Web Report by Shaun Drake
Headed out to Borokololo National Park in the early afternoon of Friday, the 5th of September, with Carl. Wanting to be at Fish Eagle camp with enough time to pitch our tents, catch the sunset, and panic over the upcoming Geology test.
Made it through our test and had some time afterwards by the fire to roast some beef rashers and have a beer over our Ecology test results.
Bright and early start on Saturday with the fish eagles and giant kingfisher calls.
Quick rusk and a coffee before meeting our esteemed lecturer, Dr Graham Von Maltitz.
We were lectured sitting in a lapa overlooking the Moretele river. After lunch, we spent some time trying to wrap our heads around the most important topic of our age, climate change.
In the afternoon, we got to walk in a part of the reserve, learning about seep lines and sodic sites. Afterwards, we made donuts (not edible) out of clay.
Saturday ended with the now religious evening braai and kuier. A peaceful, lighthearted, and fulfilling evening.
Sunday morning saw us all fresh and focused (myself a little less so, as I spotted my first-ever sighting of the Spotted-necked Otter). We were split into teams after a brief lecture and sent into the veld to perform quality studies on the grass using the dry weight ranking method.
Research done, we gathered together to wrap up the weekend. Heading home to family is easy, leaving the bush, however, is difficult. Looking forward to the next one!
ED’s Note: Thanks to student Shaun D for this modules report (no picture of your Spotted-necked Otter?)