definitely the right decision – it wasn’t cold, infact it was quite warm around the fire so everyone gradually came out, opting to sit and chat round the fire rather than sit and mope indoors. By the time we were ready to eat the sun was even poking in and out so we all ate outdoors and a fun time was had by all :)

After we had eaten, which was about 4pm, we started a camp fire with some of the wood we have collected and kept it going while we all sat on the stones acting as seats until after it got dark. It was a fun way to end the day all swapping seats as some were closer to the fire than others and therefore warmer, and watching ‘bush television’ as the day became night.

Day 31 – Monday 3rd May

We could barely see the end of the garden this morning as it was very foggy – not the best conditions for searching and watching animals on a game drive. We all therefore assumed that we would be cutting down trees this morning, and when Jacques arrived at 8am and told us we would be going to sharpen the machetes we didn’t change our minds! He did say however, we may work or we may just see what we can see. We were delighted that we very quickly spotted the elephants in the distance so we headed in that direction and sat among them for quite some time taking photos, drawing the elephant ear identification pictures and generally just enjoying being so close. At one stage one of the cows, known as Half Moon because if the tear in her ear, walked past the vehicle and stopped no more than 2 feet from my seat :)
After the elephants we went on towards the workshop to sharpen the machetes, but Jacques had spotted lion tracks, and sure enough, there on one of the plains were the two male lions, the sub adult male, one of the lionesses and the four cubs. It was brilliant to see the cubs again as it has been more than a week since we saw them last. The lions weren’t doing much other than sleeping and they seemed to have very full bellies. After watching them for a while, we did make it to the workshop and we did sharpen the machetes, well at least Jacques, Daniel and I did – apparently this is a ‘mans job’!!!
After lunch we went to reception as to welcome a new volunteer. Once the introductions were complete we set off to see if we could find the lions again. They were no longer on the plain where we left them, but they had been replaced by the three white rhino of KW. We didn’t spend much time with them as we wanted find the lions, and it was definitely the right decision! After a small amount of searching we found all of the lions we saw this morning, minus one of the males, feasting on a blesbok kill. It surprised us that they had killed again as they seemed so full this morning, but lions are opportunistic and a new heard of blesbok were introduced to the reserve yesterday and I guess the temptation was too much! It was a great sighting! We sat for about an hour just watching them tuck in to the meat and squabble over various pieces of the carcass. The cubs were so entertaining; playing with each other, with mum, and playing with Dad’s tail as if it wasn’t attached to anything, let alone a 180kg male lion who was still eating!!
Eventually it was time to return home and allow Holly to unpack and settle in before dinner, updating the photos from the day (of which there were many!).

Day 32 – Tuesday 4th May
There was no great surprise that this morning was more wattle pulling. It wasn’t too bad though as the weather was dry and warm but cloudy and the first hour and a bit was pulling up seedlings. We then did some ring barking and tree chopping before heading off to pick up some fire wood for a camp fire later in the week.
After lunch we went in search of the elephants to do more ear identification drawings. We searched for them for a while, but before we found them we saw some lion tracks and followed them until we found the two females, the cubs and one of the males not too far from where we saw them on yesterday’s kill. They weren’t very active at all so we left them to continue to search for the elephants.
After a bit of searching we found the main herd, but they were in the bush and it was very difficult to get a good view of their ears. We sat and waited for a while, and eventually they came out on to the plain. It was worth the wait as we got some great views of the herd in the open and we were able to make some good additions to the ear drawings.

Day 33 – Wednesday 5th May
This Wednesday, just like the last four, is school day so at 7:30am we head off to get the pickup truck and set off to Farmerfields School. We again kept to the same classes as the last few weeks, but Miri and I were joined this week by Holly, our new volunteer. We again started with English but instead of moving straight on to Maths, we used the footballs that we had bought to donate to the school and played football with the boys and netball with the girls. A great time was had by all and I think the kids really enjoyed having an hour out from their school lessons to have a kick about!
After lunch we set off to KE to see if we could find hippo and to check on the rhino calf. On the way we saw two jackal buzzards feasting on a blesbok carcass that had died of natural causes. Once on KE we very quickly found the mother rhino and her calf, but the calf was lying down and it was very hard to a good view of him. We did however sit and watch for about an hour and eventually the rhino calf stood up and we all managed to get some great photos. The hippo would have to wait for another day!

