Hyena and Electricity

12/13 Monday and Tuesday: On Monday, while trying to find the dogs, Philip spotted a hyena walking toward us. He was a young one (the hyena) and kept getting closer and closer, until he was too close to photograph. He looked at us, smelled us, and even bit the tires to find out what we were. When he determined that we weren't anything he could eat, he ambled away down the path looking for something better to do. Tuesday we had an even more intimate encounter. We saw three youngsters, biting, chasing, humping, and generally roughhousing on the road. That was about 20 ft away, then they came closer. One of them bit the tires (do truck tires look like buffalo?) and then all three passed right along the vehicle, smelling for the dead meat we'd had in the back a few days ago. When I looked over the side, I found myself eye-to-eye and nose-to-snout with this incredible creature. They were inquisitive, but it might have been that they just wanted that meat from the back. One of the youngsters looked like he was about to put his paws up on the tailgate and look inside. The irony is, we have been tracking and baiting them all week, without finding them, but now we could have just leaned over and put the tracking collar on them. Except, of course, they're wild, making this one of the most intimate and memorable experiences we've had in the park.

On Monday afternoon we had an African experience of another kind. We were atop one of the highest hills of the reserve, tracking the dogs, when a storm came up. It was soon shooting lightning bolts across the sky and we figured holding up a metal antenna into the sky was no longer such a genius idea. We skittered down the slippery rocks on Rocky Road (every road here has a name) watching the storm as it built up.  By now there was more lightning, more rain, more drama. It was our night to cook, so we had prepared spaghetti impala-bolognese at lunch time. We were re-heating it just as the power went out. We nearly made it, but didn't quite finish dinner, so by candle-light and headlamps, we had a lukewarm bolognese with semi-cooked noodles, salad, and cold garlic bread. It was just like camping, and man, was it a beatiful lightning show around us! We may have eaten a few moths that flew into the sauce, but it was a fun night and a bonding experience with the group.


We headed off to bed, expecting the power to come back on overnight. It didn't. Neither did it come back the next morning, or afternoon, or night. We were racking our brains for a meal that would work in a single pot over a campfire when Michelle saved us by suggesting the local bar/restaurant 20 minutes away. Whew! We had a good meal, light and no moths in our food. It was a nice change and when we got home at 10:30 pm, we had power again. Our day wasn't quite finished, however. We still had to take more rotten meat out to a new spot to attract hyenas. Philip was shot from another 3:30 am daily start and stayed behind, but I am fascinated by hyena and wanted to see if we could call them in. We had threaded two lamb shanks with heavy wire and needed to tie them to a tree in long grass. I was getting pretty sure that there weren't any snakes to worry about in the bush, but we had seen a Mozambique Spitting Cobra crossing the road the day before. I had heard that they hear footsteps and flee so I stomped on the ground as hard as I could and clapped loudly to scare any slitherers away. I'm sure I looked the crazy tourist that people could tell stories on later, but peace of mind is worth it.

We got to the tree with nothing spitting venom into our eyes (I'm pretty sure it was because I clapped like a fool) and got the meat tied up. We then fired up a computer which seemed totally out of place in the black of night in the bush to play a CD of animal noises to attract the hyena. One was a buffalo calf that sounded like it was calling for its mother and the other was a warthog piglet that sounded like it was being lifted up and didn't like it at all. It might have worked for the hyenas, but, wow, what an awful sound! We played the screeching and bawling for a half an hour with no luck, so headed home. By then it was 12:30 am. I couldn't face another 11 hour day on three hours' sleep, so we decided to shut the alarm off and sleep in. What a luxury to get 7-1/2 hours of sleep rather than four or five!

Baby!

At work tracking the dogs across the savannah.

Day Off

12/12 Sunday: The arrangement here is for us to have off one day per week, and honestly, we were looking forward to sleeping in. Even the possibility of missing out on lions and cheetahs was no match for sleeping in past 3:30. We managed to sleep until the late hour of 5:45 and spent a good part of th emorning reading and relaxing in our hut.

The kitchen is quite basic but includes a mini-oven, so, as is common on our Sundays, we gave in to our sweet tooth by baking some cookies. We played a game of Canasta (or, Kick-Your-Asta, as we call it) while they baked. It was perfect weather for that and sitting on the porch, just the right temperature and overcast. It wasn't like we totally missed out on seeing wildlife, since we got to watch warthogs, wildebeest, and impala right here in camp.

