Two many beers!!

As planned, we had our morning trip with a 7.30am launch. It had been raining all night and it was still a bit drizzly this morning. We had to pick our site carefully as there was quite a bit of swell too. We got one beautiful shark coming to the boat and as we only had 5 clients who wanted to go into the cage, I decided to get into a wetsuit too! I eventually got into the cage but the shark didn’t come back and we didn’t get any others :-( Then the anchor line broke or may have been bitten off by a shark so we finished for the day once we recovered the anchor using the second buoyed rope also attached to the anchor as a back-up.

We didn’t go riding after all as it was Swap Shop day! We had 140 children bringing recyclables and were kept very busy for a couple of hours! Of course, after that we had to reward ourselves with a visit to the pub! I had 2 beers and even now (at 9.30pm), I’m still feeling squiffy!!!!!

We have been told that the trip planned for tomorrow has been cancelled as the weather is not looking so good. So instead we are going on a trip to the southerly-most point of South Africa where we are hoping to snorkel with rays!!

Lucky seal!!

We only had one trip out today which was a 1pm launch. We mooched about the house this morning getting in the way of the cleaning lady mostly!! When we got out to the site, there was a pretty big swell so we moved to the channel between Dyer Island and Geyser Rock where the seal colony is.

We got a shark pretty much straight away. This one had a very distinctive dorsal fin with 2 crescent-shaped pieces missing. I’m not sure if I have mentioned this before but Adrian, our marine biologist, is using dorsal fin identification to ID the sharks we see. Us volunteers have to collect data on the sharks, such as markings and anything distinctive about the dorsal fin in particular. We also collect data on the sharks’ behaviour and log each time we see it and what it does. Most great whites are just passing through and we may see the same shark up to a few days later but not much after that. It’s amazing how different the sharks really look and how they can be recognized during a trip!!

We saw 2 other sharks today, including a really big female shark (about 3.8m). We also saw an unsuccessful predation – a baby seal was caught but the shark let it go and it made it back to the seal colony!

Tomorrow we have one morning trip and are planning to go horse riding in the afternoon with another volunteer, Chris, who is working on one of the other boats here. Should be good fun :-)

Fun weekend!

We had a great Friday night out and I decided to be the designated driver after all. I’m very glad I did as we didn’t eat until after 9pm and I would have been completely sizzled again!!

We had one trip again on Saturday with a 7.30am launch. We had a nice fairly flat sea and we had a good feeling about the sharks today – in fact, a few of us had a bet on how long it would be before we saw a shark…..and Adrian won by 2 mins!! The sharks were a bit intermittent but all the clients who went into the cage saw a shark. Lizzie went into the cage but unfortunately she didn’t stay in long enough :-(

When we got back, Lizzie shot straight up to the house to have a shower and finish packing and then we said our goodbyes!!

On Saturday afternoon, I managed to change my flight so that I fly to Jo’berg next Sunday rather than Saturday. I will be able to stay here for another day and then will be spending Saturday night with my friend Andrew and his family in Cape Town :-)

Today’s trip was quite bizarre! We had about 15 clients and we could tell they were troublemakers from the start!! There was a bit of a swell when we got out to the site and soon most of them were being seasick! There is a RIB which will come out to collect seasick passengers for R400 so we asked the clients and they agreed that they wanted off!! So 9 clients were taken off the boat which left 6 who were keen to stay. As we had only seen 2 sharks intermittently, our skipper decided to move us closer to Dyer Island. We then saw 5 sharks who were great entertainment – the remaining clients were very glad they stayed!!

This afternoon, I nipped into town with Adrian (our marine biologist here at the WSP) but we forgot it was Sunday and the shops were closed…..so we thought we ought to have a drink at the pub instead (hic!).

We are having take away pizza tonight and will be waiting to find out what tomorrow’s plans are!

Good shark day :-)

This morning, I actually slept right through til 5.15am when my alarm went off!!! We only had one trip today but we had a 7.30am launch. The early morning trips really are the best! The sea is usually flat and the visibility is usually better. We are usually the first boat out too so we are more likely to get sharks!!

This morning was no exception – flat calm sea and good visibility (5.5m vertical, about 2.5m horizontal). We only had 9 clients of whom only 7 wanted to go in the cage. And it was a great shark day!! We had 4 sharks but they were really active and a couple were quite feisty! So Jason and I donned wetsuits and got in the cage too!! It was freezing cold (the sea was about 13°C) and it made me remember why I now dive in a drysuit in the UK!!! But we saw the sharks up close and personal which was brilliant and well worth the numbness!

