After finishing my A-levels at Dame Allan’s Schools, I was keen to take a ‘gap year’ before continuing my education at university. I wanted to be independent, see a foreign country, and broaden by horizons (urg, what a cliché!).

When I was younger, I was fortunate enough to be taken on safari in Kenya and Tanzania. I was struck by the beauty of the landscape and the wildlife of Africa, and I felt I had to go back there. So I searched the internet, and found African Conservation Experience.

Through A.C.E. I got a placement at the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) in South Africa. HESC is a wildlife conservation project, specialising in cheetahs. From their website:

The Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre focuses on the conservation of rare, vulnerable or endangered animals. Cheetah Conservation is one of our core disciplines.

We are actively involved in the following:

* The breeding of endangered, vulnerable or rare animal species (with a focus on ensuring that breeding programmes are structured in such a manner to ensure the genetic biodiversity of the species in the custodianship of the Centre).
* The education of learners, students and the general public in conservation and conservation activities
* The release and establishment of captive-bred cheetahs back into the wild (prospective destinations must exhibit sound environmental and conservation management policies)
* The promotion of scientific research and development in the wildlife field
* The generation of funds to assist in the operational costs of the Centre (which makes no profit from its operation).
* The treatment and rehabilitation of wild animals that are brought to the Centre.
* The provision of a safe alternative for damage-causing animals on commercial farms, with a view to ultimately introducing them into conservation areas that can accommodate such animals into their management policies.

The student programme was particularly interesting. It included:

· Working with cheetah, wild dog, small spotted cats, African wildcats and more.
· Preparation of animal food and feeding the animals.
· Possibility of working with the wildlife vet (darting, capturing and operating on
animals).
· Possibility of assisting in the hand-rearing of animals.
· Local community involvement (e.g. visiting schools in rural areas).
· Identification of plants on walking excursions
· Tracking in the bush
· Natural and traditional food preparation.
· Game drives
· Big 5 walk
· Bush sleep-out

Informal lectures on a variety of topics, such as:
· Conservation
· Animal identification
· Plants and ecology
· Astronomy
· Survival
· Fire arm handling and safety
· Tracks and signs
· Reptiles
· Birds
· South African history and cultural diversity.
· Anti-Poaching

So I worked at M&S to raise the money for the placement and a plane ticket, and left on 4th of January, 2001.

This remains the most exciting, challenging experience I have ever had, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience the African wild. I have written this account partly as a permanent reminder to myself, and to share with anyone who is interested!

Information about the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre:

• http://www.wildlifecentre.co.za/

• http://africanadrenalin.com/campjabulani/hoedspruit_endangered_species_centre.htm

• http://www.wildlifestudents.co.za/downloads/hoedspruit_project.pdf

An eland bull at the nearby Madrid Reserve had a severe tick problem, and it had been decided that the best course of action was to dart it and take it to a pen, where it could be looked after until the tick problem was eradicated. This operation was particularly tricky because the eland was estimated to weigh around six hundred kilograms!

What made the day so special was the method used to dart the animal.The Madrid Reserve had a small 2-seater helicopter, which was to be used, incredibly, to dart the eland from the air!

Another interesting factor was that they were going to use a new, experimental tranquilliser, called A3080. Apparently, it has a far superior induction time at 2-3 minutes, compared to 8-10 minutes with the more conventional M99, but there was no real-life data to go on - we were exploring new ground.

Josh and a pilot went up in the helicopter, and the rest of us followed in jeeps. The helicopter swooped down a few times, trying to maneuver around trees to get a clear shot of the eland. I looked up, watching, not quite believing what I was seeing.

Within a few minutes, we got the call over the radio - the eland was down. We rushed in quickly. Unfortunately, the eland had fallen on some rough ground, with tree trunks and bushes all around. Luckily, they were prepared for this - a few of the staff had chainsaws and other cutting equipment, and they were able to clear the surrounding vegetation to give us some space to work. It was then that I was able to see just how big this thing was up-close. It was huge.

After some initial treatment, about 15 minutes after darting, we got a bit of a shock - the eland began struggling to get up! The tranquilliser was beginning to wear off unexpectedly - obviously, a little more was needed. As the eland began thrashing, I was told to stay away from the hind legs - even on the ground and half-sedated, the legs of a 600kg eland could do some serious damage.

It took 6 people just to keep this behemoth on the ground, until the doc was able to administer another few mills of A3080.

Because the animal weighed so much, the only way to get it into the transport (a trailer hitched to a big four-by-four) was to first slide it onto a large mat, and then use the four-by-four to drag the mat and eland into the trailer. Moving the eland onto the trailer by hand was simply out of the question - it took quarter of an hour or so just to shift the eland a few feet onto the mat. The trailer doors were closed, and everyone heaved a sigh of relief. A few times I thought we simply wern’t going to manage it.

The eland was transported to the pen, with the doc in the trailer with the eland, ready to administer another shot if needed. After maneuvering the trailer into the pen, the doc gave the eland a shot to reverse the tranquilliser - it slowly took hold, and the eland was soon up on it’s feet.

Later that day, I helped change the bandage on our wounded cheetah again. The wound is healing nicely - it now only needs a light dressing.

I can’t stop thinking about that eland - I was so lucky to be involved in such an awesome mission!