Day 34 – Thursday 6th May
We started the morning with a 30 minute lay in, and hoped that we would not be doing tree chopping this morning, but we were to be disappointed! We first had to take the last of the rubbish bags top the reserve dump and then we went to an area that was heavily infested with Black Wattle trees. It was by far and away the toughest of the tree chopping we have done so far. We did clear a large area, but all the trees had grown up in amongst VERY thorny bushes. To say it hurt would be an understatement and we are all covered in scratched!
Today was the hottest day we have had for some time, if very windy at the same time. It was strange to listen to the different conversations of the foreign volunteers and the South Africans – the volunteers were all commenting on what a nice day it was for the time of year, whereas the South Africans all thought it was a bad weather day for the time of year; too hot and not enough rain!!
The afternoon saw us try and find the hippos that live on the Kariega River on KE. We searched every point of the river that was visible, but there were no hippos to be seen. We did get some good close up shots of giraffe and zebra, and also saw a black backed jackal on the same blebok carcass we saw the jackal buzzards on yesterday back on KW.
I cooked dinner tonight, so it was spaghetti bolognaise all round. Midway through the cooking of the sauce, the most incredible wind storm blew up and the temperature dropped considerably. We are hoping it doesn’t mean a bad weather day tomorrow!

Day 35 – Friday 7th May
After last night’s wind storm we pleased to wake and see it was much calmer, and that the sun was rising! We again sat at 8am waiting to see what this morning’s activity would be – all hoping and praying it would not be more tree chopping! We all still ache from yesterday morning! Jacques arrived and we were relieved when he said we would be doing a game count. This time however we would be counting on Kariega West whereas all the previous counts we have done have been on East. KW is much thicker vegetation than KE so it was a very different experience, but equally enjoyable and we spotted just under 400 animals – the vast majority being impala of which there were 210.
After lunch we went searching for the lions as they hadn’t been seen since we last saw them on Tuesday. We had a good idea as to where they weren’t from the drive this morning, so we set off to see what we could find. We had only been driving for about 45 minutes when we came across the whole pride of nine lions laying by the road. We sat and watched them for about an hour – the cubs were very playful and we got some great photos (again! The lion photos are really adding up now!)
We headed back towards home via a route that is typical of leopard territory, but we didn’t find one. In the two and a half years that Jacques has worked at Kariega he has only ever had one sighting of a leopard – so our hopes were not high in the first place.
Once back at the house we had just decided to light the camp fire and have sundowners ahead of tonight’s dinner when Jacques appeared and asked if we would like to go into Kenton to a bar and have something to eat as his rugby team the Bulls are playing at 7pm – the fire will wait for another day, it’s our first ‘Friday night out’!

A New Addition At Kariega

Hello again, it's Saturday so that means it's time for my weekly update! It's been a good week with so many highlights, but there is no doubt that the big highlight was finding a 2 day old baby rhino on Friday - brilliant!! Here is what we've been up to:

Day 22 – Saturday 24th April
So today is the halfway point of our trip – it seems to have flown by! I am hoping the next 3 weeks wont fly by at quite the same pace, but I suspect they will!
The house still smells of last night’s fire , but as it’s Saturday, we are off out to Port Alfred to stock up on ‘luxury supplies’ and use the internet. After stocking up Jacques tells us we can go to Homewoods for lunch if we want to – which everyone did! We sat outside overlooking the ocean eating pizza or salad (Anita had a salad – guess which I had??!!). We stayed at Homewoods until about 4:45pm as The Bulls rugby match was being shown and Jacques is a BIG Bulls fan!
James, Debra and Maren all leave on Monday so we decide to make tonight their ‘official leaving do’. Mint liqueur and Amarula were purchased in the morning – these are the ingredients to make the Springbok, a South African shot. A card based drinking game followed, and amazingly, Anita and I felt fine at the end of the evening. Others were not so lucky! Maren, Sharon and Miri were probably the worse for wear, with Maren undoubtedly taking top spot!
As we were heading for bed, a mouse appeared in the dining room – a much bigger mouse than the one I released last night! It scurried away to q hole under the fire place and was gone – it seems we haven’t cured the mouse problem!
 
