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A Week of Appreciation in the life of a Bhejane Student. 

There is something about the bush, the sound of the birds singing early in the morning, the branches breaking in the distance by elephants, the roar of the lion spreading through the mountains. Waking up in the cold winter morning staring ahead with your head peeping out the zip of your safari tent, overlooking the Mkuze River, having breakfast around a fire pit still warm from the night befores boma fire,feeling refreshed and ready for a full day of walking trails - This is how you start your day at Ebandla Camp.

Working with Colin Patrick and his amazing K9 sidekick (Anne) is one of the best experiences, just by observing them work together, side by side and with a different insight! Trailing an animal gives you the courage to improve your skills. As soon as you find a fresh track, the hunt is on, bundu bashing through the bushes looking for any sign of the animal you are tracking in the sand, in the trees along the river banks - to find an animal you need to think like one!

This is such an amazing experience because you can learn a lot about the animals behaviour, By asking things like 'What type of food it eats?  Was it on its way to a specific location? or maybe just wondering around? by looking at the tracks you can see if the animal is relaxed and walking slow or on edge walking fast.

 It is hard work and requires a lot of concentration, but the thrill of tracking a wild animal never ceases to excite me! 

Bhejane Students on trail at Ebandla Camp

As the days go by tracking different animals and learning more about ourselves in the process just adding on to knowledge displayed all around us with every step we take. I remember how nervous I was for the assessment day -It was a perfect sunny morning, everyone was standing around the boma and you could just see the stress of test day show on their faces, but the we started walking and  I couldn't help but to look at my surroundings and just seeing how beautiful nature really helped me to calm down.

We walked for a while before Colin stopped us and split us into two groups and briefed us on our task at hand - one group would walk for 15 minutes to get as far away as possible and hide away and the opposing group would have to track the hiders down! The assessment has begun. After 15 minutes one person was chosen to lead the track for the hiding group - As we tracked and trailed we finally found them and it was now our time to hide. 

This process went on until everyone had a chance to track spreading this experience on for 2 days! Every moment as exciting and challenging as the next, when we were all done leading, Colin sat us down and the feedback process began.

After meeting with each of us, we were all happy to hear how well the assessments went.

I was sitting outside enjoying the beautiful view that Ebandla camp has to offer and it just got me thinking of how amazing this week was, how wonderful it is to learn something new everyday and how amazing and thrilling it is to track an animal and become one and more connected with this beautiful country.

I could do this for the rest of my life.

By: Karla Swart (Advanced Course Student) 

07 August 2016

Imvula Trails Update

4 August 2016

by Dylan uBhejane

Good day walking trails today. It started with us finding tracks of an elephant herd, and whilst assessing how fresh the tracks were, we found the track of a white rhino bull on top of the elephant tracks. The Rhino tracks were fresh and he was clearly on a mission, leaving scraping and urine along his trail.

Warwick, took the trail as our tracker, with Quintin his lead rifle, watching ahead. I followed as second rifle, giving them space to work. We soon found the bull at a midden and could see that he was very excited. His head was down sniffing close to the ground and his tail was curled. We soon found more rhino tracks leading away from the midden, and this is why the bull was so excited. We decided to let him lead us to the other Rhino, so followed his tracks, but gave him enough distance in order not to disturb him.

Quintin leading the group.

Lisa took over the tracking, and walked head up, looking well ahead as she trailed the Rhino bull. It was great to see what the bull was doing by looking at the evidence left in his tracks. Good lessons were learnt and students for the first time saw the Rhino lips leaving scuff marks on the trail, as he followed the other rhino tracks.

He caught up to the two rhino's he was following, and we could see that it was a cow, and a sub-adult calf. The cow was not too happy and ran into the thick bush with the bull following. We decided not to follow them.

En route back to camp, Whitney and Brian took over as 1st and 2nd RIfle and we encountered a herd of buffalo. We all had a great day learning and doing what we love!

A report on the Bhejane Nsele's week  - Antelope, Birding and Frogging in winter!

By Schanita Schoeman (Bhejane Nsele)

This week Hluhluwe got exceptionally good rain, which allowed the Nsele students to see some awesome things coming to the water and being more active during this winter month.

On Ethlatini property some frogs were very happy after the rain that we even found Knocking Sand Frogs mating and Boetterger’s Caco’s singing every night. The birds were enjoying the early mornings more too. While walking with Richard Mckibben on Ethlatini we got sightings on the Klaas’s Cuckoo, Hamerkop, Purple-banded Sunbird and many more. We also had a quick glance on two Southern Reedbuck and some ostriches.

