Saturday 24 May 2014

The FGASA level one course... from the eyes of an ANT student!

Hi there everyone

Today's blog is written by one of our students to give you a whole new perspective of what's been happening these last few days and, same as always - it's exhilarating...

In the words of Carmi Zeelie:

Waking up before dusk with the sounds of the African bush still whispering at your ear as a lion roars in the distance and the morning chorus begins to start the day... just another day in the African bush (a saying, that we as Nkombe camp students like to use).

We went out on drive as a daily routine, not knowing about the surprise awaiting us on the open savannah.

A rare and beautiful sighting of the most gracious, elegant cat in the world and one of Southern Africa's flagship species, a sighting of the cheetah, engraved into our memories forever.
 
On our way back we could reflect on the previous night where we came across a young Spotted Hyena, peacefully lying next to the road, just listening as his family called far off in the distance. 

We spent more than twenty minutes observing this animal. You could see how intently he was listening and occasionally lifting his large head and smelling the air for a possible kill that he could scavenge from a leopard or even a lion.

Days go by fast now, and the time has come where we all have to prepare for our exams... but practical knowledge still proves to be the best. 

On foot, encounters of mating lions and the smallest carnivores (dwarf mongoose) turns out to be a great start to our day. We get taught that whilst out in the bush on foot or in a game viewer, patience will get rewarded.

We tracked a female leopard for almost two hours but we were unsuccessful and just as all of us thought this lesson of patience is an old wive's tale, we spotted a Lesser Bushbaby.  Words cannot explain how we felt. Seeing such a small and beautiful creature in its natural environment we all could honestly say that patience does indeed get rewarded even if it's done in a complete different way than expected.
 
After a good night's sleep we could get up, ready for a day of revision, but as it goes in Africa, plans will almost always get turned upside down.  As you want to go and sit with your books as a good ANT student should, you hear a lion's roar close by and we all jumped on the vehicle... with me sitting tracker we drove off in search of our friend and we found him or should I say them! The three Sand River males, just lying out in the sun looking lazy yet majestic.

We spent a few minutes with them and then it happened... the one male began to moan like a kitten and in contrast to that he opened his powerful jaw and roared, barely three meters away from my feet. Stunned by third breath-taking sight, we couldn't help but to laugh as the lion finished and looked at us with a face asking "are you happy now?".
All in all, meditating around our camp fire on what we learnt through these past six weeks, I can say good night, and thanks for another exhilarating and thrilling day in the African bush where friendships are built under the setting African sun.

The ANT Blog

Saturday 17 May 2014

It just gets better!

Hi there everyone!

It's been incredibly busy here at Nkombe camp these past few days with lions, hyenas, leopards, elephant and even buffalo passing through the camp! I must say, we have been extremely fortunate with everything we have been experiencing since the course started and it truly keeps getting better...

The students have also had the privilege of witnessing some incredible things while shadowing the field guides such as mating buffalo, lions, leopards, a pride of lions known as the Southern Pride as well as lion and leopard kills. We have finished most of the modules and tests and now it is time to revise on everything we have learnt these past six weeks.

It is really amazing to see how far the students have come in terms of their bush knowledge but also in their personal development. The hard work and the priceless experience has built some incredible character and has brought enrichment to everyone's lives!

We can now also add the African Civet as well as cheetah to our list! We have been seeing plenty of civet tracks as well as a civetry (civet midden) or two on our walks and finally got to see one on a night drive which made us all very happy.

A male cheetah has moved into the area and we also had the lucky chance to see this scarce, beautiful cat while out on drive. Another remarkable experience was when we were surrounded by a massive herd of buffalo around three-hundred strong... we sat with them for around half an hour observing their behavior and taking it all in :).

The most mesmerizing and fascinating experience yet was when a breeding herd of elephant woke us up just before sunrise and decided to stick around camp... and boy, did they make good company! We sat outside of our tents and watched these majestic animals with the backdrop of the African sunrise. How incredible! They were not bothered whatsoever by our presence and carried on with their normal behavior. It was as if we weren't even there. There were many females with younger and older calves as well as a couple of bulls, of which one was in musth! He walked between the tents and walked straight towards us before heading off to chase away the younger bulls. To see the behavior of a breeding herd of elephant on the ground is such a humbling and wonderful experience. Unforgettable!

 As if all of this is not enough, we heard the most chilling and frightening sounds last night coming from a clan of Spotted Hyena less than five-hundred meters away! The scene was told by the moaning of a lioness and the daunting laughs and cackling of the hyenas followed by a couple of shrills and whoops. We could not believe what we were hearing and soon the next day we found out that the hyenas were hassling an injured, lone lioness. The lioness survived and is now back with the rest of the pride which is great news!

We are considering calling our camp "Dugga Camp" as we are frequently visited by an old buffalo bull every now and again. He is an exception to the rule though, being quite relaxed and seemingly social as he enjoys sticking around...

It's so to say two weeks left for our future field guides and nature enthusiasts. We can't wait to see what happens next...

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

The ANT Blog




Thursday 8 May 2014

And we are half way...

Hi there everyone!

Can you believe that we are already more than half way through the FGASA level 1 course?? It has been another hectic yet incredible couple of weeks here at Nkombe camp and the excitement is building as the assessments and exams are approaching.

We have been on intriguing and interesting bush walks which are rapidly helping the students to get the "real feel" of nature and to see things from a different perspective. The students have also been driving the game-viewer to get used to the feel of a real bush vehicle! They have also started preparing for their practical assessment drive and doing their pre-drive briefs. Everything is coming together in the preparation of becoming the ultimate field guide :)

The students also took a well deserved break as we went to Perry's Bridge in Hazyview to enjoy some pizza and restock on everything we need. It was definitely a great time to relax and do some bonding...

Let's not forget about the leopard and lion sightings as well as a genet near camp and many elephants and buffalo! A massive troop of baboons have been heard daily near camp with the sounds of screeching and barking.  We even  found leopard tracks in between the tents which caused a lot of excitement in camp yesterday.

To top it all off, the students have started their lodge placements! For +/- two weeks they will be gaining some valuable experience in various departments such as maintenance, kitchen, laundry, workshop as well as the privilege of shadowing the experienced guides. We also got involved in some exhilarating conservation management as we assisted in a bush fire used to removed moribund.

It is definitely something the students will never forget! Truly a smokin' experience ;)

The sunrises and sunsets are also worth a mention as they have been incredibly beautiful and they never seem to get old. This is an amazing time of year in the bush as everything is constantly changing and never fails to disappoint!


We hope you have a wonderful week from all of us here at Nkombe camp!


P.S. We had the absolute privilege of witnessing a stealthy male leopard feeding on an impala today.

The kill was hoisted up into a tall Brown Ivory and it was an amazing experience to see this scene unfolding...After a good couple of chunks, he moved further up the tree (almost above our heads!) and started to groom himself.

What a day! I don't know if we will ever witness something like that again but it was breath-taking :)


 The ANT Blog