Day 23 – Sunday 25th April
For the third Sunday in a row, the weather was brilliant. There is a definite Sunday routine forming; sunbathing on the morning, a braai at lunch time and lounging around in what is left of the sun in the afternoon. I was again head chef for the braai, this week cooking steak, burgers, braai sausages, chicken kebabs and veggie sausages (which is a contradiction in terms in my book!!).
As with most things at Kariega, there is a twist to the norm. After this trip I doubt I will cook a braai (or BBQ) again with a pride of lions laying on the hill the other side of the fence. They weren’t that close that we should be worried, but you could see them with the naked eye and they were really clear through binoculars!
As the sun started to set I went up to the tree house and again sat with the troop of vervet monkeys as they eat the fruit off the tree. The lions hadn’t moved much by the time it was dark, and it was a much warmer evening that meant we could all sit out and listen to the sounds of the African bush.

Day 24 – Monday 26th April

Today was another fantastic day weather wise – hot and sunny all day. It was also a strange day as 3 of the other volunteers went home today. It meant we had a short game drive this morning, but managed to see parts of both Kariega West and Kariega East and saw many different species as well as stopping off at viewing point that had the most amazing views.
We had lunch and then set out on a game drive to familiarise Daniel, a new volunteer, with the reserve. We didn’t get far because the two lionesses and sub adult male were just outside the house and were hunting some impala. Unfortunately, for the lions, it came to nothing so we moved on and found the elephant heard, also not too far away from the house.
Once back at home we were treated to some amazing wildlife sightings all from the garden! Firstly the vervet monkeys were in the garden and playing in the trees. Then there was a large herd of impala and kudo just the other side of the fence. They all seemed a bit skittish and were giving distress calls, so we wandered if the lions had moved even closer to the house, and with that, we saw them walk up the hill on the other side of the road, but we could still hear faint roaring that seemed to be coming from the other direction. And then one of the pride males walked right outside the garden fence, stopped and started roaring – which when he is only a few meters away from you is an awesome experience. I have heard male lions roaring up close a WHF, but it is even more special when you know that your garden fence wouldn’t hold a lion if it was intent on charging you! Fortunately this one wasn’t! But we found out later that the other male lion was on the other side of the garden and was watching us intensely. A good lesson that you can never be complacent in the wilds of Africa!!



Day 25 – Tuesday 27th April

We started this morning with helping the rangers on a game count. It was different to the game counts we do as part of the overall conservation programme as we were only counting wildebeest and zebra. All the volunteers split up with a ranger, and in a strange coincidence, I was paired with Jo, a ranger from England who has been guiding for about 6 years and Anita was pared with her husband Phil, also from England. It was interesting to hear a different perspective on the reserve, and also how she gave up corporate life in England for a life in the bush!
After the game count it was lunch and then we went ‘ring barking’ which is where you cut a complete ring out of the bark of the alien tree, today it was black wattle, and eventually the tree will die. We did see the lions on the way back to the house at the end of the day, but they were really far away and it was tough to make them out even through binoculars.
It was a fairly quiet evening, but I did manage to successfully catch another mouse from the bathroom – who needs a mouse trap?? Unfortunately it was another very small one, and I know there are bigger mice in the house somewhere!

Day 26 – Wednesday 29th April
This morning we have a 7:30am start as it is school day. The weather forecast had shown another cold front coming over South Africa, but we are pleased to find that the temperature is still warm, all be it a bit more cloudy than it has been.
The school work seemed harder than last week but I think this is because there are fewer of us than there has been previously. Having said that the children seem to be getting used to us now and we are getting to know them and their differing abilities. The red pen continues to be a real success in terms of motivation. All the other volunteers were waiting for me outside at the end of the lessons today as I couldn’t get out of the classroom because the children all wanted their answers marking before we left!

