Blogs from Hoedspruit, Limpopo, South Africa, Africa - page 3

It’s been a quiet couple of weeks. I’ve not done any trips and no elephants have invaded the compound. The photos are, I think getting better as I am taking the camera out twice a day. On Monday, 27th April, we spotted a young giraffe with a snare round it’s back leg. As you can see from the pix it had not started cutting in yet, but unless it falls off soon, the result will be a slow and painful death, probably from gangrene. Campfire tried to get a vet organised to dart the animal and free it, but the Baluleh association would not pay for it, which rather angered me. Their argument is that giraffes are not very good at coping with anasthetics and would probably not get up again, but that sounds pretty lame ... read more

Hello again, My second entry from South Africa, and a splendid week it has been. I have lots of photos to show you, much more than I can really put on the blog, but I'll see what I can fit on. Did erosion control work on Monday, which basically was pulling logs and prickly branches together to stop vehicles from neighbouring properties from taking unauthorised shortcuts through the bush. By the time the branches have rotted down in five years or so, the grasses have grown through and provide good grazing for the wildlife. On Tuesday, four of us went on a horseback safari, riding through the bush on very comfortable horses, which gives you a good chance of getting close to the game without them getting spooked. It is about thirty years since I last ... read more

Hello everyone, Sorry that my first addition to facebook has taken so long, this is my fifth attempt to get online. The internet places are quite a walk (and bus ride) away and their connection is very hit and miss and we had a power cut for most of the day today (Thursday). I’ve been here in Tofo beach for nearly three weeks now, I now have my open water PADI qualification(down to 18 metres) and am just waiting for good weather to get in my deep water dive (30 metres). We are now able to get down to the work of reef monitoring after being tested on the sixty four indicator species that we keep a check on to see if the reefs are staying healthy. The colours and shapes of the fish here are ... read more

What happens when you give mud paint and cow manure to a load of students ?? I have been to the Tribal Village once before about 4 weeks ago. At that time it was a educational visit to understand about how the Tribes went about their daily life, including the role of the cheif and his many wives (8 wives in this Village). The First wife was the most important and the others were given duties to perform including the cooking and making of flour from maize. On this visit we were shown how the Huts were made including the weekly job of spreading Cow Manure other the floor, that when dried is brush away and gives a polished floor that the insects and snakes do not like. We were even given the chance to ... read more

Blyde Dam, is situated at the base of the Blyde River Canyon, providing a beautiful nature experience by boat. It is a great place to view the canyon from below, as well as visit the Kadishi Tufa Waterfall. At 700m in depth, the Blyde River Canyon is ranked as the 3rd deepest canyon in the world Once we left the jetty in a large decked boat the group made its way towards the man made dam. To see the river from the boat was a complete contrast from a few days before when we were high up in the peaks of the mountain. During our journey we spotted numerous birds including, &&&&&&&&&&&& in the distance we though we could see a couple of hippo's bathing on the shore of the dam, but on close expection through ... read more