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Conservation

Giving back to nature.

By Phoebe ColePublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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In July 2013 I embarked on a trip to South Africa where I spent six weeks working on a game reserve on the Eastern Cape. Here are some highlights from my adventure.

Elephant's Food

7am start on the first day - Waking up to the sound of roaring lions certainly beats an alarm clock! Heading out in a converted Toyota Land Cruiser we jostled and bumped along the dirt tracks only to stop abruptly when we came round a bend face-to-face with a giraffe.

By 10am we had arrived at an area on the game reserve which was being plagued by an invasive tree species. Machetes in hand, we began to chop down the trees. By removing the invasive species it would give the native plants a chance to flourish.

At 3 pm we headed back to the house feeling encouraged by our efforts. This was definitely a taste of things to come.

Every Friday we had downtime in the afternoon. My favourite place to visit was the waterfall, which meant a hike through the river to reach it.

Another task I enjoyed was planting Spekboom (Portulacaria Afra), or Elephant's Food. As the name suggests, this is a favourite snack for the elephants. It is one of the easiest things I have ever planted - using a pickaxe, put a small hole in the ground then place the Spekboom inside and pat down - viola! No water required. It also helps to tackle carbon emissions, certainly a very handy plant to have around!

Rhino Middens

Rhinos are very elusive. Hours were spent patiently waiting for them to appear in the deepest part of the bush. The only sign of activity were the various middens or "postboxes", a visual and olfactory communication method for individual identification. Alas the waiting paid off and we were treated to seeing two black rhino and one white rhino calf with his mother.

The Rain Bird

Legend has it that when you see the rain bird bad weather will follow. This bird certainly has a proven track record as every time we spotted it, the rain came within an hour - certainly more accurate than weathermen!

Racing an Ostrich

Ostriches can run at 70 km/h (45 mph). On a trip out we encountered an male ostrich who treated us and his female companion to a dance before running alongside us as we left. It was quite a bizarre sight to see.

Making memories

My time spent at the game reserve proved very rewarding. Alongside maintaining natural habitats and counting the animals we also went into a little village every Wednesday to teach at a local school.

Since Xhosa is the first language spoken in the region, I was very impressed with how well the children listened and followed my instructions (bearing in mind I have no teaching experience whatsoever). A class was being taught by another traveller from my group and unbeknownst to me she had tasked the children with making birthday cards for me. This was such a lovely surprise and I will cherish them forever.

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