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Juliette and Tania went into the enclosure to investigate, and after about quarter of an hour (it takes a long time because the enclosures are so huge and the undergrowth so abundant) they found her in a poor state. On close inspection, we found she was riddled with ticks all over her fur, which had sucked her blood until barely able to walk.

We radioed the doc, and finished the feeding, and returned with Dr Rogers to dart her. We carried her to the pickup truck, placed her on the back, and drove slowly to the hospital - I sat with her to make sure she didn’t slide around.

She was put on a drip, and we darted a second cheetah. Half a pint of blood was drawn from the second cheetah, and transfused into the sick one. With the blood, some warm-water bottles, and a good dose of tick spray, she made a good recovery.

In the afternoon we got reports that a hyena carcass and two sick vultures had been found at a nearby reserve. Concern was raised over this because the two vultures did not apparently have any wounds, which suggested poisoning.

We went straight there with Tyse and Martyn to investigate. One vulture was barely alive but vomiting and unable to move. The other was dead, and they had both definitely been poisoned. Poisoning is a persistent problem, apparently, because of farmers who put out poison (I’m not sure how legal that is here) to kill animals who might cause a problem. One theory is that the hyena was poisoned, and the vultures got secondary poisoning from eating the hyena carcass. Alternatively, the hyena died naturally (there were claw marks on it’s back) and the vultures have been poisoned elsewhere.

We took them all to the nearby Moholoholo rehabilitation centre, where the dead hyena and vulture were both frozen so that tests could be carried out later, and the other vulture was put into care.

Note: We heard some days later that the vulture survived, after having it’s system flushed with fluids to get rid of the poison.

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I spent the evening at Moria camp (the staff camp). It was another quiet night, some of the staff were at work doing night-drives for tourists, while we were lounging around watching TV and playing pool.

When all of a sudden, there was a huge BOOOOOOM! as a huge lightning bolt struck right outside the camp! Mark, who was on the phone at the time, and Francoise, who was using a tap, both got nasty electric shocks.

For a few seconds everyone was quiet and a bit stunned, until we heard a shout from outside - FIRE! An area of dry grassland right outside, which had been struck by the lightning, was on fire!

Panic reigned the next 20 minutes. All the staff raced straight to one of the garages used to store the big tourist trucks, and I was beckoned to follow. Not entirely certain what everyone was doing, I went to the garage, where I found everyone grabbing what were basically big whips, with large, flat ends. Now even more confused, I asked what we were doing.

It turned out these whips were an ingenious fire-fighting tool. Once we had all raced out to the fire, and surrounded the fire, we all started whipping the fire! Because the ends of the whips were large, flat surfaces, they had the effect of blowing the fire out. But it would only work if we were all working in synchrony, otherwise it made the fire worse. So one of the rangers (I can’t remember who) shouted out a 1-2-3 count, and we brought the whips down on 3.

It was incredibly effective, we had the fire beaten after 10 smokey, lung-busting minutes.

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We spent most of the day experimenting with different rifle shots with Tyse, Martyn and his squad of anti-poachers, who were armed to the teeth. Tyse had a device for measuring the speed of bullets - a long, horizontal device (like a plank of wood) with a light sensor at each end. When a shot is made over the top, the bullet is detected by the sensors, and the speed is calculated. Everything was going fine, until Martyn aimed slightly too low and managed to shoot a hole right through the device! Fortunately, he managed to hit the only parts which would not actually break it.

And Tyse had another fun trick up his sleeve. The first thing was to soak some thick telephone books in water until soggy. Then line up several in a row to form a long, solid block of wet paper. Then, fire a bullet through the centre. The idea is that you can see what happens to the bullet by examining the hole made by the bullet in the paper. For example, the solid brass bullets designed to keep their shape would simply go straight through in a straight, narrow line. Hollow tipped bullets, in contrast, would fragment inside the paper, and you can see how the hole gets larger and larger the further into the books the bullet travelled. Those ones made a real mess!

On the way back we saw a jackal with a kill in its mouth, although we couldn’t quite make out what it was.

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We stopped outside a bank while so Tyse could do some business, leaving me in the car. He came back to the car almost immediately, and pulled out a pistol (!) from a leg-holster, berating himself for nearly forgetting to disarm himself before going into a bank - apparently they all have metal detectors. I didn’t even know he was carrying one! But, as I discussed with him later on, this is a common safety precaution in South Africa, which has one of the highest murder rates and shootings in the world. I don’t see how arming yourself is going to do much help, however, but there we go, I don’t live here.

The meeting was fascinating. I learned a lot about the running and issues involved in managing something like conservation of cheetahs - sadly, the defining issue always seemed to be money. The main issue at the meeting was a strategy to award farmers for cheetahs caught on their farmlands alive, with about R5000 (South African rand). It may seem an odd thing for a conservation trust to fund, but it does make a lot of sense - farmers will normally simply shoot a cheetah to kill if they are found on farmland, understandably because they will kill livestock, which outs the farmers out of pocket.

We drove back to Kapama that night.

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Today I went with Tyse to Pretoria for a cheetah conservation meeting being between conservationists and farmers held tomorrow. Pretoria is like a second capital of South Africa (Jo-burg being the main capital).