I am constantly amazed at how much I love seeing these beautiful animals!! Each shark is different in its looks and behaviour and it’s fascinating to learn all about them!

We had our final lecture from Adrian, our marine biologist, this afternoon on Shark Conservation and Research – really interesting stuff!

Tonight is Lizzie’s last night with us so we are going out for a meal with some of the WSP crowd. I have to decide whether to drink or whether to be designated river and let Adrian have a drink……………………….

Hangover Day :-(

This morning, I woke up with a bad hangover after a good night out last night!! So I missed out on the first trip today. I felt better after a fry-up and a kip so I was ok for the second trip. Lizzie missed the second trip so it was me and Jason again and it was a full boat of 18 clients. Jason was on data collection duty so I had to look after the clients – and 18 is a lot to look after!! There was a big swell today so it was twice as difficult with the boat rocking and rolling!

When we arrived on site, a baby seal swam right up to the stern of the boat and Mandla (one of the crew) helped it onto the boat! The poor thing was knackered and we let it stay on the boat for about 5 mins to get its breath back before we encouraged it back into the water. Hopefully, it got home in one piece!

We only saw 3 sharks this afternoon and the visibility was pants so the clients didn’t see much from the cage, unfortunately.

When we finished sorting the boat out, I went out food shopping and cooked a lovely beef stroganoff (even if I do say so myself :-) I’m pretty knackered so it’ll be an early night for me tonight!!

Busy day!!!

I was up at 5am ready to start work at 6am. We had an earlier launch than usual – 7am – and it was actually really nice to be out so early and before the other boats. I was originally going to be the only volunteer on the boat but another client dropped out so Jason came along too. We had 18 clients and as there were only the 2 of us, it was hard work! Jason was on data collection duty so I had to look after the clients – not always an easy job ;-)

We had a fairly good morning with 6 sharks spotted and the visibility in the water was fairly good so the clients saw the sharks!

We had another trip at 12pm and it was just Lizzie and me on the boat this afternoon. I was on data collection duty and Lizzie looked after the clients – she’s much better at that than I am!! We saw 7 sharks but the visibility was dreadful so the clients saw more from the boat than from the cage!

Tonight we are off to a braai (BBQ) with some of the White Shark Projects crowd which should be good.

Easy day!

We only had one trip today and it started at 12pm – but I still woke up at 5am!! Only 2 of us volunteers, me and Jason, were on the boat today. Lizzie wanted to go to the Swap Shop this afternoon so she didn’t come out with us.

We only had 8 clients and only 6 of those went in the cage so it was a pretty easy day really! We only saw 2 sharks but I managed to fluff up the data collection somehow (blonde senior moment ;-)

So not really much to report I’m afraid! We are now chillin’ out for the evening – I have jacket potatoes in the oven and I’m looking forward to tucking in!!

We've just been told that we have 2 trips tomorrow and the first one is with 19 clients so only 1 of us can go - and it's me!! So I'll be pretty busy then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lightweight!!

Another early morning – but earlier than usual for me! I woke up at 4am and couldn’t get back to sleep!! We had one morning trip today and went out to Dyer Island again. We are now only 3 volunteers and having one less actually makes a big difference! I hardly saqw anything of the sharks today as I was busy sorting the clients out! But we did have a bit of excitement! One shark took the bait and wouldn’t let go. He managed to wrap the rope around himself several times and it was really quite distressing. We did manage to pull him against the cage, unroll him and get the bait out of his mouth. He would have been pretty stressed after that. The clients in the cage certainly got their monies-worth!!

After we had got back and sorted the boat and kit out, we went shopping. We have 2 shopping trips a week on Mondays and Thursdays. We got food and then I needed to go to the Pharmacy as I had a mild earache and wanted to get it checked! There was a small clinic at the pharmacy and I saw the nurse who said my ear was slightly inflamed and gave me some antibacterial drops for it – it was a very good and efficient service!

We then went to the pub for one drink. And after one beer, Lightweight Castro was very squiffy!! I’ve never been very good with lunchtime drinking at the best of times!!

We have been chilling out for the rest of the day and Lizzie is now making us a roast chicken dinner – mmmmmmmmm!

Amazing Shark Weekend!!

