The Game is a Foot!

We have now got our uniforms and dorky pictures will appear at a later stage.

The course has started for real and we have already had lectures in First Aid & CPR, radio procedures and ethics as well as a driving assessment (we both passed!).

Sometimes you don’t get there in time and you will have to decide if you are going to start tracking the animal or just move on in search for something else. These tracks were a couple of hours old. We will not tell you what made these tracks yet (you will have to think for yourselves for a while before we give you the answer!). We will say one thing, though, the inprints are about 120 mm long.
One of the many birds of prey you can see here in north eastern South Africa is the Bateleur. The very short tail is an easy give-away and if you look closely you can also see the feet sticking out. The colouration tells you that it is a juvenile (adult Bateleurs are black and white: they change coulours when they are about six or seven years old). As you can see this Bateleur is brown and white and that also tells you that it is a male. So, in conclusion, this is a picture of a male, juvenile Bateleur.
Earlier you learnt that we have got some pets at the camp… this guy was unfortunately forgotten! We call this species Toilet Frog (Foam nest frog). There are three of them hiding out in the girls’ bathroom, in the toilet roll holder. All five of us girls are very fond of them and try to disturb them as little as possible.
Game drives are always great fun and some days you see a lot! Today there were Elephants running like crazy through the reserve (chased buy a bull elephant with intentions…), Giraffes around every curve and Kudus at every other turn…
… and then some Warthogs in between. This is a very cool animal that is often overlooked as it is quite common and also don’t mind your presence.
We hear Jackals every night and early in the mornings, but we rarely see them and if we do, it’s usually just a glimpse. This one was standing still though… for obvious reasons.
Next blog update will feature: the Reptile park.

/A & J