I am well aware of the sheer magnitude of my slackness when it comes to keeping up to date with this thing.
I would apologise but where would that get us? Instead I will try and cram everything that has happened in my life since the last blog into this one....I sense I may fail but let's give it a shot!
My most recent adventure included a week spent in Durban with one of my girl friends from the course. We splurged and paid for a 4 star hotel room. You know you've been away from civilization way too long when carpeted floors make you excited. We were also situated about 1km from the largest shopping centre in Southern Africa, which was both dangerous and amazing.
The last sememster at Bushwise would have to be one of the most stressful times of my life to date. With the final exam and practicals crammed into 4 weeks we were all highly strung and a little sleep deprived to say the least. But everything worked out fine, I passed the exam with 81% and my practical was a success in spite of a few stupid mistakes on my part. My practical assessment drive included myself kicking open a container housing a venomous scorpion on the way to the reserve, then running into 2 male lions having a stand off in 2 different reserves by the road, some lovely giraffe, zebra, kudu, impala, a detailed discussion on dung beetles and then a very close encounter to a male elephant in musth.
We had our last assessment on the 16th of Nov and that afternoon were treated to a leaving lunch at one of the local reserves (Moholoholo). Most of us were not only exhausted after the exams but were also madly trying to pack up the last 5months of our lives to start our placements the next day. Yes that's right, the next day. No rest for the wicked it seems. The last day was probably the hardest for all of us as we said goodbye to the people we'd seen pretty much everyday of the last 5 months. I cried hysterically for a good hour at least and finally proved to everyone that I did in fact have feelings haha
This brings me to my current location, Nkambeni Tented Camp, yes tented, as in I live in a room with canvas walls...it has its downfalls i won't lie. The lodge itself is actually located just inside Kruger National Park, which is pretty cool, there is an electric fence around the lodge but as soon as you step out of the gate you are surrounded by wild animals. Just last night I was at a party outside of the gate and walked in on the BIGGEST male elephant I have ever seen, some things in life you know you'll never forget and you can't quite comprehend actually happened. Every morning I'm woken up by the hippos that live in the dam just outside the gate, just outside my room. I've been sitting around here going slowly crazy for 3 weeks now though as I have to wait for documentation from the field guide association before I can register to start legally guiding, I've done some media and PR work for the camp in the meantime that's kept me pretty busy and thankfully my documents arrived today! Which means I will be able to start guiding sometime this week, very exciting and very nerve wracking at the same time!
Oh well, that's about all from me for now but I've added some photos to help with the story.
Peace out xx
