Makuleke #1: Advanced Rifle Handling

Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in posting this, so much happened in the last month at Makuleke it has taken some time to put together. Enjoy!

10th Jan - Makuleke - The really wild show
Makuleke is situated in the northern most part of Kruger National Park (KNP), comprising approximately 24,000 hectares. The park is a “triangle” wedge of land created by the confluence of the Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers at the tripoint Crook's Corner. Crook's Corner, the point where South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique meet, gained its name in the 19th century when the region was seen as a haven for criminals and poachers who would use the proximity of the three countries to escape police by fleeing out of their jurisdiction into an adjoining country. My Dad used to patrol this area during the Rhodesia war, so I'm really excited to see it. Makuleke today is a private concession of the KNP, owned by the Makuleke people, who re-gained the land  in 1996, after it was forcibly taken from them by the Apartheid South Africa government in 1969. On being returned the land, the Makuleke people chose not to resettle but to engage in conservation and invest in tourism, thus resulting in the building of three game lodges - The Outpost, Wilderness Pafuri and EcoTraining. Being the wildest and most remote part of KNP, the concession is famous for its bird watching and more than 250 bird species have been recorded in a year. While comprising only about 1% of the KNP's actual area, the concession contains plants and animals representing almost 75% of the park's total diversity, and is a natural choke point for wildlife crossing from North to South Kruger and back. 

Having been told so much about Makuleke we were all dying to get there, so the 3hr wait for our pick up at the border between Botswana and South Africa seemed like an eternity.  Eventually, though, we were on our way and arrived a few hours later at Pafuri Gate, then another hour through the concession to get to the EcoTraining Camp. The camp is beautiful, situated not far from the Limpopo river, across a pan from the famous Fever Tree forest, and nestled in between some huge old trees. All the tents, classroom and kitchen are set high on wooden stilts - we found out later why with all the flooding! The camp has a very wild and natural feel, a result in part from the landscape and game that wonder in and out of the camp, but more obviously perhaps, its the feeling of being cut off from the outside world with no phone signal or internet for miles around - it really makes you feel like your in the middle of no-where.

On arriving at camp, we met the renowned Bruce Lawson, one of only a few fully qualified professional guides with both FGASA Level 3, SKS Dangerous Game and SKS National Birding and he is also a FGASA Accredited Trainer and Assessor. Bruce, apart from is formal qualifications, is considered as one of South Africa's top birding and walking guides and it is he, along with his wife Dee, who run the courses at Makuleke EcoTraining camp. We were also re-united with Dale, one of our earlier instructors from Karongwe, who would be on hand to help with our Advanced Rifle Handling and Trails Guide course. We were all given time to unpack and settle into our extremely luxurious, en suite tents, before a great welcome dinner and evening brief from the guiding team. Hello Makuleke, its going to be awesome!

11th - This is my rifle, this is my gun; one is for shooting, one is for fun
Day one of the course started early, with a 6.30am meeting time at the camp "range" behind the classroom. We are allowed to use this area for drills and dry practise, and to get familiar with the rifles. We put out targets at 5m, 10m and 15m, then were taught how to hold a rifle and stand correctly, and also importantly how not to point it at anyone! We ran through a number of drills that in the next 4 weeks would become second nature- cycling the rounds; loading and unloading; aiming at targets; blindfolded load, aim, unload; immediate action misfire drills; and a distance drill. We did dry practise till 4.30pm, breaking just for meals,  and watched a short video afterwards on AHR, rules & regulations and the practical exam layout. It was a pretty intense day, and we all had very sore arms come evening - as it turns out .375 and .458 rifles are pretty heavy!

12th - Rain-ged out - dry practise it is 
This morning we were meant to leave at 5am and spend our first day at the shooting range, an hour drive away through the bush. But it rained hard all night and was still pouring when we woke up, so it was back to the classroom deck for some more dry practise. With Bruce, Dale and Dan, one of the back-up's, helping we all improved a lot, and it was certainly good to get some more practise in for the basic drills - it all helps in the long term.

We took a drive to the range in the afternoon after the rain stopped to see if we could make it on the back road - the main road to the range passes over a big pan, which turns into a huge mud wallow after rain! Sadly, it was not a very successful drive - the roads were terrible, some of the slopes were almost too steep for the vehicles to get up - we all had to get out! We also had to do some landrover bunderbashing as the gate we needed to pass through was locked - we have to wait until Monday now to atleast get a gate key to be able to get to the range a little easier.

Fever Tree forest

13th - Makuleke on foot - Our first walk
This morning we were back at the camp's "range" doing some more dry practise, but this afternoon we got to go on our first walk! My group walked to Hulukulu Pan in the Fever Tree forest with Dale - it was so awesome to walk in the forest and also see some of the massive Baobabs- some of the Makuleke specials! I also saw and heard a Trumpeter Hornbill for the first time which was really cool. It was super muddy after all the rain, but we all had a good laugh as we slipped about and got stuck, and the hour spent cleaning the mud from my boots afterwards was so worth it just to see the area! Great start to exploring the concession.

