Day 22

Early start again today. I felt tired for the first time since I’ve gotten here. The old roll over for just one more five minutes thing kicked in again and it was cold outside the comfort of the quilt. I persevered though and had the 3 S’s. (Sorry Mam!) I walked out to the vehicle and it was still dark and I could hear tree’s being smashed up very close to the fence. It was cool as my eye’s started to adjust to the light I could see a massive herd of Breeding Elephant right outside the College fence. It was hard to tell how many were there but at least twenty plus! What an amazing way to wake up in the morning. It just reminded me of just how lucky I am to be here.

We eventually got going from the College just after six and to be honest the morning drive was cold and uneventful. It was hard to have any enthusiasm for things when you’re freezing your nuts off in the back of an open game vehicle. A Leopard or Lion would have been nice though! We met up with the other group after about two hours and we really enjoyed the coffee I can tell ya. We headed back to camp later on because we had some visitors to the college. The director of Kruger and some other dignitaries wanted to meet us and see why and what we were studying. After talking to these peeps for a while we all hot footed it back out to the bush for our lunch.

Having lunch out in the open listening to the silence is really cool. We started off back on the trail after and I was in the tracker seat possie. I enjoyed it and was just getting into the swing of things when we ran into the Breeding Herd I had seen that morning. It was a bit dodgy for me to stay in the tracker seat so I moved back into the relative comfort of the vehicle. We then drove forward a little and positioned ourselves about 100 meters from the Herd. Then the most amazing thing happened. They slowly but surely as only Elephants can came over to investigate us. It was a full compliment of females, babies, juveniles and one big straggling Bull. One male adolescent came right up to our vehicle with his trunk up in the air sniffing away. I don’t know how I would have felt if I had been on the tracker seat but nervous comes to mind! At one stage one of the babies got a bit of a fright and the rest of the females came over trumpeting and kicking up dust! You could cut the tension with a knife. It was exhilarating to be there for all of that. For the most part they were chilled out and when they eventually left to go to the Pan for a drink you could hear the tension being released from the group. All smiles and nervous laughter ensued! It’s a moment I’ll always remember!

Day 21

Today started off with Bush School again. We were out in the bush to learn how to deal with potentially dangerous animals. There are quite a few over here as you can imagine but we were concentrating on the “Big 5.” We had to get out there first off though and we had a few hairy moments with the drivers of the vehicles. In fairness most of the guys can drive but the girls are a bit dodgy! They can’t seem to find first gear half the time never mind reverse. We nearly had the tracker reversed over yesterday morning. So much for using your mirrors! Now before I get slated for being sexist my roommate is also a disaster. I don’t think he’s driven before so it’s not exclusively the girls I’m slagging!

When we set up our station for class out in the bush we were on our guard for Lion. We found spoor and we had heard Lion roaring at 4.30 this morning and after seeing how close to the car they got in Kruger, we weren’t taking any chances. The wind was howling as well so we couldn’t hear very much. This is considered to be dangerous when out on foot in the bush as you can’t hear any animals approaching. The day flew by and we are a little wiser about the animal’s behaviour now and of what distance you should approach to. In the case of a charge by any of the animals mentioned I know that I’ll be shooting first and asking questions later! Mind you the tree huggers in the group will need to learn that people come first and I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable being led by someone who is reluctant to shoot a dangerous animal.

Day 20

I had a feeling some of the guys wouldn’t make it up for the trip to Kruger at 5. Out of 13 people originally intending to go, only 9 went. It was tough going getting up at 5 when you’re only getting to sleep at 2. Anyway we headed off on our first day in Kruger hoping to see some Big Cats. I was really looking forward to it. For me, that’s what Africa’s all about and it turned out we weren’t to be disappointed.

We headed out into the park and it wasn’t long before we were seeing some great animals wandering about living their lives.

It wasn’t long before we were literally running into big game. A big group of old bachelor Buffalo decided they wanted to cross the road in front of us at one point. I was amazed at the sheer bulk of them. They were massive. At one stage crossing the road they stared at us in the car for ages! It was class. I’d say we would be in serious trouble if we were on foot around them. They looked real mean! Still no cats though so we headed up a little bit more in a Northerly direction.