The journey was 5 hours, across some of the most breath-taking landscapes which made me curse the fact that I had decided to leave the camera behind (do a Google image search for Mpumalanga and you will see what I mean). Through spectacular mountain passes which borer the Northern Province and Mpumalanga, with waterfalls and views of the surrounding countryside which stretches for miles.

We also drove past some shanty towns - rows and rows of squalid 1-story huts with tin roofs, the roads lined with hopeful sellers flogging whatever they could to passers-by. I have never really seen this other side of South Africa before, tucked away behind the more prominent, wealthy, mainly white-owned towns and cities.

I saw a lot of South Africa, travelling across vast expanses of grassland, bushveldt, and the odd town or village like Lyndenburg and Middleburg, surprisingly densely populated with shops, schools, etc.

But this was mothing compared to Pretoria itself. It is a huge city, and it was a shock to suddenly be in rush-hour traffic after 28 days of blissful peace and quiet. I even got the opportunity to buy a book at a bookshop, which I was glad for because I have been reading the last few pages of my only book very slowly, so I didn’t finish it too quickly.

We stayed at Mrs. Roode’s house tonight, the owner of the Hoedspruit Cheetah Project. She is obviously very wealthy judging from the paintings and ornaments adorning her house (mostly cheetah-related!), and she seems extremely polite, generous and accommodating.

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After lunch we were moving some empty transit boxes for cheetahs from the quarantine area back to the project. They were damn heavy, designed for freight transport. We loaded one onto the back of each pickup truck, and tied it down. 2 people had to sit at the back of the pickup to keep the boxes (which were quite tall and narrow) from falling over.

I sat on the back of one of the trucks, one hand on the side of the truck and one hand steadying the box. The first truck sped off, and we followed behind. I really enjoyed the ride, leaning over the side and looking ahead. It wasn’t until we arrived back at the project (about a 40 minute drive) that I realised my face and teeth (I was smiling on the trip) was absolutely covered in a thick film of dust, kicked up by the first truck! That wasn’t so bad, because we all had to shower and wash our clothes anyway as part of the quarantine procedures. I still felt pretty stupid though.

We released Allah into her new camp at about 5:00pm. Apparently, in money terms, she is worth about US$50,000. To me, she is priceless.

Later in the day, the doc needed some blood samples from the blue cranes, so we rounded up as many as possible into the feeding cage, and closed the gate. Next was the really fun bit - catching them!

The technique was to get one arm around the wings (to stop them flapping) and neck (to stop them pecking your face off), and the other arm holding the feet (which were incredibly strong, and had sharp bits). For skinny looking birds, they sure as hell can put up a fight! We all had a few cuts and grazes by the end, but the doc managed to get a blood sample from all of them.

That finished off a hard day’s work.

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Tyse had vehicle problems again, which really limited what we could do today.

Elisa hasn’t collected poo samples from all of the cheetahs yet, so they are delaying their departure (planned for today) until tomorrow. They are being really stubborn on the poo front! I think Elisa is nearly ready to dart them with laxatives or something…

Melanie and Martin joined us for a briar in the evening. Another pleasant night.

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A nice lie-in today, followed by a run. Colin and Elisa joined us for feeding the animals today, which was fun.

Otherwise it was another quiet Sunday. Colin and Elisa then went to collect some cheetah poo from the subjects they have been studying, to add to their experimental readings.

I was chuffed with the fire I built today! I’m getting quite good at it now.

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It was time to begin a new mission today with Tyse - to build a shelter out in the veldt, using only materials we could find in the wild. We got off to a great start by making a long rope from some long reeds. Unfortunately, we spent most of the day looking (unsuccessfully) for a really good spot to make the shelter. And we managed to get the jeep stuck in some deep sand, which took about an hour to get out of - after digging ourselves out, we would only get another few meters before sinking in again. We got out eventually with a final big push, with Tyse flooring it to pick up speed so we just skimmed over the surface.

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After seeing how the procedure worked yesterday, I was able to get a lot more involved this time. As well as helping transport the sedated cheetahs, I also took half of the measurements of the cheetah’s heart rate and breathing rate. This is important because the anesthetic (Zolitol) is known to have side-effects including stoppage of the heart or breathing.

I couldn’t quite believe it, actually working on a cheetah, being able to feel the ribcage rise and fall with your hand, listening to their heart beating through a stethoscope. It was actually quite surreal to see these normally alert, instinctive predators sleeping peacefully. I feel like I have more of a special bond with these animals now, like I know them intimately.

What was especially cool was when they were coming round from the Zolitol - they were moving, growling, looking at you with those huge eyes, yet you could still handle them. That was special.

Colin and I made quite a superb fire going in the evening - we had a barbecue (which I am now starting to call a briar like the South Africans do) over which we discussed politics and war.

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It was a big operation, involving Colin and Elisa, Dr. Rogers, the professor and wife, lab-tech, Marian, Juliette and Tania. We darted 5 cheetah one by one, hauling them onto the buggy to take them to a nearby shelter where all the equipment was.

There, they hooked up each cheetah to a drip, with a catheter to draw blood samples every half hour. They were each wrapped in a blanket to keep them warm, and given hoods to act as a blindfold - apparently, when under the influence of the anesthetic, their pupils do not respond correctly to light levels, and so a hood is required to protect the retina from over-exposure to light.

