Birds Birds Birds

This week was our birding week, a whole week of nothing but learning about birds, and trying to identify them.

Monday and Tuesday were both spent in lectures learning about birds, their beak structues, how they eat, their feathers-who knew there was so much to learn about birds!! We also spent quite a lot of time trying to identify birds from slides-some were easy, some were quite difficult=especially when you dont know what species you are actually looking for let alone what the bird is called.

Wednesday and Thursday were both spent out in the field doing game drives trying to identify as many different species of birds as we could-needless to say there was a challeng put out as to which team could identify the most birds, Team A or Team B.

We both did really well on both days, Team A ended up with 76 birds on the Wednesday while Team B ended up with 74.

Thursday we cleared the slate, so we started our counts again, this time Team B ended up with 91 birds, while Team A only had 88. (As I am on Team B, Thursday is the only day that really counts for us. Especially considering we had a slight mishap with our car breaking down, so had to tow it back to camp and get another one, thus losing us valuable searching time)

Zorbing at Rocking 4 Rhinos-so much fun!

Drivers test!!!!

This week has felt very long, and while I am glad that it is over, tomorrow we are going to the Rocking for Rhino's festival (a festival to raise awareness and funds to help fight rhino poaching which is a massive problem here at the moment) to run a kids stall. I am on face painting which should prove to be quite hilarious!

Monday we started off with a camp clean up after our week off, and then I headed into town to drop off the car and pick up supplies for the next month. The afternoon was spend in an weather and climate lecture, which made absolutely no sense at all, and as a result I spent the rest of the week attempting to understand what warm and cold fronts are, anabatic and katabatic and berg winds, the summer and winter weather patterns of South Africa, all the different cloud types and what type of weather they bring, wind, the coriolus effect, high and low pressure systems. By Friday morning I had give up and resorted to rote learning!

Tuesday was a game drive in the morning where we saw the two cheetahs 100m from the gate and got a fantastic sighing of them for about 45 minutes. we then got a brief sighting of a large herd of elephants towards the end of the drive-perhaps our luck is changing and we are going to start seeing some stuff! The afternoon was spent doing rifle dry runs again, this time we moved onto another couple of the tests we are going to do-it is hard to practice loading and aiming and shooting (slightly difficult due to the lack of bullets, our dry run turned into more of a "imagine you are putting a bullet in here" and air and pretend to pull the trigger run, but was still good to get some idea of what we need to do, and the time we have to do it in)

Wednesday was game drives all day again, as half the group were off doing their drivers tests. We didnt see much in the morning but as we were heading back from the afternoon game drive we saw some lions again, and got quite a nice sighting of them resting and playing in the grass.

Thursday sarted with our Biomes lecture, which was quite simple, but has a lot of information to remember (9 biomes with species, climate, vegetation type, geography, location). As our test had to be bought forward to Friday we got the afternoon to study.

Friday I had my drivers test, which involved a nice long day, leaving camp at 5.30, sitting at the driving centre all day studying, doing the test (which only took 30 minutes) more sitting and studying at the driving centre as the rest of the group did their test, then getting back to camp at 4.30 in time for the weekly test at 5! The positive was that I passed my drivers test (got told off for speeding as I was doing 30km which is apparently the speed limit, not the 60km that our instructor told us, and certainly not between 2 and 3 on the rev counter in third we were told to stick to as the speedometer didnt work in the truck. Mind you that didnt help me much as the steering wheel was so out of alignment I couldnt actually see the rev counter or speedometer anyway!)

Today we have off as half the group has gone to help at the Rocking for Rhinos festival, while the rest of us will go tomorrow.

Two cheetah brothers

Cheetah walk

Kruger

4 of us decided that rather than hanging around camp for our week off we would head to Kruger for 5 days and spend some time going round. It was a lovely week, we started off in the North where there are less animals but the scenery is beautiful, and worked our way south to where there are more animals.

Although we were spending long hours in the day (about 10 a day) it didnt feel like, it and we got to see some amazing things. Over 150 elephants, 18 Rhino, 5 Ground Hornbills, Lions, a Leopard, Buffalo, the Big 5 on our last day, too many birds to count, mongoose, kudu, impala, sable, waterbuck, hyena as well as an adorable hyena cub! The time flew by, all too soon it was time to head bakc to head back to camp.