We decided to take a diversion and head to a waterhole and we were looking for anything interesting to be honest. We ended getting really lucky and spotted three Lions. A big male and 2 females. They looked relaxed and it looked like they were well fed. We saw the reason why a few seconds later. I’ve attached a cool picture of their dinner the night before. It’s amazing in Africa, nothing goes to waste.

We stopped off for some lunch along the way and headed back out for the afternoon very refreshed. We spent a good bit of time driving around not seeing much and then as we were all getting a little disinterested we spotted the piece de resistance! A beautiful male Leopard in the grass right beside the road. What a beauty! It completed my “Big 5,” and I was so happy! The Leopard was so chilled out. A number of cars pulled over to view the cat as well and one moron wouldn’t turn off his engine for ages. This particular dummies car then started to make these outrageous alarm sounds for a while. The guys in the car were all so pissed off and it took our focus off the Leopard for a while. He had enough of the attention after a while and fecked off further back off to road to get away from us. I’ve attached a lovely picture of him. These guys are a very rare sighting so we felt very lucky! Just before leaving we spotted a massive herd of Elephant coming back from drinking at the river. It was cool to see all the babies. One big male slowed us up on our way back home and it was gas, I was kind of cursing him inside for slowing us down in our rush to get to the gate!


Then we had to come to a complete halt when up ahead the two sides of the road was blocked up with traffic. We couldn’t see what they were viewing until we literally nearly could reach out and touch a massive White Rhino. This was too easy!
We came gunning down the road after seeing the Rhino. We had paused just long enough for him to walk perfectly into the range of our lenses. Then after getting some super shots and hightailing it we presumed we weren’t going to make it to the gate. We came down the hill towards the Orpen gate and the guy at the gate was literally just pulling it across to close the station for the night. We were steeped as there are big fines for people who don’t make it out of the Park in time! So a perfect end to a great day! They were all saying we had the luck of the Irish and for once I had to agree!

Another super day in Africa!

Day 19

Today began with our first exam of the trip. Pretty tough and I'm not sure whether I passed it. It won't be corrected for a while anyway. TIA or time in Africa as they call it here.

We headed to a Bush pub for the night called “in Da Bos,“ which in Afrikaans means “In the Bush.” It was the strangest pub I’ve ever been in and I’ve been in a few strange pubs in my time. The bar was built on sticks and it is built beside a watering hole where huge Croc’s and Hippo live. Not a place where you’d want to go and relieve yourself in a drunken stupor I can tell ya!! The bar owner was a seriously mountainy man and I know a few mountainy bar owners! It was like something out of the film Deliverance and I was seriously waiting for some mental case to crank up on the Banjo!

The craic was mighty though and the guys all got steaming drunk. I volunteered to be the “Dessie,” for the night so no scoops for me. We played a bit of pool and made sure we got well fed! College food is not great and to be honest the we are always hungry. Anyway after destroying a nice bit of steak and chips we finished off the night with a few rounds of “ Jaeger Bombs, “ and headed home.

In Africa you don’t stop on the roads for anyone even if they have a flashing light on top of the car. With this in mind, we came to a car broken down with a seriously dodgy looking guy standing to the side of the car. I decided to gun the car on the other side of the road. Anybody who has seen the film “Tsotsi,” will know what I mean. In Africa red lights and men standing on the side of the road mean go!!

Day 18

Not much happened today as it was a school day. We were in class by 8 and did 9 hours of class. I did get a beautiful sunset though outside the college that evening!

Day 17

Man it’s hard to get up a quarter to five!!! It’s even harder when the local Hyaena’s are laughing and howling all night. We still haven’t seen them yet but they seem to be close to the fence line at night. I’m looking forward to seeing them. So I’m driving the vehicle today. My first drive in about 3 weeks and in an old school Diesel Land Rover. It takes a bit of getting used to but it’s grand after a while. Mind you, you have to remember that they are people in the back seats! I think I nearly launched a few people from the back seat this morning. There were a few complaints anyway so I eased off the gas.

We were tipping away nicely anyway and I had to skid to a halt to view a herd of Buffalo. I’d say there were about 50 in the herd. It was amazing the way they were all standing in a circle with the calves in the middle. It was like a big phalanx of horns and testosterone. I pity any lion that has to try and kill one of them. They are mean looking and it’s no wonder they have a bad reputation for aggression against people. The old Bulls are the worst. They tend to stay a little bit away from the herd. They tend to stare out you directly trying to work out whether you’re a threat and then decide what to do. If they don’t like the look of you then they will attack and they don’t just mock charge you out of bravado. They have been rumoured to wait for people that have climbed tree’s to escape from their horns until the person is too weak and falls out and then kill them. Apparently the Shangaan call them the “Dacha Boys,” or Old Cranky Men. Actually I know a few of my uncles are a bit like that!