The sight of 5 cheetahs in a line all wrapped up is a totally surreal sight, it looked like a cheetah hospital! To be able to hold a single unconscious breathing, live cheetah, an animal I used to stare in wonder at on the telly, was amazing. Now there are five.

Everything was meticulously recorded, as for any scientific investigation. Temperature, heart rate and breathing rate readings were taken regularly for safety and an occasional top-up of anesthetic if they showed signs of stirring. It was a spectacular operation to be involved in - I try to soak it all up, knowing I propbably won’t see anything like this again.

It all seemed to go to plan. There was one near-mishap though - the centrifuge used to separate the blood samples suddenly made a clanging noise, and there was one of those heart-stopping moments where everyone looks at each other in alarm, fearing the worst - had the blood samples survived? Thankfully, they had!

We went on our second night-drive today, with the folks from the university, along with a group of French tourists. Gerard, the driver, did have a bit of a problem with the language barrier, but the wildlife spoke for itself - giraffe, rhino, elephant (a whole herd, including a 10-day old calf!), buffalo, lion (3 males, 3 females), impala, waterbuck, nyala, jackals - just about everything! A great day.

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I helped feed the lions today, which was awesome. This is done using a normal pickup truck, with what looks like a shark cage bolted on the back. The feeders sit in the cage, and there are sections of the cage which can open so you can toss the meat out.

It was a long drive, and the feeding was brief, but it was well worth it to get so close to these grand lions. Like with the cheetahs, the driver made a dash for it down the main track to give the lions a bit of exercise while they chase us. It’s a bit un-nerving to have hungry lions chasing after you like that!

Then I went with Tania to feed the other animals, including Jabulani the young elephant, who is definitely my favourite character. He’s very friendly and will play with you all day long, and that trunk is amazing - it’s just like an arm and hand, and nose all in one!

I think we must have fed every animal on the project today, all but the ants.

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We went for a walk in the wild this morning, which is now becoming one of my favourite activities. There were many animal tracks around, which Tyse identified as lion and leopard, which was slightly worrying! But in terms of mega-fauna wildlife, there wasn’t actually much about.

Tyse taught me about ropes and knots today, an incredibly useful skill to have in the wild. If you can tie anything to anything else, you can build constructions, devices, shelter, hang things off the ground, make hammocks, the list goes on.

The other thing I learned today was about collecting water, which is an even more essential skill, because we can’t go for more than a few days without it. If there isn’t any large resource of water, such as a stream, there are various roots and edible plants to eat which contain water.

There is also an ingenious thing called a solar still, which you can make by digging a shallow hole (take your time, and don’t do it in the or you will expire more water than you will gain!) about 3 feet wide. Then dig a smaller hole at the bottom of the bigger hole just wide enough for a container such as a saucepan or a can. Lay a sheet of plastic over the hole, and weigh down the center by placing a small rock in the center of the sheet. Water will condense on the hole you have made onto the plastic sheet, and will run down the incline made by the rock, and drain into your can.

If you have a clear plastic bag, you can put some leaves into it and seal it up. Left in the sunshine, water will be drawn out of the leaves and condense at the bottom of the bag.

Colin and Elisa’s post-graduate tutor arrived today, along with his wife and a lab technician, all staying at Nungu camp. For the first time Nungu seems alive, populated. It’s great to have company, and we had a barbecue and talked into the night.

I finally worked out what that scratching sound is, coming from the roof of the kitchen (see day 3). A rat! Only it must have been pregnant, because there are now 3 distinct pairs of feet scurrying around up there.

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During the afternoon, Tyse talked about traps and snares. The figure-4 trap was an ingeniously simple trap to make in the wild, but you need some kind of box - you take a few straight twigs, and by making a few notches in the right place you can construct an unstable prop for a box (the twigs make the shape of a 4) which will collapse on your prey if they touch it. Knowledge of traps and snares is important for bush survival, but Tyse also pointed out another very good reason to learn about them - it will help you to spot traps made by illegal poachers, because you know what to look for and where. He’s clever, is Tyse. We also discussed general bush survival, including first aid.

Colin and Elisa arrived today, they are a couple of post-graduate students from the University of Pretoria, here to conduct a study on cheetah stress hormones in captivity. We had a good talk over a fire, and saw a couple of elephants at night.

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Another quiet Sunday. I helped Tania feed the animals I do not usually see when I go with Juliet (who tends to do the cheetahs and wild dogs). We fed the ground hornbill, duiker, various other antelope, the blue cranes, the African wild cats and the black-footed cats.

That was about it for today. We retired to Moria camp to talk and play pool.

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Mrs. Lente Roode visited us today, she was the founder of the project. She was showing her family around. She seemed very polite, and urged me to make any suggestions to improve the project. I was tempted to suggest a pool, TV, table-tennis and a bar for the student’s camp at Nungu, but thought this this may not go down too well.

The boredom of the otherwise uneventful afternoon was shattered by the arrival of a herd of elephants! There were about 13, including 2 youngsters. It was incredible, I had my feet up reading a book at Nungu camp, heard the snap of a twig, and turned to see the whole lot of them right there behind me (on the other side of the fence)! How is that possible I asked myself? How can 13 giants sneak up on you so quietly?