We decided that we didn't want the full day off, so joined in on the afternoon drive. We didn't manage to sight the dogs, but we did get to see the lion! We found them in a copse of trees very close to the road. There was the Mom and her four one-year-old cubs -- all five of them practically the size. We learned that the two female cubs will stay with their Mom's pride, while the males will be kicked out at 2-3 years old to find their own pride. Part of wildlife conservation here is to make sure the gene pool stays strong, so at that time the males will be moved off of Thanda. The cats had just finished eating a wildebeest, so they were just relaxing and yawning (a lot). They were mostly ok with us watching them, although the Mom did snarl at us a couple of times. Philip was very excited to see them so close.

After the lions, we checked back at the rhino to see whether the hyena had visited. They still hadn't, but we got to watch the vultures some more. The other hyena baited trap had been visited: From the evidence, hyena don't like bacon, preferring chops and filets. At least that's what we deduced from what was left behind.

Speaking of chops, the meat for us volunteers is almost exclusively environmentally-friendly wild game. We take turns cooking, and the other couple had chosen to do a barbecue. With warthog chops. They were kinda gamey and like chewing on a shoe, so maybe they were meant more for a stew. We've previously eaten impala sausages and hamburgers, which were much tastier and easier to eat. We don't usually eat a lot of meat in any case, but it seems to be the key part of the South African diet, so when in Rome...

It's Hot ... Africa Hot

12/10 Friday: We got to sleep in for a 4:30 start this morning. It was cool until about 8, when we got to feel the real African summer. Up until now it's been cool, overcast, even jacket weather, but today it was HOT.

We set off to look for the dogs in the morning, but although we knew where they were from the equipment, there were no roads nor tracks to take us near them, so it wasn't until a couple of hours later that we saw them. They had just hunted down yet another impala and were enjoying the last tasty morsels in the lush, thick grass.

On losing them to the thicket where they lay through the heat of the day, we made our way to the rhino. We had hoped that the hyena would find it, to make the collaring easier, but they lost out to the vultures. Talk about greedy like vultures! There were three different species for a total of around 80 birds, haggling, hissing, biting, beating around the rhino. They were awesome to watch. We especially liked the Cape vulture, who lorded over all others, spreading his 5-ft wingspan from the top of the rhino, daring them to play King of the Hill with him. After an hour of trying to count the birds and taking tons of photos, we scavenged some firewood for a braai and headed back.

There wasn't much time to rest: Soon after, we headed to the office to enter the observations data collected in the field. That also gave us the chance to hook up to the internet, ever so briefly. We hopped back in the truck to find the dogs one last time before they settled in for the night. The plans for the braai were canceled due to a big thunderstorm, which (what a relief!) cooled everything down again.

Friday: Lost One

One of the cheetas we watched eat an impala...they were so full they could hardly move!

Baby impala...all are born within a week of each other to help protect the babies

Our office

Home away from home

Philip at work

The bull rhino

The view from our hut

A two week old giraffe at our camp

Wild dog...these are the animals we track twice a day

Wild dog puppy...so fun to watch!

We started the day early, heading straight for the injured rhino, taking the last shift if the night's vigil to make sure that it wouldn't fall prey to a hyena or lion. We didn't see either, so there wasn't much for us to do until the vet came at 8. Sadly, the collective conclusion was that there was nothing more that could be done for the bull. The vet explained that if a rhino lies on its side for more than an hour, it gets such strong pins and needles in its legs that it can't feel its feet and falls down again. This rhino had already been down for the entire previous day. The vet administered a strong tranquilizer so that the animal would have no memory of its pain, be comfortable, and put it to sleep. Although it was sad, it was for the best, because he would have had to suffer a slow death through the intense heat of the day. It turns out that rhinos are quite susceptible to stress, so his lack of mobility would have caused him to die before the day's end either from the stress directly or from starvation. The vet also performed an autopsy to confirm his suspicion that the bull had suffered physical trauma to his back right leg. His ultimate diagnosis was that he had probably pulled a hip ligament, causing pain and stress on the joints and making him drag his foot along the ground. There was nothing hat could have been done even if this diagnosis had been reached weeks ago when the injury first happened, because it isn't possible to stable a rhino in an enclosure, so as to rest the joint, without causing it more intense stress. We learned a lot from the vet who took tine to explain he situation to everyone involved, including the extra precautions needed because of rhino poaching.