We drove on and looked for the Cheetah family but to no avail. We saw some more Bull Elephant’s though and it’s a bit unnerving to drive a Land Rover so close to a monster of an animal. I have a few good shots of my tracker Kevin ( A lad from Glasgow ) and the elephant. Well actually I don’t, I was too worried about getting the vehicle out of there in case the Bull decided to take exception to our presence. I guess I weighed up a good shot or self preservation! By the way, the Bull did decide to give us a fright and mock charged us at one stage. Kev on the tracker seat was told to stay put and don't make any sudden moves! As Pete and the lads would say, he had to check for stains after!!

Were off to Kruger National Park on Sunday so I’m looking forward to seeing my first wild Cat of some sort. We heard Lion yesterday morning roaring from close to the College but we can’t go to the area and investigate until we get the go ahead from the Reserve manager. Apparently he’s on holiday for 3 weeks so unless the Lions come to us we won’t be seeing them in the Timbavati for a while. We’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled until then. It’s gonna be great when we finally get to do some walking trails without the vehicle. That’s when we experience real nature.

Day 16

Well you know the old expression of “when ya gotta, go ya gotta go.” Well this happened to one of the guys yesterday. I couldn’t think of a more uncomfortable time to have to use the toilet than to have to use it out in the bush. We had just finished a nice cup of Rooibos tea and the dawn sun was just breaking through the treeline. We heard a low rumble from not far away. We then saw a Big Bull Elephant coming crashing through the trees heading for us. I don’t know whether this brought on the urge to use the toilet but we had to high tail it to a safer area for Moses and his call of nature. Moses survived the experience I’m glad to say though!

It must have been our lucky day because as we were stopping for a Bateleur Eagle sighting, Sean spotted something big moving to the North of us. We rely fairly heavily on the guys with the best eyesight in the group and Citi and Dee spotted a beautiful big male Rhino. (White) All I will say is holy God, the size of the thing. It was huge. I’d say easily over 2,000 KG. It’s foot print should give you the scale of the animal. It truly is massive. It looks like a big Brute, all power and probably not very smart. I’m delighted to have seen him. They normally rely on their sense of smell and hearing as their eyesight, like mine isn’t very good. It’s another one of the so called “Big 5,“ off my list. The “Big 5,” it’s believed were so named because they were considered by hunters to be the most dangerous animals in Africa. So I’ve seen Elephant, Buffalo and Rhino. I’m delighted we didn’t see all these animals in one day. I think that the fast food “Big 5,” suit some people but I think when you realize just how rare sightings of these animals are then you appreciate them more.

We came back to the College to relate our stories and boast about our good luck. The other group though were grinning from ear to ear when we came back. What had they seen? They were like big kids with a great secret and wouldn’t tell! In the end they let the “cat out of the bag,” so pardon the pun. They saw 4 Cheetah. A female and her 3 cubs. They got some great photo’s as well as they were very close. Now we have a mission for our game drive tomorrow. Look for Cheetah spoor and see if we can track them! They are a very rare sighting around here so my fingers are crossed but we’re not very hopeful of spotting them. Roll on 5 O’Clock……….

Day 15

Myself and my room mate are on class duty for the week which means we’ve gotta organise all the food and beverages etc for the group for the week. So having to get up at 5 and sort out breakfast for everyone is great craic. This morning was no exception and the kitchen staff hadn’t sorted us out with any cutlery or plates for our lunch away from camp. I had to hightail it down to the kitchen at 6.15 and grab all the gear the guys in the kitchen left out. There were a few narky peeps down there this morning as well so it was great fun! Anyway it all ended well and we got ourselves sorted in time to head off to the reptile park.