I sat and watched the herd as they made their way around the camp, winding their trunks around tufts of grass before pulling them out of the ground and eating them. And they really are so peaceful, and quiet, and graceful - you can see how social they are, how they interact with each other. I am really quite humbled by these gently giants.

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Off we went to the butchery (a bit later than usual, because Tyse’s starter motor had packed-in that morning). The feeding was pretty straight-forward, apart from a near escape by a caracal - I caught the little blighter just in time, at the mouth of the gate!

Today Juliette took me to a compound separated from all the rest by a good mile or so - apparently, all the cheetahs in this quarantined area all ahd some kind of contagious stomach disease. At one point Juliette had to go inside one of the compounds to fix a broken water tap - taking her trusted stick in with her. This cheetah was a lively one, and I was convinced a couple of times it was going to pounce on Juliette - but it never did.

Back at the vet centre, the cheetah with renal failure had been put down today. This was a real shame, and a sad sight. They are just fantastic animals, and the world just seems a little worse with one fewer cheetahs in it. On the plus side, at least the old boy had lived to quite an old age.

I had a good discussion with Tyse about animal control, trapping, the balance of life, wildlife management - and particularly, how pathetically bad we (humans) are at it.

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During the procedure two writers arrived at the surgery, intent on compiling information about the doc for a book on major figures in animal rehabilitation and conservation. I left, so he could be interviewed.

Our afternoon drive with Tyse gave me my very first sight of buffalo since I have been here. At last! And, as these things usually turn out, I did not see just one but a whole flipping herd of them. There must have been at least 40 or 50 of them, wallowing in a water hole. I was quite intimidated when they started advancing, sniffing us out - they really are huge, and their massive horns look particularly effective up close!

Tyse showed me how to make rope out of a particular plant leaf, the roots of which are also edible (a swiss-army plant!)

We had a party tonight. A big fire, loud music and plenty of beer! For some reason I ended up challenging Quentin, who must be about twice my weight, to a ruck - it was just one of those nights.

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It turned out to be the remains of a blue crane, one of the endangered species here. At first a worker was suspected because of nearby footprints (although I found this strange - why would a worker do this? Not for food, surely?), but on finding the main carcass nearby it was clearly the work of a predator. Tyse confirmed later that it was a jackal who had sneaked through a tiny hole in the fence.

Later we had a problem finding one of the servals (a small, cheetah-looking wild cat) in one of the enclosures - she was so well hidden in the undergrowth. Its amazing how those spots on cheetahs, servals, leopards and the like are actually excellent at breaking up the lines of an animal and helping them to blend into the background. Elise didn’t see the serval until she was right next to it!

Our next problem was a piece of meat, which we usually sling over the 4 meter fence of the wild dog enclosure, got stuck on the top of the fencing. This was solved with a couple of long sticks and a lot of patience. Despite this, we were finished the rounds at 11:30.

The rest of the afternoon was a series of missions with the doc. We had a very sick cheetah with renal failure and liver problems - the doc showed me the results of a blood test, and told me the normal, healthy range for various readings - most of the readings were quite seriously beyond the normal limits, which meant it was quite serious.

After darting and heaving him onto the table, the doc set up a couple of detox drips (one subcutaneous, one intravenous). He also got a whole cocktail of other drugs injected or fed through the drip - the doc even let me do a couple of the injections through the drip, which was cool!

We broke for lunch before tackling the next cheetah, the one which needed its bandage changing.

Our next mission was to go to another game reserve where a giraffe had been killed, presumably by making contact with overhead power lines, because the body was found right under them. It was quite a horrific sight (and smell), but sure enough it didn’t take the doc long to confirm it had died from electricity in the power lines - there were fresh scorch marks on the hooves and burnt hair on the legs,where the electricity had earthed itself into the ground through the giraffe. Apparently, the height of the power lines should be a minimum height if they go through giraffe territory - but the power companies rarely live up to this ideal.

Today gave me a glimpse into the life of a wildlife vet - it must be incredibly exhausting!

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We met Ross, the main keeper of the reserve, with a fresh wound on his eyelid from a claw swipe by a cheetah. He showed us a pair of tiny lion cubs - I couldn’t get my head around how they start off so small and grow to be so big!

The two lions to be treated where young adults, in fine condition - playful and active, if a little wobbly on their feet from the vitamin deficiency. It was obvious even to me that they wern’t quite a hundred percent.

The doc darted the pair of them so he could treat them, and that was it finished.

Later in the day Tyse taught me about management of the veldt (another term for the African bush, or open, undeveloped rural land). The types of grasses growing are very important to the health and sustainability of the veldt. For example, Kapama has been over-grazed, leading to a high ratio of annual, thin grasses, with little nutritional content. This is because Kapama actually has too many grazing animals, and is only being sustained at its current state by above-average rainfall in the past few years.

Tonight I have been extremely lucky. Three magnificent wild rhinos came to my camp while I was having an evening dinner by the fire. Two adults and a young calf. I was just in awe of them, they were so quiet despite their huge size. I have been waiting for an opportunity to use the charcoal sticks I have brought from home to use on my sketch pad, so I climbed onto the roof of the lavatory block, and sat there taking as many sketches as I could in the fading light, until sadly they wandered on.

