So panic over, the supposed big birding south african guests turned out to be italian and had no interest in birds! However they did come to see the big cats - Lion and Leopard. Of which our sightings are a little scarce so still a tricky few days ahead to keep them happy! They also didn't speak a word of english so that made it even more of a challenge!
It was actually a great group, very friendly people, 6 guests is definitely my favourite number of guests. We had a very quiet couple of days, then on day 3 in the morning before the guests were leaving we had a fantastic sighting of a male lion who popped out right in front of me in the road less than 2 meters away and walked straight past the vehicle. Awesome! THen we heard the pride were further up the road so we drove on and off road to find them. 8 Stunning lions resting in the shade at the base of the mountain. Just an epic epic morning. It is true that lions sleep for 22 hours a day so if you catch them on the move or hunting then you are very lucky. But just watching the family chilling out was still special and the guests were very happy as well.
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After my Italian guests left I have had 4 days with no guests. Luckily Brian and Megan who run the trails camp have also been off so we have been off exploring and learning and discovering new places. On our first day we went to find phone signal about 40 minutes from the lodge on the top of a koppie (small hill) so we could make phone calls and connect back with the world which was nice. On the second day we went Rhino tracking, just the 3 of us and 2 rifles walking for 5 hours tracking. So much fun and just awesome to be back walking in the bush,i have missed it a lot from being in a vehicle and driving all the time. I was walking as the back up rifle and so got my first hours and encounters since being a qualified back up so that was pretty cool. After 4 hours we were getting a little frustrated that we were tracking several rhino and never finding them, all the tracks eventually disappeared. Just as we were going to give up we heard a snort and knew we were close. Just about 80 meters away was a female rhino and her calf (about 18months) and a huge male rhino. We approached very carefully as we didn't want to scare them off. We managed to get within 30 meters and sit and watch them sleep under a tree. Every now and then the mother would catch our scent and stand up ready to run or charge! At which point brian would get me the "freeze" signal (a closed fist). it was like something out of a musical chairs game where the music stops and you have to find a chair except when brian gave the freeze signal you literally don't move a muscle. I got caught out mid step half crouched under a bush meaning that for the 5 minutes we had to freeze for my body was giving up on me and the muscles in my legs were beginning to shake uncontrollably as i held them in such an unnatural position! Luckily once the rhinos were settled we could move about quietly and get in a great position to just watch them resting.
We moved out of the sighting after about 40 minutes. It was just so so incredible to be that close to an animal that you know could potentially be extinct in 5 years if the current poaching rate keeps going. (1.6 rhinos a day are being poached for their horns). And they really do look like something from the dinosaur era!
That afternoon we went after our next challenge, tracking Lion. Luckily Brian is one of the most experienced trails guides in the country so tracking lion on foot should naturally make you a little nervous but with Brian leading the way Megs and I felt safer than driving down the M4 in London between two lorries!! Unfortunately the Lions were not playing the game and we lost their tracks as the light was fading. In the evening there we had our first big social since i started. Brian, Megan, Ants (lodge host), Dan (another guide) and Anna (who is the new placement starting) all happened to have the night off from guests so we had dinner followed by a few drinks and a game of 30 seconds which is just like Articulate and equally competitive!
The next day Brian took megan and I out for a birding and tree learning session. We spent about 3 hours and drove about 3 km just learning birds and trees. As he is an ex Eco training instructor he is the best person to learn from, so it was a super useful session. Also on this was the first day since arriving in south african when a south african told me I sounded like a south african and not from english!! think i have definitely lost some of my english accent and picked up a lot of SA phrases!
In the afternoon Brian and I went out to a place called Palm springs, which is a natural body of water in the middle of rolling hills and forests. We sat close to the water and sat still in silence for the best part of 3 hours waiting for the animals to come down for their evening drink. Unfortunately all that arrived was a Duiker (small antelope) and a Warthog. Until about 6pm when the sun had set when Brian said " just watch what is about to happen it will blow your mind". Almost as soon as he said that not less than 100 sandgrouse appeared flying down from every tree branch just suddenly out of no where descended on the water for a drink. They all started calling which sounded much like a computer game, arriving in pairs. It was just amazing how they all appeared out of no where so many of them just arrived and within about 10 minutes they all left again! Nature is awesome!! And apparently it happens every night!
It was a great chance for reflection of recent times and of the last year in Africa as I approach the 1 year anniversary since leaving the UK for Africa and what an incredible year it has been. Never have I had a year where so much has happened, both life changing moments and huge achievements. huge amounts of happiness and of course always a little bit of sadness as friendships and relationships end and new ones begin. I am just so grateful for every day I spend here and long may it continue.
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