After lunch we went in search of the elephants to continue with the elephant ear identification project. After a while of tracking prints we found them, first the big bull and a young bull who has recently broken away from the herd, and the then most of the herd. We drew the ear markings for a while before heading for home.
We were all pleased that Jacques invited us for pizza at Homewoods. To get to Kenton-on-Sea, the town where Homewoods is, we have to drive along the road that divides Kariega West and Kariega East. At the edge of the Kareiega West boundary we saw the elephants again, this time from the road. They hadn’t moved far, just to the watering hole where they seemed to be having a great time playing! If only I had a camera with me!



Day 27 – Thursday 29th April
It had rained and thundered through most of the night, and was no different when we woke this morning – we had 10mm over night! We were not due to start until 8:30am today, and as luck would have it, almost dead on 8:30am the rain stopped. We headed off to Kariega East to see what we could find, however just outside the house it was like the ground and the sky were alive with flying insects. They were termites which had been bought out by the rain to find somewhere new to burrow in to and make home – the birds and the monkeys were having a field day feasting on the termites.
Once on KE we see all sorts including rhino, giraffe, waterbuck, impala, bushbuck, wildebeest, blesbok, ostrich, eeland, zebra (including a foal that was only about 2 days old) and nyala. We were just about as far into KE as we could be when it started to rain again! It got harder and harder as we headed back up from the plains and across to KW. By the time we arrived at the house we were drenched! At least we all had our waterproofs with us!
After lunch the rain had stopped again so we set off to see if we could find the lions as they hadn’t been seen for a couple of days. We had only been gone about 10 minutes when the rain returned to give us another soaking. However, it soon stopped and the sun had even managed to poke out for a few minutes. Fortunately that was the last of the rain and we spent about 3 hours driving on the roads that were open searching for the lions. We did find one of the male lions, but not the rest of the pride.
We may not have found the lions but we did spot some of the elephants in the distance, and Anita is especially proud as she is the one she spotted them and had to point them out to everyone.

Day 28 – Friday 30th April
We were all pleased to see the sun today after yesterday’s rain. The temperature had dropped overnight and there was a mist in all the valleys that was very dramatic. The dew on the grass looked like frost it was so white and crisp. As we all thought, this morning was a working morning so we headed off at 8am to start cutting down some black wattle trees. Everyone seemed to find it hard work today, especially at the beginning, but we put in a good shift and cleared a sizable area in a couple of hours.
One of the rangers had reported seeing rhino tracks on KE a couple of days ago, which is nothing unusual, but what was different was that there were also some very small rhino tracks. This has bought great excitement on the reserve that there is a new born rhino calf.
After lunch we went out to see if we could find the calf. We headed straight for the lower plains, and there sitting right in the middle of the plain was the rhino that everyone thought had given birth. The bull was also around but we couldn’t see a calf. Then, something in the ground next to the mother seemed to move – we all grabbed our binoculars and were so excited when this little baby rhino lifted it’s head. The calf is only 2 days old! We sat for about 45 minutes just watching as it ran around for about a minute and then collapsed in the ground, as if to raise enough energy for the next charge around. We kept a fairly long way away from the pair so as not to disturb them, and also because a new mother rhino can be much more aggressive than normal!
After the rhino viewing we went back to KW to look for the lions. We found Mohawk again, the same male lion that we found yesterday, but despite about an hour of searching we couldn’t find the rest of the pride. It did end up being our longest game drive yet however - we were out for 4 hours!

Halfway - already!!

Hello everyone

Well, I can't believe we're already halfway through our trip! Winter has definately arrived this week in South Africa, but despite this it's been another great week, with some brilliant sightings along the way - here's a summary of what we've ben up to - enjoy!

Day 15 - Saturday 17th April
Andrew left today so we all drove into Grahamstown where he had to pick up a hire car and we used the internet cafe and did some grocery shopping. This was followed by lunch in a local pub as it was showing Jacques rugby team, The Bulls, playing a match in Australia - unfortunately they lost!
We then headed back to the reserve we chilled out for a while before having dinner and getting a relatively early night! However, at about 6pm, just after Jacques had gone out for the night the water went off, and nothing we did would bring it back! It meant there were no showers tonight and that every time you needed to go to the toilet you had to manually fill the cistern up before being able to flush it – all part of living in the bush!

