Archive for January 4th, 2001
Day 1
As the plane approached Hoedspruit Airport I was stunned by the view outside. All I could see was a sea of green - not the arid, dry landscape I was expecting, but a lush canopy of trees and foliage, seemingly without break.
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.