African Goshawk - Mkuze Game Reserve

We then also went on an afternoon walk at Amorello’s where we got sightings on the very small, but fast moving Grey Penduline Tit and the Cardinal Woodpecker with its call that can be confused with the White-eared Barbet. We did some tracking on Grey Duikers which through us all off our feet with the muddy substrate and the displaying of their hooves. We ourselves then went on a muddy exploration along the Kingfisher Alley River on the property, collecting mud and shells to our shoes. We also found a huge amount of Leopard scat on the mud close to the water which was astonishing.

During the week all students delivered well-prepared Antelope Presentations which we all enjoyed thoroughly and we learned quite a lot of new things. Well done Nseles!

Striped Kingfisher - Mkuze Game Reserve

On Thursday we went to Mkuze Game Reserve and got sightings on many Cape Glossy Starlings, a female Black-backed Puff Back, a Striped Kingfisher warming up in the morning sun which allowed us to get pretty close for some fantastic photos, the Marico Sunbird, Little Bee-eaters and a descent and clear sighting on the African Goshawk at one of the hides. The drive ended very shortly after due to many road works in the reserve, so we went on a quick walk through the forest just outside the gate of the reserve. Here we had sightings on the Black-throated Wattle-eye, Orange Breasted Bush-shrike, Paradise Flycatcher, Yellow-streaked Greenbul and terrestrial Brownbul. Arriving back at camp for a Boerewors Braai for lunch was an excellent way of ending the day while struggling on Elephant photos to ID and left us all mind-blowing.

Thanks to Richard and Candice Mckibben for the spectacular week. We are frothing to see you next time!

By Schanita Schoeman

GAME CENSUS SAFARI ON HORSEBACK

by Lara Snyman  (Bhejane Imvelo)

Lara is one of the Bhejane Imvelo students, currently completing her 3rd Year. She is a specialist horse guide and found employment for her practical year, at Ant's Hill in the Waterberg.  Below is her account of a recent game capture operation that took place on the reserve. Well done Lara. 

All you can hear is gallopping horses, wild shouting on the radios and helicopter noises.

You immediately know this is not a normal Safari!

This year during the beginning of July Ant Africa Safaris had its annual Game Census and Capture week.

About 30 Guests stayed at Ants Hill and Ants Nest Lodge in the Waterberg, where they had an experience of a lifetime. Each morning the guests and guides swinged themselves into the saddle at about 6 am, after a energy-giving bacon and egg sandwich.

Each day of the week was unique and action-packed.

During the first two days we split up into smaller groups with about 3 guests per guide and seperated into different zones on the beautiful private game reserve.

In each zone we counted all animal species we could encounter. We also made notes of their sexes and condition.

This annual count is vital in order to know if the animals are in good health and striving. It also helps to establish if animals need to be taken off in order to sustain a healthy habitat.

All guests loved the count and we were quite lucky in our sightings: Roan antelope, Sable, Kudu, Eland, Rhino, Buffalo and even some of the nocturnal bushpigs came out!

The second day was a little more adventorous: It was time for some young Sable calves to leave the breeding camp and to be relocated.

A troop of about 25 riders went into the breeding camp, where Dr. John, the vet, Anthony Baber, the owner, and a group of strong staff members waited by a game truck.

All riding guests were positioned with a guide in various stragetic posts.

Once the dart went in, everyone kept dead quiet and luckily the sables only ran for a short distance before being out from the tranquilizing drug.

Dr. John did a quick dipping treatment before letting them wake up again in the truck.

 The third and fourth day were filled with buffalo capture.

Ant Baber owns about 40 disease free buffalo, which have great genetics.

Due to the drought and therefore grazing issues, he bought a neighbouring piece of land, which was fixed up to be a new buffalo and kudu breeding camp.

We set out early in the morning and cantered on long sandy roads towads the suspected buffalo herd. Dr. John and Ant were ready to dart- unfortunately a little to quick- as most riders werent quite in position just yet.

The dart went in, the cow ran, and- we lost sight of her.

Stress and panic started, but Ants calm instructions made everyone focused and organized once again. We all splitted up, riding through thick bush and lon grass, in hope of finding the sedated cow. This is a game against time, and as 15 minutes went by, we almost lost hope she would still be alive.

Luckily, the Ant collection has amazing guides which were able to track the cow down. She was laying behind a termite mount in a thicket- almost invisible.

The cow was loaded by 17 strong young men and brought into the new breeding camp.

Afterwards we darted another 2 buffalo, this time with everybody ready and organized.

On the last day of game capture it was time for a magnificent giraffe bull to be sold to a farm in the region.

All guests were really excited, as this is the most tricky of all game captures.

Long legs, and a sensetive blood circulation system makes it incredibly hard for giraffes to be safely tranquilized and transported.

The giraffe bull was quickly found and the dart went in. Unfortunately it didnt seem to be strong enough for the big animal.

The bull kept running, and all riders were trying their best to stay with him through a long wild run. Another dart went in, and this time the bull started behaving sedated.

Everyone went onto their allocated positions with ropes to bring the giraffe into a controlled fall.

