9 September - Fence Checking (and Animals)

It is Monday again. My last week. And the last day for some of the others, the first day here for newcomers.

We followed the usual Monday routine and those departing said farewell as we climbed Into the vehicles and 'high fived' us as we drove out onto the reserve. This morning we headed south and to the workshops there, Jamie had to pick up her usual vehicle that had been in for repairs and Anele had tyres that needed punctures repairing. Unfortunately there was still a lot of hanging around, not not least because things were not ready and then, once Jamie had her vehicle, it had trouble starting and then needed a new battery. I busied myself finding some grease and using it on a few parts of the vehicles that I thought needed it and 'borrowing' a rubber retaining strap from one of the pristine vehicles used for those in the luxury lodges and replacing it onto Jamie's vehicle; I had noticed it missing since I have been here. Mostly however, we sought shade from the hot sun while the workshop got on with their work.

It was not until late morning that we were sorted and headed off to the reserve for lunch on a shaded picnic platform that I had never seen before. On the drive there we found a caracol, a lynx type cat and rare to see. We didn’t realise this at first but from Jamie’s excitement and enthusiasm when we first sighted it we guessed it was something special. Our road maintenance task for today had now been postponed, it was getting too hot to fit it in after lunch, so we headed to the perimeter for something new: fence checking. The whole perimeter of the reserve is understandably fenced and as part of that structure four strands of electrified wire at varying heights are attached to the fence. Our job was to test them with a simple checker and record the results. With my engineering head on, and from chatting with Jamie, I get the impression that this is something that helps keep us occupied although it does provide a little information to the maintenance team that does this task more thoroughly. I think they will be visiting that section soon; I was recording the data and the voltage drop on one wire suggested to me a problem somewhere in the system.

Voltage checking completed we went off in search of animals although in this hot weather most were hiding in the shade of bush. We found a rhinoceros but could only see one ear so were unable to identify him. However, after driving around and finding a few giraffe and the usual selection of zebra and antelope we passed him on the way back and he had obligingly turned around. Rhinoceros W561 born in 2006 was identified and details noted in the log we carry in the vehicle.

We returned back to our lodge, the sun dropping and seeing precious little on the hour long trip. It was time to meet the new arrivals and find out who our new roommates are. We have a couple of Germans, a Mexican and a couple more British guys and most are young. However, with Juan gone I find I have a room to myself as there are fewer arrivers than departers. I’m not complaining.

After dinner, where we had the chance to meet the newcomers, I spent the evening catching up with admin before chatting a little more with my colleagues old and new and once again ending up around the fire pit under the stars.