Well, what can I say!!! What a GREAT weekend of shark encounters!! There were two boat trips planned yesterday and we only had 13 clients on the morning trip. We went out to Dyers Island again and anchored up. There was a small swell but it was a pleasant morning. I was on data collection duty and almost immediately, the sharks started coming to the boat! the bait line at the same time – AMAZING!! As we had so few clients and the shark action was so good, they let us volunteers get kitted up and into the cage – OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was one of the most incredible things I have every done! The sharks were really playing ball and were coming really close to the cage. We even had one shark which bit the cage – FANTASTIC!!!

Unfortunately, I had a migraine yesterday afternoon so I had to go to bed and that was me down and out for the rest of the day. Yesterday evening, Edwin, one of the owners of the White Shark Project, invited us to his place for dinner, just above the lodge. I went there for about 30 mins to be sociable but the other volunteers had a good evening. He does this regularly and tells the new volunteers that he is cooking baboon which he had to shoot by bow and arrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This morning, I felt as right as rain and we had another 2 trips planned. The first trip out was great, with 6 active sharks. I was data collecting again. We also had a French guy on the boat who spoke no English and I was the only one who could speak any French so I had to explain everything to him! He is here for 4 days so I’ll be practicing my French again tomorrow.

At the end of today’s trip, one of the clients witnessed a predation, where a shark caught and ate a seal! Unfortunately, the rest of us only heard the splash and saw the blood on the surface but hopefully, we’ll see another one soon!!

The sharks were not so co-operative this afternoon. We saw a few but they weren’t really going for the bait and so not really getting very close to the cage. But all the clients saw one shark at least so they left happy :-)

Seals and stir-fry!

We had another early morning, with only one boat trip planned today. For the first time since I arrived, we went out to nearby Dyer Island rather than staying in the bay. The sharks are in a transition period where they are moving more towards the island where they spend the winter months. So at this time of year, it’s a bit of a toss up as to whether we stay in the bay or go to the island to look for the sharks. Some of the other boats have seen more sharks these last couple of days at the island so we decided to go there today.

It was a lovely, sunny, calm day and we anchored up to the west of the island. There was a small fishing boat nearby and a shark popped up next to it so we tried to encourage it to come across to us by banging on the side of the boat and it came to have a look!! We saw only 3 sharks today but we also had a few seals who came across from the island to see us! On the way back, we drove close to the island to see the seal colony and there were hundreds of them!! There were small pups amongst the adults and lots of them were playing about in the water in front of us!!

This afternoon, we had another lecture. This one was about shark attacks and I’m very glad I’m a diver and not a surfer!! Later on, I went for a walk along the sea shore and sat on a rock watching the sea. It really is very beautiful here!!

I made a stir-fry tonight and then we all played cards for a while. We have a very busy day tomorrow with 2 trips and room for all four of us too :-)

Sharks and horses!

Today we had an early start – up at 5.15am!! We got the boat sorted for the first trip out which left at 7.30am. We had 17 clients, including my friends Louise and Jim! The visibility was pretty bad today – only about 0.5m but we got 15 clients in the shark cage and they all saw a shark! We saw 5 sharks in all of various sizes during the trip. I also had a go at chumming – the chum (tuna and anchovy oil) is mushed up with sea water in a big bucket and chucked into the sea. This has to be done for the whole time we are out so we take it in turns. It’s smelly but fun :-)

Once we got back in, we sorted and cleaned the boat for the next set of clients and then were told that only Claudia would be going out as there were too many people to fit on the boat. Then one client dropped out so Jason went on the boat as Lizzie and I had booked to go horse riding!

We mooched about for a couple of hours and then we were taken to the riding stables just up the road. We spent an hour riding on the beach and it was great! My horse was brilliant – a little feisty but we got on well. At one point while we were having a canter, she decided to head into the sea!!! But we didn’t go in too far! Lizzie’s horse was a bit stubborn and kept stopping and not wanting to go anywhere!

So now we are back in the house, eating and chilling out for the evening. We have another early start tomorrow morning and I have a feeing my thighs are gonna hurt like hell!!!!

Hiking and swimming!

