I am resisting the temptation to google "bat excrement" to see what hideous diseases can be caught from inhaling the fumes from it - having spent two days removing it from the inside of an old building that has become the comfortable residence of a bat colony.

There was good reason for the spring clean - a party. The building is an old bar, with adjoining braai, tennis court and even a swimming pool, which was used by the staff at the Hluhluwe reserve ..... until 5 years ago. Then it would appear they locked the door one night and never returned, the glasses were still where they had left them, and the cigarette ends still sitting in the ashtrays! Having established that this wasn't the result of some X-files type disappearance mystery we set about trying to make the place usable for one more night. I can hear you wondering why.....and I admit I asking myself the same question on several occasions during the clean up.

The plan was to hold a party for the game drivers who take the time to help with our tracking and monitoring by contacting us when they see wild dog tracks, or see/hear the dogs. It was intended both as a way of saying thank you, but also to encourage them to continue to do so.

Somehow we scraped and scrubbed the bar place clean enough to use, and having removed a 5 inch layer of dust from the objects on the shelf behind the bar we carefully rearranged them. I gave the tinned haggis special pride of place, right next to the scream mask -- goodness only knows what took place in that bar in it's heyday!

We did though admit defeat when it came to tackling the swimming pool - but after several beers at the party a bet took place which saw 4 people swimming in the stagnant rain water that had collected in the pool. I am also not going to be googling to see what they could have contracted from that - some things are better left a mystery!