Day 16 – Sunday 18th April
For a day when we are not able to leave the confines of house and garden, Sundays are proving to hold some of the most memorable wildlife experiences I could possibly have. Last Sunday we had the elephants walking around the garden fence in the dark. This week, as the sun started to set I decided to sit up in the tree house to see what I could see. I was soon joined by a troop of vervet monkeys, I sat quietly and waited to see what they would do. To my delight two of the monkeys came and sat no more than 6 feet away from me and continued to eat as if I wasn’t there. It was a really memorable and emotional experience. Just like with the elephants last week, there are no pictures, just the everlasting pictures in my mind of the monkeys looking into my eyes and seemingly accepting me in their world!
Earlier in the day I had helped Jacques fix the water system (me learning plumbing skills!). I then got up on the roof of the house to help install the insulation around the geyser for the bathrooms (not only plumbing, but also walking on the roof!!)
After we had fixed the water we all had a kick about in the garden. It was only after the event that I stopped to think and realise that I had just been playing football right slap bang in the middle of a big 5 game reserve!! It certainly made getting the ball after it had been kicked over the fence (which happened all too often!) a lot more interesting knowing that lions or elephants could be anywhere close by!!
After the football it was time for this week’s braai. We were far more adventurous this week – I had a huge steak, Anita and Sharon had TWO lamb steaks each! And we had the traditional South African Braai sausages, chicken, jacket potatoes and salad.
 

Day 17 – Monday 19th April
Black wattle pulling was on the agenda for this morning, but before we could we had to take some of the rubbish bags to the reserve tip and then replace the spare tyre after Thursday’s puncture. On the way to the workshop however we came across the two male lions of the pride and the sub adult male who were lying around a wildebeest carcass from an overnight kill – three bigger and fuller bellies you will never see on a lion! After the lion viewing we did 2 hours of wattle pulling – clearing quite a large area :)
After lunch we went on a game drive to look for the lionesses and cubs but they did not want to be found today. We did however track and find the elephant herd and spent some time drawing ear identification marks.
The weather was better today than forecast as it was sunny all day and the forecast was rain, but there was quite a cold wind, especially on the vehicle!

Day 18 – Tuesday 20th April
It was another sunny day, but a very windy one at the same time which made quite cold on the game drive vehicle. However, this morning was another working morning and that certainly helped to warm us all up! We spent about 3 hours chopping down black wattle trees and then spaying the stumps with a blue coloured substance to stop them from growing back. It was by far the most painful exercise of the trip so far as the majority of the trees had grown up in the middle of some VERY thorny bushes – OUCH!!

After lunch we drove on Kariega East and down on to the plains where we saw all sorts of antelope, ostrich, giraffe and rhino. The vegetation on both sides of the reserve really is quite different. The Plains are far greater on East than on West and consequently the game that you see is typically in greater numbers. After we had finished driving on East we went for quick drink in the lodge bar, sitting by the open fire – very nice :)
This evening was ‘Swiss Night’. Mirjam has got a recipe from her parents and is a cooking a typically Swiss meal – potato rostis. We even had some Swiss chocolate!







Day 19 – Wednesday 21st April
We have two windows in our bedroom – one to the back of the house looking out across the garden and one to the side. As I drew back the curtains on the window to the back I sat and watched a herd of impala grazing right up against the garden fence. After about 10 minutes there was a thundering on the tin roof, which can mean only one thing – vervet monkeys! I pulled the curtains on the other window and there in the tree right outside sat half a dozen monkeys all seemingly as interested in me as I was in them! It is these moments that can quickly become part of everyday life that you start to take for granted, but that I will miss immensely when the 6 weeks are up.