This morning, we were due to take the boat out at 10.30am but, once again, the trip was cancelled due to the wind :-( So we decided to go for a hike through a Botanical Gardens in Caladon about 45 mins drive from Gansbaai. We went with Adrian, our marine biologist, again as I found out he is also the volunteer co-ordinator! We spent about about 2 hours mooching through the gardens and the surrounding area which was quite rocky and hilly. We walked up to a dam in the valley and there was a big pool of water there. So us 3 gals stripped off (well, took our t-shirts off but kept the rest of our clothes on!!) and had a swim in the pool!! It was lovely, cool water but the 2 boys wouldn't join us!!

We went back down to the car park and then drove to a local rubbish dump to see baboons!! They spend their time there foraging for food and there were loads of them!! Then we went off to have some lunch and headed back to Kleinbaai.

Tonight, I am meeting with my friend Louise (who I met up with in Cape Town) for dinner! She is coming out for a cage dive with us tomorrow and staying the night in Gansbaai :-)

Penguins and swap-shop!!

Today it was too windy for the boat to go out so we decided to go to see penguins at Rocky Point, about an hour's drive from Kleinbaai. It took us a while to find the right place but it was worth it when we did! There were lots of penguins sitting on the rocks and hiding in bushes! The ones in the bushes were sitting on eggs and, in fact, we came across a pair of penguins mating - quite a spectacle!

We had lunch in Hermanus and then we went into the township in Gansbaai to help at the swap-shop that the White Shark Project run. The local kids collect recyclable rubbish (cans, bottles etc) and bring them along. These are swapped for points and they can use the points to get toys, pens, pencils, clothes and many other things. The recyclable materials are taken to a recycling bank where they get some money and they use this to buy stuff for the swap-shop. It was great fun and, once again, the kids were great!!

We went to the pub for a beer and then back to the house where we have spent the rest of the day chatting, internetting, eating and we are about to watch a DVD!

Only one - but a big one!!!

So today was our first proper day of volunteering on the White Shark Project (WSP). We had start work at 6am, getting everything ready to take on the boat - wetsuits, booties, bait, lifejackets, food and drink for the clients (and us!). We loaded it onto the boat and then went for breakfast before meeting at the WSP Lodge to help the clients get into their lifejackets and take them to the boat.

We headed out to sea and watched how they anchored up side-on to the swell and the current. Claudia then showed me the forms we have to fill in with various bits of information on the site we were anchored at while the others sorted the clients out with wetsuits. And then we waited.....and waited......and waited......but no sharks appeared :-( Another boat nearby had seen a shark and was leaving to head to a nearby island (Dyers Island) so we uped anchor and headed to that site.

We put the cage into the water and waited.....and waited......and waited.....but the shark didn't appear :-( The wind started to pick up and the swell was getting bigger to so we decided to call it a day. We started to get the cage out of the water and THE SHARK APPEARED!!! And he was HUGE! He was 3-3.5m long and had hung about for about 20 mins. Claudia had shown me the other forms we have to fill in with information about the sharks we see and their behaviour and I was busy filling that in!

We evetually headed back to shore and once the clients were off the boat, we unloaded the boat and Claudia and I helped wash the boat down. By this time, it had also started raining so we were getting quite wet but it was good fun!

This afternoon, we went shopping for food and then had 2 lectures about Great White Shark biology and behaviour from Adrian, the resident marine biologist. It was really interesting and I know lots about Great Whites now!

I cooked dinner tonight (Spaghetti Bolognese) and we are all now tapping away at our computers!! The guys here are really good fun and I'm already having a very good time!

Kleinbaai - my next new home!!

On Saturday morning, I flew to Cape Town and spent a great day there! I was collected at the airport and taken to a B&B called Sassveld Lodge which was a whopping £15 a night including breakfast!! I spent the afternoon mooching around the area and in the evning, I met up with a friend, Louise, who had also arrived in Cape Town that day!! We met at the Waterfront, which is the trendy harbour area full of shops and restaurants. We spent a very fun evening catching up and boring Louise's friend ridig with diving tales!!

This morning, I was picked up from the B&B by the White Shark Project bus and there were 2 other new volunteers on the bus, Jason and Lizzie. There were also 4 people going there for an afternoon's cage diving. The White Shark Project is one of about 7 cage diving operations in the Gansbaai area (about 2 hours drive south-east of Cape Town). It's actually based in Kleinbaai, about 5 mins drive from Gansbaai, and right next to the sea!!

