Greetings from Uganda

Land borders are always interesting, chaotic places and the Ugandan border is no different.  We are amazed to see the trucks lined up for miles and realise these guys might be here for days if not a week before they are given the all clear and cross over to Uganda! 

Our journey is less eventful and much quicker but negotiating our way through the maze of trucks is tricky!

We finally arrive at our campsite close to Jinja.  We have 3 nights here which is a relief after all the driving of the last 2 days.  We put up our tent and and enjoy our room with a view!  Yes, that’s the Nile River and I hear we are very close to the source of the Nile.  There are many optional activities to choose from in the two full days we have here but on my first day I chose to volunteer at the Soft Power Education Project along with a number of other campers.

Established in 1999, the project has been working in this area to provide an education for under privileged children and orphans including those with AIDS.  They also undertake a number of community development programs to combat poverty in the region.

www.softpowereducation.com

The term ‘soft power’ stems from a recognition that we need skills such as knowledge, information, culture and ideas as opposed to the driving forces of past history in the region which was focussed on ‘hard power’ such as  military might, political authority and wealth.

Our first visit is to the primary school where we are given a rousing welcome from the kids who seem delighted to see us and clamber all over us. 

We then travel African style to a primary school about 6 km away.  The journey takes us through the neighbouring villages and we are greeted with more cheering children along the way!  We wave back and duck occasionally to avoid hitting our heads on overhanging branches.

Our task for the day is to help with painting some of the rooms and the walls around the classrooms.  

Many hands make light work and it isn’t long before we have made a bit of a difference and we are treated to a Ugandan traditional lunch of rice, beans and spinach.  

It has been a wonderful way to get a taste of the local culture and give a little back.  The kids here are absolutely wonderful and I can’t stop taking pictures.   During the journey back I chat to Moses and Kibina.  They tell me more about the project and the conservation work that Soft Power is undertaking at Murchisson Falls to reduce issues such as the poaching of elephants.  Kibina (far right) has had an interesting life including a stint as a free lance journalist.  We talk about our common passions and dreams for the future.

It has been a wonderful introduction to Ugandan culture and a great way to meet the people here.  I say goodbye to the guys and hope I can come back here one day.   

“Leave more than footprints!”

A Postcard from Kenya and Lake Nakuru

I arrive late in Nairobi as my connection from Jo’berg was cancelled.  I’ve missed the team meeting for my Kumuka overland adventure but apparently so have a few other people.  I arrive at reception early and spot Triona, who looks like she might be on the Kumuka trip as well.  I’ve guessed right.  She too has missed the team meeting and only just arrived in Nairobi at 2 that morning.  We befriend each other and she ends up being my new room mate, or to be precise my tent mate!We meet our new companions soon after and our tour guide Mwangi, a Kenyan.  There are two other Kenyans on the trip, Patrick our driver and Martin who helps out with camp.  I’m travelling East Africa with a truck load of Aussies, 2 Kiwis, 2 Canadians and Triona, who is Irish.  Everyone is lovely and it feels like home to be amongst so many travellers from home! 

My journey begins in Kenya and we will travel to Uganda, back to Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi and Zambia.  Some of the travellers will continue on to Cape Town.  We drive across the rift valley and I am amazed at the expanse of this place.  We have our first break and I am excited to see the Masai blankets blowing in the wind as I take it all in.  I have finally arrived in Kenya!Our first campsite is in Lake Nakuru.  We do a quick game drive to orient ourselves and wet our appetites for the longer drive in the morning.  I am truly excited to see the flamingos around the lake, something I have dreamt of seeing for a long time.  No picture can do justice to the site of hundreds of thousands of pink birds lining the waters edge but I do take some pictures the next day.  During the peak season there are more than a million birds here – hard to fathom!

We get to the campsite at dusk and the rain is falling lightly.  As Triona and I get ready to put up our tent for the first time we hear a bit of a commotion.  Someone has spotted 2 lions!  If anyone had any doubts we were in the wilds of Kenya they are shattered now.  A few of my fellow campers feel a little nervous.  We all want to see lions, but not within a few hundred metres of our camp!  I don’t have my camera but for our luck we see them again the following morning, complete with 2 sets of 3 cubs each. 

