Rocktail Bay Snorkeling Practical

As part of the FGASA Level 1 Marine guiding qualification, students start off with a snorkeling practical. This introduces them to the species one would find along our shores and prepares them to be able to provide guests with a guided snorkeling safari.  

(See article: ‘The value of a guided snorkeling safari’)

The aim of this first practical is to get students comfortable in the sea and to teach them snorkeling procedures that would be applied to a guided experience with guests.

On Tuesday the 23^rd of October the new Level 1 Marine group, the ‘Umkhomo’ group, went to Rocktail Bay for their first practical with Bhejane Nature Training. The coastal drive to Rocktail Bay offers some awesome landscapes and scenic views of coastal forests and lakes.

We stopped off at lake Sibaya, South Africa’s largest fresh water lake. It is separated from the sea by coastal dunes only 2 km in width, and presumably originated from an old lagoon, which later became isolated by sand deposition. The water level is now 23 m above sea level and fluctuates widely depending on rainfall and evaporation, because of the lack of outflowing rivers. Lake Sibaya and its surrounding area is known for the wealth of fauna containing a few rare species and more than 200 species of birds and a large number of hippopotamus and crocodiles. Some 1,500 inhabitants on the lake coast live on agriculture and fishery, keeping traditional ways of fishing. When the lagoon got separated from the sea it slowly became a fresh water lake. Because this process was quite slow, some species managed to adapt to the change in salinity and from being a marine species now transformed to be a freshwater species. One example is the endemic freshwater goby, Silhouettea sibayi

From there we set off to Rocktail Bay Lodge, a beautiful, tranquil setting to spend the next 4 days. The lodge was abandoned a few years ago and is now run by the community, situated in a lovely thick coastal forest where I could enjoy a hot outdoor shower with a Livingstone’s Turaco perched in the tree in front me! 

Unfortunately weather conditions weren’t all that great and the sea conditions was nothing like it could be in the area, but we still went out and managed to learn a lot. On days where weather and rain prevented the group from going snorkeling, time was spent doing coastal tree and plant identification around the camp. Shells picked up from the beach were brought back to be identified and time was spent going through the list of fish seen during the days snorkel.

Birding in these coastal forest proves to be challenging, especially for your beginner birders. The morning chorus of bird calls erupts from dawn but trying to spot the Aves in their coastal habitat is another story. (Everyone sharpened up on their bird calls though!)

We managed to work 3 snorkeling sessions in between the rain and bad ocean conditions, the last two being the most successful! The shallow waters of Lala Neck and Rocktail beach gave the students that are not that comfortable yet in the ocean to adjust and get a feel for the aquatic environment. Everyone managed very well, in what was not ideal conditions, and managed to add quite a few species to their species list. Amongst the species seen was, a blue spotted ribbon tail ray; six stripe soap fish; rectangular trigger fish; floral moray eel; white spotted puffer; two stripe blenny and many more.

Being able to offer guest a guided snorkeling safari is definitely a huge attraction along the pristine beaches on the South African Coast, and would appeal to people of any age! More snorkeling will be done with the group in Cape Vidal and the Kosi Bay mouth, where they will hopefully experience better ocean conditions and see even more.  They will be going to Mission Rocks next week for some more rocky shore practicals and snorkeling.

Below is short video of the weeks snorkeling experiences. As you'll see, conditions weren't ideal and visibility was not that great, but was still greatly enjoyed by all parties and had some very memorable moments.

 

Lake Sibaya

Students Doing Some Fish ID

Flower from the Cross Berry Raisin Tree

For more information on the Bhejane Marine Level 1 course email us today!

info@bhejanenaturetraining.com

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Creating Awareness Through Wilderness.....

A Nkombe Experience

 By Hanroe Taljaard

 

It was the start of the third and final trails trip for the year. We knew from the first week on ZRR we were in for a wet one, but never- the- less a unique experience. We watched as rains poured, rivers flooded, followed by the sun and some very hot days as the bush became alive around us. We had excellent sightings during this trails, logging well over 70 dangerous game encounters and some, now well embedded, memories and experiences.