There were 5 other volunteers here but 4 of them were leaving today so there are 4 of us left. Claudia is the remaining volunteer and she is here for another week. This afternoon, they let us newbies act as clients on the boat :-) The Great Whites feed close into the shore here and it';s only a 15 min boat ride to get to the area they are in. The operations are highly regulated - the boats are only allowed to anchor in certain areas and only use certain types of chum and bait to get the sharks in close to the boat.

The volunteers work on the boat with the crews helping with everything from preparing the boat for the clients, helping clients in and out of wetsuits, anchoring, preparing the cage, chumming etc.

Today, we saw 4 Great Whites!!!!! They are beautiful :-) They are drawn in by the chum and then the bait is used to draw them closer to the boat and the cage. The volunteers make notes about the sharks' behaviour and appearance and there is a resident marine biologist whoc takes pictures of the sharks. Us newbies didn't go into the cage today but we will have plenty of chances.

So now we are in our volunteer house eating pizza and getting to know each other. So far, I am really enjoying this place!!

Bye bye Kwantu!

I can't believe it's been my last day at Kwantu already!! This morning, the ranger let us play with Ben and the lion cubs again for about 30 mins :-))) I got plenty more scratches and bites but it was worth it! After that, we went to the elephant sanctuary to check all was well as there was a party of 26 school children coming today!! We went back to the reserve and waited for them to arrive. We served them food and drinks and then they went on a game drive, which I decided to miss out. I went down to see the cubs again and as the school children were being shown the other predators, the ranger let us in with the cubs again!!! We were in for another half an hour and then I had to say my goodbyes to them :-(

I went back to my room, showered and finished packing and then went for lunch with the other volunteers and the rangers at the Day Centre where the children were taken for their lunch.

Then I had to say goodbye to everyone and I headed into Port Elizabeth in the Kwantu bus with the children!!

So now I'm in PE staying the night in a very nice backpackers' lodge. I had my dinner about an hours ago and I'm settled here for the night, chatting with other travellers. Tomorrow morning, I fly to Cape Town and spend the night in another backpackers' lodge before heading to Gansbaii for the strt of my Great White Shark adventure!!

On the hunt!

This morning, we spent a blissful 45 mins with Ben the tiger and her 4 lion cub friends :-) Of course, I got bitten, scratched and nibbled but I also had lots of cuddles and it was great! Ben now has a bath in her enclosure so she can have a soak but the lion cubs are not keen on the water at all!

We then went with a couple of the reserve staff to finish off fixing the fences we started yesterday and to help clear the weeds around the wild dog enclosure. After our morning break, we went to the local school again to give the kids lunch. I also took along some badges for them which I bought at Port Elizabeth market and gave them to the Head Mistress to distribute. The kids were so pleased to see us and after they had eaten, we showed them the pictures we had on our cameras and they loved that!

After lunch, we went to the elephant sanctuary and helped gather branches for the elephants’ dinner as well as helping to unload bags of food which had just been delivered. And to finish off our day, we went out with the ranger to hunt a sick/wounded/old animal to shoot for the tiger and lion cubs’ dinner. We did find an injured antelope and the ranger shot it in its already injured hind leg but unfortunately, it fled into the valley and they will have to go and find it tomorrow.

Long walks, fences and snakes!

Today was a day of long walks! We went to the elephant sanctuary first thing to drop off some of the reserve staff (which seems to be a daily pattern now) and then watched the elephants practice their routine for a while. We then went back to the reserve and went with 3 of the reserve staff to check one of the electric fences. This part of the fence was powered by solar panel and the guys checked this first. Then we walked along removing big tufts of grasses and plants from next to the fence.

After this, we sorted out a big pile of logs, putting logs of roughly the same length and thickness together. Some of these logs were then used to create the edge of a path for the new volunteers lodge.

After lunch, another long walk checking electric fences! I really enjoyed these walks though it was blinking hot today! Then we helped fix one of the fences surrounding the predator enclosures before we finished for the day!

One of the rangers keeps snakes so I asked if I could see them. He has a Burmese python called Girlie which I cuddled for a bit and she seemed to think I smelled quite good (though I was covered in sweat and dirt – maybe that was what attracted her!!). He also had some puff adders and some small grass-like snakes, both of which are poisonous so no cuddles from me!

Easy like Sunday mornin’!

Last night, we had a problem with the electrical system in our accommodation block and we had no electricity for the night! So we had to go to bed by candle light :-) I’m glad to say it’s all fixed now.

