At the end of March last
year, I arrived at my new home, Madikwe game reserve in the North
West province, bordering Botswana. The area used to be farm land, but
wasn't very successful, so the government decided that the best
use for the land would be a game reserve. It's home of the big 5 and
is the 5th largest game reserve in South Africa, with its 750 km2.
Madikwe´s claim to fame is the wild dogs which are facing many challenges, such as rabies, other predators but also competition between packs. What has surprised me in Madikwe is probably the great sightings we often have of two predators that are rarely seen in other parks and reserves, the dogs as well as the brown hyeana.
My new home did offer some challenges I struggled a bit with in the beginning. I have the habit of eating every four hours when awake and only three meals per day are included... figure that one out when my hours of being awake is 4:30-23:00 in summer!!! I got the advice to stock up on food, but with no fridge or stove, that was a bit of a mind twister... Long-life milk and muesli, fortunately turned out to be a life saver! Luckily (?) it was quickly getting cooler as we approached winter and my bathroom turned out to be an alright fridge for the time being. On the other hand I do think the kitchen is running an all you can eat pap (tasteless polenta) buffet for the staff...
Another hick-up was the
lack of a bathroom door in my first room... especially when the
stomach has to get used to this new and weird eating routine. I was
horrified when I was told I may even have to share this room with
someone... as if your own fumes wouldn't be bad enough!? A few months
down the line I managed to get another room however, only to find out
that I actually was getting a room mate... that turned out to be a
disaster, but thankfully, a very short lived one!
After a couple of weeks
in the reserve, the other guides felt the need to put me to the test
and see how easily grosed out I am. Luckily I was very much aware of
this, as we approached the elephant bull that had died a week
earlier, in a fight with another male. The stench was horrific... two
of our guides kept a very respectful distance, while me and a couple
of other guides did our best to open up his thick skin, so that the
scavangers could finish this massive animal quicker.
As I saw the
head ranger gagging I was relieved... not throwing up proved to be
all I had to accomplish. This was a good thing as the ginormous knife
I was handed was as sharp as a buttering knife and my upper body
strength left something to be desired. For a few days I couldn't get
the smell out of my nostrils and the smell stayed with my boots for
another few weeks, much to the excitement of the lodge owner's dog.
When I first met guides
from other lodges in the reserve they weren't very impressed that a
blonde Swede, with almost no experience (only six months in Kruger),
had been hired by Jaci's lodges. To be honest, I'm sort of still
waiting for someone to come tap me on my shoulder and tell me I'm
out, much as I did during my time at university... But I'll go
kicking and screaming at least, since me being here has costed a lot
of blood sweat and tears, literally, as well as money and time. It
took three trips back to Scandinavia last year and I don't know how
many medical exams and blood samples to get the work permit sorted. I
must be the person with the most well monitored health in the whole
of South Africa by now... which is a good thing, so that I don't
spread some horrible Swedish deceases over the entire African
continent.
The lodge has a lot of
families visiting, as it is one of few lodges that accept young
children on drives. This also entailed a lot of children's activities
to take care of... and as FNG (F***ing New Guide) it was my
responsability to keep the little ones happy. Most of the time we
went for short walks inside the fenced in lodge area, via the river path to the hide.
When lucky we've had elephants happily drinking only a few metres
away and a lot of nice birds... and when not so lucky, the bunch of unruly monkeys I was
looking after scared off anything living within a few miles' radius!
But, as always, a few of them I almost plotted to steal from their
parents and run for the border.
When far from
civilisation you have to create your own entartainment and a lot of
it consists in gossip, insulting eachother and making up weird
drinking games... some of which so daft I refused to join in for
months (Just gonna say it; Sevens!?). But I don't have TV and what else am I going to do, right? To
make it more fun, we added our own twists to the more familiar
ones... and I guess this is how you end up naked in the middle of the
reserve in the middle of the night!
Once in a while we do go fishing
or swimming (or both) at the wier, as we did for my enormously
important birthday in December. This is of course a summer activity
though, as the Marico river gets freezing cold during winter.
The Marico runs past
Jaci's and if lucky you can see a lot of different animals coming
down to drink. Once in a while the elephants are nosily enjoying a
proper bath, to everyone's delight. Unfortunately the river banks are
rather steep in some places, which makes it difficult for the young
ones to get back up... and one day we could hear a whole heard crying
out because of a young baby's attempts to get out were getting weaker
and weaker, though the mother desperately tried to push from behind.
After an hour or so, all became still and the cow just stood there in
the cold water, exhausted. Finally she tried to get out herself, but
she was too tired to manage and the rest of the herd, that had been
worridly cheering them on from the banks, left. Two days later, she
eventually got out of the river and could join the others, probably
overcome with hunger, hypothermia and grief however.
A few months ago
almost the same thing was being played out in front of the lodge and
I thought we'd have to witness yet another tradgedy. This female
though did find a place where the banks didn't plunge as steeply into
the water and she successfully pushed her young one out and they both
ran trumpeting back to their waiting family.
To be able to drive with
a rifle in Madikwe and to walk as backup guide, you need to pass a
shooting test... and then another one to be able to lead walks with
guests... “just” passing your Advanced Rifle Handling, isn't
enough. Madikwe got a really bad ass test, Jungle Lane, that freaks
the living daylights out of me. I was able to witness one guides
doing his assessment last year, and I thought I'd never dare to
myself. However, I conjured up some guts and did it in February, just
to try it out. Of course everyone knew it wouldn't be a proper Jungle
lane test, so I had to be the last one, on the last day to not
interfere with everyone else's assessments. This meant that a lot of
people were around, waiting to get a party started. Our own Rambo of
the park kindly suggested everyone to join, which meant that four of
the most experienced, and therefor intimidating, guides, in the park
were with me! If I wasn't nervous before, I sure was now! The fact
that three of them were joking around in the background, laughing,
didn't help much, as I was sure they were laughing at my rifle
skills. Rambo was however calm, collected and helpful and talked me
through everything I had done... and should have done. Next time I'll
be a bit less nervous... and, who knows, third time lucky?
For now
I'll keep driving with my rifle and hopefully I'll soon have enough
walking hours to walk as backup.
/A