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I visited Buffalo Camp later in the morning, a luxurious tourist lodge for safari-hunters with a lot of cash. I think in years to come, I would like to return to the Northern Province, and stay in that lodge.

Since it was overcast today and not so hot, I went for a walk in the bush near where Tyse lives. That was really cool, I hadn’t properly explored the bush on foot before.

On foot is definitely the way to do it, because you get so much more of an experience out of it. You can hear every noise, and spot every detail like animal tracks, strange plants and insects. And catching a glimpse of larger animals through overhanging branches or between some bushes, like a giraffe, or some vervet monkeys, is a really special feeling. You really feel like you are experiencing things on their terms, you really feel like you are the same as them - just another animal in the wild. I got a spooky feeling of doing what our ancient ancestors did when they hunted game in the wild African savanna.

Although, to be fair, I did have a bit of twenty-first century technology with me - or rather, Tyse did - in the form of a hunting rifle slung across his back. A necessary safetly precaution when you go wandering around in big five territory!

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I got talking to some of the staff today and made some friends. In the evening I went round to Moria camp (the staff camp). They had a TV there, and a pool table - luxury! We watched a few films, and had a few drinks. A great night.

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Tyse took us out to demonstrate a cage-trap today, which was a large cage about the size of a small car. This method wasn’t used on the reserve, but it was all part of learning about different aspects and techniques of wildlife management. It’s purpose was to capture large-ish animals (the size of a leopard or smaller) for tagging, or to record the condition of the animal.

We positioned it between a tree and a large bush to give maximum natural cover, covered it with branches, grass and twigs etc. to disguise it, and even put some inside. The idea was to eliminate hard shapes, straight lines or flat surfaces to make it look natural.

Back at the camp, I heard that strange scratching sound again coming from the roof (see day 3). I wonder what it is?

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The afternoon and evening was taken up by one of the most memorable game drives I have had here.

After meeting John the driver (he only joined the reserve recently), and an English tourist family here to tour the reserve, we set off. The start was a success, with plenty of rhino, giraffe, hippos etc, and even some evidence of buffalo (dung), although sadly no buffalo. I still have not seen any, I get the impression buffalo will be my equivalent of the elusive snow-leopard!

It was at that this point that John realised he was “a bit lost”. It took us over an hour with Quentin on the radio guiding John to the Rhino Inn, our destination, using various stars and constellations as reference points. No sat. nav. required!

We had a banquet at the Rhino Inn, with probably the biggest log fire I have ever seen, fantastic food, and great company. It was great to talk to some fellow Englishmen all the way out here in the bush, I felt like I was at home that evening.

To round off the adventure we got a puncture on the way back to the cheetah centre. 20 minutes struggling with a decidedly dodgy jack, which I’m sure was never designed for the same vehicle, we were off again on the spare tyre. It took only a quarter of an hour before we noticed the hiss-hiss sound of, yes, another puncture. We had used the spare, so decided to carry on for home and hope it lasted the journey, which mercifully it did!

I said goodnight to a now thoroughly distraught John.

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In the morning we went with the doc to dart a tsessebe (topi). We managed to find it and dart it, but it ran off too quickly and we lost it before the tranquilliser had chance to take effect. The vegetation was especially dense, making it impossible to find. We spent an hour looking for the downed tsessebe, but eventually had to give up.

We did some shooting today, which was a great experience. Tyse radioed the anti-poaching patrol to let them know what we were doing first. We used a gong-style metal target, a simple round metal plate about 30cm in diameter swinging from a frame. I fired a few shots of a .303 caliber rifle using various types of bullet, some heavy-load, others lighter. I wasn’t quite prepared for the loudness of it, it left my ears ringing a bit! The target was a good 60-70 meters away, but thanks to the rifle scope I hit the target first time.

I also tried a revolver style gun, which was a lot more difficult. I could rarely hit the target just 20 meters away. He also demonstrated a larger-caliber rifle, using solid brass bullets, which was even more powerful.

We did an evening drive today. We didn’t see that much, but one sighting was well worth it - we found a group of 4 wild rhinos, a small family which was spectacular.

There was a massive thunderstorm tonight, which was cool.

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Juliet would race the pickup down the sides of the enclosures, with the cheetahs running alongside on the other side of the fencing. The idea was to give them a bit of exercise, and give them the idea of chasing what they want to eat.

If there were 2 or 3 of them in the same enclosure, they would sometimes fight over the meat, which was fascinating to watch. Sometimes they would spit and dart at us from the other side of the fence when we went into the feeding corner of the enclosures to deposit the meat - a system of sliding doors operated with pulleys ensured we were always in a separate part of the enclosure.

Occasionally, though, Juliet had to go into the main enclosure itself, with the cheetahs. She used a long stick(!) held at arm’s length, always pointed at the nearest cheetah, to maintain a safe distance between them. That and a lot of shouting, seemed to be all that was needed to pacify them.

I also got to feed Mumuan the baby rhino again today. You can stroke him like a horse, and after downing half a bucket of milk in about 30 seconds, he just stands there looking forlornly at you, hoping for more!

I also met Jabulani today, a young elephant with a friendly, child-like character. He shambled up to meet me, and say hello to the new face, brushing my head with his trunk - and then ran off again when called by his handler. He was left behind by his herd, apparently, when he got stuck in some mud, and has been raised here at Kapama.