Today has been pretty slack. First thing this morning, we took some of the staff up to the elephant sanctuary and then had a breakfast break just after 8am. We then watched the two rangers start digging out a swimming pool behind the hotel and after about half an hour, we had another 30 min break. We then watched for another 90 mins before they sent us off for an early lunch!

This afternoon was spent in the pick-up truck mooching around the elephant sanctuary reserve and the main reserve checking all was ok and looking at the animals. We saw wild pigs and buffalo for the first time today.

That’s about it for today – easy day!!

Surfin' and smells!!!

This weekend, we stayed in a backpackers’ hostel in Jeffrey’s Bay, about 2 hours from Kwantu. I was hoping to go diving but there were no dive centres there after all :-( so instead, I had a surfing lesson!! Three of us had a go but the swell was actually quite big and very difficult to deal with so I admit that I gave up after about 20 minutes of trying! Donna also gave up but Claire was really good and managed to almost stand up on the board!

Unfortunately, 5 of the girls were moving on this weekend so we made sure we had a great final 2 days together. And the remaining 3 of us got back yesterday – though due to a lack of communication, I nearly got left behind in Port Elizabeth where there other 5 girls were spending the night!!!!

We started this morning by checking the fences with the ranger but the wheel fell of the pick-up truck! We got taken back to the reserve workshop and then went with 3 of the reserve staff to a town about 45 mins away called Alexandria – to collect a dead cow! It had been dead for a wee while and stank – yuk! The other 2 girls traveled back in the cab and I was in the back with two of the guys and the smelly beast – I don’t think I will ever forget that smell!!! When we got back, we took it to one of the lion enclosures and watched as they pulled it off the truck and tucked in!

We then took more smelly, dead bits of various animals (zebras and cows!) and fed the other predators – lions, serval, cheetahs, wild dogs and tigers. Finally, before lunch, we checked the fences and had a mooch around the reserve and the ranger took us to see the rhinos.

After lunch, we helped to collect bones from some of the predator enclosures – yes, bones!! We did the tiger/lion cubs, older lion cubs, serval, cheetah and wild dog enclosures! The cheetahs didn’t like me photographing them and they do this weird thing of doing a little jump and snarl to try to scare us off!!!!

Finally, we went to the elephant sanctuary to help prepare their food and that was the end of our working day!!

P.S. I found out that the tigers are part of a breeding programme but many of the reserves here have them!!

Packed day!!

I have managed to find a bit of time to write a quick post before we head off! And what a packed day we have had today!

Firts thing, we went to the Elephant Sanctury where they have 5 elephants which they saved from being culled. These are being trained to do various tricks and skills for the tourists but ultimately, to be used for elephant safaris in the reserve. We all had a ride on them too!

Then we went into the reserve to do a game capture. We set up 3 lines of nets and the ranger tried to herd some game into the nets - but they weren't playing ball today and all we got was a very old wildebeast! The idea is to jump on the game and hold it down when it is in the nets! We will try again next week and hopefully we'll be more lucky!

After our morning break, we went into the tiger enclosure WITH THE TIGERS to clear some cut grass - it was FANTASTIC! The rangers kept the tigers at bay but we got pretty close to them! Then we took some of the cut grass to Ben the tiger cub and his lion cub companions and played with them before going to see some older lion cubs in another enclosure. We went in with these ones too and they were lovely! There are 2 adult lions, one male and one female, in the opposite enclosure but they really don't like the rangers so they don't go in with them very often and we certainly won't!!

So that's just about been our day! I am packed and ready to go to Jeffrey's Bay for the weekend and I'll post some more photos up early next week!

Labour Day!!

A bit of sad news I'm afraid - both the baby tiger cubs died in the night :-( We were gutted, as you can imagine! But I will still try to post a piccie of one of them with me once I have finished writing this post!

This morning, we were up and at it at 7am which is the usual time we start work!! Our first task was to dig out a hole in the ground to start to make it into a pond. We did this for about 2 hours and we got the nod of approval for our work from Simon, the ranger! Then we went to clear some cut grass from around the tiger enclosure until 10am which is when we have our morning break.

After that, we went to one of the local schools to take some lunch for the children. The game reserve guys do this every week and for some of the children, it's the one decent meal they get. But they were lovely kids and we played ball and other games with them for a while!

After lunch, it was back to grass clearing but it was so hot we only did this for an hour before we were sent back to our lodgings!!

