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Fri, 09/03/2007 - 2:46pm
I am leaving for SA in the morning!
I will be staying in Pretoria (with my friend Antorika) for a few days, visiting the De Wildt Cheetah rehab centre with Essie - and, hopefully, spending a day at the Wildlifecampus HQ......
After which I will be flying to Capetown to visit Penni, Leon, Peter Braat and Quinton (Cape Leopard Trust) to visit Hermanus and then visiting my CLT sponsored Anatolian Shepherd Dogs in the Cederbergs.
I will be away for 2 weeks but I will try to get online during my trip to post a 'diary' of my stay in SA
Tabs
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Founding Member of the AAA - Africam Addicts Association.Want to learn more about the animals you see on the cam?Go to www.wildlifecampus.com for free modules and full courses
~Christy~
As an aside, the temperature here is +/- 32 degrees *phew* and I am taking cold showers whenever possible!
I did not manage to get online during the 2nd half of my visit - and have been so busy catching up at work since then that I have not had time to post the rest of my diary.
However..... here it is!
I flew to Capetown to be met by Quinto Martins of the Cape Leopard Trust who was to deliver me to Grabouw in the Elgin Valley, to meet up with penni.
I had decided to hire a car as I did not want to be dependent upon penni and I planned to visit other places during my stay.
I was a bit scared of driving in a 'foreign country' never having done it before, but it was much easier than I anticipated, especially as they drive on the left in SA, as we do in the UK.
I spent 4 days with penni, exploring the area, and one night with Leon at Hermanus.
We went to the coast and watched the birds and walked around her farm, stopping at the dam to chill and chat.
Some of the farmworkers children followed us, laughing and chattering all the way!
Penni and I found a fantastic area - totally wild and uninhabited - surrounding the local water pumping station and dam. We found a lovely brook with frogs and tadpoles and some nice birdlife. It was surrounded by plants and flowers - we had to watch where we stepped in case there were puff-adders hiding in the vegetation!
In Hermanus I strolled along the beach, took pictures of the birds and the dassies and spent a wonderful hour browsing the local craft market where I bought some gifts for my Nursery children and a skirt for myself.
I then drove back into apetown (I only got lost once!) to the B&B where I was to stay that night - the night of the Cape Leopard Trust fundraiser.
The evening was fantastic, the CLT raised lots of money - money which is vital if their research, and conservation efforts, into the leopards is to continue!
The following day I drove, with Sarah who is doing research into the dassie population in the cederbergs (this is important as Dassies constitute a large proportion of the leopards diet there), to Paternoster Beach Camp..... Quinton was to join us later in the evening.
The Beach Camp consists of small 2-bedded tents and a tented bar and kitchen/dining area and is situated (literally) a few feet from the sea!
The toilets are 'long-drop' but they also have showers and a place to wash hands and brush teeth! It was possibly the most peaceful and beautiful place that I have ever visited, apart from the Eco-Training camps that I have been to.
I spent most of my time there walking the surrounding tracks looking for birds and other small animals (I managed a few 'lifers') and sleeping!
We had a bit of excitement one evening when one of the staff found a scorpion sitting under the door of the gent's toilet - she caught it in a mug and we then looked it up in the field guide. It was one of the most dangerous of scorpions found in the Western Cape - Parabuthus capensis - and it was very lucky that it was found before anyone stepped on it!
Quinton was, ultimately, unable to join us in Paternoster as he received a message that a female leopard, which he had recently collared with a GPS tacking device, was caught in a gin-trap!
He rushed back to the Cederbergs but, although the vet only needed to amputate one of her toes, she was found to have a large cyst on her head and was not coming round from the anaesthetic as expected..... and was very sick. I am still waiting to hear whether she survived or not
I drove back to Capetown (only got lost once on the way!) and then flew to Johannesburg and then home.
I can't wait for my next adventure in Africa!
Founding Member of the AAA - Africam Addicts Association.Want to learn more about the animals you see on the cam?Go to www.wildlifecampus.com for free modules and full courses