Friday a couple of us headed in to Hoedspruit to do a lion walk, which actually turned out to be a cheetah walk, but considering cheetahs are my favourite animal, im not going to complain about that! It involved another early morning (leaving at 4.30am) but was well worth it.

Today and tomorrow some serious study needs to be done, in preperation for Bioms and Weather and Climate lectures next week.

Photos when the net decides to play nice

Pied Kingfisher

Lilic Breasted Roller

Buffalo

Impala

Impala

Rhino

Purple Roller

Ground Hornbill

Waterbuck

Elephant

Vulture

Where does the time go?

Clearly time has been speeding up, not too sure where the last two weeks have gone, but they have certainly disappeared quickly.

We started the last week of semester with a reptile orientation at a local reptile park-where I hope to be able to do my reptile handling course sometime soonish. The course was more of an onientation and not so much on learning, but we had a bit of a lecture then go to hold a large python, a lizard and feed some monkeys-life is so hard here :P

Then the hard work started for the week, we had lectures on fish and arthropods, which not being my favourite subjects so far, I found slightly more challenging than some of the others-there is also an amazing amount to learn on arthropods, that was always going to be along week-the chapter in the book just kept going and going!

The weather deteriated during the second half of the week so by Wednesday it was cold (15 degrees) and raining, which when you are prepared for summer is not terribly pleasant. We had another rifle dry run, and an aborted game drive, the positive being that we got some extra study time!

Thursday we braved the wet and headed out on a game drive, getting soaked and frozen in the process, and seeing nothing more exciting than our first Leopard Tortoise. The afternoon game drive was again cancelled as we were not going to see anything in the raina and everyone was cold and wet.

Friday was still pretty miserable but we headed into town to pick up our hire car for the week off-4 of us were heading to kruger for 5 days. We had been expecting something like a Corolla, but somehow ended up with a BMW-who can say no to that!

Saturday finally bought some better weather, it had stopped raining and was beginning to get a bit warmer, although still overcast. After the test the rest of the day was spent relaxing, by the end of the semester all we want to do is relax we are so tired!

Tracking

So the last week was all about tracks, how to identify them, learning about poo-who would have thought it could be so interesting and tell you so much!!! It has been a very long week, leaving at 6 every morning, and getting back at 11, to head out again at 2 and back again about 6.30, with a lot of it out in the heat and sun, but it has been very well worth it.

We started off with just the basics on how to look at tracks, what to look for to identify them, not to look at just one track etc. and then spent each day out looking at tracks and getting some experience on how they look different to each other, how to judge the animals size by their walk.

Wednesday night we then headed out on another sleep out, where my roomie and I got the first watch this time. While it was good as it meant we could then go to sleep and not have to get up in the middle of the night, it did mean we ended up doing a 3 hour watch instead of a one hour watch as everyone headed to bed early.

The positive of this was that when a hyena crossed the riverbed 50 meters from where we were sleeping, we were the only ones who got to see it, despite our calls almost no-one woke up! After that it was easy to stay oup for the rest of our shift, as we were excited from our viewing!

Friday we started our assessment for our track and sign certificates-we had to identify 51 tracks and signs (poo and tree rubbings etc) over Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. While I felt I was doing well (we went through the tracks afterwards so we all knew what they were and if we didnt get them go through the caracteristics that identify them) I was surprised when we got our results back and I got 93% (I got 57 out of 51 right), the second highest out of the group, beaten only by one trainer and one of the guys who both got 94%.

Hyena

Porcupine

Our trainer-always prepared :D

Trying to make fire-we got smoke but no flames

Learning tracks

Leopard!!

The last week has been a long and at time trying week, but ended on a fantastic high on Thursday with a sighting of a leopard in a tree.

We started the week with a rifle handling lecture, where we learnt more about a rifle than I ever thought I would know-now I just need to learn to shoot one with accuracy and speed and I wll be all set! We then headed off on a game drive in the afternoon where as seems to be the way lately we didnt really see anything at all. I did get to drive again though so still thoroughly enjoyed it!