If we were honest, most of us would have preferred not to have gone at all but you’ve gotta face your fears at some stage and it actually turned out to be a great day. The best yet for me anyway. We were brought around the park and shown all of the reptiles, from Big Nile Croc’s to tiny little Gecko’s and all things with legs and without in between. The highlight for me was handling the snakes and the Baboon Spider. Yes they are my hands in the picture! I was shitting myself before it but I couldn’t believe how gentle the things were and how off the scale I had been in thinking they were slimy etc etc. I’m not joking when I say I was having nightmares for months before I came over about having snakes of some description (and not the one eyed trouser snake kind for any of the smart asses that will read this!) in my bed. I’m sure Conor and Jen heard me literally jumping out of my bed in the middle of the night. Anyway the experience was brilliant and I’ve attached some pictures as proof. I think it’s certainly made our time here easier in terms of dealing with these animals and I’ve learned that I’ve less to fear and more to learn from here on in.

Oh yeh and I've included some photo's of a truly African Jax for your perusal. Please note the jax roll holder or lack of in the bog and where it's positioned on the outside of the toilet! Also the urinal was lookin pretty funky too!

For any one who doesn’t like the animals mentioned above please look away now!!

Till tomorrow Slan

Day 14

Well we have a house pet it seems. I’ve attached a picture of our tropical house gecko. He’s a great little worker. He eats any spiders or flies that land on the walls or roof of our luxury! room. He’s a cool little fecker in all fairness. Any creature that can scale a vertical wall deserves kudos in my book! So the day featured a full day’s class. It wasn’t too bad actually as I was full of beans after my morning run. I hit the wall in the afternoon though and I nearly fell off the chair at one stage drifting into sleep. Felt a bit like some of those Domino’s meetings at home to be honest!

We went out looking for our friends the Hyaena’s last night but although we saw the eyes outside the fence they didn’t venture any closer. I hadn’t brought a strong enough flash light to spot them either so fingers crossed they’ll appear again soon. We also ran into a herd of Elephant yesterday evening very close to the fence. Anybody who has seen these creatures up close and on foot know how awesome they are. We had the luxury of a puny(sic) electric fence between us and about a combined 100 tonne of Elephant. Quite cool!

We have a trip out to the reptile park tomorrow so can’t wait for that, NOT!

Day 13

Myself and Citi, a lad from a village up the road went for an early morning run. We were on the road by 5.45. it’s a good way to start the day and I might continue the regime when I get home. It was a fairly uneventful day really. We had class in the morning and the afternoon off. We had a good few drinks in the evening and we all woke up fairly hungover this morning. It was great craic last night listening to everyone’s experiences and learning the different cultures. The Shangaan lads warned us not to stop at night when we are driving regardless of who tries to stop us. They also warned us not to walk around the town’s on our own even during the day. The level of crime over here is exceptionally high. Even the Cops are corrupt so if I someone attempts to stop me when I’m on the road I’m gonna high tail it and grease palms later. Discretion is the better part of valour. We’ll see when the time comes….

Day 12

Survivor day. Yes we have our very own Bear Gryll’s training us. Well probably not as tough but a hell of a lot more knowledgeable. Sean Robertson is our instructor and the guy really knows his stuff. He’s very hard to throw on any wildlife related subject. I guess he’s fulfilling his passion and it’s great to see a really enthuasiastic guy sharing his knowledge. Anyway we headed out at 6 for a long day of survival skills. It was cold as f8ck this morning when we headed out but we had some great sights of Buffalo, Giraffe and Elephant. I’ve marked 2 of the Big 5 off my list now so I’m really looking forward to seeing the rest.

Funnily enough I’m enjoying it more that we’re getting to see these animals in a trickle rather than a torrent. It makes us appreciate them more. A few of the Yank students who spend a few days here every so often went out and saw the Big 5 in one day. They thought that this was the norm and some of the dummies wanted to get out of the viewing vehicle to get “Better Shots,” of the animals! Fast food Big 5 it should have been called! Anyway enough of the rant.

We learned the 3 basic concepts of survival. 1 the need for water, 2 the need for shelter and 3 the need for food. It was great going through the various ways to find water sources and by using our ingenuity to actually be able to find water when it hasn’t rained for months! It’s a great skill and it will be something that I won’t forget in a hurry. Obviously the shelter thing was basic enough. Any old Tom, Dick or Harry can build a form of shelter but the food element was amazing. We learned about the different tree’s and which fruit, and leaves that you can eat. Sean explained about the various insects that can be eaten to provide the protein part of the diet and even went through various forms of cooking these tasty morsels. I felt like I was in Gordon Ramsay’s class for a brief moment but with bugs instead of Foie Gras! I won’t go into some of the snacks that we were shown but it would be similar stuff to what you’ve watched on Bush Tucker Trials in I’m a celebrity get me out of here! It’s amazing what a pinch of salt and a leaf from an edible tree will do for your taste buds!

