M.A.C in Africa

3rd Oct. 2012: Day one of 365 days of guiding school!

I woke up full of excitement and certainly with a few nerves on Wednesday morning. I had my last bath - an absolute luxury - and I may have painted my nails and blow dried my hair, a last act of vanity! Cousin Kath picked me up and drove me to the meeting spot - Emarald backpackers hostel, just by the airport in Johannesburg. There I saw for the first time my fellow students, and had a HUGE sigh of relief. Demographically, we all seem pretty similar - 19-30 years old, well travelled and mostly all international. Of a group of 13, there are people from South Africa, England, Canada, France, Austria, Sweden, Kenya, and Germany, all with the same passion for nature but from completely different backgrounds and upbringings. A few are on gap years before or after university, though most are here to start their careers in guiding/ conservation. Most seem have some kind of previous skill or knowledge about something on the course - be it a shooting/ hunting background, snake catching, worked in a zoo, studied ecology or something nature based - so I feel a little bit lacking in the sense that I have no previous knowledge about anything, but I am sure I will catch up! The girls in particular all seem really nice and friendly which is brilliant, we all seem to have packed far too many toiletries, clothes and shoes, but we all clicked quite quickly, and I am looking forward to sharing my year and experiences with them.

Our drive to Nelspruit took 4.5 hrs, in a mini van driven by a rather quirky man "Willie" and his mad wife "Tippie". I don't think eco-training usually use them, because we got a bit lost and took some time to find the hostel in Nelspruit, but we got here in the end! The hostel is lovely, we're all sharing a big house, and it backs onto a nature park overlooking a mountain range. There are a few monkeys around and loads of birds, its a great place to be based from for the few days we are here.
On arrival we had the whole Ecotraining team waiting for us and were given a big welcome and introduction from all the staff. Founder and co-owner Anton gave a really interesting and motivating speech, telling us what to expect - that we'd start learning about the small things like rocks, plants and trees and build up to the big game, in order to understand how the whole ecosystem works. We also got given info about all the camps and also our lodge placements etc. I am so impressed with the Ecotraining company so far, it is very clear that our welbeing is extremely important to them and that we will be looked after well durning our year - I feel entirely at ease in their hands. We also got given a huge welcome pack with textbooks, workbooks, a hat and beanie (awful colour beige beanie, don't think I'll be wearing that!) and had our uniform fittings (Caro, I don't think you'd like the uniform- a bit too canvassy and khaki for your liking, but I think its awesome and very professional looking. Photo's coming soon, watch this space!).

We spent the afternoon filling in a million forms for registration with the Tourism Board, FGASA, etc, and then spent the whole evening filling in the Rifle Law and Rifle Safety workbooks and open book exams - we didn't finish till almost 11pm - I think a few people started to get worried for what is to come! It was a great day though, a little bit overwhelming with all of the information and studying, but a great start to what it going to be a fantastic year :) Collapsing into bed now afer a very long day. Tomorrow I'm going to learn how to shoot a gun for the very first time! Eek!
Over and out x

4th Oct. 2012- Rifle School
After an early 6am wakeup, excellent breakfast and surprisingly warm shower, our group of 13 were taken down to the driving range to get our SASSETA rifle certificates. We had a 2 hour lecture, then sat 2 different tests (on top of the 2 we did the night before- turns out South Africa is pretty serious about rifle licences, who would have thought?). Finally, we got 10 bullets each for target practise, before being given another 10 for the target exam. It was all very exciting given that it was the first time I'd ever shot a gun (well maybe Mark's BB gun in Granny's garden at a tin can, but don't think that counts!). I had a bit of a problem however when it came to the actual shooting - theory says that you must use your dominant eye as your focus eye, which for me is my right eye. But I can't wink my left eye shut, so after 5 completely off target shots trying and failing to focus with my right and not being able to close my left, i switched to using my left eye to focus and left hand to shoot and got 5 from 5 shots on the bulls eye sheet! Of course everyone thought this was hilarious, so now I am practising all the time to wink both eyes closed! Needless to say I passed all of the exams and got 10/10 shots on the bulls eye for the test (yippee!), so am now fully rifle trained and SASSETA accredited.