Tuesday was spent trying to book in for our drivers test-a long and very trying/boring day! We left camp about 6 so as to get to the centre just before it opened at 7, and then spent the rest of the day waiting in a queue outside in the sun until we gave up on that idea and went and sat in the shade, then we went inside to wait in another queue, then were kicked back out into the sun to wait a bit more, then were allowed back into wait inside again, finally after being there about 8 hours we finally went though to do our eye tests again, and by that time we had had more than enough, so after waiting in another queue for about half an hour we gave up and didnt actually end up booking out test at all. By the time we got back to camp it was late and after a quick rifle dry run, we had all had enough and called it a day.

Wednesday was much more productive, we again headed into town, this time to do our rifle competancy test. Luckily we didnt really have any waiting around, but spent most of the day doing tests and then actually shooting the rifle-we had to shoot the target at 15 meters and hit it to pass-nice and easy and I even managed to get three bulls eyes!!!!

Thursday turned out to be the highlight of the week, where we started with a game drive, and saw two Spotted Hyena early on, and after following them for a little bit, saw one of them chase a warthog. We didnt get to see what the result was, but was nice to see proof that Hyenas do actually hunt, and dont just eat carrion. While on our drinks break we got a call that the other group had spotted a Leopard in a tree, so we rushed down to see if we could get there in time-luckily we did and got to sit and watch the leopard for about half an hour. She didnt look very comfortable, and we were hoping we were going to get to see a kill when a waterbuck walked close an she became very interested, but it didnt come close enough and the leopard just lay down and went back to sleep.

Friday I headed down to a local animal orphanage/education centre, with a couple of the others, as we are doing some education there every couple of weeks, trying to educate the local kids on the wildlife. After that it was back to camp and study for the rest of the day ready for rifle and animal behaviour tests tomorrow. I am not confident on these two, rifles I dont know much about, and animal behaviour is such a big topic, and we only covered it on Thursday that there hasnt been enough time for it all to sink in.

We also got our tests back that we wrote on amphibians and reptiles last week-thought I had completely stuffed the reptiles one up, and done not badly on the amphibians. Ended up getting 93% on amphibians, and 100% on reptiles-clearly I didnt stuff it up!!!!

A long week

This week has felt like a long week, I am glad it is over. Maybe it was the break we had that got me out of the habit.

We only had lectures on reptiles and amphibians but it seemed like we had so much to learn in those two topics. At the same time as trying to study for them, I was also studying for my learners theory test which I had on Friday morning-effectively removing the day that I do the majority of my study in.

Luckily I passed my learners, so I am now allowed to "learn" how to drive-feels weird to be back to being a learner though :) Saturday the rest of the group who didnt sit their learners on Friday sat their tests, then came back and we all did the weekly test-it was much better than anticipated, a nice surprise!

Not a lot of game drives this week, and those that we have been on all the animals seemed to be hiding from us-however it did give us a nice opportunity to do some tracking, learn a few more birds and try to identify some trees. It doesnt seem to matter what we see on a game drive they are always enjoyable!

We have some nice weather today after it being clowdy and cold the last couple of days I am not used to wearing jumpers and scarves in the middle of the day here, so am going to spend the rest of my day out in the sun enjoying it and trying to make a head start on my readings for next week.

Lazy week

So not a whole lot has happened in the last week, been our week off and 7 of us stayed at campus, which was nice and quiet and relaxing. Spent the majority of the week just lazing around, reading, sewing, and doing the odd bit of study in between (gotta try and get a head start for next semester)

We did head into town to the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre, where they have breeding programs for a several of the endangered species (cheetah, black footed cat, ground hornbills etc) I had been wanting to go here for ages as they also have King Cheetahs, a genetic mutation that is recessive, and results in stripes and a lot more black on the animal than usual, and also a slightly smaller size. There are only about 45 of them in captivity and two known in the wild-they are disadvantaged in the wild as they head up a lot quicker due to the large amount of black, so are less able to hunt effectively.

