The last week of the semester has arrived already! As usual, Monday started with tests which we all felt went well. We then had a very chilled day by the pool before the lecture we’ve all been looking forward to – mammals! Hopefully this will be a strong point for a lot of us so let’s hope we nail the test.
Tuesday started off with another interesting lecture on ethology (animal behaviour), which again is a big interest for a lot of us and an important aspect of guiding. Learning how to read animals and the situation is vital to ensure everyone’s happiness and safety, so this is something we need to be hot on. We then headed out for a drive in the afternoon but didn’t get to practice much of our lecture materials as we tried to cross one of the rivers and got stuck as we were coming out on the other side. Being a sandy river bed and a very heavy game viewer, we started sinking quickly. We all threw our shoes and socks off before jumping into the river and started pushing the vehicle with Vaughan driving. Luckily, we managed to push it up the bank on the other side, but in the process we all got caked in mud and of course I fell in while trying to run up the bank to keep pushing.
The rest of the drive was spent laughing at how filthy we all were, before a cheetah sighting was called in. We made our way over to the sighting to be lucky enough to see a gorgeous male cheetah walk right in front of our vehicle. He wasn’t fazed in the slightest and came so close! Such a special way to end the day, even if we did look like mud monsters when we got back to camp.
Wednesday morning us internationals went into Hoedspruit whilst the South Africans continued with the drives as we had to book our learner’s test for our driving licence. Thankfully, we passed our eye tests and booked in for the following Wednesday so we need to learn all of the weird South African rules and signs! Trevor and Sharin (Bushwise mum and dad) then took us out for breakfast and left us to shop for an hour or so. Little did I know, Ryan had bought us all a surprise present – an inflatable for the pool. Needless to say that was the highlight of the day as we all spent the afternoon fighting for who was sitting on it and the funniest sights I’ve seen for a while!
Thursday was our last day of drives for the semester, but the learning never stops as we spent both drives doing mock tests for our practical identification test on Friday. We also had an amazing sighting of several giraffe and zebra right in front of us, giving us the perfect opportunity for us to practice our photography skills and watch the different feeding strategies. If you’ve never seen an animal chew the cud, watch a giraffe, it’s so weird! You can see them swallow before bringing another ball of cud back up their throat and their cheeks puff up as it comes back into their mouth… weirdest thing ever!
Friday morning, we had our feedback sessions where we spoke to Sharin, Trevor, and Gerhard (head trainer) about how we were finding everything, our current exam results, and our future placements. I was so relieved to hear that they’re happy with how I’m doing and are confident in my ability here. I’ve just got to keep the end goal in sight and work as hard as I can to achieve my goal. We then had our practical test, which went better than we thought, and we were surprised at how much we’ve learned over this past month.
As soon as the test was over, we all felt like a weight had been lifted off our shoulders and we were ready to relax. What started out as a casual water fight turned into a mud war, with half of us running around drenched and throwing mud at each other… I can only imagine how childish we must have seemed, but when you’ve been working so hard you really need some stress relief! After our war we all hosed off and jumped in the pool to relax and play fight a bit more before dinner. I couldn’t wish for a better group to be spending my time with here, we’re all on the same wavelength and have the same sense of humour, which along with being completely mad makes us all family.
On Saturday we said goodbye to half of us going home for the off-week. It’s been very weird since then without everyone, camp is too quiet! We had a very relaxed rest of the day before going out to the bush pub for our regular Saturday night, where we watched the rugby (England won, yes!) and met some volunteers from GVI next door. I got a little carried away and had too many springbokkies (shots) and wine, which meant Sunday morning was hell. I haven’t been so hungover in months (if not years!) with the headache from Satan himself. Even pizza couldn’t make me feel better! I spent the rest of the day in my hammock by the pool sleeping and watching Netflix. Luckily everyone else had the same idea so we all had a sleepy pool day with our new pool friend – the flamingo. Having no tests this Monday meant no one had a care in the world and finally got some much-needed R and R.
This semester has gone so quickly, I can’t believe that we’ve been here almost a month! I feel so at home in the bush with everyone, and so happy with how everything has gone so far. We’ve now got a week to work hard, party, and relax before the next semester. I’m hoping I can keep throwing myself into it with everything I’ve got and come out with the result I want. Let’s see what madness the next week holds!
Comments