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) 

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

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.

 

Bhejane 2012- A Memoir

By: Khyle Pretorius

Some time ago I was faced with a decision, to remain in the hustle and bustle of the city or leave it forever for a life in Nature. I decided to leave the world behind and venture into the unknown, to take the leap and turn my world upside down. This meant leaving behind old habits and worn out friends and seeking fresh, new knowledge and experiences. So I went with my heart and chose to enquire at Bhejane Nature Training.

Eager but apprehensive of what I would find there I climbed on a plane to Richards Bay on the 10^th of February 2012. Never having visited this part of South Africa, I really was going to an unknown place. I said my farewells knowing that things would never be the same, what an understatement!

Dylan Panos

The first person I met was Dylan Panos, at first I was very intimidated but from speaking to him saw a man who sat in authority and knowledge (Boss man). When we arrived at Ehlathini, we were greeted with the sight of the ancient sand dunes, False Bay and the mysterious Lebombo Forest. I met Jana, who showed me around the camp. Entering the forest for the first time I felt at peace and my mind fell into a sense of wonder and excitement at being present in this beautiful piece of Nature.

Monday, 13 February 2012. This marks the start of the first term and the commencement of our orientation. We missioned off into the bush on the clues of our wonderful new TA’s to go and get to know the land. This we did, thoroughly, up and down bush, into mud and thorns but we emerged victorious. What I learned on that day is that teamwork would play a large role in the future and that the personality types were very diverse amongst the group.

During this time we got to start knowing each other and forming opinions and first impressions. Friends were made, groups were formed, routines began and time passed. Lectures proved to be highly informative and more than enjoyable, all this new knowledge to apply to life. I learned here that knowledge really is power and 10 000 hours of practice will pay off, thank you for that motivation Nic. A definite highlight of this time would have to be when we went to Zulu Croc and handled live crocodiles, from catching them and subduing them to sexing them as well. I am badly afraid of crocodiles and to touch them and see that they are actually not that bad was a true conquest of fear in my life.

Time flies when you are in the bush and you begin to lose track of the days of the week so this brings me to Tuesday, 10 April 2012. We made our way to Mkuze Game Reserve to go and spend 2 weeks at the Eco Camp with Ryan, Jana, TJ and Ashley. I relate this story because I believe it was a transformative week for everyone. The camp was rustic and took me back to Nature. Every night we would sit around the table playing numerous games of Shithead and building very strong bonds with each other.  False personas began to fall away at this time because nobody had anywhere to run to and we began to see each other in a more genuine way. 2 weeks of drives and the most amazing animal sightings left me feeling tired but content with life. 

Monday, 25 June 2012. This sees the day that I was having most stress about, trails. I had a very bad impression of trails because of the rifle component of the course, this soon changed when James Bristow came along. He changed my mind about the use of rifles and I began to feel safer and less afraid to handle them. I was also stressed because the thought of walking amongst potentially dangerous game was daunting. Weeks went by and I practiced a lot with rifles and learnt more and more about trails.

Thursday, 5 July 2012. On this day I shot a .375 calibre rifle. Holy Cow! I didn’t hit any target but the rush of firing that weapon was enough. The most difficult part of this course for me was the Advanced Rifle Handling. Timing and accuracy were tricky for me but I will have that qualification before I leave!

From this point we entered into the real trails experience. My highlight stands out as Ibandla Camp at Amakhosi Private Game Reserve. The location of our camp was unequalled and the fact that we were right next to a river didn’t bother me, even though it was the middle of winter. The walking was amazing and we got fit as hell while enjoying the most pristine areas inaccessible by vehicle. Here we got to know Dylan much better and formed a new respect for what he does, SKILLS!!! The lifestyle we as a group were leading I feel was very beneficial to our growth. We had to cook on fire and go without commodities that we have become accustomed to. Through a certain amount of deprivation I learned a brand new respect for the Bush.

Sitting watch was also an experience I would repeat again. At 3 in the morning the waking world is asleep and the night time creatures come out to play, only that their playtime leaves the hairs on the back of your neck standing upright. Sleeping out in the open air was also the most incredible activity. To go to sleep looking at the stars and waking up to clear, cloudless skies is not something that words can do justice. To hear leopard coughing next to you and lion roaring in the distance is the most intensely emotional experience ever.

A day I will never forget as we were charged by a white rhino. Never will you understand nor conceptualise that feeling unless you were there. It seems that a semi chaos takes over the split second that animal runs, as humans we seek to run away but must not as the first rule of trails is, well you know. Thanks Ronnie for always reminding us that “as jy dom is, moet jy #*&”, very valuable advice!

Being out in the rough, wild bush forces one to revaluate and face their fears and “demons” if you will. When you walk so many hours a day you cannot help but go inside your head and think deeply about the state of your life. All that introspection leads to insights and inspirations I never thought possible. I think that walking trails is good for not only your body but your mind and your soul too. I also made a very valuable and dear friend in Monica and we are now very adept in the art of debate.