Tonight we're back at the backpackers hostel enjoying use of the internet and having a few drinks before heading into the bush tomorrow for the first time. The group is getting on really well together, and its fun getting to know everyone better. The food here has been fantastic - lots of steak, salads and veg. The Ecotraining staff said that the food is very similar in the camps, so I am chuffed about that! I was expecting beans and tin veggies, so anything more than that is a bonus! We've been told that going forward we will be taken to some sort of little village approx every 2-3 weeks while we are in camp, where we will get internet and mobile phone reception. Fear not though, I will keep my blog going and just upload where and when I can.

So excited to get into the bush tomorrow, we've been told that there are big cats that roam the camp at night, especially leopard... going to be such an adventure. Looking forward to filling you all in on my stories and news from camp - our first stop is Selati camp.

Until then, I hope everyone is well and missing you all lots xxx

Theory lessons at the shooting range

Trying and failing to shoot on my right

And being AWESOME with my left! ha.

Herd of Buffalo in the Okavango delta

I arrived in Botswana a week later than planned due to my last minute Otter hike, but when I did it was lovely to reach Maun and see so many familiar faces. I was very happy to see Tom’s new house, which is a vast improvement over the campsite and shell of a house he and his housemates were in before. Their new place is fantastic - it has a proper kitchen - oven, fridge, microwave (these are exciting things in Maun) - as well as an awesome Braai area and swimming pool. The garden is huge and has massive potential - the boys have already started planting veggies and herbs, and with some watering and rain in the wet season, the grass and flowers will certainly come out in force. So pleased to see them all much more settled and happy in their new house - an actual home at last!

On my flight over to Maun from Johannesburg, I met a very interesting gentleman, Mr. David Hartley, who I later found out was one of the first people to set up a safari business in the delta, and who turned out to have started up the company that Tom flies for today! He invited us to lunch at his house one afternoon - a beautiful property on the river that he designed and built himself. We spent some time discussing the safari industry in Botswana, entrepreneurship and some of his businesses, he is such an interesting person to talk to.

Although I didn’t manage to get out into the bush this time, it was such a fun and eventful few weeks. One highlight was learning to water ski on the Thamanakane river - it certainly puts a bit of pressure on standing and staying up when you know there are likely crocs in the water! Thanks Bianca, Matt, Paul, Neil and Sara for such a fun day.

Another highlight was spending the day at work with Tom, flying tourists into the different lodges in the delta. We mostly flew at scenic hight - just 500ft above the ground, so saw loads of game, especially ellies and also a huge heard of buffalo. On one of the empty legs Tom let me take the controls of the plane and gave me a little flying lesson - I even did the radio! It was so much fun, all the guys and girls doing the bush flying really do have such a fantastic job.

Luckily I managed to get loads of reading done while I was in Botswana and spent quite a lot of time in the garden watching the birds - it was nice to have the opportunity to become familiar with the material so I don’t feel completely overwhelmed when I start my course. I also really appreciated having time to relax and enjoy civilisation while I can! I spent time as well doing lots of baking -banana/ carrot cakes, milk tarts, cookies...one day I baked cupcakes with Bianca, another bush pilot here, for both her office and Tom’s which they very happy for! Sorry Ben, Tom and co. for using all your gas to bake my cakes!

I had a lovely send off dinner with Tom on Saturday night at the gorgeous Thamanakane River lodge and watched the most stunning sunset, sipping on my favourite wine, The Den by Painted Wolf. This afternoon after some sad goodbyes, I left Maun and landed back in Johannesburg, just in time to start my course on Wednesday (3rd). Thanks again Doug and Kath for picking me up and in advance for dropping me on weds, and to Aunty Merry for letting me stay :)

It is all going to get a bit complicated from here on as I have no idea what to expect with regards to communication, so please do continue to watch this space and I’ll update you all as and when I can. The next post you read will be from me in the bush - SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!

Missing everyone tons and thanks everyone in Botswana for making my stay so much fun, but its time for me to go now and become a GAME RANGER, whoo hoo!!

Love always,

From a very nervous and excited miche xxx