It’s Wednesday, which means it is school day. However, before we head off we need to give the game drive vehicle a quick clean! We then pile in the back of the pickup truck, with only some wooden benches to sit on, to make the 20 minute trip to school. The children seemed to have better attention this week than last and everyone enjoyed the 3 hours teaching. It is surprisingly tiring though!
After lunch we head out to look for the lion cubs again, and after some careful tacking of prints we eventually found the 2 lionesses, sub adult male and 4 cubs. We lost them again very quickly but persevered and eventually found them looking very interested in some impala standing close by. However, in the end they decided not hunt this time and walked away, but not before we had time to take some nice photos.
No Homewoods pizza trip tonight so it is dinner at home and wandering what tomorrow will bring?



Day 20 – Thursday 22nd April
We again awoke this morning to impala around the garden fence and monkeys in the tree, peering in the window to get a good look at us! It seemed calm and sunny first thing, but within an hour the wind was the strongest I have ever known! This morning we were doing a game count on Kariega East, which I was really happy about as the previous game count was my favourite thing so far. We drove for 2 and a half hours and in
total counted 509 animals including rhino, giraffe, water buck, wildebeest, impala, blesbok, hippos and so much more. The wind certainly made it interesting, and all of us lost something as it was blown out of the vehicle – hats, game count sheets, pens!
After lunch, we set off to do more research, this time elephant ear identification. However, the storm that the wind was blowing in finally arrived - It poured down! Still, at least it justifies us bringing our wet weather gear! While tracking the elephants we stopped to do the ‘finger test’ on some elephant dung. Basically this is where you stick your finger in the middle of the poo to see how warm it is. This will tell you how long ago the elephants went by. I was the only one brave enough, and although it was quite warm, according to Jacques, it was about a day old!
We never did find the elephant, but we did find the whole pride of lions, minus the cubs. They were clearly looking for food, and we found them close to some impala, but in the end it seemed that the wind direction was wrong and they moved on to somewhere new. As the heavens really opened we headed back to the house. Tonight I cooked dinner – cottage pie. It seemed to go down well :)
We are hoping the weather will clear for tomorrow!
 
Day 21 – Friday 23rd April
This morning was the coldest since we arrived; infact Jacques told us it was the 2nd coldest place in the whole of South Africa! This meant that the morning activities of pine and black wattle pulling were relatively welcomed as it meant we soon warmed up. We spent about two and a half hours pulling up seedlings on the East side of the reserve, and despite being pleased to do some physical work to warm up, we were glad when the time came to head back to the house. We did feel a sense of achievement however as we had cleared quite a large area!
After lunch we again set out to find the elephant herd so that we could continue with the ear identification, and after about an hour of searching we eventually found them :) The elephants came as close as we had known them to the vehicle and one extended it's trunk almost into Sharon’s face who was sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle!
It was mainly dry this afternoon, but still very cold on the back of the vehicle, despite this, when we arrived back at the house at 3:45pm and Jacques said we would head out again at 5:30pm for two hours to do a night drive, I for one was really looking forward to it!

WOW - what a night drive it was! After watching the sunset we headed off to see if we could see the lions. We kept driving for about an hour, and then, as we turned the bend, there was one lioness lying on the ground – legs in the air and a full belly! Then we spotted them - the rest of the pride, including the cubs still feasting on a kill! It was a really special moment in the dark, lit only by spot lights, but just enough to get some photos! The perfect end to a very special day in terms of wildlife sightings, if not the weather – but no-one seems to care about that right now!!

What a Week!!

Hi!
We're now two weeks in, and if anything the 2nd week was better than the 1st! The two big highlights were having the herd of elephants walking right round our garden fence when it was dark - we followed them with torch light! and at last finding the lion cubs!! Hdre are the details with some photos - enjoy!

Day 8 – Saturday 10th April
Saturdays are ‘town days’ and today we went to Port Alfred and used the internet and went to the big supermarket. We also stopped for lunch at a local fish restaurant where the quality of food was really good, and the sticky toffee pudding seemed like such a luxury (it’s the first proper desert I’ve had since we got here!). The setting was great, sitting out on the bank of the Kariega River.
The afternoon was spent in the house as we don’t go out into the reserve on Saturdays, but we were still able to sit and watch a heard of impala and some kudo from the lounge!

