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!!