Another birthday is over and done with - not so bad getting older when you do it in the Kruger won't you say? Wow - what a great two weeks! I spent from the 6th to the 18th of March up in Limpopo, the first week in Venda self, doing some work and the second week attending a Network Meeting in Skukuza - which means I had A LOT of time in the Park! Thank you to everyone for all the nice messages you left for me on facebook and my phone ... yes unfortunately one does not alwyas have connectivity in these remote places and I was a little concerned that I only got signal on my phone at about 10:30 the morning of my birthday ... not ideal! BUT I got all the messages so that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :) On top of that I was absolutely blessed by seeing a lion on the morning of my birthday - check out the pic of my birthday lion (photo courtesy of Marius)! I was so bewildered I did not know my left from my right! I was also 'given' a birthday bird ... check out the pic (courtesy of Marius...again) of the Green Woodhoepoe .... very apt being green and all ;) But it does make a bit of noise mmm... wonder if Marius was trying to tell me something ???
Anyway let me tell you a bit about the first week. We spent some time visiting local leaders of the villages we are working in and it seems they are all quite pleased with our progress (phew!) ... lots of pressure there ... these days I am more of the opinion now than ever before that you really cannot expect people to just freely give of their time and be gracious and answer all your questions without at least giving something back! And I am not talking about money - just the decency to come and tell people what you have found - sharing the results! One of the communities told us that no-one had ever brought back the research results to them - this was the first time! How terrible! I was truly appalled and felt sickened to be associated with the label 'researcher'. I think the ethical issues involved with research with people - especially poor rural people is very complex and it is only once you are 'there' in the trip, in their houses that that weight truly makes its presence known - well at least it does for me.
I did have the opportunity to go to Lake Fundudzi ... yes not just see it from afar ... I ACTUALLY WENT THERE!!!!!! Can you believe it! Was a lovely experience and it was really amazing to go there. Livhuvhani (our Venda interpreter) was a bit apprehensive and so was I knowing all the myths and stories .... We asked the villagers for directions and eventually we could go no further in the car ...so through a pool we walked (I am happy to say that my new 4x4 hiking boots did a good job!), underneath a canopy of forest and amongst hundreds of butterflies and onto the Fundudzu plain! Magical! (check the pic of me at the Lake!)
We also had the opportunity to stay at Singo Camp in the Makuya reserve - I made lots of use of their pool which was a good thing as we had very little water - I eventually had to wash my hair in bottled water! Yes yes I know very girlie girl but hell if you really want to see me in a foul mood then my hair has to be dirty! It was also really hot and us three (MArius, Geoff and myself) looked a but rough around the edges when eveutally we arrived in Bateleur camp... needless to say I made ample use of their very nice showers and hot water at Bateleur! BAteleur was stunning. Its a bush camp and for the two nights we were there we were absolutely the only people there - bliss! I was a bit disappointed that the road to the Bateleur Lake had been shortened which meant that our view of the Lake was very limited, nevertheless we saw lots of nice birds at the Lake - and it is still stunning there! From there we drove (on my birthday) to Skukuza - a culture shock to someone like myself who really only frequent the northern part of the camp. Oh my goodness - the attitude of people when arriving at a lion (or the like) sighting is absolutely horrendous. People can be horrid - the sense of entitlement that some have is really overwhelming so much so that it makes something as magical as a lion sighting quite unpleasant! Frankly I think its better in the northern part of the camp - sure there are less animals there but there are also definitely much less people there! By the way, who brings a crying baby to a bird hide???? I couldn't quite figure that one out!
I have to thank Geoff and MArius for a lovely two weeks worth of birthday (tequila, birds, animals, songs, beer, braai's and laughter)! Keeping up with the guys for the two weeks was quite something ... sometimes a bit on the wild side but lots of good fun. We did see 135 different kinds of birds ... courtesy of the Marius 2011 Birdguide ;) and had running commentry from Geoff - we had a very good hierarchy of birds figured out by the end of the trip ... ask me sometime ;) We also saw 28 different kinds of mammals which is apperently quite good ... and other animals too such as reptiles but according to *someone* in the car "they do not count"!
In the end it was a great two weeks and I really enjoyed myself. Who says work trips can't be fun too??
oops... almost forgot - I nearly got eaten by a hyena! Seriously! One night at the newtork dinner - I was sitting and chatting - behind me the Skukuza golf course green - the lady across from me very calmly and without any hint of drama says to me "oh look there is a hyena behind you" as you can imagine I was NOT calm - I got up from my seat (very very fast) ran around the table to the other side only to stare a crouching hyena in the face! Everyone else around the table thought it was a real laugh (thanks guys). Apparently the golf course is open to the animals and they can roam about freely - stupid me thought that was just another MArius joke ... not so! Clearly! Anyway ... the hyena started galoping across the green to the other side and then back but never actually came closer... but he was close enough according to me... I never really felt comfortable there again! Needless to say I now have a very healthy fear of hyena's.
Btw. I am off to Vietnam in about a week and a half - Nikki says rather me than her .... so wish me luck!
Ok - if you a bit confused, this is was our journey: Pta-Makhado (stayed at Azimbo lodge - lovely but too close to the road)-Singo Camp in Makuya-BAteluer Camp in Kruger-Skukuza Camp in Kruger- Pta.
