South Africa 2024: Day 3

4 December 2024: Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

The first night at camp proved to be a busy one, which I quickly learned is the norm, at least on my platform. Hippo grunts, hyena whoops, and the territorial call of a black-backed jackal filled the night air. Animals, insects, and reptiles crawled, scurried, climbed, scratched, and walked around my tent. At one point, a curious black-backed jackal named Porthos peered through the woven tent window, clearly trying to see what was inside.

After a few hours of sleep, I welcomed the early morning from the watchtower. Sunrise comes around 4:30 a.m., but activity begins much earlier. Around 3:00 a.m., nocturnal animals make their final movements before daylight. As sunrise approaches, the weavers in camp and birds across the reserve begin their morning chorus.

We spent the morning removing aphid eggs from the bitter aloe plants in camp. It sounds simple, but no matter how thick the gloves, bitter aloe spikes always find a way through. Afterward, we dug post holes at the rehabilitation center to add a second release door to the boma for Shelter Two. After hitting concrete, staff spent much of the time breaking through the ground while we cleared rocks and broken slabs, then helped place and secure the posts. At present, the only resident at the rehabilitation center is a young black-backed jackal. Recent releases have included black-backed jackals, named after the Three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, as well as bush babies named Ham and Cheese.

After lunch, we headed out on a game drive to learn tracking.

Our Volunteer and Rehabilitation Manager was trained in tracking by a San bushman and previously worked with an anti-poaching unit in Kruger National Park. The afternoon was spent identifying tracks, learning to distinguish male and female prints for certain species, and following trails through the bush. We identified tracks from black-backed jackal, impala, nyala, hyena, hippopotamus, water monitor lizard, and zebra.

Some of the species I recorded today:

Birds: African open/bill, Black-winged lapwing, African water buffalo, African Pied wagtail, Yellow-billed stork, Spur-winged goose, Egyptian Goose, Pin-tailed whydah, Black-headed heron, Bateleur eagle, Purple-crested turaco, Red-billed Oxpecker, Weavers (Village, Southern masked, etc.).

Mammals: Hippos, Chacma baboon troop, Nyala, Impala, Blue Wildebeest, Cape buffalo, Cheetah, Burchell’s Zebra (including a two week old baby), Vervet monkeys, Giraffe.

Invertebrates: Some kind of black worm, Caterpillar

Reptiles: Red-backed toad, Gecko