Tomorrow afternoon, we are being taken to Jeffrey's bay for the weekend! We are staying in a backpackers' lodge and will be back on Sunday evening. I am taking my dive kit and I hope I'll get a couple of dives in!! I don't know if I will have internet access so if not, I'll be back in touch on Monday!

P.S. I have been asked by a few people about the tigers i.e. why do we have them here!! I will try to find out and let you know :-)

Not for the squeamish!!

Well, where do I start!! Today has been another fantastic day! We did absolutely nothing this morning! We were supposed to be helping out with some tree clearing but for some reason it didn't happen so we hung about all morning waiting for something to happen.

After lunch, we went off in a flatbed van (I think that's how you would describe it) and the ranger shot a very sick zebra they had seen the day before. We (as in 8 girls and 1 guy!) loaded it onto the van and took it back to the workshop where we saw it being chopped up for animal feed (I helped out with that too!!).

Then we went onto the reserve again to look for rhinos but didn't see any. We did see zebras, wildebeast, various antelope and giraffe! Our ranger then took us off for shooting practise and most of us had a go at shooting with a magnum handgun :-)

Then we went to feed the week-old tiger cubs - the cutest things on the planet! They still have their eyes closed! And finally we went to play with the older lion cubs and Ben the tiger cub. He took a liking to my left armpit today and I have a few scatches and scrapes from his rather sharp teeth!!

I think we are going game capturing tomorrow!! I am pretty pooped but having an amazing time! I will try to put some photos up on the blog tomorrow - if I can work out how to do it!

Kwantu - my new home!

WOW!!!!! This place is AMAZING!! I am now settled in my new home for the next 12 days, which is Kwantu Private Game Reserve, about an hour's drive from Port Elizabeth. It's a beautiful reserve and the accomodation and hotel is wonderful! I have my own room with an en suite bathroom. There are 6 other volunteers here - all girls! - and we will be joined by another tomorrow.

I arrived at about 2pm and the volunteers were looking after a group staying here who had come off a cruise ship. This only happens occasionally and we will be back working in the reserve tomorrow or the following day.

I was shown around the 'town' (the reserve is like a small town and all the workers here live on site). There is a school, two churches, tennis courts, a cricket pitch, a shop / post office and the workers' houses.

I was also shown where they were holding 4 lion cubs and a tiger cub, all about 4-5 months old - AND I GOT TO PLAY WITH THEM!! The lion cubs were a bit shy but Ben, the tiger cub, bounded up to me and proceeded to nibble my legs, arms, shoulders and hand!! He is GORGEOUS! I'll get to play more with them while I am here. We also saw 2 new tiger cubs who are 2 days old! We will be helping fed them too - they have to be fed every 2 hours! And to top it all, we saw the keeper giving one of the adult tigers a shot of antibiotics - she wasn't best pleased!

Well, I have to go to dinner now - more tomorrow!

Touchdown!

I have finally arrived in South Africa!! I am currently in Jo'berg Airport waiting for my flight to Port Elizabeth. So far, so good! I managed about 5 hours sleep on the Heathrow to Jo'berg flight. The plane was about half full so I had a double seat to myself which was great! It's a lovely sunny morning here and I'm feeling quite bright and breezy after 11 hours of flying!!

I'm on my way!!

Well, right now, I'm sitting in Terminal 1 of Heathrow Airport waiting for my gate number!! I arrive in Jo'berg at about 7am tomorrow and then onto Port Elizabeth! I'm very excited but very tired too - the last 2 mornings I've been up at 5am as I couldn't sleep!! I still can't believe I'm actually on my way!

I'm missing Jon and the pussies already but also looking forward to my BIG ADVENTURE :-)

SA here I come!!!

I really can't believe I'm going tomorrow!! I finished at work on Friday - and a BIG THANK YOU to everyone for the lovely presents and the great night out :-) Though I did suffer with a raging hangover all day yesterday!!! And another THANK YOU to everyone at Divetech who came out for our Late Christmas Party/Sands' Bon Voyage meal too!

So today, I am finishing my packing, Well, I haven't actually started as yet - I have it all in piles on the bedroom floor so it now just needs to go into my bag!!! I'm also out for lunch with the lifeboat boys and gals and just finishing off all those little jobs that need going before I leave.

So I start my Big Adventure proper at 11am tomorrow morning when the lovely Craig comes to pick me up to take me to the airport! AMAZING!!