If you have ever been on safari you will know how amazing this sighting is.  One set of cubs are so small, we can’t believe they are already out of the den.  We juggle places at the window and try to get a few pictures of these magnificent animals through the dense undergrowth they are travelling through.  

I have already seen many animals in Southern Africa but I am amazed at the sheer numbers in this park.  Also unlike the other parks, this one has much open grasslands and we spot herds of giraffe, zebra, cape buffalo and many antelope. 

We are also really fortunate to see both white and black rhino, so in out first day in Kenya we have already spotted 3 of the big five! Our last stop is at the lake and we are able to get off our vehicle and take our time snapping these colourful birds.

Their pink colour comes from the crustaceans they eat and I just cannot believe what a spectacle they make!

 You'll never find peace of mind until you listen to your heart.  ~George Michael

In the Footsteps of my Ancestors

Greetings from Eastern Africa!  I have always had a hankering for Africa and I have often wondered if it is because Africa has one of the longest documented histories of human existence.  My Lonely Planet guide book states that the East African section of the Great Rift Valley is popularly considered the ‘Cradle of Humanity’, so it is exciting that my next adventure starts in Kenya. 

But perhaps there is another reason why I feel I have come home.  Just before I left Australia, I took part in the Genographic project that is currently being conducted by National Geographic. 

Trace Your Ancestry with DNA - DNA Ancestry Project

The project traces your original ancestors and documents their path out of Africa.  I sent off a swab of my DNA, and eventually received a map based on my mitochondrial DNA confirming  my maternal ancestors originated from Eastern Africa.(Too hard to download map from the website in Africa).

The map indicates the direction these ancestors followed as they set out from their original homeland in East Africa.  My ancient ancestors headed east, moved across the Arabian Peninsular, and through the Indian subcontinent.  While some of these continued through Asia and on to Australia, my ancestors made it down to Sri Lanka via India.

As mentioned this map is based on the DNA passed on to me by my mom.  It is amazing to know that scientist can now determine the prehistoric movements of my ancestors just by looking at the mutations of the DNA passed on by the women in my family.  (While these women passed on their DNA to their sons as well, they in turn do not pass it on to their offspring).  

National Geographic report that in 1987, population geneticist discovered that all people alive on the planet could trace their maternal lineage back to a woman who lived about 150,000 years ago and who has been named “Mitochondrial Eve”.  While she is not the first female human, (Homo Sapiens evolved in Africa about 200,000 years ago), this is the woman from whom it is believed we are all descended!  For a number of reasons, the lineages of the other women went extinct or perhaps they only gave birth to sons.   

I was incredibly excited to realise there is a scientific reason for my feelings of coming home to a continent I have spent so little time in.  I wonder if perhaps one day I will be privileged to spend some extended time on this continent?  Till then, I will be content to follow in the footsteps of my ancestors and explore a part of the continent from which we all possibly evolved!

I am about to embark on an overland journey through Eastern Africa that will take me through Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania & Zanzibar, Malawi and Zambia!  We will be camping all the way and I am really looking forward to exploring a part of Africa through which I have never travelled before.

 Like an old gold-panning prospector, you must resign yourself to digging up a lot of sand from which you will later patiently wash out a few minute particles of gold ore.  ~Dorothy Bryant

From Windhoek to Nairobi!

It takes me 2 days to get from Windhoek Namibia, to Nairobi Kenya!  I first catch a flight from Windhoek to Jo’berg and the 2 hour flight passes by quickly because I happened to sit next to Chris.  Chris is an Africaans man from South Africa who is travelling back home after a business trip to Namibia.  We start chatting and our conversation lasts the entire duration of the flight!

Chris is in the electronics field and has grown up in South Africa.  He has a young family now and is wondering if perhaps it is time to move on.  Australia and New Zealand are high on his wish list.  He has been to Australia previously and we chat about the place I currently call home.  Chris has recently had a traumatic experience.  He and his family were mugged while leaving a picnic and while no one was hurt the experience of having your hands tied behind your back and your car and many things stolen has shaken him and this has perhaps been a bit of a catalyst in his decision to explore the options of living on another continent.  We talk about the fact that stuff like this happens everywhere, but he tells me that too many of his friends have had similar experiences and his concern for his children’s future.