He can’t be left alone for long, because of the social nature of elephants - they can get anxious or depressed when left alone. They prefer to always have 2 different handlers for Jabulani so that, if 1 leaves Kapama, he will not be too distressed - it seems that elephants can become very attached to their handlers.

Tyse taught me about guns and shooting today, showing me a collection of different types of ammunition and ballistics.

There was a power cut tonight, so I had to build a fire so I had some light to write my diary. I managed to construct a decent fire (Tyse had given me some good tips) using dead wood and kindling lying around the camp.

It’s a tranquil night tonight - the stars above, a big fire, and the sound of roaring lions in the distance. To round it off, a solitary rhino wandered right up to my camp, looking at me through the fence for a while, before melting away into the night.

Perfect.

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It was hot today. The midday sun was so hot it limited what we could do. We took a few drives where we saw hippos, giraffe, kudu, rhinos and impalas, and we did some tracking, and found wild fruits to eat.

There was an eclipse of the moon tonight at 21:40. It was spectacular.

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The two African ladies who worked there really put me to shame, carrying huge chunks of meat like they weighed nothing, while I was really struggling.

Later I went on a drive around the reserve with Tyse. He showed me the sad remains of ‘Ronnie’ the rhino, a young member of the reserve’s rhino population, gunned down with assault rifles for his horn. It’s a sad sight, and a reminder of why the reserve exists - to protect endangered species from us, humans.

Apparently poachers had entered the reserve years ago, and since then the Kapama reserve has employed an armed patrol to periodically circle the camp. The incident also led to the creation of a rhino trust fund.

After that we went to a small lake surrounded by an expanse of rocky landscape. I found a stone tool, probably from the stone age according to Tyse! That was really cool, you can see the tiny chip-marks where the stone has been carefully crafted into shape. I really wanted to find some more, so we stayed for a couple of hours, and eventually I had a small collection of stones which had obviously been made by hand into a purposeful tool. I never would have thought you could just find something like that just lying around, I thought you had to go on a dig or something! I guess it shows just how fantastically natural and un-touched the African bush can be.

Later we made rope from reeds we found next to a water hole. I found another stone tool there aswell. Tyse taught me some basic some tracking skills, and the importance of knowing about water holes and finding the routes that various animals take to get there. If you were surviving by yourself in the bush, these would be ideal places to set traps and snares to catch dinner. I was also introduced to some of the edible plants in the bush, including an incredibly tough root which tasted nutritious and loaded with water, another invaluable survival resource.

We rounded off the day with a close-up view of some Barbary lions in a large enclosure near Kapama, another incredibly rare species of lion, now considered to be extinct in the wild. It is only due to the efforts of places like this that they still exist at all. I looked right in the eyes of a 200kg male, and he stared back menacingly.
On the way back our pickup truck got stuck in some wet mud, and had to radio a guy with a proper 4×4 to tow us out of trouble. “It’s all part of the fun” was how Tyse put it.

That night at Nunga camp Tyse told me loads of astronomy, which was really interesting - like the position of the North Star and its use for navigation.

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Instead I spend the day mulling over life, the universe and… well, everything.

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My first duty of the day was to help change a dressing on a wounded cheetah at the centre. She had sustained the injury fighting with another cheetah in the enclosure. Dr Rogers darted her (the only way to change a bandage on a wild cheetah), and I helped to carry her onto an operating table so we could strip the old bandage, clean the wound and apply a new one.

This moment sticks in my mind because it was the first time I had actually touched a live, breathing cheetah. It was an amazing experience. I remember she felt surprisingly hot, and I could feel her breathing under a thick, rough layer of fur. I could have just sat and watched her for hours, privileged to be so close to such an elegant creature, lying peacefully on the bench.

Later, Tyse introduced me to more of the cheetahs in their enclosures. It was fantastic to walk alongside the fencing, with a cheetah following alongside, prowling and purring. Yes, cheetahs actually purr! Just like a house cat, only much louder and deeper. One was incredibly tame, having being brought up around humans since birth, so much so that I could put my hand through the fence and have my fingers licked! It’s tongue was rough, like sandpaper.

I was also lucky enough to see a group of an extremely rare sub-species at the centre, the king cheetah. They have a recessive gene allele which makes their spots much larger, so that they usually form stripes down the back.

After an unsuccessful morning drive looking for hippo and buffalo (although we did see rhino, giraffe and kudu), I couldn’t believe my luck when I heard the second rhino in the fight which had wounded the first (see day 2) had been seen and clearly needed medical attention also.

We headed out at high speed in pickup trucks. I sat on the back in the open - and got a bruised bum from the lack of any kind of seat padding combined with the rough, pot-hole ridden road! It was a hell of a drive though, I really enjoyed it. I felt like I was in a movie or something.

When we got close we stopped, the doc went ahead with the rifle and the trackers to find it. It was a long, hot wait in the sun until he managed to dart the rhino. When we followed and saw the rhino, it was such a sight - so huge. Tyse and myself held a blanket over the rhino because it was so hot. I watched as Dr Rogers tended to the wounds with iodide, peroxide and antibiotics. The wound was more significant than the other rhino, so we were there for quite a while - which was trying, in such heat. We even used water to cool the unconscious rhino. After a final check over, and removing some ticks and other bugs, the doc administered some injections, and it was all finished.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet, as it was a Saturday, which gave me a chance to reflect on an awesome day.