These are but a few of the many highlights and experiences that I can relate as I bring this tale to a close. I would like to relate a few sayings that have become a part of my new vocabulary:

Bring solutions, not problems!

Awehness!

Don’t run!

Take responsibility for the world around you and your own actions!

Be the change you want to see!

Coming to Bhejane has taught me FAR more than just how to be a guide. I realise now that we have had experiences this year that the average individual will never get to see or feel. We have been taught invaluable facts that would have remained secret if not for coming here. I have been infused with a passion and great respect for this industry. My love of Nature has only been magnified by attending this course. As I said before, this place affects Mind, Body and Soul on many different levels. The changes I have noticed within myself are very real and I believe are permanent. I have learnt to respect my fellow man and to have more patience with the world. I have learnt that there is no rulebook for life and Nature herself, only the rules we as humans set up. I have learnt that we as mankind are not the most important species on this planet and that actually our presence here is hurting more than helping our ecosystem. I have learnt more about the animals of this planet (humans included) than I ever thought I would know. I have seen the healing power of the bush and watched not only me but all my friends change and grow over this year. The scenarios and situations I have found myself in this year have all shaped who I am becoming and I do believe although tough at times this year at Bhejane was integral to my growth as a guide and as a man. Through Bhejane I found confidence in myself and my abilities, saw myself in a very real light overcame numerous obstacles and made some lifelong friends. I never thought for one second coming to Bhejane would do more than equip me with knowledge but yet I encountered a profoundly evolved group of people and some of the deepest psychological healing a human will ever see.

This brings me to a list of names. This list is to mention all the important human factors that shaped my year. To these people I shower blessings for being big influences on my life and helping me to learn very valuable lessons. In no particular order:

Nic Anubis Nicolosi, Rob Neat, Ryan Biza Smart, Megan Modjadji Balouza, Axel Primmer, Dylan Bob Dempsey, Paul Josop, Gerry Jacobs, Graeme Stewart, Craig Bateman, Jean Michau, Derek Jooste, Zee Lemena, Mat Walker, Josie Easton, Emma Ascher, Jay Bell, Rupert Duvenage, Craig Robert Clowes. If I’ve forgotten anyone, THANK YOU to them aswell. I think everyone at Bhejane deserves a thanks.

Secondly, to the people who made this all happen:

Christa Panos, Dylan Panos, Ryan Tippet, Jana Beets, Amon Ndlovu, Nic van der Wiel, Freya van der Wiel, Ronnie Brink, Casper Bester, Mare Louise Bester, Paul Jensen, Hanroe Taljaard, Monica Maroun, Dr Deborah, Tannie Lettie, Oom Pine, Makhosi, Nonto, Dumi, Nellie, Peter.

Your hard work may go unthanked sometimes but we all really appreciate you and the input you have had on our lives.

 

Bhejane 1st Year Ending in Style

By: Axel Roy Primmer (3 Year advanced Nature Guiding course)

Well I am recently out of school, very keen to start my studying career in the field of environmental studies or a BsC Marine biology. Instead I was surfing the web and came along Bhejane Nature Trainings website and I noticed that they offer both terrestrial, marine and conservation fields, immediately it caught my eye as it was always a dream to be out in the bush and not having to worry about the concrete jungle and next thing I know, I was applying for the 1 year course.

Knowing that I was going to begin my first year out of school and away from home, I was quite nervous to find out what this year had in store for me, and little did I know, it was to be one of the highlights of my life.

Firstly I’m doing what love and secondly it involves not being in an office, because as most people know, I would probably die in an office.

So being one of the very younger aged students and knowing that there will be older students, I was nervous to think how on earth am I going to be able to get along with them, I mean I’m young, active and motivated, but in the end it worked out well.

To begin my story, I began as a Amakhosi, getting to know a biggish group full of people of all kinds, I was quite shy at first but then I got into it and so did the others and we began to loosen up and ended up being good friends. Then I had to change sides cause I was falling in love with this lifestyle and that’s when I became an Impi (Skimpi) just after level 1 and before trails, luckily I had got along better with the 3 year group more then some of the people from my group and I could feel that I was kind of accepted into the group.

My first gathering with the Impi’s was to talk about trails, one of my many highlights of this amazing experience. Dylan told us what we will need to take on trails after the holiday and all I remember was going home and saying “Dad we have to go get many things” and while buying all that stuff in preparation, I was growing inside with excitement. That cold morning we left for trails I’m sure everyone could smell walking in the air that day, because we walked hard over the 6 weeks covering almost 600kms and walking for more hours then fingers and toes I have to count them. Every time we saw elephants and buffalo that same pulse of excitement shot through my veins with a big kick, I could feel the adrenaline and it is definitely not for those boring office men. Although it was a lot of walking and a lot of fat burning it was still a memory that feels like yesterday and I’m even more excited for Trails 2.0.

