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.

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.

 

My First Day at Bhejane

By Ollie Weaver

So after 26 hours of traveling and about 3 hours of sleep the planes wheels touch down in Richards Bay. I was worried i wasnt prepared enough about silly things like, 'had i packed enough or had i packed too much.'
I stood up on the plane, nearly cracking my head on the overhead baggage storage. I looked down onto the seat infront of me and saw a pile of FGASA study books and bird books stuffed into a bag for life. Turned out Sarah, who is on the same course as me, sat right in front of me for the whole flight. My first thoughts were how did she get all those books onto the plane as hand luggage and secondly, secondly, i was both excited and disappointed; excited i wasnt the only English person but kind of disappointed i wasn't.

As i stepped out of the terminal i was literally slapped across the face by the humidity of this area. Hanroe met us at the airport. My first impression was that he was a pretty laid back guy. Later in the car this was reinforced by his music choices, which practically sent me to sleep!

Upon arriving at Bhejane i realised i had it wrong. It was pronounced be-jan and not be-jane like i had been saying it the whole time! My tent wasn't what i had expected. Well actually i didnt know what to expect but i found it  to be perfectly fine as a place sleep, while most our time will be spent in the hut studying.

My fellow room mates! Wanroe and Brett! Firstly with Wanroe sounding a lot like Hanroe and secondly, the odd pronunciation of the 'w', kind of threw me, so i was instantly relieved when he said it was ok to call him 'Van'.

Our first day started off with a tour of the camp, where we got shown around by Jennie and what followed was an incredible cock- up that resulted in a resounding win! We got paired into 4 groups and had to take 5 litre containers to carry around the reserve along with bird books and cameras, while navigating. Being set off at 20minute intervals resulted in a nervous 40minute wait while watching all our fellow comrades leave. I was a little bit worried about how our group would operate after only knowing each other for such a short time. Now saying we got lost while looking for the 'well' is an understatment! The bush had grown so thick we couldn't spot it despite my thrilling heroics of climbing a monstrous tree. After 2 hours of stumbling around the bush we arrived back and had to translate a whole bunch of Latin words, which was interesting and i found it fairly fun. Later that evening while discussing our various interesting endeavours, we heard a loud bang as Van shot from his chair by the bookcase like a startled rabbit. The ceiling fan then promptly occupied his seat! Needless to say his over enthusiastic Afrikaaner side took over, proclaiming how he nearly died and accompanied by countless repetitions of the word, 'brew'!

Bhejane 2012 - A Goodyear

By: Jean Michau

So I started last year at a place called GVI where we tracked our focus animals and spent 6months straight in the bush. I have always loved the bush and my dream has been to be a field guide. So I found Bhejane and was fortunate enough to get the chance in coming here to study which I thank Dylan and Christa a lot for. 

We started our year with FGASA level 1 which was amazing. Got to spend time at some amazing places. Was extremely happy that I passed Level 1 and that I got to carry on to what I was looking forward to most which was Trails. 

So after the Level 1 we started with our Back-up Trails which didn’t disappoint. Got to walk in on some amazing animals and experience some amazing things like being charged by an Elephant from about 30m away which was amazing. The adrenaline which was pumping through me was absolutely incredible and it was amazing and incredibly intimidating, but was amazing. We also got extremely close to a White Rhino and her calve where they were walking down the game path and we were just off the path and they walked about 5m passed us without even knowing we were there which was another crazy experience. 

After Trails we had our Marine level 1, the highlight for me was the diving. I absolutely love diving and to me it is complete different world down there and its always amazing. Got to see some amazing things like Green Turtles, Leopard Shark, Grey Shark, Sting rays and some amazing looking fish. Always amazing things down there and there is never a boring dive. Now we’ve been busy doing conservation and reserve management which I have really enjoyed. It really interesting learning how everything works and how we can make a difference. Its hard work but it will all pay off in the end when we are qualified to do certain things that other people don’t have a clue about. I have really enjoyed my whole year at Bhejane so far and I can only thank all the instructors for teaching us all they know and being so passionate in teaching and in what they love. And then a big thanks to the kitchen ladies for the amazing food and Tannie Lettie for organising the food, Oom Pine and Peter for the maintenance and Monica for the interesting lectures on ourselves and psychology. It has helped a lot to keep me sane which I appreciate. Thank you Dylan and Crista for the opportunity to come, it has been amazing and I can’t wait for next year.   

Hop On Assessment

This is a great opportunity for people that have completed the FGASA Level 1 theory at home and want to do the practical assessment. Join Bhejane Nature Training students on their assessment week, and hop on a assessment drive. Learn new guiding skills from experienced working guides doing their level 2 assessments and from the feedback after assessments. We will be using open game drive Landy’s and this will enhance your game viewing experience and enable you to guide more naturally than from a closed vehicle. Our venue Mkuze Game Reserve is a place of great beauty and diverse habitats , that provide for a wide variety of plant and animal species. It is a mecca for birds and over 400 species have been recorded. Early summer rains have brought Mkuze alive with smaller things like butterfly’s ,caterpillars and lots of other insects.
Please feel free to contact me (number provided on the add) Make sure that you have your I.D or FGASA number, for confirmation for assessment.