Due tot he good explanation and demonstration beforehand it all went well.

On the last night of this amazing week, all staff and guests had an amazing „dress into your worst outfit“ party around the fire.

Bhejane Nature Training

Bhejane Nature Training

INDUSTRY NEWS

Feedback on Indaba 2016

by Sebastian van Breemen (Bhejane Nsele)

I came to South Africa in January 2015. A very special year for me, due to the fact that I left a big part of my life behind me, to start something totally new and unfamiliar on the other side of the world. I started studying at Bhejane Nature Training, Ehlathini Bush Camp, located at a quite secluded area of northern KwaZulu-Natal, three hours north of Durban. It as a totally new environment for me – the animals, the people, the nature… my world had been turned upside down. In a good way though. 
Now I had been studying to become a nature guide/conservationist/preservationist for over a year, and I still was not sure about what the incredibly vast industry could offer me. Last week, this changed.

From the 7th of May to the 9th of May, in Durban City, we entered the great halls of the Durban ICC (International Convention Centre). 
A week before this I had, together with my fellow students at Bhejane Nature Training, prepared for meetings with exhibitionists from all around Africa (even outside Africa). We had been going through questions to ask, how to react on questions being asked. We were practising sales pitches for ultimate selling points. We made lists over which organisations or companies we wanted to visit. It was a big deal. The game was on.

As we entered Indaba 2016, we rapidly realized what we had gotten ourselves into. People everywhere, queueing to get passes for the event. Just by experiencing the magnitude of everything, we understood that something considerable huge was waiting for us. 
We got our passes, and started racing towards the ticket controls, and made our way through.

We past the controls. We were in. Now it started to get, as they say, hectic. Small stands everywhere, next to each other, on top of each other. We were advised to first get a feel of the two grand halls that were on display, getting a feel and direction of the place. We took the advice and did so. Some of us got a snack or two to fuel for the occasion. 

An hour or two later, we started networking. I think this was the work of the weekend. Everyone seemed to love to use it. Personally, I had a little bit off a rough start, not really sure of how to open a presentation and how to execute my sales pitch. Rather quickly, I realized that I was not there for hosting presentations of myself, it was rather a question of conversing with people, getting a feel of the industry. If you created a chemistry with your target, then you added the interesting questions about possible working placements with them. 

Under the course of the weekend, I talked to numerous instances. After a while, I lost count with how many. I picked up numbers, gave out numbers, exchanged information and business cards, as well as sending emails to promising addresses. 
Below are a few exhibitionists that I visited:

o Kapama Private Game Reserve
o Kwande Private Game Reserve
o Mashatu Game Reserve (Botswana)
o Mopane Bush Lodge
o Muchenje Safari Lodge
o Nxamaseri Island Lodge
o Makakatana Bay Lodge
o Thornybush Luxury Game Lodge Collection
o Dulini Private Game Reserve
o Makalali Private Game Lodge

Well back at our bush camp at Ehlathini, I thought back on the event. It had been an amazing experience, not as I thought it initially was going to be. We got stressed that it is a serious convention, with people and entrepreneurs paying a lot of money to be able to market their businesses, which it totally was. 

However serious it was though, it was gracefully masked with humour, willingness to explore the industry, and in the end, meet and chat to as many people as possible. 
For me, the trip to the Durban ICC was more to see what I have put myself in to, where I am, and where I possibly might find myself in the next five years. As a bonus on the side, I got a number of possible future employers´ information, that seemed interesting to build a working relationship with me. 

In the end of the trip, I was, to say the least, knackered. But I walked away with something I didn’t comprehend as well before; the understanding of how intense this industry is, how diverse it is, and the endless opportunities that can be obtained through hard work.
I am utterly grateful for the people that made it possible to join this magnificent event!

The Trials of Makhasa

by  Joshua Parmer (Bhejane Nsele)

A short write up of observations during the Nsele practicals at Makhasa Game Reserve

If there is a silver lining to the dry conditions at Makhasa it would be that the harsh conditions allowed us to see animals in a state most tourists don’t get to see them in. The reality may seem harsh, but when you have all the nyala in a reserve congregate around the single water hole you will get to see into the animals’ behaviors and social interactions far more than you would be able to see them on an average game drive.

The most apparent social interaction was a distinct hierarchy while the animals were drinking. The largest male would drink first and chase off any competitors for the limited water. Chivalry is also dead amongst the nyala; every female had to wait to drink until every adult male had his fill. When subordinate nyalas would challenge the system, the male that was drinking, unlike the Care bears, would not tolerate sharing.
The nyala ewes also displayed an eerily human like quality as well. They would approach the male nyalas while they were drinking and pretend to nuzzle them while slowly moving towards the water.  Where have I seen this before?
The drinking hierarchy was also not species limited. As soon as a larger species moved in they would lay claim to the water hole. In this instance it was the giraffes. Being the tallest animal on earth, it is no wonder how they were allowed to drink whenever they wanted. Although it is interesting to note that giraffes are some of the most hesitant drinkers on the planet because, with the exception of when they are born, they are only really ever vulnerable while they drink.

