Friday, August 3

Deja vu and anniversaries


Exactly five years ago, on Friday 3rd August 2007, I met Roland, a future friend and colleague, at the airport, fresh off his flight from Germany. On Sunday 5th we met another future friend, Piera, for lunch.

We were due to travel down together on Monday 6th to Karongwe Game Reserve to start a field guide course with Eco-Training......

Yesterday, I returned from a safari, on which our last 2 nights were spent at a luxury lodge in the Karongwe Game Reserve. Strangely enough, this last few weeks has been the first time I had returned to Karongwe since our course.

Whilst bouncing around on the back of the open vehicle, bumping along on the dusty two-tracks of the winter dry bushveld, I couldn't help but reflect on how far I had come since that first stay in the reserve.

So I resolved to blog on this page, a little about that journey........

I leave town again on Sunday – heading back to Karongwe, but I will have some time there to start sharing my journey with you, so watch this space:)

In the meantime here are some from photos from Karongwe – past and present.

On the Game Drive.........
2007 - Roland as "tracker"
On course we all took turns both driving and perching on the trackers seat. A good lesson in respecting your tracker and the danger you could easily put him or her in to.


2012 - an experienced professional doing the tracking



2007

 Two male cheetahs on the reserve have been the subject of a predator research study for several years now. As they are "used to" humans one can approach them quite closely on foot......

2012



2007 - snack & smoke break on the morning drive
2012 - sundowner time (at moonrise) on the evening drive

 The accommodation.......

2007 Eco-Training - home to Piera & I for 4 weeks
 On course us girls were lucky - there were only 5 of us to share the "girls" shower and loo, only 50 metres away, but it seemed more like 50 kilometres in the dead of the night.
There were 15 male students on course but they didn't seem to mind waiting a day or two for their turn in the shower........
 
2012 Shiduli Private Lodge - all to myself for a night or 2:)


7 comments:

Unknown said...

Five years ago Sue? Time has flown. Especially for you, spending half your life 'stuck' in the bush or under water :-)
Five years on and i am still envious and 'stuck' in the city!

Coral Wild said...

Hello Tertius, yes indeed, it's difficult to believe it's only 5 years - seems decades since I last was stuck in the smoggy rush hour traffic going IN to the city centre:)
One day maybe, you too?

Gowri said...

A nice journey that got better and better. :) Thanks for sharing it here.

Joyful said...

Fantastic photos! Makes me wish I was on safari again. The cheetahs you came across look so healthy.

Coral Wild said...

Thanks for your comments Gowri and Penny.
I think the cheetah look healthier when they are lying down - can't really see much of them in the grass...

Lonicera said...

As a teenager I used to find it far more exciting to 'rough it' when out camping in the wild, but now though I still love the wild, I find I would want to see it in more comfort - that last picture just about describes it! (What a wuss). Another thought: I've never slept under mosquito netting - it doesn't seem to exist in Argentina - but how absolutely wonderful it would be not to have to care about those wretched creatuers...
Caroline

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Coral .. had to check where Karongwe is .. found it - up by the Limpopo .. looking forward to hearing more - the photos always evoke so many memories - and I love cheetah ..cheers Hilary