We finished the day by tracking the dogs across the hills. Today, we only saw then briefly on the road but knew they were close by because we could hear them. Today was also our first hot, sunny day.

Getting Up at 3:30 a.m. ...

Bites!  I'm not going to lie!  Or we're wimps. Grumpiness and lack of sleep aside Philip and I are finding the reserve absolutely beautiful.  It is super hilly, the vegetation is varied from hill to hill, our "monitor" Michelle one of the hardest working people I've ever met and has an answer for every question we throw at her, and there are a lot of them.  If is amazing to be out with the animals every day.  It is pretty awesome to be able to learn the sounds wild dog puppies make when they beg for food (high pitched YIP YIP YIP YIP YiP YIP), see giraffe around the camp and scope for eyeballs reflecting back at you (Impala?  Warthog?  Lion?) as you head toward your room for the night.  So maybe we are wimps but were pretty happy wimps!

Cheetahs and Rhinos, and Hyenas, Oh My!

Another 4:30 start to the day; a bit of breakfast, a quick cup  of tea and we were off in the Land Cruiser to scour 17,000 acres for the wild dogs.  We powered up a steep hill follwing an eight foot high highly electric fence and knew we were close on the trail of the dogs because of the strong telltale beeps of the telemetry equipment.  We couldn't see the dogs so we parked to wait for the to wake up and appear. It was a cool, overcast morning and we used the time to learn bird calls, spot birds and enjoy the view overlooking the hills. And then we waited, and waited, and waited, apparently the dogs were still full and tired from the impala hunt the night before, so we waited some more. After 2 hours if sitting, we decided to let then sleep, and moved on.

Out next task had us recording three rhino spottings. We wathed a mother protect her calf and an injured bull trying to make friends with the cow by huffing and snorting. We identified them by notches in their ears. Magnificent.

Not so magnificent was the next task. A neighboring lodge had lost power the previous weekend, and the meat in their freezer had thawed to 95 degree heat for a full day, and was spoiled. We carted crates of refrozen meat into the truck and rode with around 100lb of melting, rotting meat. Our take was to unwrap all of it and throw it in several piles, hoping to attract hyenas, so that the vet can dart and collar it. The purpose was good, but holy cwap did it stink, splatter, and stick to our fingers. Somehow it didn't seem like a good idea to have four volunteers smelling of rotten meat driving around a game reserve. We felt like bait. Here, kitty!

Along the way, we had the priviledge of watching two male cheetahs (brothers) feeding on an impala. Our first viewpoint was probably around 25 yds away. They tucked into the impala and popped up once in a while to keep watch for lion or hyena that might take their lunch away, but didn't mind us at all. We later saw the cats again, right next to the truck, with huge distended bellies, panting heavily. We learned that they eat so much inone sitting that their stomach presses up against their lungs, making it harder to breathe.

In the afternoon, we found the dogs again, and watched then play cat-and-mouse with about 15 wildebeest and a few zebra. In response to our alarm of a single puppy being chased be the herd, our guide Michelle said, "he'll just have to run fast." Who knew that in the wild the wildebeest and zebra
Play tag with wild dogs.

Our 11 hours in the back of the truck ended in a rain shower and we still had to go back to the juts to do our communal cooking.  It was stir fry and it was awful.  We are using beat up pans, a two burner cook stove and either frozen or canned foods and no spices to speak of.  Not our nest work. Kind od like camping though, you do the best with what you have.  Off to bed now... We have a 4:00 am start tomorrow to call in hyenas.

Who Let the Dogs Out?!