We chat about many other things and I tell him about my blog and my desire to write a book about this journey.  He promises to have a read and I give him my card with my details.  The plane touches down in Jo’berg and we say goodbye.  Chris tells me he is happy that he didn’t sit in his usual aisle seat and I ask him to look me up if his journey takes him down under.

I have one night in Jo’berg and this time I have arranged to meet Mdu for dinner.  If you remember, he drove me to my hotel the last time I was here and we have now become good friends. He has kept in touch via email and read my blog and it will be lovely to see him again.  He picks me up at my airport hotel but we are both quite tired so we walk next door for dinner.  His dad has been taken sick that morning so he has spent most of his day at the doctors office.  We order steaks and get comfortable with some red wine and cider. 

We chat till late into the night.  Mdu tells me about his kids, his dreams for the future, his Zulu culture and his desire to have a thriving business in trade.  I talk about what I have done since he last saw me in South Africa.  This journey is turning into a talk fest and it is so lovely to come back to a place and know you have a friend in what was once an unknown city.

Mdu takes me to the airport in the morning and this time we hug and say goodbye.  He is no more a stranger.  We will stay friends but I don’t know when I will see him again.   Unfortunately, the nature of this journey is that I keep having to say goodbye to friends now scattered around the globe.

My flight from Jo’berg to Nairobi has been cancelled so I have to catch a later flight.  I will miss my trip meeting but perhaps this was another trick of fate because it meant I had the chance to make my first Kenyan friend. 

My journey to Nairobi is spent chatting to Njeri.  Njeri grew up in Kenya but now lives in Washington DC and works in the human resources area.  She has just travelled to South Africa for work but is now on her way to see her family including her parents who still live in Kenya. 

She shares her interesting story with me.  A quirk of fate led her to give up her college studies and become a flight attendant and changed the course of her life.  Her job took her many places and she ended up being based in India for 6 months where she met her husband, an American who was based at the embassy there. They have 2 kids now and she calls the East Coast home but keeps coming back to her roots in Africa to touch base with her family.

We talk about the challenges of marriage between cultures and she tells me her husband chose to work in Kenya for 3 years to understand her better.  Marrying an African means also marrying an entire family.   She tells me how they have supported many of her siblings, helping some of them migrate and also helping out her sisters children when her sister passed away.  I know this is common in African and Asian cultures and perhaps many others and we talk about how different life is in the west where so much emphasis is placed on the personal development of the individual over and above the community and family unit. 

We chat for ages and once again exchange details.  Njeri tells me her daughter is really keen to explore the world and would love to have a read of my blog.  Again, we are so happy to have met each other and promise to look each other up if my travels take me to the States or her travels bring her to Australia.  We stay together through customs and I meet her cousin who works at the airport.  We finally hug at the baggage counter and Njeri promises to stay in touch.

My East African adventure is about to begin..

Goodbye Okonjima!

I would never have guessed that I would be looking forward to collecting cheetah poo first thing on Monday morning, but compared to bush chopping and prickly pear, this one is a breeze.  It is really relaxing to walk in the enclosures, looking for old bones and fresh poo, knowing the cheetahs are hiding in the grass, watching me. 

I love the sensation of being outdoors in the cool mornings, before the heat of the day takes over.  There is lots of fresh poo today and it smells but I still love this job!

On the way back from watching the feeding run, Shakira climbs her tree again and we wave goodbye.  She loves her perch and I just wish I could have gotten just that little bit closer, but I have certainly seen my leopard on a tree. (Hey Nicola, I know it isn’t as good as yours..but it will have to do :) )

We also visit Wahoo one last time and I wonder if I will see anything different, the third time around.  One of the joys about the wild is that one must always expect the unexpected. 