Day 9 – Sunday 11th April
Today was a lovely relaxing day – sunbathing in the morning, a braai (or BBQ) at lunch time, which was accompanied by plenty of beer and wine which took ‘till the sun went down to finish off. And then the perfect end to the day - the elephants walked round the whole garden fence. By now it was dark and we followed them, no more than 20 meters away, with torch light. It was a truly memorable experience 

10 – Monday 12th April
This morning was a hard graft morning which started with cleaning the game drive vehicle and then 2 hours of pulling up non endemic plants. We also had a quick look for the lions before lunch but with no success! After lunch we again searched for the lions but saw the elephants first. As we headed off to the elephants the two lionesses and sub adult male lions appeared in front of us on the road. We all got some great photos of lion in the foreground and elephants in the back ground.
We then met the two new volunteers before heading back to decide what we would have for dinner!


Day 11 – Tuesday 13th April
Today was by far the hottest day so far – 37C! We spent the morning exploring the new side of the reserve, Harvestvale, for the first time. It was different vegetation and we saw the old farm buildings and hunting lodges. We also crossed the Kariega River on the most rickety bridge you have seen – it was basically made of chicken wire! We also had an excellent sighting of two giraffe who walked by right next to the car.
It was too hot to do anything like looking for animals after lunch so we spent the afternoon swimming in the Kariega River, but only after we had to jump from a 12 foot platform!
We had a special treat in the evening as we went to the lodge for dinner, which was outside in ‘The Boma’ – basically a meal cooked on the braai :D On the way we saw a cape cobra just a few meters from the house. Apparently it is the 2nd most deadly snake on the reserve!


Day 12 – Wednesday 14th April
This morning was our first visit to the local school. We split into two groups of four and taught two classes – I was with the younger children, while Anita was with the older class. It was a very rewarding experience, but I think we still have more to learn on how to teach them more effectively!
The afternoon was spent searching again for the lion cubs but without success before heading to Homewoods for pizza and beer!


Day 13 – Thursday 15th April
The hot snap is over! Today is overcast and much cooler (which is not a bad thing!). Jacques arrives as normal at 8am and tells us we are off to cut down pine trees, however, Jacques hears that there has been fresh lion track sightings and he has a ‘gut feel’ as to where they might be, so we drive in that direction. Jacques was right – there in front of us is the entire pride: two males, two lionesses, the sub adult male AND the four cubs. We spent until 10am following them.

After lunch we again found the lions and cubs and then headed off to find the elephants. We spent about half an hour watching them play and have fun. It seemed just about the perfect day – until we went to pull away, only to discover our front left tyre was completely flat!
As the elephants were only a few meters away from us we had to stay in the vehicle, which meant Jacques had to change the tyre alone! He managed it and we were soon on our way back to the house, on the way back we saw a really big female leopard tortoise who had just laid some eggs and was busy covering the nest.
We arrive just before it started to rain! It was however a perfect day!

Day 14 – Friday 16th April
It was another wet day today! Which seemed twice as bad as we were all up at 4:30am ready for a 5:15am game drive followed by a river safari – it was too wet for either so we stayed in the house watching various documentaries on African wildlife and playing a South African board game called 30 seconds.
We went to Homewoods for some lunch (my first South African steak and chips!) and tried for a game drive in the afternoon – we were out for about 45 minutes but it was far too slippy. The late afternoon and evening was spent playing pool and more 30 Seconds, which as with most board game and alcohol combinations ended in some ‘heated debates’ on the rules.

Week 1 Highlights

Hello everyone! After the technical issues of last week I can now post the highlights of what we did in week 1. The photos that go with these in last weeks blog!

Day 1 - Saturday 3rd April
Arrived at Jo’burg on time and had a 3 hour wait for the flight to Port Elizabeth. The PE flight landed 30 minutes early and we were soon on our way to the Kariega Game Reserve where we arrived at 2pm. We were met by Jaques who will look after us and give us our work for the next 6 weeks but firstly took us to meet our 4 housemates at the volunteer house.
So far we have seen impala, blesbok and wildebeest from the jeep and vervet monkeys, wildebeest, impala and secretary birds from the garden.