It is hard to stay positive in such situations where it is clear the animals are going beyond their normal behavior due to wildlife management issues, but it is our duty as naturalist to take these times to study the animals and their behavior under such circumstances as to increase our knowledge of the natural world and to, hopefully, one day help fix the problems that plague these ecosystems during times of hardship.

The Trials of Makhasa

by  Joshua Parmer (Bhejane Nsele)

A short write up of observations during the Nsele practicals at Makhasa Game Reserve

If there is a silver lining to the dry conditions at Makhasa it would be that the harsh conditions allowed us to see animals in a state most tourists don’t get to see them in. The reality may seem harsh, but when you have all the nyala in a reserve congregate around the single water hole you will get to see into the animals’ behaviors and social interactions far more than you would be able to see them on an average game drive.

The most apparent social interaction was a distinct hierarchy while the animals were drinking. The largest male would drink first and chase off any competitors for the limited water. Chivalry is also dead amongst the nyala; every female had to wait to drink until every adult male had his fill. When subordinate nyalas would challenge the system, the male that was drinking, unlike the Care bears, would not tolerate sharing.
The nyala ewes also displayed an eerily human like quality as well. They would approach the male nyalas while they were drinking and pretend to nuzzle them while slowly moving towards the water.  Where have I seen this before?
The drinking hierarchy was also not species limited. As soon as a larger species moved in they would lay claim to the water hole. In this instance it was the giraffes. Being the tallest animal on earth, it is no wonder how they were allowed to drink whenever they wanted. Although it is interesting to note that giraffes are some of the most hesitant drinkers on the planet because, with the exception of when they are born, they are only really ever vulnerable while they drink.
It is hard to stay positive in such situations where it is clear the animals are going beyond their normal behavior due to wildlife management issues, but it is our duty as naturalist to take these times to study the animals and their behavior under such circumstances as to increase our knowledge of the natural world and to, hopefully, one day help fix the problems that plague these ecosystems during times of hardship.

Industry newsIndaba 2016

by Amy Upton (Bhejane Nsele)

INDABA kicked off with an early morning start at 8 am where all embodiment's of the industry game together under a few roofs; with exhibitors from 18 countries all over Southern Africa.

It is the place to be for those who want to make a difference. 

 Why is Inaba worthwhile and relevant?

It is worth while because it creates a warm and welcoming environment in which business relations can begin to grow its roots with meaningful interactions with people from all over Africa.

Derek Hanekom said “INDABA gives us a sense of belonging. It is where we can come together to share knowledge and create partnerships” which is extremely true. INDABA shows you what is out there in the big bad world; it also shows you the reality of the industry as well as the endless possibilities to work in making it all worthwhile.

Although INDABA was busy and there was talk of meetings left, right and centre. The people of INDABA always had a smile on their face and a welcoming hand shake ready to hear what you had to say. This is one memory I will take away from INDABA is that these are ‘my people’ and they want to hear about who I am and what I do because there is always the opportunity for me to make their company better; and the thought of that makes myself and I am positive makes many other people feel significant in such a huge industry.

INDABA was incredible and eye opening and definitely a good way to be introduced into the industry and is definitely an event that must be attended. Thank you Bhejane Nature Training for the opportunity.

“Look deep into Nature, and then you will understand everything better”- Albert Einstein

Orb Web Spiders of Zululand - by Frikkie Loots (Advanced Course Year 2 Student)

Nephilidae (Golden Orb-Web Spiders)

by Frikkie Loots

General Information about Nephilidae

The spider family Nephilidae is large, with 75 described species in four genera. They were firstly grouped in the families Araneidae and Tetragnathidae. The genus Singafrotypa was moved to Araneidae in 2002. 

The generic name Nephila is derived from Greek, "nen" meaning "to spin" and "philos" meaning "love" thus meaning "fond of spinning".  In South Africa, we have 3 genera represented by 6 different species.

Mating and reproduction

Nephilidae have great sexual dimporphism. The pedipalps have  evolved into enlarged, complex palps which break off inside of the females' copulatory openings after copulation.

The broken palps serve as mating plugs, which makes future matings with a mated female more difficult. This genera of spiders also participate in mate-guarding; a mated male will stand guard by his female and chase off other males, thereby increasing the mated male's paternity share. Mated males are castrated in the process of mate plugging, though this may be an advantage in mate guarding, as mated males have been observed to fight more aggressively and win more frequently than virgin males. 

So while the female spiders are still polyandrous, the males have become monogamous.The female Nephila constructs her egg sac on a leaf or tree bark; and produce about 400 - 1500 eggs per sac.