We are just about to leave the hide, we get a radio message from one of the guides.  He is calling to say that Nxosi, one of the resident leopards in the area has just been spotted circling our car!  We have been asked to stay inside the hide till we get the all clear.  We wonder if they are having us on but realise later on that jokes such as this are just not on in the wild.  Rion and a couple of guys step outside, only to spot the tracks of a leopard right outside the hide door!  They scamper back inside.  Just when you thought you had seen it all, you are reminded that anything is possible in Africa!

We stay in radio contact for what seems like ages till one of the guides comes by our hide, stick in hand to lead us out.  Our third visit to Wahoo turns out to be the most exciting of them all.  We look around for Nxosi but unfortunately, he is deep in the bush and we don’t spot him but we’ve had our bit of excitement for the day. 

We are in for a few surprises in our last week.  Clive has negotiated for us to spend Tuesday morning at REST, Rare and Endangered Species Trust. www.RESTafrica.org

We get to spend the morning learning about their program in exchange for helping them with a few chores including some fence rolling.  Maria is impressed with our effort and spends the rest of the morning sharing her passion with us. Founded in 2000 by Maria Diekmann, a local cattle rancher, REST is a non profit organisation that currently focuses on the plight of the Cape Griffon Vulture in Namibia.   In addition to this vulture, the centre also cares for the Lappetfaced vulture and the Bateleur.  It is quite amazing to see these birds up close.  While ancient cultures revered the vulture, most modern cultures do not and hence vulture conservation has often taken a back seat.  This is sad as they play a big part in the ecology of the wild, cleaning up all dead animals in the African bush.  We really enjoyed our visit here and Clive tells us they are negotiating to do more exchanges such as this between PAWS and REST.

Clive usually does a trip to town once a week and I’ve always made use of the opportunity to get to an internet cafe and post my blog and get supplies.  This week it’s Wednesday and about half the camp have decided to have a day in town.  I am just about to leave camp and decide its about time to have some African pampering.  I get my nails done and have my hair coloured which turns out to be quite an experience.  I walk in to the shop and about 6 African girls crowd around me, feeling my hair!  They just love my straight hair here and it isn’t the first time it has been admired or I’ve been asked if it is my own!  Which of your parents are black they enquire this time.  Well, I explain they both are/were black.  Well then, quips one, why do you have Chinese hair? 

I burst out laughing and explain my sub-continental background before we get down to business and they do my hair!

We’ve been tracking leopards all week with not having much luck, except with zebra and giraffe sightings till Wednesday arvo.  We get a strong signal almost right away from Oshiwa but unfortunately Shez blows a tyre and we have to stop to repair the puncture.  We have not had much luck with vehicles these past few weeks.  Funnily they always seem to break down right by a leopard!  After we fix it, we realise that Oshiwa has moved on but we pick up her signal once again and find her under a tree. 

Oshiwa’s is the ‘love child’ :) of MJ and Mufana  and is just 2 years old. She is rather shy, having been born in the wild and is not used to humans or vehicles.  Every time we get close enough to get a few shots, she moves on and the photo above was the best I could do.  Our leopard sightings however are not over for today.  We pick up Nxosi soon after and follow him for awhile but our only sightings are of him in the long grass and then sadly it is time to head back.  We pass by Wahoo on the way home and wave goodbye.  Three leopards in one day – not bad after the recent drought!

Tomorrow is our last night and we will be heading out for sundowners, so I guess this was officially my last game drive.  I look longingly at the landscape and realise I will always remember and miss the wide open spaces of Namibia.   

Clive gives us the day off on Thursday to visit REST one last time before we leave.  We are having a great last week and both Alice and I are really happy.  We help out with a few chores and then watch the birds being fed.  The Cape Griffon Vultures come down from their perch and we get to see them up close tearing at the meat laid out for them. 

Once a week, food is also left out by REST for the vultures and other wild birds in the area in what is commonly referred to as the Vulture Restaurant.  We get to watch the action at the water hole from their fabulous hide and we are quite excited at the prospect.

As REST are now in a new location, their vulture restaurant is just getting established.  Unfortunately, for us they’ve had a big gathering of about 80 birds (for the first time) the day before we’ve got there, just after the food was left out.  So our time in the hide is not that eventful.  Still, we have had a great experience with the birds they care for and we’ve had a day off work.  It doesn’t get better than that! 

