The Most Incredible Year

Mariepskop Mountain Sunset - South Africa

Today is an important day to me because it marks a year since I first stepped foot on African soil. Ever since that moment my life has changed dramatically and I know I will never go back to the way I was before. Africa has taught me so much, showed me so much beauty but also a lot of horror. I'm not trying to paint some kind of unrealistic picture - there is a lot wrong with Africa and a huge amount that needs to be done to keep it, it's people and its wildlife safe. 

But Africa to me is where the world, and I, come alive. I have witnessed some of the greatest wilderness the world has to offer, listened through the night to lions roar and woke in the morning to a Southern Boubou singing it's soul away. I have seen hunger, indulgence, fear, joy and death amongst the animals I have watched. I have learnt the bush to know its sounds, smells, sights, taste and feel. I trained as a Field Guide of Southern Africa and achieved a place on the course of my dreams. Africa has been everything to me and more.

I want to share on here a few stories of some special days in Africa.

A Shy Male Leopard

A shy male leopard.

What an incredible day this was at GVI Karongwe when we found a shy male leopard. That morning we had visited our neighbours, Daktari Bush School and Wildlife Orphanage, who take in orphaned and injured animals that cannot be released back into the wild. Alongside this each week they have 8 underprivileged children stay with them where they teach them basic lessons, but also a vital lesson in working with animals and protecting them. After our visit we headed to follow up on our female cheetah who had been found to be limping badly. We found her where she had been seen before - she couldn't walk and was clearly distressed so we called in the vet and waited with her until he arrived. He came in and darted her straight away... And who did he call on to carry her out of the bush? Only the five volunteers standing around waiting! I had never expected such a slim-line and quick animal to be so heavy! We got her out of the bush and onto the back of our waiting bakkie... she was in bad shape and lucky we had found her. She had a large stick wedged into her leg which, untreated, would surely have killed her. But the vet worked quickly and managed to remove it with little damage. We left him to take her to the nearest boma (a enclosed area where she could recover out of danger), and headed on for the rest of our afternoon. 
(The cheetah recovered well and has recently had a litter of four cubs! I'm so glad she has survived and is continuing to breed for this endangered species). 
We sat by the fence line of the reserve wondering what to do - during our time with the cheetah all our focus animals had been found and data recorded, so we were free to bump around the reserve and find what we liked. As we discussed our options a car pulled up beside us on the other side of the fence, a woman rolled down her window and called to us that she had just been sat watching a leopard who had been lying right by the fence! Now, a leopard sighting isn't something to be taken lightly - they are elusive by nature and rarely hang around long. Oh, and possibly the most magnificent of creatures on this planet. So we sped off to where it had been spotted! It was gone. We could see by the spoor on the ground where it had lay, and the prints of its paws were fresh - but often that is all you see of a leopard. We moved carefully around the area and every so often someone would swear they had seen something... we would backtrack and find nothing. We continued our search for around half an hour before one of us turned, just in time, to see it crossing the road behind us! We stopped and pulled back - it had hid itself in the bushes and was moving slowly ahead, almost invisible but for a couple of glimpses of it's rosette pattern, or the flick of a tail. Lucky for us it eventually crouched down in the bushes, visible enough for us to get a few photographs. But it was uneasy, a young male obviously disturbed by our presence. So we moved on and headed home in utter disbelief of what an incredible day we'd just had. 

The Stolen Kill

The stolen kill! 