We just had a taste of what’s to come(literally) so I’m looking forward to actually tasting these things later on. As for the survival skills and stuff, Bear Gryll’s watch out!

Day 11

Another early morning run around the perimeter saw me get a savage scare by a Daikur that hangs around the college. I didn’t see it as I was merrily jogging my way around the Eastern side of the college. It probably in fairness got more of a fright than me but at 6 in the morning I can tell you it had the appearance of something a lot more sinister in my eyes!! Anyway I’ve gotta laugh about it now and I got some adrenalin buzz from the shock.

We were in class today learning about most people’s favourite animal NOT snakes. Very interesting to learn about the different venoms or toxins they use to kill prey items. We will be running into a lot of these snakes over the coming months as things start to warm up. They are all in burrows and termite mounds at the moment waiting until it heats up a bit more. We need to be keeping our eyes peeled for them when that happens. Oh we had our group photo this morning which was great. We were all looking mega sharp in our khaki uniforms. It’s gas all the shirts that the lads bought would hang themselves up they’re so heavy duty. We feel a bit more like guides anyway. Appearances can be deceiving some times!

We headed out to the greater Timbavati reserve after lunch for a night drive which was cool. We saw some Elephants again and some Hippo and Crocodile. The Saangaan guys in our group are very knowledgeable about the bush. I guess it’s like me showing them around Dublin. They grew up with all these animals so I guess they’d want to know their stuff. They’re good craic to be around as well and are generally happy types. There’s even one guy who reminds me of Pete. He’s always late so I’ve called him Mr Ten Past. He has also picked up some Dublin lingo like Alright Bud and Story Bud. Pretty funny, and he’ll get great mileage out of it if he gets any guests from Dublin later on.

We still haven’t seen any big Cats yet and we are beginning to wonder have we just been unlucky as some of the other guys at the college have walked into area’s where they’ve seen Leopard and cubs, Lion, Buffalo and Bull Elephant. My fingers are crossed for tomorrow morning. It’s an early start. We are ready to go at 5.30 so another early night in store……………..

Day 10

Yesterday we headed out on a game drive. We didn’t see much to be honest so we focused more on the flora than the fauna. Sean pointed out some very interesting plant and tree species and the in’s and out’s of the various specimens. It’s good to know that the Tamboti tree shouldn’t be used for firewood as it secretes a certain sap that can literally poison us. The leaves also secrete a sap which if it gets on the skin can severely burn you. You can however use the sap for fishing as it kills any fish that come into contact with it. In terms of surviving in the bush this knowledge is of obvious benefit.

The afternoon was passed with a class on reptiles and snakes. Very interesting and useful in terms of the habits of the particular species, when they are more likely to be active etc. I think I’m developing a 3.30 sleep mode as I was constantly trying to stop myself from nodding off. Luckily enough 4 O’Clock came round and we headed off to play a game of footie. It was basically Africa against the rest of the World and we had great craic playing against the lads. I think we won the game as well but it was a close call. It was like playing under 12 football again with all the guys and gals following the ball around the field like sheep. It was tough going with the heat and for an old man like me, it was even tougher. I’d say there’s a fair chance I’ll be seriously stiff tomorrow. We had a few tinnies to finish off the evening on accord of it being my room mates 25th birthday. 6 cans later and I was off to bed feeling a little bit tipsy……….

Day 9

Day 9

We were given a demonstration about vehicle maintenance today. It was a really good demonstration but ultimately the parts described by Harvey are not fixable if they bust in the middle of the bush. I guess at least we’ll have an idea how to describe the problem. Basic maintenance and solutions are the order of the day. We headed out on a game drive in the evening and saw a nice range of animals from Impala, Zebra, Hippo, Crocodile and Elephant. We sat in the vehicle and let some pass us by. It was incredible just how quiet they can be as they pass by. You wouldn’t hear them trooping by you even though they weigh from 1 ton up to 5 tonne. Incredible!