And so it is time for our last ride in Shez.  We set off for Sundowners, armed with a few Savannahs and Windhoeks.  Alice and I feel a little sad.  We’ve been here 4 weeks and spent quite a bit of time with each other, bush choppping, chatting about our respective futures and generally having loads of fun with both Rion and Felix.  We’ve got to know the boys really well and know we will miss them as much as they will us.  (or so they tell us anyway).    Alli (as Felix likes to call her) goes back to Uni next week and is looking forward to reconnecting with her boyfriend and family.  We have both really enjoyed our time here together being the ‘old hands’ and the last 2 weeks have flown by.  Our last Sundowner was very special.  There was a stunning moon as we were driving back, and heaps of animals came out as if to wave us goodbye.  We were also rewarded by an entire family of Oryx, who came by to drink at our own little water hole. 

Alli and I are very emotional on our last morning as we bid goodbye to everyone.  We feel really sad to leave a place that has been home for the last 4 weeks.  Clive drives us to the airport on another beautiful Namibian morning.  Tongs, one of our resident cheetahs is sunning herself by the roadside as we make our last drive out of the reserve.  Goodbye Clive, Rion and Felix.  Bon voyage and good luck Alli!  Goodbye Okonjima! We have made memories that will last us a lifetime and you will always hold a special place in our hearts!  

 A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.  ~Jean de La Fontaine

Felix’s Story

It is my last afternoon at PAWS and Felix joins me in the common area to chat.  We have worked often together, bush chopping, fence rolling and collecting cheetah poo and now it is almost time to say goodbye.  He sits down to tell me his story…

Felix was born in a village called Musese, in Northern Namibia.  He has 3 sisters and 5 brothers  and he is #6 in what is quite a normal sized family, for rural Namibia.  He studied in the same village he was born in but when he was 10 years old a tragic accident with one of his school mates resulted in a broken left leg, that left him  in hospital for 5 years.

Once he was back on his feet, he went back to school and completed high school in 2007.  He studied in Africaans but also speaks English, his home language Nyemba, Rukwangali, Thimbukushu and Sambyu!  It is truly impressive list for someone like me who can only manage two languages but it is quite common for Africans to speak many different languages. 

After finishing high school Felix entered the police force in Otjiwarongo, (the town closest to us here at the reserve) and worked there for 8 months.  However, there were many aspects of this job that did not appeal to him including the gun culture of criminals.   Felix left the police and joined Okonjima Lodge as a contract worker. 

While there he met Clive and joined PAWS 2 years ago as one of Clive’s full time staff and has been here ever since.  Felix enjoys his job especially the aspect of meeting volunteers from all over the world.  He tells me he enjoys bush chopping and fence rolling (really?) and loves helping the volunteers when they are wilting under the Namibian sun!!

Like many Africans, Felix loves his soccer and in fact we watched him referee a game last weekend.   He faithfully attends training 3 times a week and is proud to play for the Okonjima Team as their goal keeper. 

Felix dreams of getting married one day and having a family but tells me the lady will probably be from a tribe different to his own.  Felix leads a life according to the principles of his Christian faith and refrains from drinking alcohol or smoking.  He is currently taking care of his younger siblings and his father as well as a nephew. 

Felix also dreams of owning a car one day and tells me he would like to drive a City Golf.  Felix would love to be able to drive his dad around who tragically lost a leg in a car accident that also killed his mother and injured his aunt.  His dad is 63 years old and his mum was 53 when she passed away last year.  It was a hard time for Felix and he tells me it is a struggle for him to look after his younger siblings all of whom he supports with his wage from PAWS.  This includes their schooling, food and clothing as there is no one else in the family to care for them. 

Felix is studying guiding and would love to be a guide just like his mate Rion.  He often joins me in the afternoon in the common area and studies the names of Namibian flora and fauna while I write my blog. 

Felix’s favourite pastime is asking and being asked private questions and often after he has greeted me in the morning will ask, “ have you got a question for me?”  It has been really fun getting to know him and I wish him all the very best with his future! 

