Saturday 17 January 2009 - The weekend! Bet you thought we'd get a well deserved break! WRONG! First off to the Lecture Hall with Kevin, this morning was all about SANParks, understanding the organisation and how it works.Whilst walking to the hall, we passed a small cemetery for the dogs of the rangers that used to work in KNP, many of the canines had lost their lives saving their owners from wild animals. So first impressions, you're inclined to think it appropriate to bury your pet within the park, then Kevin explains that during apartheid, blacks were not allowed to visit the National Parks unless they were servants, and even then they were kept in designated areas. Many parks contain ancient burial sites, yet blacks were not allowed to bury their dead with their ancestors, nor were they able to visit these sites. Suddenly a dog graveyard for whites becomes a bitter pill to swallow.
The afternoon was filled with a visit to the Herbarium, which is a extensive collection of all species within KNP and used for identification purposes, basically its lots of dead things pickled in formaldehyde! But very interesting all the same. We then spend time at the local plant nursery and seed bank, Kevin introduces us to the cycad plant and tells us all about South Africas' Rain Queen (more on her later). There is also information about terminates, their large mounds being part of the African landscape - the queen terminate pops out around 30,000 eggs a day, now thats good going!
Heading back to base, we were now in for our 'reality check'! The guys had not told us what this section of the programme was about, Kirsteen and I were a little apprehensive to say the least! Taking a stroll down to the river, we take a pew, then Pete throws it at us, all the bad stuff we could experience at Park, from HIV/AIDS to thieves, from racism to people approaching us for money - where the hell did I put my return air ticket?? Seriously this was very informative and prepared us for the worst. The moral of the story being, do not become complacent and use your common sense! After the long lecture we're off to the restaurant at the disused railway for a well earned drink!
Tea, my very first 'braai' pronounced bry, a barbeque to us english folk! The boys were in charge, Kevin cooking his world famous chicken with secret marinade! Notice the boys are in charge, we eat at 10 pm! The chicken was delicious, saying that, at that time of night so would a scabby horse!
Going Wild about mating Chacma baboons - get a room! Lacking a bed and therefore the inability to just fart and roll over, the male sits on the bridge with a smug look on his face, seriously all that's lacking is the obligatory cigarette!
