Everybody here has been
very welcoming and made the two of us feel right at home. We arrived
during the Christmas holidays and we had the delightful pleasure of
meeting Wayne and his extended family. Wayne is an extremely knowledgeable
field guide and lecturer and will always do his utmost to give you the
most enjoyable, fun and exciting experience while you are here. Wayne’s
entire family, his wife, three gorgeous children and parents have each
contributed to our education and the experience of a different lifestyle.
We’ve nearly completed
the forth week here now and already we have done so much and learnt lots
from Wayne. It has been great so far and enjoyable; learning and
experiencing all the different aspects that are involved in gaining
knowledge into conservation and nature guiding.
The camp and the
accommodation in camp is brilliant. Although there is no television, radio
or internet, there is mobile reception a short walk away. However, 99.9%
of the time I would have it no other way. There is no need for
distractions because you have all the stimulation of the natural
environment right on your front door (or just outside your tent) if you
manage to get the on-suite tent furthest from the road into camp you will
have the best spot from which to view the wildlife. Lyndsey has already
seen a steenbok, 3 foot-long monitor lizard, warthogs (seven of them
piglets, which are so cute!) and mice just outside her tent veranda. I
however have had nothing on my veranda but on my daily morning walks to
the shower I am greeted by a chorus of bird calls, all of which you will
get to learn, and even a vervet monkey on my first morning in camp. We
have also watched baboons up on the ridge and other animals just outside
the camp.
The highlight of
our first three weeks on the course has probably been the two day
wilderness trail through Amakhala. If you get the opportunity to do this
with Schalk, the bearded Amakala field guide, and his students, it is well
worth it. Make sure you ask Ben (an older and knowledgeable, coffee loving
Dutch guy) about the time when Wayne fell asleep on his night watch and
the spotted hyaena nearly ate the cook Eric! For me though our two
encounters with a female cheetah and her three 18 month old cubs was an
absolute realisation of a pure idyllic dream. On the first day we were
calmly walking along a track when all of a sudden Schalk stopped and
pointed. At first there was nothing. Just looked like the long dry grass
we had been walking through. But on further inspection, through binoculars
(an absolute must if you choose to come) we could make out a cheetah
eating a zebra foal. We sat and watched as a further two cheetah cubs
emerged and joined the feast. Then to my utter amazement Schalk led us in
closer with Wayne walking backup and we slowly crept towards the three
cheetahs. At about 30 metres from the cheetah we were told to sit and
everyone grabbed for there cameras and snapped away madly with a rather
nervous sense of excitement in the air. Ten minutes later Schalk wanted to
take us even closer! All 10 of us then stood in a long line trying to
appear as one body and traversed around from the side to directly in front
of the cheetahs, with the sun on our backs. Twenty metres now separated us
from the spotted sphinx, feline elegance and the most graceful (and
fastest-130 km/hr!) of all the worlds big cats. It was magical. It wasn’t
until we had observed, watched and admired them for about half an hour
when the fourth cub appeared, shyly peeking around a nearby bush. It was
time to move on and let all four cheetah enjoy their meal. It was LEKKER
and unforgettable.
There is too much to do
here and not enough time or money to do it all in.
Skydiving in
Grahamstown was amazing, although Plettenberg Bay is said to be, by one of
the locals we met, one of the best sites in the world for skydiving. So
the two of us are thinking of heading out there for another jump from
10,000 feet, free falling for 35 seconds and reaching speeds of around
150mph! Closer to home we have managed to get to Louis Bar and have a few
(too many) beers and stayed at Slesser’s B&B, which was lovely place to
stay. In addition, in Alicedale there is a fantastic18-hole golf course
that is a must if you are into golf. A Gary Player, linyx designed course
at Bushman Sands Hotel in Alicedale, 14 km from camp. Just remember to
wear a collard shirt and some suitable shoes because they charge a fortune
to be kitted out properly. You will spend enough after hitting your balls
into the Bushmans river that flows throughout most of the course. The deal
we made was Lyndsey would play golf if I went horse riding at Neil and
Kerrie Curry’s riding school/farm nearby. Neal and Kerrie were such kind
people; the horse riding was exciting too and a bargain at R80 each for a
two hour ride. And Gareth was only saddle sore for three days after!Slightly further a
field there is Grahamstown where Brian from the Old Goal backpackers will
sort out everything and anything for you, concerning any trips or
activities you want to do. A trip to Dulcés café or Gino’s restaurant for
cheap, quick but good food is highly recommended, particularly Dulcés
frozen mocha chino or a yogi smoothie on a hot day. We went to Port
Elizabeth last weekend, thanks to Craig (the farm owner and olive
extraordinaire) who kindly gave us a lift there and back. We went to
tourist info on the front and met John a tourist guide, who took us to
Kragga Kamma Game Park. It was quite a small park but has quite a few
animals to see. There is the tame cheetah there called Duma, where you
have a chance to stroke him. We preferred to watch wild cheetah from a
safe distance, but it was nice to be given the chance to see a cheetah up
close and personal, and to feel what a cheetah’s coat feels like. John was
nice, informative and a helpful guy, who will be quite good to use to
arrange a weekend away at a reasonable price, like a trip to Tsitsikamma
(tree top tours, blackwater tubing, the world’s highest commercial bungy
jump which we think is going to be a must. John then dropped us off at the
Broadwalk shopping complex which has most of what you desire (Bargain
Books is a cavern of cheap fascinating books). The only minor complaint so
far is travel although all the locals have been brilliant in offering
lifts but if you can afford it, hire a car. Ultimately though why even
leave the beauty of the camp other than when you have to.
All in all it has been
above and beyond our expectations and we are only half way through.
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+44 01903 502595