I have really enjoyed working with both Felix and Rion and will miss them when I leave PAWS.  Towards the end of our chat, Felix looks at me sadly and says, “I will never see you again”.  I have a lump in my throat and I say, “never say never, Felix.  If  I come back to Namibia, I will certainly stop by to say hello”.  He tells me that if I ever came back, he would take me back to his village for a visit.  Ah…so hard to say goodbye!

Their favourite phrases, “lovely jubbly”, “cool bananas”, “watch my back”, and “sweet job”, will resonate with me for a very long time!  Positive Vibes Felix!  Till we meet again..

 The simplest questions are the most profound.  Where were you born?  Where is your home?  Where are you going?  What are you doing?  Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change.  ~Richard Bach

Week 3 @ Okonjima

Alice and I have bonded well with the new group of volunteers and settled into life here at camp. It is comforting to know what to expect and what to wear for each activity and there are few surprises in week 3.  We continue with more of the same activities – bush chopping, collecting cheetah poo but fence rolling and prickly pear (thankfully) were put on hold due to the wild dogs being released in the area we were working! 

We collected fire wood one day and did an extra day of bush chopping to make up the time.  We had fun at the sleep out on the river but camped at a new location as we didn’t want to wake up to find wild dogs in camp! We played games quite late into the evening and had fun getting to know each other a little more.

The highlight of the week however was making it to the soccer on Sunday.  We were on a game drive before the match and were tracking leopards when we were radioed for help by one of the tourist vehicles.  They were stuck in the riverbed and wanted our help getting out.Unfortunately, while we were able to get them out of trouble, it was all too much for Shez who broke down herself and had to be abandoned.  We were glad we had a few boys in camp as they did all the hard work getting us out of the riverbed.  Finally, we were rescued by the vehicle we had initially helped and the guide who was also playing soccer himself, drove us to the game. 

The soccer took awhile to get going but we had fun with the local kids who were more than willing to pose for pictures and chat to us with their limited English.

The guys here take their soccer seriously.  The Okonjima team were playing a neighbouring lodge and won the first game 1-0.  While neither Rion nor Felix, our local guides played in the first match, Felix refereed the game.  A good game all round. The local residents came along to watch and cheered noisily for Okonjima.  It was a great atmosphere but by 1 in the afternoon we were all starving so we headed back.  Unfortunately, we missed watching Felix play and score a goal for Okonjima who won again, 4-0!So, week 3 draws to a close.  I am enjoying my stay here immensely and it won’t be long before I embark on my East African adventure.  Till then, Be Strong!

We have five senses in which we glory and which we recognize and celebrate, senses that constitute the sensible world for us.  But there are other senses - secret senses, sixth senses, if you will - equally vital, but unrecognized, and unlauded.  ~Oliver Sacks

The Ultimate Dream

Jayne and David are living their ultimate dream.  Driving around the world for 5 years in a 1998 Land Rover Defender, having packed in their lives and careers in England! 

www.lizzybus.com

I had often fantasised about doing this myself, so it is quite amazing to meet a couple who are in the midst of living my fantasy. 

Clive bumped into Jayne and David at the backpackers in Windhoek and invited them to camp at PAWS for a few days.  That’s how I end up spending Monday night chatting to this interesting couple. 

They have just spent 13 months getting to Namibia from England, having travelled through some pretty dangerous territory in Western Africa.  They regale us over dinner with interesting stories of 4 hour border crossings and crazy adventures and the wonderful people they’ve met along the way.  They have lived on rice and beans in West Africa and David as lost 20 kilos along the way.

Having travelled around Australia in a LandRover for 3 months myself, I have a bit of an idea what life on the road entails.  I quiz them about how they planned for such an extensive trip and learn they are really only planning a few countries ahead at a time and getting visas as they go, whenever they reach a capital city. 

They plan to travel up the east coast of Africa, then drive to Asia, ship their car to Australia and explore New Zealand as well before driving from the bottom of South America all the way to Alaska and finally heading back to Europe!  Ah..I wonder if I will be doing this myself one day. 