Another beautiful sunset and we headed back to camp. We had some Baboons for visitors last night as we had our dinner. The food around is scarce at the moment and they hang around the college looking for opportunities to grab scraps and food from the kitchen area. They are incredibly human like and they learn very quickly how to get by electric fences, under gaps in doors and hand in rafters in the college. They are quite cheeky as well so we need to be careful as they aren’t as afraid of humans as they should be. We’re all gonna be in our uniforms tomorrow so that should be a good laugh in the morning!

Day 8

Day 8

Up at the crack of dawn. We saw a herd of Buffalo and some Baboon’s this morning on our run. Nice sight. The Baboon’s were going ballistic when they saw us. They obviously see us as a threat. We headed into town to get out uniforms. It felt a trip that I made a long long time ago with my mother to get my first uniform! Now when we were the gear we can feel like proper guides. Well at the moment we feel a bit like fakes but I guess that will disappear as we gain the knowledge that we’re all here for.

Hoedspruit is considered a big town in these parts. It’s the equivalent of a small town down the country in Ireland. The pace of life is easy going and the expression which we hear a lot “Time in Africa,” describes the attitude aptly enough. Nothing happens here very quickly. Anyway we applied for our Learner driving licenses and will await the test. It’s gas, I got my license a full 14 years ago now back home and I’ve learned a fair amount of bad habits since then so I suspect I’m gonna have a hard time getting my full license when the time arises! I might have to leave a few hundred Rand in the ashtray for the instructor and see how that goes!

On our way back from Hoedspruit we came upon loads of game. Two beautiful male Giraffe’s strutted their stuff for us along the road. Well maybe not for us, they were actually staring each other out of it across the fence. It’s a pity the fence was there. They are very majestic movers for animals of their size. When they finished posing for pictures they took off back into the bush.

As we rounded a bend and drove down into a big hollow we met a bus coming in the opposite direction and guess what happened when we slowed down and pulled over to let the bus pass. No not a puncture but the drive shaft capitulated on us! Now that shouldn’t really happen but obviously we are in Africa and the mechanics that gave the game viewing 4 wheel drive a service neglected to see the big crack in the bolt that held things together. Queue us looking under the chassis having a look at the damage and the Yank taking pictures of the aforementioned broken drive shaft!! Yank’s are gas, they’ll take pictures of anything. A bit like the Japanese I suppose in ways. Anyway we had to chill out and call for backup in the form of Sean with the other Land Rover. It wasn’t that hard to chill when you consider we were present for a beautiful sunset with the Drakensburg mountains as a backdrop. Things could’ve been worse. We gave the other 4 wheel drive a tow back into a reserve and abandoned ship. Not before we stripped anything that could be stroked from it. I didn’t realize that there is crime even out here in the bush! We’ll probably go back to the vehicle tomorrow to find it on blocks!

So back to college for us after dark and ravenous. I guess it could have been worse. If the bolt had snapped when we were on the open road I mightn’t be here to tell the tale so it has a happy ending. Karma man! We’ve got a game drive tomorrow so something to look forward to……..

Day 7

Day 7

Sunday is our day off. No classes means we get to have a bit of a lie in. Over here a lie in means up at 6 and not 7. It was one of the lads birthdays today so we had a few tinnies in the afternoon to celebrate with him. We presented him with his Elephant dung cake after our braai. The chap is a bit nuts cause he took a good mouthful of the stuff. Ya wouldn’t catch me eating anything else’s shite I can tell ya. Reminds me of that great line in Happy Gilmore when yer man says “ I eat shit like you for breakfast!” and he says “you eat shit for breakfast!” Classic! The Saangan (South Africans native to the North of South Africa) gang on our course are great craic. We had a great slagging match after the braai standing around the fire. They are real ladies men so we’ll see if any of the girls succumb to their charms. Time will tell but a betting man would say they have a long shot’s chance. They love singing and laughing though so maybe if the girls get lonely. I’m having a bit of craic with them so I’ve been promised a trip to see them in their village and see a traditional music and dance session. I’m gonna hold Moses to that.

I’ve learned a few expressions as well so I’m looking forward to learning more about their culture and what makes them tick. They are all very sharp. Most of them have degree’s from college. A couple of electrical engineer’s of all things. It’s some diverse group here alright.

We went out on a night walk tonight and heard a lot of noises from the bush but couldn’t spot anything with our torches. The place is so peaceful and you can really enjoy the tranquility. Myself and a few of the lads prefer walking without lights to get a better feel for the place. I definitely think your awareness is heightened by being here. It’s majestic. Roll on more of the same……………..