Then we began with the marine side of the course, which I really enjoyed the practical side more than the theory side, but nethertheless, marine is absolutely mind blowing. Seeing what we as a group have seen under the sea together, most people would give body parts to trade places, but I’ll never give up my place.

Some of my best highlights for marine has to be this one massive Loggerhead turtle that swam between our group as it was on a mission so people had to scatter, and not to forget the other one amazing moment on that same dive is the view of a Leopard shark we had just being all mellow in the sand at about 30m. One dive that some might find boring but not so much to me, was when we dove at Tiger ally where all the shark teeth are found. What was so awesome about this site to me was to be able to sit on that massive sand patch and actually let it sink it to where I’m actually sitting and it hit me! I’m about 16m below sea level and I loved that feeling of amazement that sunk in.

In my eyes, I believe us as a group have all matured, and personally I believe I have matured to, and having people around you that have helped you gain this maturity cause they care. I have learnt far more then just what the course offers and a few of those things would be ethics and to behave and look neat at all times cause no matter how you look someone is there looking at you and its not how you make your life but how you live it. On my arrival here I was not at all interested in birds and photography but over the year here those have definitely stood out as my two main interests and I’m looking forward to the bird specialist next year more than anything (except maybe the parties of course.)

Writing this story has actually made me think back at the times we have had here through the long agonising lectures, the long but exciting lectures, the practical’s which make the lectures seem the most important thing ever, (see how well you have listened). To look back at it all, the good times and the bad times, I believe as a group we have gained so much knowledge and in this field of work, we are all going to go far.

Id also like to thank Dylan and Christa for allowing us all to have this opportunity and to Ryan Tippett for making me love birds so much and getting me into photography. Ronnie for the good times and Freya for all the lectures on marine and Nick for the practical’s and the lectures and to our bar men and expert snorkeler (Paul) and our media man and camera man (Hanroe) and to Tannie Lettie and Oom Pine and to the KITCHEN ladies for making the most amazing food and also providing us this a load of dinner laughs.

Tembe and Turtle Nesting at Bhanga Nek

The Bhejane Nature Training students have had the opportunity this week to go and watch the Turtle nesting at Bhanga Nek and while in the area a drive through Tembe Elephant Park during the day.

Tembe elephant park delivered once again with some great elephant sightings. The Tembe bush is green and dense with all the rain we have had the past month and this makes game spotting slightly more challenging. It was nice to see all the young, new born animals that are around, from the youngest Impala ive seen to date, which was probably just approaching the end of its laying out period, to some really small warthogs we found hiding behind a dead branch next to the road. 

The students stayed over at the Rocktail Bay beach lodge, in the beautiful sand forest lying right next to the beautiful protected beaches of the area. From Rocktail we drove to Bhanga Nek beach along the challenging coastal sand roads to meet the guide to take us on our Turtle tour.  We walked 12km in total, but every step of the way was worth the final result we got.

At the 6km mark we found one loggerhead turtle making her way out of the ocean and up onto the beach. We sat for about 40minutes waiting for her to find the right spot where she will then start digging to lay her eggs. This particular turtle couldn’t find soft, suitable sand for her nest and then she turned around and headed back to the ocean. The nesting area must be selected cautiously because it affects characteristics such as fitness, emergence ration and vulnerability to predators for the hatchlings and if the female cant find a suitable area, she will return to the ocean and try again at a different spot along the beach.

About 100m from our tours starting point we found another Loggerhead moving up the beach and sat down once again to wait and see if she will find a suitable spot and start nesting. After about 30minutes she started digging and the guide took us in to watch the process. It was amazing to see how she can use her back fins for digging and how effective she is at using them as she digs down into the soft sand. After about 15 minutes of digging the egg laying process started. The turtles’ eyes are very sensitive to light and we used one red light to see what was happening, avoiding the head region. The last thing we wanted to do is to disturb the turtle and cause her to go back into the ocean without laying her eggs.

Loggerhead turtles nest in intervals of 2 to 4 years and will lay 3 to 6 nests per season, at approximate intervals of 12–17 days during the nesting season, on or near the beach where they hatched. They will lay an average of between 100 to 126 eggs in each nest, which will then incubate for about 60 days.  After the eggs have been laid the female will cover the egg chamber and body pit with sand and return to the sea. The whole process can take up to 2 hours!

This was truly an amazing experience to have been part of and 60 days from now there will be small Loggerhead turtles emerging from that exact spot!

The level 1 Marine and terrestrial groups will be going on turtle tours tonight and we look forward to hearing about their experiences when they return!

The video underneath is a short edit on the Experiences the Impi's had on the trip! 

For more information on Bhejane Nature Training and Available 2013 Course, email us on info@bhejanenaturetraining.com today!

Rocktail Bay under the Night Sky

Creating Awareness Through Wilderness....