Dec 07
Tuesday, day 2 started ... early. By 4:30 we had eaten a haphazard combination of the available cereals and set off looking for the dogs. They had moved since we had seen them the night before, so it took a couple of telemetry measurements before we found them again. At first, they weren't doing much if anything, but suddenly we lost them to the veld and only found them again chasing a flash of a doomed impala. In their excitement, several of the dogs leaped clear over the apparently insufficient cattle / wild animal guard. Our guide Michelle deftly climbed over the fence, the one that's electrocuted enough to stop elephants from pushing it over, hauled the dismembered carcass back onto reserve land, and gave it back to the dogs. One particularly crafty dog then jumped over the guard again to get some leftover innards, so Philip also got to climb over the electrocuted-for-elephants fence and chase it back onto the property. With full bellies, the dogs rested and played for the rest of the day, until we lost them again into the distant hills in the corner of the park. We spent the lunch break (9:30am to 3pm!) reading and napping.

By comparison, the afternoon drive was disapponting. The hyena were continuing to ignore the baited trap set so that it might get collared. The cheetah (!) that had been lounging by the front gate for a couple of hours left just a few minutes before we got there and had disappeared into the bush, not to be found again. No-one was to be found at any of the watering holes we rolled by. In fact, there weren't any animals to be found until we had tracked clear to the far side (presumably) of the reserve, where we found some buffalo and antelope. Since by now the drizzle had started beneath the dark, heavy skies, we headed back toward the camp. Along the way, we came across one of the large bull elephants, also in musth, who sedately but immediately turned his rump to us and went both number onesies and twosies. We watched for a while, and then poof! He disappeared into the thickets.

Thanda

Monday, December 6th

Today was the day we headed back to the airport to return the rental car and meet the volunteer group with Wikdlife ACT. With Pjilip's help and Google Maps we found the airport on the first attempt and were ready with two hours spare. The pick-up time came and went, but having been here for a while we figured, hey, it's Africa, they'll show up. They did, a half hour later. The group is an English couple that lives I. Switzerland and a younger guy from New Zealand - pretty funny, since those are the next two places we're going. We drove in a minivan past St Lucia where we had just been, and we got to watch the driver drive the roads as they should be driven. That is, much faster and taking more risks. I found it easier to watch the countryside and not the road. 

The reserve we're on is called Thanda, a 7000-ha private reserve, home to the Big Five, and fairly uniquely, wild dogs. On the road into our cabins we saw buffalo, giraffe, and impala. There's nothing quite like being greeted by these leggy creatures.

The accommodation was described ad basic, but our cabin is an A-frame thatched cottage with a private bathroom and deck looking out on the reserve. There are no fences, so we've been warned to expect visits from ANYONE, including lions and elephant. At the briefing we finally learned what to do if we do meet one of them: DON'T RUN. Sounds easier said than done, so we'll keep you posted should that come up. As it turns out, our job is to go out twice a day, starting at 4am and 4pm, to track and monitor wild dogs, one of the more reclusive endangered animals you're likely to find. We climbed into the back of a Jeep and headed for the hills, and along the way, learned how to use the telemetry and GPS equipment. Philip was first-up at that, and after a few turns, he had just said "they should be right over there" when a dozen dogs came trotting through the bush. They're thin dogs with calico-cat coloring, Mickey-Mouse ears and a bushy white tails. So, nothing like pet dogs. They also don't sound anything like pet dogs, sounding more like birds. We got to hear them call to each other, yip for more food, and play tug-of-war over a dismembered impala leg. Overall a great first day.

We Haven't Forgotten Minnesota

We were lucky to be able to spend some time with my sister Sarah and her family, before heading to Ortonville for Thanksgiving. Madeline is almost 3 and Grace is eight months, andwe had a blast playing together. We colored, read books, played pretend and with stuffed animals as much as we could. We're lucky to have such wonderful nieces. Sarah and John let us take over heir kitchen when we visit so Philip and I got to cook as much as we wanted. It was really great spendig time with them. 

Next we were off to Ortonville to stay with my Mom and Dad. Grama is 94 and her five kids and most of the grandkids - and even five great-grandkids - were able to spend the holiday together. We missed those who weren't there. The weather in Minnesota cooperated and it was in the 20s - balmy, for that time of the year! We also got to see lots of my Dad's family for coffee and rolls. It was a great time to relax and catch up with family.

The time flew by and we had to head to the airport. My Aunt Sal was able to come with us to catch a flight as well, so we got to spend some more time with her. We all met my college roommate out for dinner that night at an Indian restaurant nearby. Kristin and I haveknown each other for 20 years, so it was great to catch up with her.