I can hear a funny scratching sound coming from the roof of the camp as I sit here writing my diary. I wonder what it could be.

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Dr Rogers has heard news from some trackers out in the bush of a rhino they have found, which they have been looking for for days. It has been wounded from a fight with another rhino, and needs medical attention, which is why they have been on the look-out.

I meet some of the ‘rangers’ here, Flip, Mark, Martyn, Christine, Juliette and Marian. I was given a darting rifle to hold in the jeep, and my excitement goes into overdrive as it dawns on me what we are about to do!

By the time we got to the trackers out in the bush, however, the rhino has been lost again. So we troop back to the project.

Later I helped Wendy and Christine to feed some of the animals, the highlight of which was definitely feeding the rhino calf (Mumuan) they have on the reserve! He needs a good supply of milk to help him grow, so a few litres are loaded into a bucket, and we lean over the side of our pickup truck with a giant teat connected to the bucket by some tubing. As Mumuan drinks the milk (downing the whole lot in less than a minute with huge gulps), I could reach out and touch this amazing calf with my hands. The skin is incredibly rough, and hard, like armour plating.

We then heard that the wounded rhino had been spotted again, and off we went at high speed! We found the trackers, and this time sighted the rhino.

After positioning the jeep, Dr Rogers takes aim with the rifle and darts the rhino. It takes about 8 minutes for the drug to take effect, at which point he visibly wobbles on his feet. Amazingly, Dr Rogers gets out of the jeep, and walks towards this wild rhino (still on its feet), holding a blanket. I ask what he is going to do - apparently, with a blanket draped over its head to cover the eyes, a rhino can be lead like a horse. He is doing this so he can gently lead the rhino towards the path, so that when it eventually keels over, he is on flat ground, and will not harm itself by falling on something like a tree stump.

The rhino falls, and soon he sets about cleaning the wound, and also taking the opportunity to take some measurements for the records. It was an amazing experience - to be able to stand right over an adult wild rhino, watching the ribcage rise and fall with its breathing. And it is just so huge, the size is incredible when you are up-close.

All done, another injection to reverse the tranquilliser, and he is back on his feet again. The whole procedure took about half an hour.

That night, Tyse takes us to a nearby tourist lodge which has a moderately powerful telescope, to begin my lessons on astronomy. Out in the bush, the entire galaxy is laid out above in astonishing clarity, I can hardly believe how many stars there are - most of which are hidden by the light pollution back at home. Through the telescope, I saw Venus, Jupiter (and even some of its orbiting moons were just visible), Saturn (I could just make out the rings), and the moon.
This amazing day was rounded off by a night drive, looking for wildlife with a flood-light. The trick is to look out for the reflections from eyes of animals, which appear as pairs of white dots. We saw quite a lot - including giraffe, impala, and even a bush-baby, scurrying up a tree.

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Tyse de Wet was waiting for me at the airport. He settled my nerves and excitement with a warm handshake and a wide grin, welcoming me to Hoedspruit with his unmistakable South African accent.

Literally before we even left the airport, in Tyse’s jeep, I have see my first bit of wildlife - Tyse halted the jeep, and pointed to a snake crawling across our path! He tells me it is a spitting cobra. It eyes us from the ground, tongue flicking in and out.

(Note: this is the only snake I see during my stay here - I curse that my camera is packed away tightly in my luggage!)

We go for a drive around the Kapama reserve, the home of the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre. It gives me a sense of the huge scale of things in South Africa - the Kapama reserve alone is over 14,000 hectares (140,000 square kilometers). Then down the main road leading to the town of Hoedspruit, the R40, where I can buy my food and supplies. It is a small, sleepy town with a hand-full of essentials like a bank, a butchers etc.

Back to the Endangered Species Centre, where I met Dr. Rogers the wildlife vet, and my introduction to the Cheetah Project. My first encounter with the cheetahs (I think there must be at least 50 of them here) just knocks me for six. Here they are, right before me, these amazing creatures I have only ever seen on the telly, and they are absolutely stunning.

The first thing I notice is how lean they look - you can see their shoulder blades at work when they walk. Although, compared to wild cheetahs, they are very well fed here. Their fur is surprisingly thick, and rough. But what struck me was the noise they made as they slinked around - just like a house-cat’s purr, only much, much louder! You can’t help but admire them - they are fantastic animals.

I am also shown the variety of other animals at the Endangered Species Centre - caracal, lion cubs, an elephant calf (Jabulani), ground hornbill, impala, African wild cats, black-footed cats, wild dogs.

I was shown the accommodation block I would be staying at - Nungu Camp, a collection of five or six round stone huts with thatched roofs for sleeping, and communal facilities. Alone in my room at the end of the day, my head is spinning with trying to process all I have seen today. I suddenly realise I am alone in a foreign country, far from home. The thought ‘what the heck am I doing here?’ keeps popping into my head, I can’t quite believe it. But mixed with the apprehension is wonder and excitement. I know my stay here is going to be something I will never forget.

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