Prey capture

A large vertical, sulfurous yellow orb-web is constructed, which has the top section missing in adult webs.

Juvenile spiders construct complete orb webs. In semi-social populations, their webs are joined together forming an awesome, almost impenetrable curtain of webs. These webs are supported by anchor strings of silk in front and behind the orb-web.

The web is usually supported between two trees, buildings, fences and can span enormous spaces, with the orb up to a meter wide, about 1.5 meters or more from the ground and is capable of capturing small birds. There is no evidence that these birds are eaten but they may be cut out of the web by the spider.

Unlike most orb-webs, nephilid webs are partially repaired and not replaced. Most of the activity is conducted by day (diurnal).

The obvious colour of the main strands are believed to act as a "house hold insurance policy“ to the spider by advertising it's presence to large creatures such as birds, so that they don't damage it by flying through.

Building such elaborate webs is energy expensive and preventing large scale damage to the web is important.Some theories suggest that the UV properties of the silk attract insects in the same way that the UV pathways leading to the nectar in flowers do.

Commensal species

There are often one or more tiny spiders with silver triangular abdomens on Nephila webs. These are called dewdrop spiders of the genus Argyrodes (family Theridiidae) and they clean the orb-webs of prey too small for the host spider.

The South African Orb-web species:

 Nephila komazi  (Giant Nephila)

The largest of the Nephiladae was believed to be extinct until in 2009 it was re discovered in the Zululand area and now can also be found in Madagascar. 

Largest of the Golden Orb web spiders with a leg span measuring at 120mm (12cm). Its carapace is silvery, Abdomen is long and cylindrical extending beyond its spinnerets. It has a bold black and pale yellow pattern on its carapace which is one of the key ways to identify this spider. 

Legs are black with little brushes of hair on them. This spider is so large in fact that it’s been known to catch birds! Their large Orb webs are built between trees with the female sitting in the middle and the not so much smaller males (which is rare in the Nephila family as usually the males are substantially smaller than the females) sitting on the edges of the web.

Nephila fenestrata  (Black-legged Nephila)

One of the more common spiders of the Nephila family that we can see here in KZN as they love forested areas, usually between January to July (but if conditions are right they will stay till the end of August). 

Easiest way to identify this spider is by its black, very hairy legs. Carapace is oval in shape and has white and black patterns with often a few yellow spots. The Black-legged Nephila’s like to make their nests either in the open or amongst trees, but they also seem to enjoy making their webs near human habitations which often causes problems as many people don’t enjoy waking up to a spider that has a leg span of about 100mm (10cm). 

The females generally sits in the middle of the web and the much smaller males sit around the edges of the web.

Nephilengys cruentata (Hermit Spider)

The hermit spider is quite a beautiful spider. For a spider it can grow to be rather large. These particular spiders like to build a funnel shaped web where they can hide from view and be safe during resting times and times of stress. 

Attached to that funnel shape is a normal spider web that is used for catching prey. These are quite secretive spiders and do not like to be out in the open and that is why the spend most of their time in the safety of their funnel. 

They have a beautiful coloration which in nature almost always means danger. Their legs are red, yellow and black and their abdomen is black with white spots. As with all spiders the female is bigger than the males.

This spider in particular normally can be found with many of the same species in close proximity. They are also commonly found near and around human dwellings.

Clitaetra irenae- Tree Nephila

This Spider is quite hard to find as its colouration is perfect for blending in with its surroundings (normally tree bark), and you do need to know what it looks like and where to look. 

It is called the Tree nephila as it lives on the tree bark where it constructs a permanent web. Its colouration is mostly a pale brown with some spots of red and black.

This spider occurs in the coastal plain forests of Maputaland in KwaZulu-Natal South Africa. It loves very close or dense canopy.

Nephila senegalensis (Banded-legged Nephila)

A beautiful spider that has a very interesting and distinguishing pattern on its legs. It has two yellow streaks on its front legs which gained it its name banded-legged nephila. Being a Nephila it is a large spider and can be viewed near Oom Pine’s house in the forest.

Nephila inaurata (Red-legged Nephila)

The legs on this species are red and almost see through. They are large spiders and like to make webs near and around human settlements and buildings. They have a small abdomen for their size and quite long legs.

Lodge life - my experience by Josie Easton

Lodge life my experience 

by Josie Easton

My story starts at Bhejane Nature Training in KwaZulu-Natal. I was one of the first ever guides to come out of the Advanced Nature Guiding & Wildlife Conservation (3 Year) course. Our group was called the ‘Impi’s’ as we likened ourselves to those famous Zulu warriors with our passion and drive to succeed.

After completing two years of the course, I departed Bhejane with an overwhelming excitement, having had the most incredible experiences but at the same time relieved that finally two years of intense studying and exams was over for now and that I was at last being thrown out into the outside guiding working world.

