The Balule Conservation Project in Greater Kruger National Park with Afreco Tours and Transfrontier Africa.
The thermometer is rising! It has been a while since I reported on all the happenings from the bush. Our website was stolen by a hairy palmed computer geek thus I have been unable to post my incoherent ramblings for some time – but we are back, alive and well in cyberspace and there is much to tell.
Predator research on the Balule Conservation Project in South Africa.
Firstly, you would think that with all our Land Rover issues we would be crazy to buy another one. Enter “Spartacus”, a V8 monster of a vehicle; which growls like the volcano of Vesuvius and drinks more than Craig on a Friday night. Robbie Prenn of Pondoro Lodge was kind enough to sell her to us for next to nothing. Which is just as well because our mainstay, old Skorrie has been struggling recently and we have been struggling with the chromosome deficient mechanics in town.
Just to give you and idea of what we go through with these mechanics.
1. Steering box breaks. We embark on a four hour epic to remove it.
2. We take it to town. Pay R1 000 to have it fixed – takes them 4 weeks.
3. Install steering box in 4 hours.
4. On first test drive steering box is broken. Call mechanic and ask him to come and fix it on site.
5. Wait two weeks, still no mechanic. We give him the benefit of the doubt and anticipate that he might have died on the way here. Take 4 hours to remove steering box.
6. Take it to mechanic in town; he is unfortunately not dead; he has only forgotten us.
7. We pick up the steering box and just before we install it again we realize that he has put it back together upside down.
8. We work on it for 8 hours and install it and it works!
9. One week later it dies again when I am stuck off-road in the thickest bush in the world next to a rhino.
10. Yay.
The world should pay South Africa to keep these mechanics away from the rest of the world!
Apart from the mechanics we have been doing fairly well recently. We have become the most feared alien vegetation killers this side of the Sahara.
Removing alien vegetation from the Balule Game Reserve is part of the conservation project.
We have been experimenting with spraying prickly pears with herbicide. This technique is proving most effective. We have killed in excess of 130 plants so far. We are really making good progress in this sphere, as well as the eradication of another invasive species which is prolific in riverine habitats.
Craig continues to attempt to kill me at every turn. The other night I was driving behind him in my vehicle when he called me on the radio and told me that he had lost the jack of the back of “Spartacus” and I should look for it. There was some interference on the phone, but I never really listen to him anyway and thought nothing more of it. A little while further down the road I saw his vehicle stopped up ahead; with a volunteer spotlighting in the bush. I thought they were looking for the jack and climbed out of my vehicle to help them. As I made my way towards the vehicle I noticed that they were in fact spotlighting an entire pride of lions who took great interest in this long haired fellow making his way towards them. Fortunately a volunteer had the common sense to blind them whilst I made a hasty retreat back to my vehicle. Better luck next time Craig.
Our old friend Vivianne Burns of Pennies for Ellies fame has continued her tireless fundraising initiatives through her organization and we are fortunate enough to have her in camp at the moment. She hasn’t broken any bones yet but she did take a rather nasty fall in the shower and now has an amazing bruise on her leg.
Craig and I have embarked on a serious fitness regime with summer on our doorstep and the game ranger calendar 2011 tryouts next week. Although Craig had his place as the March 1998 ranger; his self confidence has taken a knock since then. He says his right moob is bigger than the left and thinks he lacks definition. Sometimes I find him sitting in the kitchen eating chocolate with a copy of the 1998 calendar. He rocks to and fro and cries and has chocolate smears all over his face.
There has been a spate of rhino poaching in the area recently. 300 rhino have been poached in Kruger since the beginning of last year. 2 have recently been poached in surrounding reserves. Owing to the fact that we head up the anti-poaching of the reserve we have come up with a Top-Secret plan known mysteriously as “Operation Mkhobe”. Unfortunately it is classified, but Tim and Derrick are working around the clock to keep these precious resources safe.
The bush is beginning to heat up again, the knob-thorn trees have begun to flower and it is time for our game counts to begin. Next week I will be going up in a chopper to assist with the aerial counts and hopefully not vomit and embarrass everyone. At the same time we will begin our ground based animal census. This is the most exciting time of the year and we all look forward to it immensely. We will keep you updated.
Visit www.afrecotours.co/balule.asp for more information on this project.
