Volunteering in Africa – Blog 3

We spent today cleaning mud out of a watering hole and re-lining it with plastic. I hope the warthogs and wildebeest appreciate our hard work. It’s been many years since I was ankle deep in mud for a couple of hours.  Unfortunately four of the volunteers left this morning so there were only 6 of us slinging mud. Obviously none of us had clean enough hands to document the event with a picture.

There are a few bird pictures this week and a few animals that haven’t been in previous blogs.

Redbilled Woodhoopoe

Cattle Egrets resting on White Rhinos

African Spoonbill

We haven’t seen to many hippos.  This the best picture so far.

Springbok on the run

White Storks

Blue Wildebeest are strange looking animals. The calves are cute and remind me of bison.

This young Zebra is enjoying the attention from Mom.

When Giraffes fight they use the horns on the top of their head to attack the other Giraffes neck.

When have only seen the Water Buffalo once and when we tried to move closer they ran away.

This Waterbuck has an impressive set of horns.

Sometimes the lions get a little close to the vehicles. The male lion in the left is the father of the lion close to car. He roared and took a few steps forward but then sat down. No I wasn’t standing outside of a vehicle to capture this picture.

The dominate male lion rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Steppe Buzzard

When the baby elephants eat prickly pear fruit they roll it on the ground under their foot to get the thorns off. They don’t seem to mind all the dust they eat with the fruit.

A size comparison

Three baby ostriches with two adult females and one adult male

A close-up of the baby ostriches

The Malachite Kingfisher is only 5 inches tall

The famous wildlife photographer John Miller

The beach at Kenton on Sea and the Indian Ocean. The water is 60 degrees. Thank goodness it is summer.

Sunset at the game preserve

Lion pictures from a night game drive

Cape Eagle Owl

Vervet Monkey – These guys jump on our roof shortly after sunrise most mornings.  Then they run down to our ranger’s house and wake her up.

John woke me up at 3 am one morning this week so I could help him capture a mouse in our room. He herded him and I caught him in the waste basket. The mouse looked good as he flew out the window.

We went back to the Farmerville’s school this week to continue our teaching.  The ninth graders struggled with simple addiction and spelling. Only 6 of 19 had ever used a dictionary before. Only one of 19 has traveled the 20 kilometers to Kenton on Sea. Most of the local people don’t have cars or electricity. They walk everywhere unless they are lucky enough to have someone stop to pick them up. Jobs are hard to find and don’t pay very well.  The Kariega Reserve announced layoffs this week.  With the slow world economy their business has been down for several years.

John and I are having a friendly competition to see you can capture the best shot.  Check out his blog at jemillerimages.blogspot.com

Some of the things I have learned while in South Africa

·        Most native trees have modified leaves or branches. (Read small thorns or big thorns that will scratch you) Therefore anything without thorns must be invasive and must be hacked down by volunteers.

·        Rain water is ok to drink, at least compared to the other options.

·        You can buy the cheapest cuts of meat in the store and survive on them for three weeks. (Do they really sell bags of chicken wings and backs in the US?)

·        Butternut squash is much cheaper than any other vegetables; therefore you shall eat a lot of it.

·        On Sunday’s the volunteers are the ones stuck in the cage. I now know why those zoo animals walk the fence line.

·        The stars are wonderful. Look for pictures next week.

·        You really don’t need screens on your windows but bars are nice.

·        Some English ladies can snore louder than my father and that is quite an accomplishment.

·        If your name is John watch were you put your hands in the bushes because if there is a wasp he will sting you even if he must fly around other volunteers to do so.

·        Don’t stand in the cruiser unless you want to be lion food.

That is all for this week.