Although there are signs that spring is on the way, there are still far fewer insects than earlier in the year. The Biodiversity lesson at kids bushcamp requires them to catch and identify as many insects as possible in an area. Even before the fire this was going to be difficult at this time of year, so an alternative lesson was required, but one which would still demonstrate biodiversity. After some head-scratching, and staring at the sky and ground, one of ...

This morning there was no water again, the giraffe hooligans have damaged the water tank yet again. The fire has now spread across the reserve, and is burning in a horseshoe shape on the hills around the camp - the road out is happily the clear bit. The rhino monitors have been out burning firebreaks, which to be honest don't look all that convincing - but they are sure that the forest will stop the fire reaching the camp here in the valley before even reaching...

Last night we went to Mkhuze Cricket Club to meet up with the guys who have been doing the 400km walk for Rhino awareness. They are now half way through their extraordinary walking, camping and blister expedition. As we got closer to camp on our return home the sky got brighter and brighter with red, orange and yellow flames 40 foot up into the air. The other side of Somkhanda reserve was burning. It's winter here, and winter is the dry season so the risk of ...

The weekend didn't quite pan out as I'd hoped....I had been looking forward to spending the weekend at Mkhuze reserve, however I awoke on Friday morning to find that those around me had generously passed their flu onto me. We arrived at Mkhuze Environmental Camp on Friday evening, and by Saturday morning an ear infection had also set in, which meant I couldn't hear anything in my left ear. Then my face was chewed up my mosquitos. We progressed from cold water o...

Zama, who heads up the Rhino Monitor team based at the camp here, started a mammoth walk yesterday. He's part of a team of 6 walkers who over 10 days will walk together for 400kms across Zululand Reserves, camping along the way. It's to draw attention to the plight of rhinos, and in particular to the demand for rhino horn from the Far East. We're going to meet up with them on Tuesday evening at Mkhuze cricket club, and I'm sure by then, half way through the ...