Day 2 – Sunday 4th April
It was a rest day today (as is every Sunday) which means we can’t leave the house and garden. It was good to unwind from the journey, but frustrating not to get going at the same time. We had the perfect end to the day though when 3 white rhino wandered up to the edge of the garden!
Tomorrow is off to work!

Day 3 – Monday 5th April
Today was meant to be the start of our volunteering, but the best laid plans!! It has barely stopped raining since we arrived, and today has been the worst yet. South Africa have been in the middle of a major drought since mid December and the rain is very much needed here – but for all of our first 2 days? It was too wet to go out on the reserve at all today – the best we managed was a trip to the local store to stock up some ‘luxuries’ like ham, crisps, beer and wine .

Day 4 - Tuesday 6th April
At last the sun was shining this morning! We spent the whole day in the jeep on game drives and saw so much. The highlights were undoubtedly seeing 3 white rhino (the same ones as from the garden) 3 members of the lion pride (2 lionesses and one of the 2 pride males) and a heard of about 19 elephant. In addition we saw 2 tortoises, impala, wildebeest, giraffe, kudu, eleand, nyala, zebra, blesbok & waterbuck.
Finished the day working through the 358 photos I took!



Day 5 – Wednesday 7th April
More sun this morning, and turned out to be hottest day of the trip so far! We spent the morning chopping down non endemic pine trees – the girls got the saws (by far the easiest option) and the boys used machetes – chopping wood at WHF will be like a walk in the park after this! We made good progress (at least we thought so) and cleared a reasonable area, it’s a bit of a never ending task though!
This afternoon was ‘elephant identification’ where we sit and watch the elephants and mark down the notches and unique marks on their ears. On the way home we saw the 3 whit rhino on this side of the reserve again and the sub adult male lion of the pride
We spent the evening at Homewoods Pizza bar where we, unsurprisingly, ate pizza, drank beer and watched Man United get knocked out of Europe! We enjoyed the night out at the time but are hoping not to pay the price tomorrow as Jacques (the volunteer coordinator) is a Man United fan – it could be a day of hard work as we made our enjoyment at their loss known to all!!

Day 6 – Thursday 7th April
This morning was spent on a game count where we saw so much including rhino, hippo, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest plus so much more. For me it was the best part of the trip so far as it allowed me to practise spotting game from a distance and being able identify them.
The afternoon was spent taking part in the ‘birds on reserve project’ where it does what is says on the tin – basically identify different bird species that we saw. The highlight however was being held up for 30 minutes by the two male lions of the pride who decided to snooze in the shade on the road. In the end we had to reverse and head for home a different way. It is amazing that we were held up from getting home from work not by the rush hour traffic, but by 2 male lions taking a nap – now this is why we came to work on a game reserve!
Jacque joined us for dinner, and then informed us that instead of being ready for an 8am start tomorrow we need to be ready for 6am. I am soooo looking forward to being out for sunrise :)

Day 7 – Friday 9th April
We saw the most amazing sunrise this morning before heading out at 6am. We spent the morning searching for the lionesses and cubs, but didn’t manage to find them. We did however find the two male lions of the pride, elephants, rhino and numerous other species of game.
After the game drive we headed to the beach at Kenton-on-Sea where we were taught about river and sea ecology before having lunch at Homewoods. After lunch we headed back to the reserve where we went searching for lionesses and cubs again, but alas they do not want to be found today.
 

One Week In

Hello everyone from South Africa!! We have now been here a week and it seems to have gone very quickly. I have been keeping a diary that I hope to post here, but unfortunately the technology has let us down and it wont convert so I will post 2 weeks work next week!

In short though, we have spent most of the week driving around the game reserve! Only on one morning have we actually done any hard work - chopping down some non endemic trees.







It rained for our first two days that meant we couldn't leave the house and garden, but it wasn't all bad as we saw several species at the fence, including the 3 white rhino that live on this side of the reserve.



On Tuesday though the sun started shining and we spent the whole day driving around and saw soooo much, including lions, rhiono, elephant, numerous game species and loads of birds (that we still can't identify!!!).