On walking one of the properties close by our main camp on Amazulu, we had some great sightings the one day, to me a day that is the essence of walking trails and getting the opportunity to become part of the nature around you. The terrain was not easy and we covered well over 25km of walking in order to log the, well deserved, 7 sightings for the day. We reached the lodge after walking most of the morning and had a chance to refill our water bottles, as temperatures soared well over 35 degrees. We left the lodge and headed south and after a few kilometers we spotted, far up in the distance, some white rhino feeding on some burnt patches. After tracking buffalo most of the morning, up some very steep mountainsides, this sight was well welcomed.

As you’ll see in the video, we were walking up on the road leading to the area where we spotted the rhino. You could hear the loud thuds of her feet hitting the ground as she suddenly came into view, running down the road we were on. We quickly moved off the road, to our right, and stood dead still. The mother and calf came to a stop about 55m from us. We think the reason for them running down the road, is that one of the bulls we saw up in the same area might have disturbed them and she ran down the road. She was unaware of our presence as the wind was well in our favor. She stopped briefly and moved around the other side of the road as we watched. After making a small loop she came back onto the road as the wind started swirling about. She became aware of a presence and moved in slowly to investigate. She came in to about 25m of us, as we stood motionless. Both her ears pointed at our direction as she sniffed around in the air. It was a few moments of ‘benoude boude,’ but amazing to see this beautiful animal up close and on their level. As soon as she sniffed and became aware of us, you can see how she turns side profile, shielding her calf from us. With a few snorts and grants, she sped off in the opposite direction. 

We continued up the road when they had cleared the area and moved up towards where we had spotted the others. We managed to get a nice sighting of a female and two sub- adults feeding. We viewed them and extracted without disturbing the animals, which is always a successful sighting. Heading up further towards the fence line the female and calf from earlier came out the bush ahead of us. Wind was in our favour and they were unaware of our presence.

We looked on as the calf was in a very playful mood. Running in circles around the mother while vocalizing squeaky grunts. This was awesome to see and was animal behavior at its best. The calf made a few turns by the mother and then started trotting down in our direction. We moved slightly to our left to stay behind a small barrier between them and us; a barrier that a rhino of her size, will make light work of! The calf came to about 40m from us when it suddenly became aware of our presence. You could actually see the shock on the little ones face as it realized we were there. The mother was there in no time, super alert and looking around. The calf made such quick dash back to mom, it tripped slightly over a bush, quickly picked itself up and got behind her large mother. We stood dead still and observed as the female sniffed the air to investigate. I think at this time everyone had pretty much decided on his tree of choice. She looked at us, for what felt like hours, then turned and ran off, calf close by. They went some distance and stopped, as the mother scanned the area intently.

There was so much to learn from the behavior we had witnessed by this female white rhino and her calf on this day. A lot was taken from it. It has happened often that these calves will run into a trails group without knowing that they were there, and can obviously turn into something very serious when the mother feels you threatening her or her calf. Through just standing our ground and remaining motionless she moved off, not sure what to make of the situation. We felt privileged to have been allowed to view these Rhino in their everyday life. It’s just beyond me to think that people will ruthlessly murder these magnificent animals to satisfy their own greed and in the light of all the latest rhino poaching, it was a privilege to be able to be part of their daily, undisturbed, lives for just a few minutes.

Share your comments, feelings and past experiences with us! Email us at hanroe@bhejanenaturetraining.com

Creating Awareness Through Wilderness....

For more information on Bhejane Nature Training or available courses email us on info@bhejanenaturetraining.com!

Butterfly Guiding

What follows below, is an article written by Zululand Butterfly Guide – Amon Ndlovu. We met Amon nearly two years ago when he was taking care of a Space for Elephants Camp on community property, for Nkosi Zeblon Gumbi. The Space for Elephants Foundation had at the time an Australian Entomologist, Dr. Andy Young, also staying at this camp and completing a Butterfly survey of the area. Amon had an immediate interest in the research project and went out daily with Dr. Young for just over 6 months, learning about all of South Africa’s butterfly species. On completion of the project, Amon joined Bhejane Nature Training as a Space for Elephants Sponsored student and started training towards his FGASA Level 1 ( which he achieved with outstanding results.)