I did get an up close view of our resident honey badgers during the week as they were raiding our rubbish bins so I went out to try and see them. After initially running away when I stood still, they got curious coming right up to about half a meter away before I lost my nerve and moved backwards scaring them away-a honey badger climing my leg is not something I want!

Busy Studying

Our resident honey badger

Home sweet home

King Cheetah

Cheetah cubs :D

As is always the way, time has gone too quickly and tomorrow brings the start of a new semester and a knuckle down to some proper study again.

Semester over!!!

So another week has passed, and while at times it feels like time is dragging (particularly those days when I am studying for 12 hours preparing for the weekly test), time in general is flying by and it is hard to imagine that I have been here for 4 weeks, and the first semester has now finished, and we are enjoying a relaxing week off.

As usual it has been another busy, interesting, week filled with lots and lots of learning. We started out with an astronomy, survival and navigation lecture, then Monday night went on our first sleepout of the course. We were all very excited about sleeping out in the middle of a river bed, in Big 5 country-needless to say there were several very loud snorers which combined with the numbing cold meant it wasnt so much a sleep out as a wake out-but fantastic none the less as we got to listen to hyenas calling most of the night, and watching the moon cross the sky (would have watched the stars, but with the moon so bright there just werent any to be seen) We all had to take straws in keeping watch to make sure that there werent any animals that decided that we either looked nice and tasty or didnt like the look of us at all!!

The rest of the week passed in more lectures (learning about taxonomy and ecology), and doing a sweep across our reserve for snares (poaching is a real problem here at the moment), game drives, and topped off by a bushwalk in Big 5 country. The walk turned out to be a big highlight of the week, as our group got to see Lions up close on foot, one of the best sighting we are likely to see-chilled only 100m or so in front of us-you know it is a good sighting when the guides want a photo of themselves with the lions to show their friends!!!!

I also got to drive my first game drive, a fantastic experience which I cant wait to do again. It is a bit of a challenge seeing over the bonnet, and round the tracker on the front seat, but all in all I did very well, only driving the tracker into one thorny plant (a buffalo thorn which is one of the worst your can get caught in!) I even got a round of applause from my fellow group members when I finished!

Spotted Hyena (sorry it was very dark an wouldnt co-operate by standing still)

Sleepout

Sleepout

Lions on our bushwalk (I promise there are lions there!

Friday we had to head into town to buy groceries for the next week as we cater for ourselve, and those that were heading off collected their cars, then back to camp for some much needed study. Luckily the tests this week didnt seem as hard, or the information has just sunk in a lot easier but I feel like I have dont quite well in them-a nice feeling!!! Time will tell on how I have actually done though.

Another week, another test

So the last week has been very hectic, lots of study and some very long days. Our topics this week were Geology, Grasses and Trees-a nice big topic for us to try and wrap our heads around. As well as our lectures, we also went on a couple of game drives, (saw some more lions, Elephant at night, and FINALLY found our cheetah) The cheetah and Lions were hunting so while it was great to follow them, it also meant it was at times to keep sight of them-but seeing them do something other than sleep was fantastic. We didnt get to see them make a kill, but watching them move through the bush hunting animals was well worth it.

We also had a couple of presentations to do, each of us had to do a talk on a mammal (mine was Aardvark), and one on a topic out of the Kingdom Plantae from our tree and grasses lecture (instead of our trainer presenting the topic we did most of it).

We were also supposed to do a tree presentation, but this has been put off as the day we were supposed to do it we went to book in to sit our learners test, and ended up sitting there for 7 hours (we did manage to get our eye test done in that time, then spent the next 6 hours waiting to pay and book in, before we got kicked out at 2pm and told to come back the next day, needless to say we left our forms with our driving instructor and he was going to book us in instead). By the time we had had lunch, done some shopping, and got back to camp it was too late to do our talks-shucks :)

On the upside the 7 hours at the driving place did allow for plenty of study even if it was while sitting on a plank against a wall crammed in like sardines, while 50 odd other people around you talked. Then Friday was spent doing another 12 hours study, before our test thismorning-one which I will do my best to forget!!!!! :D


Never to old to play

Yellow billed hornbill

Most of my books-a couple more to buy!

Morning game drive-it is COLD!

Finally a good sighting