Day 6

Day 6

We have class today. On a bleedin Saturday! Learning all the theory that hopefully we can utilise in practice on our guided tours. There is a massive amount to learn so we’ll be putting our heads down big time and studying. We had breakfast this morning and I asked the girl what the brown dish was and I thought she said maize so I thought I’d try it. I got stuck into it but thought the taste was familiar. It turned out to be minced meat!! I can tell you that’s a first. It’s like having a Big Mac with your coffee and cornflakes. Not bad though and it’ll keep me goin till lunch!!
I’m starting to decipher the different bird calls now as well so that’s a good sign. Back home there isn’t much variation to the tunes being sung by the birds. It’s a cacophony over here. Gotta do a presentation on a Hyena next week. Have to go out and find one and observe it’s behaviour. That should be interesting. I’ve always thought they were sly little f*ckers but after reading into it they’re a little bit more complicated than that. Should be interesting. I have to admire the guys on the course who don’t have English as their first language. It’s gonna be mighty tough for them. Some of the guys are English speaking but I can’t make out what they’re saying half the time like my room mate Matt. Jaysus and I thought I was guilty of muttering a lot!
Went up the road to the Kruger National Park. It’s about a ten minute drive up to the Orpen Gate entrance. We didn’t expect to see anything worth noting and I guess it’s always the way when we stumbled across 3 male elephants. They are absolutely massive. One male and two adolescents. They were making light work of a big Acacia tree. It’s amazing how peaceful they are. Not a sound from the three of them for the whole time that we were watching. Even when they moved off it’s as if they were tip toeing away out of embarrassment! I got a few great shots of them and of a beautiful male Kudo on the way back. All I’ll say is savage! I’ll post pictures soon so you can see what I’m on about.

Day 5

Day 5

Well I got up at 6 for a run this morning. We run around the perimeter of the college. It’s about 2.5 km around the whole lot. I wasn’t exactly killing myself as you have to keep your wits about you. There are snakes and scorpions on the trail so trying to avoid them is the name of the game. The fence is also fairly flimsy and it wouldn’t stop
a lamb never mind a charging Buffalo or Elephant if they took a disliking to you! Collected our books later on and had class for the first time. Coffee is going to be needed for these classes I suspect and lots of it! There is a hell of a lot of stuff to learn. We headed out for a guided walk in the campus and it was great to hear someone explain so much about the environment around us. Sean is our instructor and he seems very passionate about what he does and extremely knowledgeable. I think were going to learn a hell of a lot from him. So here I am making a blog entry with a nice cup of rooibos tea in the bush in South Africa. I'm watching the Sun go down. Sure it's not a bad place to be at all!

Day 4

Day 4

Well we had to be up and ready to go for 7 bells. I woke up at 5 so no worries on getting up on time. We headed over to the Bushwise campus. This seems to be more bushy than the place we are staying. There are a good few more South Africans there. The huts sleep two and they share all the wash room facilities. There area isn’t fenced off so apparently there are leopards and hyena’s that come down to their watering hole there at night. I’d say you would want to be a bit brave going to the jax in the middle of the night and I’m sure most of the guys staying there are bursting by the time morning comes. The drive over was on the back of the game drive vehicle. Kevin the Scot came out of his room with only a shirt on. I think he underestimated how cold it would so I advised him to bring a jacket. He was a luck y man. Despite the fact that he brought the aforementioned jacket and top he was literally shaking and blue when we got to Bushwise. It’s a good 2 hour drive from where we are located. I think the web site were using some poetic license by describing it as a 20 min drive. Funnily enough the Bushwise camp is beside Karongwe reserve. The very same Karongwe that I had been watching the DVD’s for in my gaff back home in Clonsilla. It a mad coincidence as I thought it was in Kenya. There is an Irish guy working there after finishing the guiding course. We did our first aid course there for the day and drove back to our own campus. This time I took the back seat possie. By Jaysus as Terry would say I was Baltic by the time I got back. My hands were blue with the chill. Lesson learned for next time. We grabbed some food that evening and hit the hay early.