Amon is currently employed at Bhejane Nature Training and shares of knowledge of local butterflies with all our students, who all get to go “butterflying with Amon” as part of their course schedules. This has also proved to be an excellent way to get them all interested in trees and plants! Apart from being a Butterfly Guide, he has also proven invaluable in being a mentor and coach to our sponsored students from local communities, and spends huge amounts of time with these students to bridge the language gap between isiZulu and English while training for their Level 1.

Amon is currently training towards FGASA Level 2 as well as Back-up Trails Guide. He will also soon start working on a project with the African Conservation Trust, to establish community sustained Butterfly Houses along a route in Zululand, to promote awareness and conservation of butterflies. He will get the opportunity to travel to many of the local communities to teach them about butterflies, guiding and conservation of our natural heritage.
Amon with one of his collections of samples representing some of the species found on the reserve.

Amon with one of his collections of samples representing some of the species found on the reserve.

Butterfly Guiding

Guiding is a successful and developing career in South Africa. People come from countries all over the world to see our natural heritage, history and beauty of the country.

Most people who visit Africa, are fascinated by seeing the diversity in the natural environment and wildlife. People are often interested to see the Big 5 and appreciate the guided experience for this, but if you cannot find the big five, it is not always easy for the guide – especially during the hot days.

As the guide, you must have lots of options for things to talk about during the guided experience. Bhejane Nature Training, which is situated in Northern Zululand is the first college to offer Butterfly Guiding to the students on their training course. This gives the guide an extra activity and things to share with the client through the guided experience.

As a guide, you can enhance your guest with an extra information on these beautiful creatures. Students are given the opportunity to be out in the field with Amon Ndlovu (Butterfly Guide) to explore, watch and learn about the beauty and importance of Butterflies, by catching and identifying the species that occurs in the area. We also do some collection and pinning to preserve the species.

The collecting of Butterflies plays an important role in the insect conservation. The Lepidopterist Society of Africa was established to study and conserve butterflies in SA.

Why the study of butterflies is so important?

Like any other insects, butterflies are the most successful class of living animals. In Southern Africa there is about 660 species of Lepidoptera in nine families of butterflies with several subfamilies and their genus.

Butterflies are so successful because they have the ability to fly and to disperse over wide areas to reach new habitats and food sources.

The development and adaptation of a social way of life, metamorphic life cycle, mouthparts and different stages into the life cycle enables them to exploit different sources of food which reduce competition between the adults and the young.

The ecological role of butterflies is very important in maintaining the balance in nature. They provide food for many small predators.

They also feed on different species of plant that helps with pollinating.

What is interesting about butterflies?

They are the most beautiful creatures in the natural environment. Butterflies are territorial when come to mating. The male will mark his area by advertising and displaying colors. The Dorianes (African Monarch) carry scent organs on their wings which excrete pheromones to induce the female to copulate (mating).

Some butterflies are poisonous, like the Bandits (acrea) and display aposmatic colouration to warn predators that they are distasteful. Some species have cryptic deception or camouflage to avoid detection. Some species will even mimic the other species.

Some Lycanidae have a symbiotic relationship with ants. How? They lay eggs in an ants nest and when the larva hatched he will have the sweet substance which will attract the ants to control and take care of the larva by bringing him food which they regurgitate to his mouth. This relationship is called mutualism.

Climatic changes and food availability

Must butterflies are controlled climate and the availability of food. Butterflies are ectothermic, they regulate their body heat through the external environment. If the climate is cold, they will move to warm places, but also depending on the food supply for them.

Food plants is the most important source for butterflies. Even if the climatic conditions are favourable, without the food plant they will not stay.

Some species are even depending on a certain food plant (colitis auxo) feed only on Cadaba. Without that source of food they will all die and become extinct.

Butterflies are mainly dependend on the preservance of our biomes. Especially afromontane and riverine habitats are very important.

Bhejane Nature Training is involved in training, educating and encouraging local communities to become involved in nature conservation by teaching them the beauty, history and the importance of nature by giving them the Bush Skills and training them for FGASA Level 1- Creating Awareness through Wilderness.