Dear Diary,
This week the winter bite has truly set in and sent everyone scrambling through forgotten hiding places for hats and gloves! There is an argument that we might be overreacting, today for example, our daily temperature is set to swing between 9°C and 23°C – in England this would be considered balmy but for Limpopo this mandates full winter gear (except of course for trousers – #realguideswearshorts) and a lot of commenting on the arctic type weather! In our defence we are not built for this!
With the drop in temperature the enthusiasm for bush clearing has escalated! It is a wonderful time to be up and about and the colder you are the more spiritedly you apply yourself to bush clearing! It doesn’t hurt that the morning’s work is topped off with a steaming mug of coffee together with a side of appreciation of the wilds around us.
Stunning views and a steaming mug of coffee – the perfect compliment to a winter’s morning! © Sophie Barrett
With chainsaw training and vehicle maintenance now under our belts (remind yourselves how far we have come by taking a peek at the early days), we have started to turn our attention to improvement in other areas. As of this week we have introduced a weekly bush walk.
Walking is one of my favourite ways to experience the bush. It is a chance to uncover the wonders hiding in plain sight in a far more interactive way. At the moment our focus is to get Kaizer ready to take his walking assessment, but whilst carrying out the training we get to visit some of my favourite secret spots around the reserve. The joy of being on foot is that you start to focus on what you can hear, smell, feel and (at the right times of year) even taste rather than just what you can see. This links you with the land in a far more intimate way.
On Wednesday’s walk, we visited one of my favourite rubbing posts in the reserve. This is a spot that different animals have visited again and again over the years eventually reaching a point where their constant rubbing against a long-dead leadwood tree has left it as smooth as if it had been sanded and as rich in colour as if it had been polished. There is something wonderful about not just seeing this phenomenon but closing your eyes and physically feeling the silky texture of the wood, as you imagine the countless animals that have soothed their irritations in that exact spot. The safari team is made up of diverse individuals and each of us has different areas where we tend to focus our interests. The walks are a wonderful opportunity for us to share that knowledge with each other. After three hours we each returned to the lodge with something new to marvel about and with a great sense of anticipation for the next walk!
Getting back in touch with nature- the team out on foot, focusing on the smaller things the bush has to offer! © Sophie Barrett
We also dipped into technological training this week and carried out a photography workshop with Kaizer and Richard. Photography has become almost intrinsically linked with the safari world. I see it as a form of expression and art, but most of all, as a fantastic tool with which to share some of our favourite parts of this beautiful world in which we live. Kaizer and Richard leapt into the training with enthusiasm and possibly just a splash of competitiveness! I love photography because it gives you a chance to see the world through someone else’s eyes even if it’s just for a moment – I can’t wait to see how the team use their new skills out in the field. Check out their initial efforts below and see for yourselves how they did!
Competition runs high as the team goes to any length to hone their photography skills! © Richard Nyathi, Kaizer Mathebula and Sophie Barrett
Until next week – stay safe everyone!
