Week Off

It’s been a very stressful semester but has come to our 2nd week off. Most people were staying around camp and studying because a) they don’t have enough money to go anywhere or b) they feel like our FGASA exam is coming up and they don’t know anything, or c) both.

Since no one was doing anything cool for the week off and I’m not sure traveling on my own anywhere is a good idea I too am staying at the camp this week. It is a good opportunity to study because as much as we know there is still so much we don’t and I want to get a jump on the semester ahead. Sunday was spent lying by the pool. Not much got accomplished. Monday Barry and I did a morning game drive just along the main road beside the game reserves and saw a jackal, some birds and some vervet monkeys. The afternoon spent learning bird songs whilst again lying by the pool.


Tuesday evening we decided we would grab our sleeping bags and camp out along the fence line. So 5 of us Barry, Chris, Kathryn, John and I headed out about 4:00pm to a spot Chris and Barry had chosen earlier in the day. On our walk out there we came across some wildebeest running in the meadow. It was quite amazing to see them so close.
When we arrived at the spot we gathered firewood and made a small fire. Just as it got dark we noticed a Cheetah sitting on the other side of the fence just watching us. At first we thought it was a leopard and were ready to turn around and go back but soon realized it was too slim to be leopard and must be a cheetah. It sat and watched us for at least a half hour before moving on.

Barry and I could not sleep after that so we ended up taking first watch and keeping the fire stoked. Barry had never seen a shooting star or a satellite before. This amazed me but the he is from Ireland and there skies are not quite the same. So did a lot of stargazing and saw a few shooting stars and satellites reviewing our constellations and planets. I was able to see the 3 moons on Jupiter and it is quite amazing how much more you can see with just a pair of binoculars than the regular eye. The others in the group at this time were all out like a light. As the night progressed we heard many things rustling around that we could not identify and a Wildebeest snorting quite close by. The hyenas and Jackals were calling but quite far off.

Around 2am a Hyena walked just on the other side of the fence. We could only hear it at first - breathing and making this weird growling noise but had a hard time seeing it. Barry caught a glimpse of it’s eye shine and we both suspected it was a hyena but only confirmed it in the morning by tracks left behind. After that sleep was out of the question so we ended up staying awake for most of the night. I think I finally drifted off around 4:30am. Morning came early with the sun and we all headed back to camp to eat breakfast and go back to bed.

Photo is of a Pangolin - a very illusive creature. Most guides have never seen one in their many years of guiding. This is our 3rd sighting.