The Birds Practical was held at Borakalalo over the weekend 25 to 27 October 2019. The team started gathering at Fish Eagle from early afternoon on Friday and there were only eleven students that were able to make it. As the others, sadly, had prior commitments. Tents were erected with ease after much practice overRead more ⟶
First Aid Weekend 5 to 7 July 2019 – Antoinette
First Aid is emergency care given immediately to an injured person. The purpose of first aid is to minimise injury and future disability. In serious cases, first aid may be necessary to keep the injured person alive. Our First Aid lecture started on Friday evening in the Pilanesberg Education Centre, straight after we wrote our testRead more ⟶
Geology weekend 21-23 June 2019 – Tanya
We were off to Borakalalo once again for the next module in the Bushveld Mosaic course. It was all about geology, which I of course thought was rocks. How complicated can it get? 😊 We were privileged to have Professors Paul Nex and Judith Kinnaird as our lecturers for the weekend. Like with all theRead more ⟶
Mammals Module 2019 – Michael Hall
The mammals section of the Bushveld Mosaic course was broken up into two, awesome practical weekends. A lecture on African Antelope at the Pretoria Zoo and a weekend discovering the intricacies of mammal behaviour at the Pilanesberg National Park in the North West Province. Our guru for Antelope and Mammal Behaviour was none other thanRead more ⟶
Veld Management – 12th to 14th April 2019
We departed on a rainy Friday afternoon to Borakalalo National Park for our Veld Management lecture and practical weekend. I was looking forward to another weekend camping on the banks of the Moretele River. As usual, the weekend formalities started with a test, this time on our knowledge of trees. Once the test was behindRead more ⟶
Water… the sustenance of life, and sculptor of the earth. Wetlands – 29 – 31 March 2019
After a short two-week gap, it was time again for the group to meet up for our fourth 2019 Bushveld Mosaic camp, this time at the delightful Kgaswane Mountain Reserve. For most of us, it was our first visit to Kgaswane, and all of us were in awe about the beauty this little reserve hasRead more ⟶
Trees Weekend – 15 – 17 March 2019
Team “BM 2019” started arriving at Borakalalo from lunchtime onwards on Friday. By 6.30pm most of us had arrived and we made our way up to the main gate to write our “grasses” test. After writing out test and identifying the infamous “Buffalo Grass” (Panicum maximum), Maria gave us valuable feedback about our ecology tests.Read more ⟶
A Shift in Perspective ‘From The Ground Up’ – A Weekend Lesson in Grasses at Borakalalo.
After spending the last week preparing for the Ecology and Taxonomy test, with both nerves and excitement it was now time to hit the road. We arrived at Borakalalo to the perfumed greeting of aerosol tick repellent – those little buggers are relentless! We woke up to unpredictable weather that played games with us asRead more ⟶
13.8 Billion Years ago to January 26th 2019 – The short history of ecology
Approximately two-hundred-thousand years after Homo sapiens sapiens first walked hand-in-hand across the southern African savanna, an excited group of wild-life enthusiasts gathered in the Pilanesberg to begin an educational journey in the fields of ecology, conservation and nature-appreciation. This is Bushveld Mosaic, class of 2019. The first supper The excited group of enthusiasts, after aRead more ⟶