Goodbye Africa

The next morning we headed out for more surveys, very wary after our experiences of the previous day. It also turns out we weren’t the only ones with a close escape – another group got pushed to the ground by the tracker they were with to avoid a swarm of killer bees! Again, I walked with Hannah, and all was well until we saw the rest of the group slowly backing away from a bush, and heard a ‘hhhhhrrmppff’. We didn’t know for sure it was a rhino, but this time we were taking no chances so turned around and ran. Once the others caught up with us, we were in trouble for leaving them in a crisis, although a tracker latrer informed us that is the sound of a wildebeest, not a rhino. On our way back to camp we saw a dust devil come towards us. They’re little whirlwinds, blowing dirt around from the savannah – completely harmless but exciting to see. On our last evening we all sat around the campfire, and the next morning relaxed by the pool at Pilanesburg, before heading back to the airport and home. Despite the fact I was robbed of relaxation on the plane, by playing babysitter to the little girl next to me, Africa was an incredible experience. We had to work hard and I left exhausted but I feel so lucky to have seen such amazing habitats and animals, especially as part of my course!

South Africa - a close shave

This post is dedicated to my fellow biologist Hannah - only she will ever understand what we went through!

Naturally our work on this field course had to be assessed, which was done via a test at the end of the trip, along with projects we designed in groups, and had a few days to collect data for. Our project was based on the effect of vegetation burning on bird communities. Sections of the reserve are burnt each year to provide young, nutritious shoots, a variety of habitats and to prevent bush encroachment. Although this meant we were often up a couple of hours before breakfast to do our surveys before the heat drove off the birds, we did get to see a spectacular sunrise - an orange-pink sun striped with heat haze. One morning we drove over a hill and found ourselves in a dip with countless antelope, zebra and wildebeest together. We also saw a secretary bird – a huge, impressive bird that can run at quite a speed on the ground.

 Hannah and I were walking a route and managed to lose sight of the rest of our group, including our bush-savvy chaperone, Jason. We left a Hansel and Gretel trail of orange tape tied to branches, in case they should come looking for us, but we decided to finish our survey before heading back. Getting into some long grass, we had a shock when a tiny antelope (probably a duiker or a dik dik) sprang up in front of us. It must have been hiding in the grass hoping we’d move away. Although we only saw it in a blur it was incredible to be so close to it.

The sight still sends shivers down my spine

Having finished our survey, we started to make our way back to the road and the jeep, continuing our trail of tape, but veering towards where we thought the group would be. We soon caught sight of Jason and started to run towards him waving and shouting, relieved that we’d found them. It wasn’t until we were closer that we realised the two huge boulders in front of him were, in fact, rhinoceroses. We froze in our tracks, uncertain of whether to keep going or to turn back. As Jason and the rhinos were a fair distance from us he waved us to keep going as quickly as we could towards the jeep, while he dealt with the rhinos.  We started to walk the other side of a small thicket, as Jason ran towards the rhinos to scare them off. Unexpectedly, rather than running straight ahead, the rhinos veered and began to come around our thicket in the opposite direction.

 Before we could comprehend what was happening, the ground was trembling as the two huge, horned creatures charged towards us. For a second we froze in shock and terror. All I could think was ‘I am going to die. I am about to die – what can I do? If I don’t get speared by those huge horns I’ll get trampled and crushed”. I had been told that if you’re chased by a rhino, you’re supposed to climb a tree or hide, as their vision is very poor. There were no climbable trees in the vicinity, only small thorny bushes and, trust me, when 4000kg of flesh and horn are running towards you, it’s hard to believe a small bush will save you. Even if they lost sight of us, they could still trample us. Once my survival instinct kicked in, we paced as fast as possible, without running, around to the other side of the thicket. Luckily for us, the rhino’s stopped charging as we turned the corner, and just watched us go. Our response was a collapse into hysteria. Hannah, understandable was crying uncontrollably but it turns out my response to a near-death experience, is uncontrollable laughter. I guess it must have been the sudden rush of adrenaline coupled with a disbelief of what I’d just been through and the relief that I was still alive!

 No one else believed the story until they saw the hysterical state of us when we returned. We also had to go straight into our end of field course test, to which the last question was, ‘which species of tree should you climb if chased by a rhino’, to which the hysteria set in again, although I resisted answering ‘you’d be lucky to find anything suitable to climb’.