The two years we had completed had been extremely diverse and as thorough as possible to prepare us for the working world of ecotourism. Now in our third year all we had to do was pick our one year working placement and to get stuck in! After a lot of deliberating and weighing up of my options; i.e. Research, Guide or Rehabilitation; I finally decided on a 4* lodge reasonably close to Bhejane. Looking back I am sure that my decision had a lot to do with Bhejane being my comfort zone, but the main contributing factor was my love of KZN; with its fantastic diversity of flora and fauna, I felt that I wasn’t quite finished discovering and exploring the area just yet. 

   

Nine months on and I am still pleased with my decision. I definitely went into the industry (as I guess all new guides do) quite naively, knowing, in theory what to expect from a real working lodge environment; but in reality still somehow not quite mentally prepared for both the positive and negative challenges that were to follow.

I enjoyed the day-day logistics within the lodge’s daily running, as my key strengths lie within problem solving and planning. I definitely thrived and was in my element balancing the needs of the guests and ensuring that they could be accommodated to the best of the team’s ability. My least favourite part of working within a high quality establishment was guests arriving late for transfers to the different activities that we provided. Meaning that they arrived late or even missed an activity entirely! Which then in their eyes can turn into the Guides fault, being not prepared to turn into Michael Schumacher to get them there on time and thus compromising the safety and quality of the service.

However many times you are told (warned) and however prepared you may feel, it never really quite sinks in until you start working as a guide just how many hours you will have to work in a day, not to mention a month! I was lucky, just working 25 day +/- on and 5 days off, so mine was definitely the better shift compared to other guides who can work as much as 6-8 weeks on, but obviously have more off time to compensate.

On my first day at the lodge I put on my neatly ironed uniform and polished my leather boots and walked down to the lodge eager for my first day, only to find out that my new colleague, had a few days ago handed in his notice (his reason for leaving being that he missed a ‘9 till 5’ job – which guiding is definitely not!). I only had a few days to learn from him about the in’s and out’s of the lodge and the workings of my new role, as he was also the only current Guide there before I started. I was very lucky that he took the time to bring me up to speed on everything, from how to use and record the usage of the diesel tank to fill up the vehicles (the lodge has its own diesel tank) to navigating the thickly vegetated, beautiful sand forest property – which hadn’t seen any bush clearing for quite some time. After my colleague left, I became lone ranger for a while until another Guide was appointed upon my recommendation.

Another situation that is frankly every Guide (and guests) fear is exceptionally bad weather, extreme winds and heavy rain. This for the most equals zero animal life to be easily seen, even on nice sunny days, it sometimes seems the animals just didn’t get the memo to come out and perform! This is where you really become thankful for your entire tree, grass and plant knowledge – and some Guides’ worst nightmare – birds! Luckily for me birding is one of my favourite pastimes.

The lodge had mostly foreign guests, particularly from Germany, France, Netherlands and England during the summer months with South African’s more commonly timing their holidays for the quieter off peak winter months. A challenge for me being British born was although most guests had a good grasp of English, the French, and in particular the older generation often only spoke limited English, so we sometimes struggled to find a common ground to communicate on. This proved quite daunting at first for me as learning new languages was never a strong point with me – so I had to fall back on my very vague French lessons from school. I now know French guests are not swearing at me when they get excited and shout “Phacochere! Phacochere!” (Pronounced Fack-eu-chet) or “Warthog! Warthog!” Soon I started to greatly enjoy these drives, where I taught them about the bush and in return I got to practice and learn new French words. I quickly realised how much foreign guests appreciate it when you try and use and learn their languages with them.

During my time at the lodge, I came into day to day contact with not only our guests, but with our staff and this must also be mentioned here. Many of our staff came from different and diverse backgrounds, Britain, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and of course South Africa. I am pleased to say we all got on brilliantly (99.9% of the time) although we didn’t always all get along on a daily basis – (who does?) but we all had a mutual respect and friendship with each other. Although there were often moments when things became stressful and I was often in trouble with the kitchen due to us coming back late from a drive – (the kitchen doesn’t care that you and your guests saw 6 LIONS ON A KILL!). You only got back at 11am and your guests haven’t even had breakfast yet, not to even mention lunch!

I believe the biggest lesson I personally learned was this – Bearing in mind, whilst studying hard to become a Guide and then finally securing a job to work in the ecotourism sector; being a Guide in this industry is not just about guiding, guest transfers or even evening guest hosting. It often involves anything the lodge requests you to do and everything in-between, from bush clearing to raking leaves to picking up staff at midnight as they haven’t got any means of transport.

My first job and experiences as a Guide have given me a valuable insight and an understanding that I will take with me throughout my career. I will treasure it and the people I have had the pleasure of working alongside during the first steps of my Guiding career, and feel confident that I will be in this industry a while longer yet...