In the morning, I find them drinking coffee from the Wedgewood coffee cups they carry and we joke about the little luxuries of life while on the road.  They tell me that as long as they have fresh coffee in the morning and a beer at night, the world can throw anything at them in between.  I wish them all the best as we exchange details and I invite them to visit me in Australia when they get there in about 3 years time!  I do hope we meet again because I would love to hear more about the adventures this couple will have in the next few years.  Bon Voyage, Jayne and David, you are living life to the fullest!

  Real birthdays are not annual affairs.  Real birthdays are the days when we have a new birth.  ~Ralph Parlette

A Day In the Life of AJ

I spend Monday afternoon with AJ and get a taste of what a day in his life is like.  AJ’s day starts at 5.30 in the morning when he reports to the lodge to pick up his vehicle and discuss with the park manager if there are any tasks he can help with as he goes about his cheetah research. 

He works long hours but has a two hour break when he has lunch with his wife and a bit of a siesta.  He doesn’t see his job as work, as he has found his passion in life and enjoys every moment he spends outdoors.

His first stop this arvo is to check the voltage on some of the fences around the reserve.  Now the wild dogs are released, he needs to make sure they don’t escape on to the neighbouring farmers property and cause trouble.  Wild dogs are endangered and we need to make sure the four just released, make it in the wild.  As we drive through checking fences, AJ spots Cyclops.  She has been quite elusive recently, and he is pleased to come across her here but she is shy and runs off before I get a good photo. 

A little further on, we spot the wild dogs being followed by Dave (from AfriCat).  For 2 weeks, these dogs will be followed and observed by foot so their behaviour & hunting skills can be monitored closely.  Dave will do this for the first week, and AJ will take over during the second week.  We wave, but don’t stop as the dogs are to be left alone till they adapt to life in the wild. 

I remark that his job is quite a lonesome one, but AJ tells me he enjoys time on his own and really doesn’t miss the company of people that much.  While observing the behaviour of cheetahs he doesn’t even listen to music as he wants to be awake to the sounds of the bush.  We pass the tallest termite mound in the reserve and I persuade AJ to pose for me, so I have some perspective on my picture.     

We next visit Charlie and Trish.  We find them lying under the trees, quite content.  Trish purrs as we approach and AJ is satisfied they are doing fine.  He tells me a cheetah can go for about 5 days without food but we found these cats with a kill a few days ago, so we know they are not hungry. 

 Our next stop is at the riverbed, where I find a red hartebeest who has breathed his last.  Actually, this animal was put down a couple of days ago, as they had found him stuck in the mud, in pain and suffering from an infection.  The kindest thing to do in such instances is to end his life.  He has been brought to this location, to determine if any wild leopards or hyenas will come to feed.  AJ has installed a motion sensitive camera in the tree to capture what happens.  Normally, he would download the pictures, but today he doesn’t have his card reader with him.  It doesn’t matter as there are no bite marks on the animal.  If nothing feeds off the dead carcass in the next 4 days, it will be left in an open area for the vultures to clean up. 

As we drive off, we scan the area for snares.  This is an area where historically, many traps for animals were laid and AJ would dismantle these snares as he goes about his work.  We don’t spot any today.  

Our last task for the day is to monitor the siblings.  We find Bones and Spud by the fence line and track Hammer and Koko on foot.  After observing all four of these gorgeous cats, we sit on the back of his truck to observe them from afar. AJ makes notes about our afternoon’s activities and tells me the cats love coming out to the open ‘cos they have really great eyesight and can easily spot their prey.  Little Dik Diks and Duikers also come out to the open grass lands looking for fresh grass and can then fall prey to an agile cat.

It has been a wonderful afternoon and I have got a taste of life in AJ’s office.  What a wonderful way to spend your days.  He tells me he works 7 days a week but is given 5 off days a month to compensate for working weekends.  He works long hours and his day doesn’t end till about 7pm on a good day but he doesn’t mind.  He loves his job!

The sunset puts on a brilliant display for me and as I say goodbye to the Siblings, I thank AJ for sharing a bit of his world with me as we head back for PAWS.

“When your heart speaks, take good notes”.  ~Judith Campbell