uMkhuze dag 1: Getting to uMkhuze

Maandag 22-10-2018

uMkhuze dag 1:      Getting to uMkhuze

Dieren vandaag gezien / Animals spotted:

·         Cheetah

·         Elephant

·         Spotted hyena

·         Kudu

·         Impala

·         Vervet monkey

·         Spotted thick-knee

In the transport vehicle we (Emilie and I) met four other volunteers. 2 of them were Dutch, they were going to Manyoni. The other two were going to Mkuze. What was a bit weird because there were supposed to be 2 boys with us at Mkuze. This was not the case. The girls name is Jenny (Switzerland) and the boy’s name is Aron (Australia). At the meeting point we heard that Jenny was going to Manyoni as well.

We met our first monitor, her name is Teegan. We loaded the suitcases on to the car and waited for the last volunteer to arrive. His name is Pascal and he is from Switzerland. When everything and everyone was on the car we left.

The drive to the camp was nice and not to long. The camp is not far from the gate and looks nice. Nothing really fancy but a decent place to stay. My room has 3 beds so Estelle will join us later. There is a kitchen with a indoor dinning table, an outdoor sitting aria, a fire place 3 different bathrooms (1 just a toilet, 1 just a shower and 1 with a shower and a toilet), a caravan and another house, this is where Megan stays (second monitor). We unpacked the groceries and went on session at 5 pm. When we left we heard that a cheetah (MCM22) had gone out of the park. Wildlife Act was asked to assist to get hem back. Off we were, back to the gate. Here Teegan met up with the Ranger (Laurens) and Eduard (Conservation Manager)  A plan was made and we were allowed out of the car to try and help. The plan was the following: a hole was cut in the fence, then a line was formed by different people so we could push him up to the fence line. Sounds like an easy plan and it was. Before we even arrived at the point where we were supposed to be the cheetah made a run for it and jumped over the cattle grid and went back into the reserve. Back into the car and into the reserve. Here we had to scan and figure out where he was going. We officially met Eduard (the man without a name). Whilst waiting Teegan explained some things about the different animals they have in this park. It was Aron’s first time with Wildlife Act so we tried to help and inform him as much as we could. The cheetah stayed on this side of the fence and after a while we went back to camp. On our way there were “ran” into some animals. A spotted hyena who tried to cross the same road we were driving on. 3 elephants who were browsing.

At camp I just had a sandwich for dinner and Teegan explained some things about the park. After this it was bedtime