Hello, Bonjour and Salibonani from Cawston Wildlife Estate, Northern Matabeleland where I help for about 2,5 months with the horses and have just safely arrived back from Hwange National Park after a great safari. Since I now saw the lions (see this blog post), I thought nothing can bother me anymore in Cawston. However, walking around on the reserve by myself during night still makes me feel uncomfortable. I hear all different strange noises and in my imagination it’s always a leopard killing impalas close to my room.
My torch starts to become my best friend as it is still dark at 6am when I start working and it already gets dark by 6pm. The torch is also my only weapon against any nocturnal friend that might cross my path during the dark hours. As artificial light is a very rare source here, one relies on the cell phone light, torch or the full moon. So you better always carry one of these items in your pockets.
By now, we are definitely heading towards winter, the leaves are changing into beautiful orange shades and the early morning hours are getting very chilly as well as the evening hours. During the day however we can still hit 30 degrees Celsius, hence I dress in many layers.
Autumn colors
I am fully back into my working routine in Cawston and love my 6am to 5pm job that doesn’t know any weekends. Incredible, that I just had one day off since the 3rd of April. Time flies! We still often look for the donkeys to check on them and it always turns out to be a gorgeous bushride, where we see kudus, giraffes, tsetsebees and other wild life.
Spotting a female kudu
Starlight smelling wild life ahead of us
Fury found the giraffes
We have 2 donkey patients at the moment, one of them is the little foal called Style. Not quite sure what she has but I hope we treat her correctly with what she needs. Roiboos tea, honey, hi-tet, vitamin B shots and penstrep are our little helpers here that hopefully will work for these injuries.
We are still waiting for the donkey foal to be born, which should be happening very soon! However, a little calf was just born and it is the cutest little thing ever at the reserve right now.
Little baby cow that is just 2 days old here
And then, during my lunchtime I had finally the privilege to see a leopard laying in the tree in front of camp. Unbelievable! I spotted him from my happy place. So grateful to have had this wonderful experience. To spot these nocturnal cats is not given at all time and I wasn’t sure if I will have this fantastic opportunity here at Cawston. The more I am so happy for this chance. I have heard so many leopard callings during the nights and seen so many tracks on the sand pads, to finally have a face to these signs is just incredible!
Sleeping beauty
Lazy leopard in the tree
As one of the boreholes had some problems and we couldn’t get any water anymore, the guys had to drill a new one. I got the chance to see this process, which took about 12 hours. First, a water source needed to be found underground. A fruit or mopane tree branch is needed for that and it will be bended in a special way to see where its pointing towards. That’s where the source of water should be. After 45m of drilling, we finally found the water around 6pm. Afterwards, it took another 6 hours to get all the rods out and the pipes in. Somewhere in the middle of this process I just fell asleep. Long days.
Getting the pipes ready for the borehole
On our way to find the water
Just before drilling the hole
Trying to find the water
Braai in the bush
During this day I also got the chance to hold a rifle in my hand and shoot for the very first time in my life. The sound gave me a fright and of course, I missed the tomato that was just way too far! Maybe the next time will be better.
Hiding in one of the blinds
Last night, a scorpion just marched into my room as if it was open door to everyone. I had to intervene and make sure he is not going to try to come in again. I left the scene like as if it was an accident…
My new lessons learned while helping in Cawston Wildlife Estate:
- Always check the tree branches – you might be lucky enough to find a lazy leopard hanging in them during the hot hours.
- Water is never granted – it can be quite hard to find this needed resource.
- Having a rifle in your hand can be very odd – not only the feeling but also the sound when triggering can definitely be frightening.
Cheers to wandering the world and the wonders of our lives, hope to see you soon – bye bye, salut and lisale kuhle ∞