Today we worked at Hannah Lodge, about an hour and a half away. Rita was scheduled to dart 16 tsessebe for transport, 12 cows and 4 bulls. They were also hoping to dart an impala if possible. The drive over, of course, began in the dark, but as the sky brightened, we found ourselves in the mountains around the Blyde River Canyon. Increasing light showed rainbows of colors, and the temperature dropped as we climbed--we reached one spot where the car showed -1C (about 30F), and the South Africans were freezing! After screaming our way through a tunnel (Lily convinced us it was a family tradition. I'm not totally sure whether screaming through the tunnel or playing silly jokes on gullible tourists is the bigger family tradition, but anyhow...) and dropping down on the other side of the mountains, wide valleys opened up. We greeted the expansive views and sunrise with Say Africa, which Lily had saved in her phone playlist just for the occasion.
The mountains appear in the distance as the sky brightens just before sunrise.
And we begin the climb.
Luke is channeling his inner canine with his head out the window in the chill breeze
Coffee stop before leaving Hoedspruit
Bottom right of the photo shows the outside temperature
Sunrise over the mountains
We arrived at our destination and were welcomed at the main lodge and served coffee! It was a very upscale place with lots of glass and spectacular views.
On the deck at Hannah Lodge
Luke lounging
We arrived at the same time as Rita, and got to work shortly after. We met the huge transport truck and a smaller trailer in a side parking area, then boarded the usual white Toyota pickup trucks and drove out onto the reserve. Rita and one of the farm staff rode in one truck, and we followed in another. They found a group of tsessbe and darted the first one. We couldn't get the truck very close, but the animal was not completely down and they were able to walk it up to the truck and load it quite easily. Lily directed the students while Rita went back and darted another. We shuttled the animals to the trucks, administered long-lasting tranquilizer for transport, vitamins and dewormer, then partially reversed the sedation from the dart once the animal was in the trailer. By the second animal, the students were functioning very well as a team and doing a great job. The farm manager rode with us and was hugely informative, especially as one of his other functions was as a safari guide.
This time Rita's truck returned without having spotted another tsessebe, so we waited in an open area and soon heard, then saw, the helicopter fly in. The farm owner climbed aboard with his gun and some of Rita's darts, and they took off. Soon the helicopter to ground radios were crackling with information about where an animal had been darted, and both trucks drove to locate the animal. When darted, tsessebes tend to stand stiff-legged rather than lie down or run far, which was different from the sables, eland and wildebeest yesterday. This stiff standing can make them a bit easier to find, sometimes! Once again, we rode in the truck as close as possible to the darted animal, and loaded and treated it. After a few tsessebes were darted and loaded, the helicopter landed and I was unaccountably surprised to see that the pilot was a petite young woman. The farm manager said that she was one of the best in the business. Rita got into the helicopter next; she began darting and afterward the helicopter tracked the animal and hovered over it, making retrieval much easier and quicker. At one point, we had loaded 3 cows into the truck bed along with 7 students, 3 staff and me! Cozy!
Working with the first tsessebe
Left to right: Lily, Danielle, Rebecca, Sami and Luke
In the truck with a tsessebe
We took quite a nice group photo, which I will post as soon as a student shares it with me. We saw so many different species today: ostriches, a snake-eating bird whose name I can't recall, so many types of antelope: impala, sable, klipspringer, duiker, and several others that were unfamiliar as yet. We also saw a jackal dashing away.
The farm owner had an interesting discussion with us about sound business practices--he knew exactly how many minutes of helicopter time he had until it cost him more than it would return. He was also concerned about how the world seems to be going in somewhat crazy directions recently! I was aware that the South African government was considering ways to buy out some white landowners so that members of the African tribes that once used the land could have land returned to them. Unfortunately, this is causing great uncertainty among landowners, a drop in land prices, and in turn, uncertainty by banks and creditors since the current proposal is to pay current cash value for land, failing to account for the mortgage interest paid or being paid. Like so many issues, it is more complicated than I first understood.
Before mid-day, Lily was called away and we re-organized a bit, then went right on with the work. I drove the van back to the lodge following Rita, with no problems except that the levers for the windshield wipers and turn signals are reversed along with everything else, so I had a tendency to signal my turns by switching on my wipers....Jessica and baby Alexandrei met us at the gate and it wasn't long before we were once again filling ourselves with Jane's delicious food: Oxtail, rice, broccoli and potato salad, with a jello-custard dish for dessert. So good!
So now I need to sort out what is layers of dust and what is from the sun, attempt to drink enough to re-hydrate, and rest up for tomorrow. We are working nearby and have a late start tomorrow (9:30 departure), so Jane will make us breakfast. Until then, enjoy our tales from the Land of Horns, Thorns and Predators (I have challenged the students to compose and perform a song of that title on the trip home).
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