That night, on Shamwari Game reserve where I had been studying for my FGASA Level One, we had the evening off to do with as we liked. We could stay at the base and relax, watch TV, use the internet, have a drink. Or we could go on a night drive. For me there was no option. Night drives are my favourite - no other vehicles about, a beautiful night sky and a totally different world comes alive under the shroud of darkness. We usde it as a practice for our final exam and took with us a couple of very willing volunteers from the conservation group we shared our space with. We entered the reserve just as the light was beginning to fade and most of the game vehicles were heading home: giving a call on the radio we found the last vehicle out following a pair of cheetahs who looked as if they were hungry. We caught up with them literally just in time as the two cats casually sauntered out amongst an enormous herd of antelope. All we could do was sit and watch as the hunters sped off and an enormous cloud of dust rose in the air. They had made a kill! This was the first time I had actually witnessed a kill! It was so quick, and as the light was fading I couldn't see much but still my heart raced. This is true life and death in the African bush. We caught up with the animals just as they began to open the carcass, but unfortunately couldn't see much... Cheetahs are not nocturnal animals and so shining a bright light on them in the night is not an option - it would impair their vision against potential danger and possibly damage their eyesight. Photographs were also impossible. But as we listened to the sounds of cracking bones and tearing flesh we quickly realised the cheetahs had made a mistake, another sound had joined, the unmistakable and haunting cry of the jackal. Jackals are small, and even though several were surrounding the feeding cats we knew they wouldn't dare attempt to steal the kill. The problem was the noise they were making. Before our tutor had finished explaining to us that these calls were likely to attract other creatures I spotted a dark shadow approaching. We shone the light out to take a look and there, weaving its way towards us, was a Brown Hyena. These animals are pretty rare, often being out competed by their spotted cousins, but have managed to make a strong home at Shamwari. They share a den together but hunt and scavenge alone. They have a strong, powerful build with a bite equivalent to that of a great white shark. Cheetahs are no match for them - with their slim build they are built for speed not strength. Despite this at the approach of the hyena trying to steal his hard won dinner one of the cheetahs lashed out and managed to slam the hyena's head to the floor. It was a brave move, but he knew it wasn't worth the risk of a fight and took flight instead. All the cheetahs energy and exertion was wasted - they had taken just a few bites of their meal and now they would have to rest up again before they would have the energy to make another kill. They had taken a risk killing at dusk, and they had lost. Now with a hyena as our main sighting our light was allowed - their eyes are adapted better to the night and don't react to the light shining at them (although never directly in it's face). It didn't take it long to tear the carcass apart with its powerful jaw and soon one brave jackal came in close and began hassling it for abandoned pieces of meat. We watched for a long time, laughing at the jackals attempts and the hyena's growing annoyance. In the end the jackal did manage to run off with a small piece of the prize, and when we returned to the site the next day there was nothing but a patch of stained ground and stomach contents remaining. 

Elephants in our camp! 

Not from the same day as the story but the same herd!

Working with EHRA (Elephant Human Relationship Aid) in Namibia was hard work. We had just spent an entire week building a stone wall using no machinery - just our bare hands. We'd been living a very basic lifestyle - slept under a canvas on a sleeping role, we cooked over a fire, had a long drop toilet and not a shower in sight! Why do this? You might ask. Well the work of EHRA is based around building walls to surround water pumps of the local people in attempt to prevent elephants from damaging and destroying their precious supply. That week we had driven out to one of the sites (on a year-long waiting list) and begun the work on their wall. The next week was patrol week in which we seek out those that cause the damage and keep track on their health and movements. But at this moment we had come back to the base camp for a restful weekend. For our safety from the various animals that roamed the area we slept in a tree on a large platform and on this particular morning had the most wonderful wake-up call. Elephants are not loud animals, you don't hear their footsteps and they rarely trumpet like in the movies... But having spent some time in Africa at this point I was familiar with that you can hear, and as I began to stir from my surprisingly restful sleep I heard a familiar branch snapping sound... and a warm, deep rumbling. My eyes flew open and I did my best not to shout out "Elephant! Elephant!!" A couple of the early rising volunteers had seen them first, and quickly made their way up into the tree house as we had been instructed in such a situation (one had been sat on the toilet which had a nice open view across the riverbed). Soon we were all awake and had the wonderful privilege to watch a herd of twelve individuals pass by our camp and make their way up the dry river. I've had a range of different wake up calls throughout my lifetime but none, I can safely say, have ever come near to beating this... I doubt they ever will.