To all the new Guides going out into the industry; follow your passion and learn from every experience, both good and bad. This career will be challenging at times, but it’s all worth it when your guests go away happy and complement you highly on the experiences you have opened them up to. I once got some Branston pickle (like chutney) squeezy bottles sent to me in the post from the UK, from my South African clients as we had compared food’s we had missed from our home countries – with a card saying how much they enjoyed our time together.

Finally, get out there and enjoy the animal sightings, after all that’s why we became Guides in the first place! You never know what magic sighting is around the next corner.

Josie Easton

Nature Guide   

          

Tracker Training

Well done to all the Amabhubesi Students on achieving their Tracker qualifications with Colin Patrick.

2013 Bhejane Nature Training Trails

With the smell of Zululand smoke still fresh on backpacks, we make the rifles safe and put the boots down after the last trails course for 2013. It’s difficult to believe it’s this time of the year already but what a journey it has been!

 

One of the most exciting aspects of walking trails is waking up every morning not knowing what today has in store for you. Then you start unfolding and reading the ‘newspaper’ of the environment around you and no matter what your level of guiding and knowledge, you always return with new lessons learnt! Seeing is believing and in the case of trails; seeing, hearing, smelling and feeling is believing and there’s no better way of learning!

We walk 4 different Game Reserves in KwaZulu Natal. All are Big 5 properties and most of them have healthy populations of Black Rhino, which always adds another dimension to being out in the bush. This year also proved to be the year of the Lions for the trails students. Every year we leave slightly short on cat encounters but in 2013 this all changed. Students commented that Zululand Rhino Reserve is better described as Zululand ‘Lion’ Reserve as we had daily, quality Lion encounters.

The Impi group was our last trails group for the year. They all qualified as Back- up Trails guides in 2012 and this year we started working towards their Full trails qualifications. We were extremely fortunate to have Collin Patrick join us for a tracking course and assessments. This opened a whole other world for most of the participants and we were truly blessed to learn a great deal from Collin. As the world is today, we are constantly being bombarded with information. Billboards, radio and TV throw things into our senses without us even noticing it. Being out in the wild you need to teach yourself again to actually pay attention to your surroundings and physically search for some clues or signs to complete the picture in your mind of the environment around you. Some people find it very difficult to be quite and always need to be kept entertained through conversation or music for example. An exercise we did with Collin one afternoon was a perfect demonstration of this. The noisy shoes and sock protectors came off and we walked through the bush in a silence that overwhelmed your sense of hearing. So much so that we nearly stepped on a Red Duiker feeding right ahead of us that had no idea of our approaching group. When you are listening to somebody or something, completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words or the sound, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not just part of it.

Two incidents took place where groups confronted poachers that we found while on trail. With the increasing amount of poaching taking place in surrounding reserves I knew it would only be a matter of time until confrontation is made. You walk in areas where game drive vehicles cant access and other than the reserve APU patrols not much people ever cross through. The first night in camp, Dylan Panos briefed everyone on procedures to follow in the case of encountering a potential poacher. Little did the group know that the very next morning we would find ourselves bumping into a strange character. He was submissive from the beginning and showed no real signs of threat but there was definitely a sense of nervousness in the air, from both sides. Not knowing whom else could be hiding in the dense riverine or whether they are armed or not sent the senses into over drive. The APU was contacted and a few minutes later they arrived on the scene and we set off looking for dangerous game that hopefully would not include humans again.

As the hot, dry and humid winds swept over Zululand the fires broke out and we soon found ourselves putting the rifles down and piking up Quarries. Fighting fires was a great experience for the Impi’s, although a few people returned back to camp with less hair than they left with. After a hot day of fire fighting nothing was more welcoming than lying in the rapids of the Mkuze River with the cold water massaging the sore muscles while viewing the aerobatic hawking of the swallows above us.

Rob, Helene, Axel and Gerry keeping that fire from jumping!

Coenraad Having to move his tent in a hurry as the fire approaches camp

BarOne: For a 25 hour day!

Bath and Back Massage

Some of the experiences shared by the trails students of 2013 will definitely keep the camp fire stories alive till late night but is something that one article can’t cover. There are, however, some experiences we can highlight from the year and who better to tell us than the students themselves. The following extracts are taken from the students Dangerous Game Logbook entries:

Student: Jean Michau

Total hours on trail: 9

Great morning walk. Heard baboon’s alarm calling and decided to go investigate. As we got closer we found fresh lioness tracks heading in the direction of the baboons along the Msunduzi river. We got to the river after a very slow walk while scanning the area. We saw the baboons on the opposite bank and could hear the sounds of either mating lions or lions feeding. Yesterday we found them mating about 4km from this same area and we knew it could very possibly be them, still at it. We decided to sit down there for awhile and listen to try place what we are hearing and where it is coming from. After a few minutes of sitting down and listening one guy from the group went back the way we came from to go and relieve himself. Next minute he comes running back to the group, white in the face. His words don’t make sense for a few seconds and then eventually he gets the words out, “Lioness….is….. Right there!” We looked up and about 20m above us on the bank, the lioness is looking at us. We just stood dead still and watched her. She showed no signs of aggression or agitation. She curiously watched us and slowly proceeded to our left. She stopped again at one point looking very intently at the opposite bank and emitted a soft contact call in that direction. She turned and looked at us again for a few seconds and then crossed the dry riverbed in front of us. Great sighting! Walking further down river we found the tracks of where the male and other female had crossed but because of the danger factor of lions mating in rather dense vegetation we did not follow up any further.

Student: Quinton Paul Josop

Total hours on trail: 6

The morning was really quite with not much activity along the Mkuze river except for some general game. Spotted a scaly-throated Honeyguide and then saw a Greater Honeyguide that followed us for more than 2km! We picked up fresh White Rhino tracks on the corner of the road we were on. Continued to walk just scanning our surroundings. As I looked behind us, already a kilometer uo the road, there were two very conspicuous shapes lying on the ground. After investigating through my binoculars we realized that it was 3 White Rhino. We walked back to make an approach. Approached into the wind along a tree line trying to stop Zebra and Wildebeest from alerting the Rhino of our presence. We managed to get within 40m from the Rhino resting in the open patch. As we extracted from the Rhino sighting the lead noticed Lions on a kill 200m to our left. We approached the lions very slowly, using the tree line for cover and keeping the wind in our favor. A broken tree served as the perfect concealment to sit down and observe the lions from about 100m. The lioness got up eventually and walked to some near by trees. Next the younger female got up with a piece of meat in her mouth and went to ly down in the shade with her mother. The young male continued to feed for some time and eventually got up with the whole kill in his mouth, and took it to a shady spot where he continued to feed.

Student: Helene Mertens

Total hours on trail: 7

As we approached the Nandi dam area (from the North), we saw a lioness who, quickly moved off out of view. We looped around and found a great position with height advantage on the eastern side of the dam with a great view of the male and another lioness, both lying down. The one lioness saw us and observed calmly for a while, then gets up and walks towards the male where she shows her readiness to be mounted. After a short mating session the male the male dismounts and lies back down. Then the other female approaches and presents her readiness to the male, which then mounts her and after a short mating session both lie down as the other female observes. The male looked quite tired at this stage! One female looks up at us at this point and gives us an intense stare for 5 minutes before all three lions take a short snooze. The one lioness gets up and suddenly approaches the male again wanting him to mount but the male retaliates and aggressively chases her off and then lies down next to the other female. The male and lioness then mated twice more as the rejected female looks on in envy. She tries once or twice more but is chased away every time. After some time of viewing we decided to extract and leave the lions to carry on with their business. Great sighting!

Student: Greg Heasman

Total hours on trail: 9

We were about to fall asleep on our sleep out when we heard braking branches. We waited the sounds in for a while and soon a bull elephant came down to the water to drink. We just lay there under the stars and watched him mess around in the water. It was amazing to just be watching him like this but he soon got curious to our presence and came to investigate. He came in for a closer look but then decided to rather leave and he moved off and made his way back into the dark bush to continue feeding!

Student: Helene Mertens

Total hours on trail: 6

After the sighting of the male lion at 12:30, we went to meet another trails group. I joined that group to go back to the male which we left sleeping close to Nandi Dam. We walked a wide loop around to the dam and found the male had changed his position from where we left him last, sleeping above an erosion donga that ran around him. We approached to about 25m from him, the donga serving as the perfect  barrier between us and the lion. The lion had an easy escape route and for him to get any closer to us would mean crossing the very steep donga first. He kept on sleeping in the afternoon sun but after about 10 minutes he woke up, sat up and started looking around. He scanned his area around him and then suddenly his eyes met ours! Wind was in our favor and his face gave a real look of amusement when he saw us, which was quite comical. He remained very relaxed and didn’t seem to mind our presence too much. We viewed him for another 10 minutes when the wind suddenly turned and blew our scent right to him. He turned once again to look at us. This time, however, it was a bit more intently. At this point we decided to extract as soon as he relaxed and took his eyes off us so to not over stay our welcome in the sighting.  Animals have a 6th sense when it comes to being watched and last thing we wanted to do was to disrupt the beautiful lion from his afternoon rest. I lead the group out of the sighting the way we walked in as the lead guide stayed behind to keep an eye on the lion as we moved out.

Not one encounter will ever be the same as a previous one and there is always something to learn from every situation. We would like to thank every Bhejane student who was part of the trails journey in 2013 and we look forward to keeping up with your careers and know that the foundation has been laid for a successful and fruitful future.