Brand New Baby-G!

Pretty big day! Woken up in the early hours by one of the menagery of animals living here. Freaked out, heard loud hoiking noises so got up and looked under my bed to find Benji the dog. This place is cat and dog paradise. Had to basically drag him out and while I was doing that the ginger cat tried sneaking into our room. Back to sleep for a couple of hours after realising that desipite having only four hours of sleep over the previous 24 hours we were both just too excited to sleep.

Went out on a drive around the reserve in the back of a ute, accompanied by Mutley the cute tripod dog (he lost his fourth leg to a zebra - no not a carnivorous zebra but onewho stomped on his leg). What a ride! after getting the bugs out from our teeth we got to see Sprinbok, Wilderbeasts, Blessbok (like Springboks but with white faces) and ostriches, a cool yellow bird with a long neck, bright yellow (very butter) butterflies, and other types of cool birds. Then it started raining so we headed back for lunch. Doug was thrilled there was heaps of bacon.

We went out again in the afternoon and this time we saw zebras, impala, eland, hartebeast, blue wilderbeast and last but not least giraffes! And a brand new baby giraffe, the very first baby giraffe that the reserve has had! We got pretty close. We also visited the vulture's restaurant - a landscape of bones and flies. There were weaver bird nests everwhere and bright blue dragon flies hanging around.

Then the ute broke down and we had to walk. Along the way I saw a dung beetle! And got to pick it up off the road and 'rehome' it safely in the bushes. Also picked up a porcupine quill. Rather cool.

And that was today, we'll be getting started on some work tomorrow, probably helping build a fence to capture in the new part of the enclosure.

Francoise

Full Tilt Boogie (NOW WITH PHOTOS)

Firstly, what the? Rolling power blackouts in South Africa:


http://www.stuff.co.nz/4456823a12.html


I better still be able to use my heated towel warmer. Anyway..


The manic rush to get the place clean for house sitters, pack, say goodbye to people, sign off and post wills (ie 'save the brain'), leave budgies an Everest of seed, argue about pest control (mice not me), and buy the forgotten last minute things etc etc etc


Had to check Qantas' website to see how many gels I can fit in what size clear plastic bag. I may need to leave my elephant gun at home though, according to the website. Oh well, lots of things you can always get when you are over there.


Its Saturday and the one day in long stretch of sunshine that it rains is the one I need to get the lawns done on. Mowing in rain with an electric mower is a rush...I did wear rubber shoes...well rubbery looking loafers. Clean, clean, pack, pack,


Interlude....

Sob Sunday 30 March 1030 Sydney time. no sleep, Francoise the walking dead, at least the house is tidy. Nice flight into sunny Sydney sitting next to a nice Canadian clone of my mother.

Manfred!

Syney's all good, just hanging around the airport. There was a cool 747 done up in Aboriginal art, Doug was panting to fly in it and we took a photo of it. Alas it was not meant to be and Doug was inconsolable, though still happy he's going on a jumbo jet. I'm just hoping the movies are good.
Francoise!

UPDATE-The Longest Day

So the flight was delayed waiting for connecting flights so we sat in it for AGES. An Afrikanns granny next to us now to replace the Canadian woman. Finally got going and despite dying of tiredness we got entranced by the cool little TV screens and customisable movies on them. I watched Beowolf while Francoise watched Atonement (she thought it sucked). Despite nice Australian and Tasmanian coastline and a brilliant view, the seats were cramped and the flight was dragging until we looked out the window and saw we were flying over Antarctica...no Im not lying. I know! Apparently its a regular route to go all the way down, zip along that icey continent then up to J'Berg. The passengers including us loved flying over the lunar landscape of ice floes.You'll have to look at the first one sideways cos we can't figure out how to rotate it yet.

Finally after an eternity we were flying over Africa and man it all looks vast. Huge clouds, green and rust brown stretching away. No sense of town planning, very higgledy pigglydy from the air. We landed, stressed waiting for our bags and went through laughingly scant airport security. We were 2 hours late, dead tired and through a sea of signs fluttering we saw our ride. A brisk 140km ride along the highway past squatter camps where no cop will enter, to the reserve. Its a cool set up and we have a nice room when we can keep the hundreds of pets out of them. Deafening crickets and geckos! Great backyard vista views of the reserve. Chilled atmosphere and a bonfire at night was a nice welcome to it all

Shaka Manfred

Its in the trunk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/26/environment?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

Hmm, so there may be elephant culling in progress when we tour Kruger National Park...guess I'll leave this change of clothes at home...

So where the bl**dy hell are ya?

We are going to be toiling on the Klipkop Wildlife Sanctuary (http://www.klipkop.co.za/) located in Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng Province. Bronkhorstspruit is approximately 45 minutes from Johannesburg and 30 minutes from Pretoria. We got onto this gig through the friendly people at Global Volunteer Network (http://www.volunteer.org.nz/)

You might want to enlarge this map, but you can see Bronkhorstspruit just above where it says Gauteng.

Class Dismissed

Three and a bit more sleeps to go!

Caught up with the peeps for some goodbye drinks. Camera Flash so bright it burnt my retinas. Followed by tasty 'Khmer' Satay chow.

Good Love is Like Bad Medicine

Dont get me started on the cost of vaccines and pharmacetical supplies for this mission...
eg
$56 for insect repellant?! I expect a Chemical/Biological/Nuclear Body Suit for that price...

At least we have some mild sleeping pills for the 20 hour flight...when you've had a screaming baby near you for the duration of a red eye flight, it does things to your mind.

A crotchety Manfred

'Back! Back I say!!!'

Only five sleeps now until my wife and I depart the fair shores of New Zealand for the wilds of Africa. Has it really been over 2 years since I sat at the home computer in the flat on Pirie St madly surfing for an adventure; upon telling my wife of a throwaway idea of working on a wildlife reserve, her hungry eyes gleamed and the rest is history.

Cue 2 years of saving, borrowing, cajoling, negotiating and buying fetching French Foreign Legion style hats.

Through a NZ volunteering agency, for 4 weeks we're going to be pulling weeds, feeding vultures, tracking animals and making fire breaks on a bankenveld (ie high altitude grassland) reserve 35kms or so out of J'Berg. Then we'll travel around the country for 3 weeks, starting in the north at Kruger National Park before wending our way down to Cape Town in the South where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean. We'll be travelling by jet, rickety plane (on a jaunt into Zambia), diesel train, steam train, ostrich, bus and rickshaw during the course of our adventure.

We'll no doubt have fun, stress, rage, love and insane wild meat (and mung bean for Francoise) fuelled mayhem. Good to have those butterflys 'What if I burn down a forest? What if I get bitten by a disgruntled meerkat?'

Im also looking foward to meeting our fellow volunteers. It looks at this stage as if we are volunteering with a Canadian and an Australian. 'Bonzer, put another warthog on the barbie'

I do hate however all the travel linking up to transport/tours stress; I dont want us to get on the wrong plane and end up in Uganda as a child soldiers or worse.

It will be interesting to see how the pictures in my head matches up to the reality 'Where's my elephant butler?'

Ah Im sure we will have a great time.

Roll on Sunday's flight.

ps

As my wife and I take turns adding sporadically to this blog, no doubt the tone will veer wildly between the informative and the bizaare. Be warned.

Manfred the Manatee

The Power of One (manatee)

Hello! This is a test post. We be off to other climes. Stay tuned.