Day 3

Day 3
The flight wasn’t too bad considering it was for 11 hours. I didn’t sleep as usual on the plane so I was hanging badly when I got to Johannesburg. The plane landed into the airport late so another dash to the domestic terminal was needed to get checked in and on the flight. I enlisted a porter to help me get through from the International terminal to the domestic which is about a 10 minute walk but a 4 minute sprint. The poor fella felt the pace as he was pulling the 25 kg bag! I looked after him though and I made my flight up to the bush (Hoedspuit regional airport). It reminds me of Farranfore airport in Kerry with a tractor pulling our bags in to the shack, I mean terminal building. I should have taken a picture of it. Classic little shed with airport written on it. A beaten up old Ford 125 sitting by the building. Met Neli, one of the guides at the airport and got my ride up through some of the lodges to the South African Wildlife College which will be my home for the next 6 months. On the way I saw my first wild Giraffes, some Impala and an elusive White Headed Vulture. It was great to finally see wild animals. Neli de Kock the guide (Jim Conroy would love her name as per his slagging the two South African birds down in Waterford about their names!) took the piss a couple of times so I owe here a bit of slagging!
I was pleasantly surprised at the facilities here! I was expecting mud huts, crap food and more mud huts but the place is quite modern. They have a swimming pool and games area and a canteen. At the moment there are 130 participants here, including a couple of Irish lads who are out doing research projects. A lad called Hugh and Paddy! Gas!
I’m rooming with a young English lad. Seems grand so far so we’ll see how we get on!. So settling in with the crew night as I’ve arrived late. They have been here an extra day so we had a Braii (gotta check the spelling) or bbq on the first night. We had some decent lamb, Kudo sausages and chicken wings and salad and a few beers. It was introduction night so we got up in front of the rest of the guys/girls and said a little spiel about ourselves. Good way to break the ice. There is a very mixed bunch here as you might imagine. The group comprises of 7 South Africans, 1 Canadian, 2 Germans, 1 Belgian, 3 Brits, 1 Scot, 1 Ozzy and a Yank. It’s a good mix so far. Fairly wrecked from not sleeping etc so I turned in the earliest I ever have around 8 bells.

Day Two

Nice sleep in this morning! Not a chance, woken at 6 bells by my next door neighbour and his mott doing handstands against my wall! Shit and I forgot to bring earplugs!
Nothing for it but to go down to brekkie. After a good strong coffee and a Full English!! Breakfast. When did they get the bragging rights for rashers and sausages? Anyway a few phonecalls later and we're sorted I hope. Checked out of the hotel and fingers crossed for no more calamities.
So I'm sitting here typing this in the airport after waiting for 7 hours for my flight. I feel like Tom Hanks in terminal. My clothes would hang themselves at this stage and all I'll say is Pete you and your sweat protector would be in serious trouble!
I've resorted to counting people now too as I'm so bored but it looks like we'll finally be getting the f8ck out of Europe. I hear my flight now so...............
Africa here I come!!
Tigertamer

Day (Won) for Ruthie

Well you all know that I was born with luck or more succintly lack of. So what happened on the first day, well no I didn't get bitten by a snake but Mother Nature did take a hand in the play. Thunder and lightning over London meant that we sat on the tarmac in Dublin for two hours and when we did get the green light from ATC we ended up in the backarse of nowhere when we got to London! Yes the parked us in a field in Kent or somewhere close. Another hour sitting on our hands on the plane prevailed as they hadn't enough buses for us so as you can imagine, alot of stressed heads on the plane. This was followed by an arduous journey to the airport by the slowest bus driver I've ever had pleasure of taking a journey with.
Queue the mad dash from Terminal 1 to Terminal 5 and the obstacle course of people we had to vault, swerve by and practically assault to get by!
I landed into the terminal to find that my flight of course hadn't been delayed. It's never delayed when you want it to be and vica versa. Ah well, flight closed and no amount of persuasion could get me by security.
Back to Terminal 1 with me to try and sort out my bag, book new flight for the next day, book hotel etc.
Another 3 hour wait dealing with two school kids doing the re-booking and an irate group of Corkonians and fellow long haul passengers trying to get new flights boy! Then to cap it all off after ringing a dozen hotels in the area finally getting a booking and getting sent to the wrong Holiday Inn!! Apparently there are 4 in the general vicinity. A stiff drink and a pint while waiting on my second taxi to get to the right hotel sorted me out though. God Stella tastes good some times! Good start to the adventure so stay tuned for what I hope will be a little better luck on my next leg to Jo'Burg. By the way what won the 6.15 at Roscommon last night?
Tigertamer