South Africa - down to work

some zebras we were studying

Having geared myself up for a nice little holiday in South Africa, I was thrown into a lot more work than I expected! Everyday we got up around 6am and didn't stop until about 11pm. We had to start work early to avoid the midday heat. We'd go out for a few hours in the morning and concentrate on a particular survey technique, come back for lunch and analyse/write up our results then we followed the same pattern in the afternoon. Although it was exhausting, I had no complaints about spending my time in the bush studying zebras and wildebeest!

Swallow against the backdrop of Pilanesburg

We spent most of our time doing plant surveys, dung surveys and behaviour surveys, but one morning we had a talk from the guy who runs the reserve, Dougall. Although it was several hours long, it was hugely interesting, especially the history of the reserve. The site used to be a buffer zone for an explosives factory, where Dougall worked. Some of the workers became concerned about the wildlife that had been accidentally fenced in, which some guards used to take advantage of by poaching. After voicing their concerns, the workers were given permission to look after the animals. However, the factory eventually closed down and workers were either made redundant or sent to Johanesburg to work. But Dougall was given a different option. He was invited to run the buffer zone as a game reserve, on behalf of the company. Although he accepted, Dougall had to cover all costs himself, so he farmed ostrich and sisal to sell. He started to trade animals to build up a more diverse community and eventually made it the tourist spot it is today, complete with the prized possessions of Mankwe, the rhinos.

The lion

  Halfway through the trip we had a day off. We went to the nearby Pilanesburg National Park, which is based in a volcano crater! Being there Just feels like you're surrounded by hills but it looks pretty impressive on a satellite map. We spent the morning at the swimming pool and went on safari in the afternoon. A group of elephants walked right in front of our vans and we were lucky enough to see a lion, albeit from a distance. It turns out that in day to day lion language, one doesn't roar; the sound the lion made was more like heavy panting!

South Africa - into the wild

Visiting South Africa was a pretty awesome part of my University course. I had to attend a 2-week field course for one of my modules, and I was lucky enough to get a place on the highly popular South Africa option. When I arrived in China I was a little disappointed the entire country didn’t look like a scene from Mulan. However, arriving in South Africa, I was delighted to feel as though I’d just walked into the Lion King. Nearly all the countryside is savannah and scrub, with small shanty villages here and there, roadside sellers trying to flog rugs and domestic cows and horses. The cows were different to British cows, mainly as they had large floppy ears, which somehow made them more fitting to the scenery than a couple of Friesians.

We were based at Mankwe Wildlife Reserve, a private reserve outside Pretoria, but we also had a couple of trips out to nearby Pilanesburg National Park. Pilanesburg was much larger than Mankwe, with larger animals that the Mankwe set-up was neither large enough nor safe for, including lions and elephants. On our first day at Mankwe, we were taken for a game drive, to get a feel for the reserve and its inhabitants. I quickly learnt two important facts about South African wildlife. Firstly, I never knew that there was such a diversity of antelope species! From the tiny, elusive steenbok to the huge, impressive gemsbok. Secondly, I have always wondered if it really is any different seeing animals in their natural environment, rather than in a zoo or wildlife park. Well, I can confirm it definitely is. On the one hand, there’s no guarantee of what you’ll see but on the other, there’s something about the backdrop of the unique savannah scenery and the freedom of animal movement that makes the experience special. It is a shame I didn’t get to see some species up close, like seeing only the tail of a monkey disappear, but it’s the fact that it can just run out of sight that is moving.

Throughout the trip there was one animal which never lost its charm, beauty or impressiveness, and this was the giraffe. Their size makes the very presence of a giraffe impressive, and its coat and figure are beautiful. I was constantly surprised at how friendly (or perhaps just lazy) giraffes were. Antelope were incredibly shy, wildebeest skulked off when they saw you but giraffes just acknowledged you with a glance and carried on chewing their leaves. Nevertheless, I believe they are at their most impressive when running. Their height and grace makes it almost seem as if you’re seeing them in slow motion.

The first night we went to dinner I had to stop myself giggling. Our first meal was spaghetti bolognaise. But with wildebeest mince instead of beef. Unfortunately, we were not presented with any traditional South African dishes, which I was hoping to try. Instead we were presented with European food… with a twist. On the reserve, our meat consisted almost entirely of wildebeest. As a barbequed steak it was rather tough, but as a mince it was delicious. It tasted a bit like beef but with a more gamey flavour. My fellow biologists introduced me to biltong – a snack of dried game meat with spices. Throughout my time I tried lots of meat as biltong, an impala carvery, but my favourite, as a stew and as biltong, was kudu. Kudu is a large antelope with magnificent curly antlers and a delicious taste!