M.A.C in Africa: Mashatu, Botswana: 6th-10th Jan '13

6th January 2013: Mashatu, 7 hours
The two weeks we had off for holiday passed quicker than you can imagine, and suddenly it was time to go up to Mashatu in Botswana for our Wilderness Medicine course. The transfer took over 7 hours from Johannesburg, and we finally crossed the SA/Botswana border at PontDrift. To get into Botswana, we had to unload all of our luggage and get into a very rickety 2x3m cage cable car over the Limpopo river - it took some 5 trips to get all of us and our luggage across! None of us had anticipated this little adventure at all, it was a funny exercise - TIA (This is Africa!). On the Botswana side, we met Brian, Chantelle, Victor and Albite, the instructors at Mashatu. The transfer to the EcoTraining camp took 45 minutes, during which we got to see Mashatu in it's full glory, and even had our first Elie sighting on the road just behind camp!

Crossing the Limpopo and into Botswana on the cable car - interesting experience!

The EcoTraining camp has been perfectly designed to fit into its surroundings - situated on the bank of the Makuhtse River, it is completely unimposing and the tents are all nestled in between trees, and even the classroom is a large tent rather than concrete structure - it has a very wild feel. In the introduction the instructors reiterated the importance of using torches at night and wearing closed toes shoes due to the number of wild animals they get in camp and also the high numbers of very venomous buthidae scorpions and spiders...hmmm.

Cecil John Rhodes boabab

After a lovely afternoon tea of muffins and biscuits, (James Poole I had a cup of tea in your honour), we went out on an evening drive to further explore the area. We climbed Mmamagwe ridge, where the old chief of the reserve used to hold court, and at the top of cliff is a huge Baobab tree into which Cecil John Rhodes carved his initials when he was in the area scouting out a route for his Cairo to Cape Town train in the late 1800's. Due to the rivers and terrain, the track never passed through the area, but that that he was there and his initials remain on the tree was really cool to see. The sunset from the top was indescribable in its beauty, and hearing the calls from three spotted hyenas walking in the valley below reverberating around the hills, made the experience unreal.

Sunset on Mmamagwe Ridge

7th January: Leopard on foot (and some first aid!)
After such an incredible first day, and hearing elephants trumpeting during the night, we all woke up very excited for the day ahead. Our wilderness medicine course started at 8am in the classroom where we met Andrew Miller, the MAN to do first aid with. From 8am until 4pm, Andrew introduced basic life support and exposed us to some of the things that we could expect to have to deal with the the bush. We heard some unbelievable stories - including things that he has witnessed during his amazing career as an army paramedic, fireman and helicopter rescuer, just to name a few of his jobs, and we saw some horrific photo's and video footage. It is astounding how quickly you can get into serious trouble out here. We worked through lion and elephant attacks, and learnt how you can provide life support to victims when help is often hours away. It was quite frightening to see some of the images and worse knowing that once trained, it is your responsibility to deal with these traumas if they arise. It was a real eye opener, and Andrew kept everyone absolutely riveted.

After such an intense day, we all got to go out on an afternoon activity for a change of scene. My group went on a walk with Brian and it was the best walk we've ever done! As well as seeing Eland, Ostrich, huge herds of zebra, impala & wildebeest, some rock dassies, black back jackal and stunning birds (including a Kori Bustard, Southern Africa's heaviest flying bird), we also bumped two breeding herds of elephant and a lonesome bull on foot - getting closer than 30 meters each time. The most amazing sighting of all though, was a leopard. We were walking down the side of a small Koppie and, down on the plain below, we saw a huge male leopard dash into the Fever Berry forest in front oh him. We hot footed after him, and slowly, carefully, crept into the forest area, eyes peeled. Ed was the first to spot him - a giant spotted head poking through a gap in the thicket just 30m away from our position. He stared at us for some time before scarpering backwards further into the dense woodland. It is incredibly rare to see wild leopard these days and even more rare to bump them on foot - it was by far my highlight of the course so far.

Some of the Elies we encountered on foot

8th January: CPR
Coffee in hand this morning sitting around the fireplace listening and watching the vibrant selection of birds flying around, we saw movement on the other side of the river bed, and spent the following half an hour watching a breeding heard of elephants come down to the river bed to drink and splash around - most definitely one of the coolest way to drink your coffee in the morning! We've all seen enough now to be convinced that Mashatu is the best place on earth, and we're very sad to have such a short stay in this special reserve!
Despite the spectacular views, First aid class necessitated and we kicked off sharply at 6.30am - lots to pack in today. Having learnt the theory part of CPR and some other techniques, it was time to get practical. Teaming up in two's, we learnt how to give CPR to adults, children and infants, how to help someone who is choking, and practised some of the different positions you put people in with regards to different types of injury/condition - i.e Supine position to give CPR, how to position a stroke victim, how to place people with broken bones etc. It was extremely interesting and such an invaluable skill to acquire.

The afternoon activity today was a drive, and no less interesting than the day before with some awesome sightings of elephants, including seeing a tiny calf trying not to step on its trunk! We also, believe it or not (and Doug, don't fall off your chair) saw another leopard! We were driving along the river road towards camp just as the sun was setting and suddenly heard a lot of commotion in the river bed. Two jackals were barking like crazy and two wilderbeest stood staring at something on the embankment hidden from our view. All of a sudden, a leopard lept up the side of the bank, across the road and into the thicket to our left! The jackals went bazerk, the wildebeest bolted, and we all jumped up off our seats to get a few more glimpses of the magnificent cat. Talk about lucky!

9th January: Bleeds, breaks, burns, envenomation; 12 hours of first aid
Today we covered the remainder of the first aid course, namely bleeds, breaks, burns, envenomation and a few other bits and pieces. We learnt how to dress and bandage major bleeds, impalements and protrusions and how to splint and deal with breaks and fractures. We saw some DISGUSTING images of accidents and snake/spider/scorpion bites - I'm talking (and skip this paragraph now if your squeemish) impaled bodies, amputated limps, even a decapitation - enough to make your stomach churn. Worse of all was the burns section, which also touched on electrocution - including lightening strikes and the inevitable CPR that you'd have give the victim - sensitive subject for me as most of you know, had to take a few minutes out here.

We sat in the classroom just short of 12 hours today covering the last of the topics, and it culminated in an exam at the end of the day. We were meant to do a field exercise where a major incident is enacted (I'm talking litres of fake blood, sticking out bones etc) in the middle of the bush and you have to put all your new skills into practise, but we ran out of days which was unfortunate. The course was absolutely fantastic though and perfect that it was so adapted to our field of work. Andrew was a fantastic instructor and taught us above and beyond what any first aid book could ever provide. The biggest message of all was how much of a difference you can make and how many lives you can save by knowing the basic life support skills - I highly recommend everyone does a basic first aid course.

10th January: Makuleke
Its travel day today, and due to a rather unfortunate failure of the office to book our connecting bus to Makuleke, we're currently all sitting at the border post at PontDrift waiting for the bus to take us to Makuleke...1 hour waiting down and 1 hour (we're advised) to go! So looking forward to getting there though, we have heard so much about the place. We have a month of advanced rifle handling and walking trails guide, it is going to be fantastic. No signal there either apparently, so will upload this, and news and stories from my time in Makuleke when back in Johannesburg in February.
Love to you all,
xxx