Then we hopped on a plane, and 32 hours later found ourselves in Johannesburg.    

Hello from Africa!

We’ve been having an amazing week. St Lucia is a small town situated on an estuary by the ocean and near lots of lakes. We’re staying at a self-catered lodge with our own apartment. Our deck overlooks a jungle onto the ocean, making for a fantastic view. 

We spent the week hiking, on a boat cruise looking for hippos and crocs, relaxing, and enjoying the views. Our favorite day was spent in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi reserve with a hilarious guide named Rick. We were up at 3:00 am and drove into the park, where one of the first things we got to see was giraffes breakfasting on trees, right beside some zebras – but Rick wanted to chase the big animals so he said we wouldn’t stop for anything that looked like a striped horse until later in the day. We were in an open vehicle, and we rode through jungle, open plains, and grasslands, and crossed over rivers, in search of the Big Five (elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, and leopard). One thing that surprised us the most was how green it was – this wasn’t the Africa we’d imagined! 

Rick took us past tons of animals:
 - Impala (the preferred snack of smaller predators)
 - Giraffes (you can tell the girls because they carry their black makeup brushes on their antlers)
 - African buffalo (cows with attitude)
 - White rhino (the pacifist hippie: peace, love, and fun, baby)
 - Waterbuck (shaggy raindeer-looking antelope found near water)
 - A missing dungbeetle (the dung ball was there but the beetle had become birdfood)
 - Spotted hyena (the misuderstood hunter, hunts 60% of its own food rather than purely scavenging)
 - Savannah baboon (native people used to find water by trapping them, feeding them salt, and following them to water)
 - Nyala (males look different to the females, except for their socks)
 - Warthogs (so ugly they’re cute)
 - Lions (the most boring animal, like the domestic cat, it sleeps all day)
 - Gnus (the Lindsay Lohan of the bush: looks funny and has no brains)
 - Kudu (the biggest antelope, with curly antlers, weighing in at 700lb)

 

But our absolute favorite was a ginormous, grrrumpy, musty bull elephant that mock-charged us, by flapping his ears, trumpeting, and running at us. Rick assured us that he was just testing us, but if we had been alone, I’d have raced backwards all the way out of the park. The tour was rounded out by a traditional braai with grilled steak, boerwurst, salads, and a chilled white. 

Being on the ocean, this area has lots to see, including whales and dolphins. We tried to take a whale-watching tour, but it was canceled twice, so we watched hippos and crocodiles instead. Not too bad. 

The Honeymooners!  iSimangaliso Wetland Park

We also tried to go for a hike on a wooded nature trail.  It would have been two hours of great hiking among zebra, warthogs, antelope, etc….if I wouldn’t have been too  scared.  Philip was ok, but I thought I saw a lion’s rear and its tail twitching back and forth in the bush and I was out of there.  Pronto.  I don’t know that I have hiked so fast before.  Did we mention that there are snakes in this region?  Gaboon adders that bite and don’t let go, puff adders, spitting cobras, black mambo, etc.  The likelyhood that we would have seen any of them is small, but I wan’t comfortable hanging out to find out more. 

Tomorrow we head to our volunteering job. We really have no idea what we’ll be doing, but we’re looking forward to being out among the animals with poeple who know about them.

Honeymoon Apartment - Ingwennya Lodge

Imfolozli River - Hluhluwe - Imfolozi Game Reserve

Burchell's Zebras - see the grey stripes?

Young Impala Bucks at Play

White Rhino

Gnu

Kudu Buck

Grrrumpy Musty Bull

Self Explanatory!

Hippos near St. Lucia

Vervet Monkey Mom and Baby

Greetings from Wisconsin!

Hello from Eau Claire!  We started our travels on Monday and following a two-hour travel delay, we made it to our friends' Danica and Tom's house.  What a beauty!  It is the first time we have seen it finished and it is a fab house.  Great cooking, too.  The wine wasn't bad, either.  After three days of catching up, walking on their 80 acres, playing legos with Keaton and Anderson (and losing a foosball game or two), hanging out with lots of dogs at Bob's House for Dogs, we are getting ready to hop in the car to visit my sister, Sarah, and her husband, John, and two little girls, Madeline and Grace.  We are sad to go, but are really happy to have spent three great days with such good friends.