BootsnAll Travel Blogs

So, then end of my stay at Kwa Tuli is almost here: I leave for South Africa on Monday.
Its been a great 6 weeks – lots of animals and some great people (including Trigger, I guess ;^))
the weather has dried but also got colder as winter arrives – the good news is we see herds of ellies daily now – and we get charged on a pretty regular basis too! We’re also getting the ellies in the camp at night now…which is OK so far (its unlikely they squash ourt tents…I’m told)

saw my first snake (a puff adder) yesterday …not sure how the guide knew the sexuality preference, but heyho! quite a few Wildebeest lately and more raptors too.

on the way to town today to get spare for the Landie which is broken at the mo, we saw a donkey carcass at the side of the road getting demolished by about 50 vultures…nice. then the engine on the Hi-lux just about failed too (a main bearing has picked up so its DAMNED noisy now!)…maybe the vehicles dont want me to leave???

well, this is my 2nd visit to town (3 hr drive today) so heres a bit of an update:
we are located at 22.39857 degrees South, 28.95346 degrees East. About 1km inside the Botswana/South Africa border
the camp is a permanent fixture on the banks of the Limpopo river – there are 6 ex-army tents all on 2ft thick concrete bases, then theres a concrete kitchen, concrete scullery and a thatched boma bbq (braai) area for chilling
every day except Sunday we drive around the conservation area either doing game counts or monitoring specific animals. We also spend a lot of time trying to spot leopards!
…basically, the conservation area is unfenced (unlike most game reserves) so the animals wander thru as the like and are ‘proper wild’ we see Impala, elephants (ellies) Kudu, warthogs, jackals, ostrich etc. on a daily basis as we drive around on a ‘safari LWB Landrover’
Ive had mixed pickings with photos but things are improving, pertickly as the rains have stopped now so othere are many more hers here (we have permanent water spings on the project)
Yesterday we saw a leopard (named George)..my FIRST!!! he was sitting on a koppie (rocky hill) watching us. Weve followed him and AJ and a female leopard LOADS of times, but they outsmart us each time…even when we did a night drive/sleepout to a carcass of a Kudu that AJ had just killed (nice maggots!)
its 30 degrees during the day, but down to 20 at night (its autumn/winter here) and very sunny all the time (one day I might show you my white bits). there were 10 sudents for my firt 2 weeks (mainly gap year 18 yr olds) but most have moved on now, so theres only 5 now with an average age of about 30 (from 18 to 39….Ive told everyone I’m 32)
I passed my tracker test, so I can sit in the hot seat on the bonnet of the Landie during drives, spotting the various animals (you wouldnt believe how hard it is to spot ellies at times…and a xouple of weeks ago we LOST a herd of about 30!!!! (no, it wasnt my fault!)
we get animals walking around our tents at night…whic is ….interesting – last night we had a single ellie just along from out tents – it wont be long before they are walking thru (which they have done in the past!)
We also drive to a nearby place called Lekkerpoet which has Cheetahs and Lions in it…again, LOADS of tracks but not spotted any yet
I cant begin to tell you how good Tuli is…if you have kids – send them (make sure THEY pay) or if you can afford the time, then come here!
photos at http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o36/chuggys/botswana/

well, we’re travelling again

flew from Ncl to Heathrow to Joburg, SA (loooong flight) and then car up to ‘Alldays) a small town in Northern South Africa, then another car to Botswana.

we’re just inside the Botswana border in a conservation project in KWA Tuli of the Tuli Block. I’ll record the co-ordinates for it next time (I fotrgot to write them down from me GPS this time) so if yer interested you can check it out on Google Earth…or your very own satellite..if you’re particularly lucky……and rich

basically the camp has about 8 ‘students’ who travel around in a Landie driven by Charlie (a girl) or Stuart: the Project leader. we monitor and record sightings of the various animals and birds and of late, the vegetation – so that a long term study can be made of general animal behaviour  etc. and specifically of the project area. The area isnt feenced so the animals are free to roam in and out (mainly out) of it at leisure

its the end of the rainy season…… which was dry (apparently theres a 14 year cycle) most of the bigger animals have disappeared whilst theres water elsewhere – as soon as it dries again, they’ll return as we have year round water here. Ive seen elephants, baboons, zebra, wildebeest, Impala, jackals, Kudu, Steenbok, Klipspringers and various other stuff too  – pretty close up too! (they are getting accustomed to the Landie) got some photos to load up, but its a standing joke now that as soon as I raise me camera they do off!

we’ve tracked leapords a few times – on foot with Stuart leading (with a gun) but havent seen them for over a week now….actyually they havent been seen since I got here (unlucky, moi?) we think theres 3 adults, one with cubs. I was going to use my SAS training and find them – but I didnt wanna show of

and they lied: there ARE spiders here!…BIG fellas too!!!!!

we live in tents and cook our own meals in a concrete kitchen and scullery- or at least the duties are split amongst us on a daily basis (by Charlie) other duties are cleaning and recording various aspects of the game watches etc.

mostly 18/19year olds here, but us oldies are fighting back…theres 4 of us now. ….and we can drink more too (I think)

my first evening here was partly spent in the outside shower (cold….cos we hadnt lit the donkey!…eh???) under a fantastic starry sky. welcome to Botswana!

more to write when I can get on the net again….not sure how often it’ll be….photos to come too