14th - Rain - are you starting to see a pattern yet?
It poured with rain all day again today - all night then all day. We managed to get in the charging lion exercise though during a small gap in the storm. We set up the lion on a pully cart in the camp car-park, which someone pulls with a rope rope and runs to get the lion charging toward to the guide. The drill goes like this; your walking along with you guests when all of a sudden you see a lion charging towards you. You need to tell your guests to stand still and stay behind you, take a step forward and try shout down the lion, and then when it doesn't stop, get down on one knee, fire 2 shots to the brain, then issue a coup de graze (a close range kill shot). Making sure your clients move round with you and stay behind you, the guide must then reload the rifle,  check the eye reflex of the lion, declare the cat dead, make your rifle safe then reassure your guests. Its quite an intense drill, and a very important one to be able to do correctly and safely. I  wasn't very good at the shouting bit, or the aiming bit! And I forgot to chamber the rifle on my first round - no shot - whoops. Found something to work on!

This afternoon it rained even harder. Two of the back-up's Dan and Dan got a blue kayak out and said they were going canoeing! I thought they were joking, so followed them, and sure enough, after carrying the canoe through the bush for some distance from camp, a small river had established itself with all the rain, and so they embarked on their canoe adventure! Others soon joined and started swimming - some playful spashing around soon turned into a full on mud fight, and they even got Dale, on of the instructors involved. Hilarious. Fingers crossed for a dry day tomorrow - we're 4 days in now and havn't been the the range once! Hmm....

Kayaking in the stream

17th Jan: Flooding
Its been raining non stop now since we arrived in Makuleke - and I'm not talking drizzle rain, I'm talking thunder, lighting, absolutely bucketing rain! Today marked the end of our ARH course, which obviously was a complete washout given that we didn't get to shoot a live round once and the shooting range is now entirely underwater. However, we've had loads of dry practise, which is never a bad thing. Hopefully they'll be able to re-schedule another time for us to do the shooting. I'm secretly quite relieved as have decided shooting is not my favourite thing!

Muddy shoes! They only got worse than this!

Despite all the rain, we have managed to get a few, albeit very wet, walks in which has been nice. Makuleke is hugely varied - covering just 1% of Krugers total land area, it hosts 75% of its variety in flora and fauna, so every walk has been a real eye opener. Yesterday we walked in the Lanner Gorge area, and although it poured with rain for the entire 3 hour walk, it was still beautiful. We walked up to the top of the gorge to take in the view (and the rapidly rising flood waters!) - at which point we decided we better hot foot it back to the vehicle before we got stuck there! Needless to say on reaching the bottom of the gorge the water was already much higher and we had to wade waist high through one of the "steams". Back at the vehicle, soaked through to the bone and water sloshing in our muddy boots, we tried to turn the vehicle around but all the rain turned to whole area into sticky mud and we got stuck! We tried to jack up the car to put rocks under the wheels but the jack didn't work (lesson of the day, check your equipment!), so we had to call Rob, the manager at the nearby Wilderness Pafuri camp, to come tow us out. He was full of sarcastic comments, but we were the ones laughing when less than two hours later his whole lodge had to be evacuated as the river it sits on, the Levuvhu, burst its banks!

Great walking but loads of mud

We went on a drive later that afternoon to check out the flooding, and put down markers on the Limpopo river to monitor the rising waters. We also went back to the Levuvhu to see how far it had risen and what we saw was incredible - the flood water wasn't far off the 2000 peak flood level and had flooded the whole surrounding area. The Pafuri Wilderness camp, out of view and unreachable now with such high water was later completely washed away. The main tar road, Pafuri Main, was cracking up and breaking away under pressure from the water, and massive tree's were being uprooted and shifted along with the flow of the water. It was an incredible sight, and to think we were walking in the area just hours before - it is unbelievable how fast water can come up and how powerful it can be. With more rain due this weekend, everyone is getting worried about the Limpop bursting its banks, at which point our camp is under threat too!

Flood damage along Pafuri Main road - that is road tar that has been broken up and washed away with the trees

Flood water flowing over Pafuri Main rain

Examining the flood damage!

Navigating the mud in the Fever Tree forest

Walking in the Pan across from Camp

Steve the Impala, EcoTraining Camp's regular visitor

One of the rhino's we encountered close on foot!

Cool sighting of buffalo in a mud wallow

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

Elies crossing the road on our first drive to camp

View from the top of Mmamagwe Ridge

Mmamagwe Ridge

One of the beautiful views on our walks - spot the animals!

Elie viewing from safety of a ridge

Walk on day 1, approaching the river bed after seeing the leopard

Baby struggling over a log after its Mom - so cute

Crested Barbet who often joined us on the classroom deck

Waiting at PontDrfit border post - indulging in Nutella!

Cards at the border post...the guards weren't too happy!