uMkhuze dag 11: Meeting some new volunteers.

Woensdag 1-11-2018

uMkhuze dag 11:      Meeting some new volunteers.

Dieren vandaag gezien / Animals spotted:

·         Giraffe

·         Impala

·         Nyala

·         Kudu

·         Plains zebra

·         Lion

·         Blue wildebeest

·         Cheetah

·         Black-chested snake-eagle (juvenile)

·         Walhberg’s eagle

·         Buffalo

·         Crested guineafowl

This morning Emilie woke me up. I think I forgot to set my alarm. She told me she wasn’t going on session because they had predicted rain.

At 4.15 am Megan and I left to go on session. Aaron and Pascal were staying at the camp as well.

Just after we left it started drizzling. The first thing we did was checking on the boma. It took a while and I had to scan for MCM22 but at last we found him. Our next target were the lioness (MLF2) with 3 cubs. We had signal for them. In the end we only got to see MLM8 and we had signal for MLM7 too. He was well camouflaged and it seemed that he had just eaten, it was hard for him to walk. We sat her for a while but there was not much more to see so we left. We drove down south to find the cheetah’s. MCM23 we gotten a signal very quickly. Now we had to find MCM20 and his sister MCF16. It was hard to find a signal for both of them. To get to 20 we had to leave the park. Our barring showed he was outside of the fence but our own eyes told us something different. To be sure Megan got out of the car and walked the fence line. It stared to pour down with rain in the mean time and I was still sitting in the back. So I put my had down on the spare tyre and I dozed a little. Then Megan called me and asked if I wanted to see him. Of course, so I got out of the car and walked as quickly as I could. I had a glimpse of him and then he ran off. Still a nice sighting.

We got signals for  MCF16 but we couldn’t see her. Eduard had insisted that we had to get a visual what meant that Megan had to go and get a ranger to walk with her. In the mean time she took me to a place were other volunteers from a different project where housed. The were very nice to me. Offered me some tea and a slice of cake. It was nice to meet some others. They were very in to learn as much as they can.

After 1,5/2 hours Megan came back and we drove back to camp. I was allowed to sit in the front. This was nice. The roads were getting wetter and more slippery. On our way back home we came across some animals, like buffalo, black-chested snake-eagle and giraffes who like to stand on the road.

We got back to camp at 1.30 pm

The others were playing ashole and I joined in later.

At 4pm we (Teegan and I) left to go on the afternoon session. Right from the start the rain poured down, no fun at all. When we got to the boma we couldn’t find MCM22. He was probably hiding under a bush or laying down. We continued our journey. We tried to find MLF2 again but they were still at the same place in the bushes. An hour had passed and it was still raining. Teegan asked if I wanted to sit with her in the car. Well I didn’t have to think twice. Off course. I got all my stuff and moved to the passenger seat. It was nice and dry here.

After waiting a while we decided to go and look for the dogs. They were a challenge on their own. In the end we did get signals but we didn’t see them.

Today’s sunsets was beautiful. It gaps in the clouds turned bright orange/red. Just stunning.