The UK has had the wettest June on record for 100 years, and July looks set to break records also. Here at Somkhanda in Zululand they haven't had rain for months. It's winter here, the driest part of the year.

Yesterday I caught a 6am flight from Johannesburg to Richards Bay, and then later that day had a lift north to Mkuze Wimpy to meet the person who would take me to the conservation/monitoring camp at Somkhanda. When I got to Wimpy I learnt that there was no water at camp, and that there hadn't been for 4 weeks. This is in addition to there still being no phone signal, and currently, very limited email.

Having assessed the situation prior to my arrival, the guys who live at the camp had decided that living there with them in the cold of winter, without water was perhaps an experience that I wouldn't be disappointed to miss out on. So, having dropped in briefly to say hello to them and pick up keys, I headed off to the temporary alternative accommodation that they had arranged for me to use until the water situation is resolved. They somehow have gained approval for me to stay in the heart of the reserve, which is a locked reserve usually (it has a different water supply), with me driving to the camp and back each day.

So late last night, and in the pitch black we arrived at the circular building that I am staying in - circular is a very traditional shape for Zulu buildings. Having opened the door and found the light I inhaled with surprise - I was standing in a room that contained a huge king-size bed with drapes, a dressing table, a seating area, an en-suite bathroom, and a circular beamed thatched roof - it's all very different to the room that I will be staying in back at the camp when there is water again!

I turned on the tap in the bathroom and there was water, so I decided to seize the opportunity to wash my hair, just in case the next day the water situation had changed. I ran the shower and lathered my hair with a lot more shampoo than I needed (forgetting the water is not as hard as at home) - and immediately the water stopped. After waiting for a while and repeatedly turning the taps on and off, I realised I had no alternative but to rinse the shampoo off with some of the chilled drinking water that I had. I think I read somewhere once that using cold water to rinse your hair makes it shiny - don't believe it, it just makes your ears cold, and your brain shiver!

This morning the water was back on, so I showered, and then turned off first the hot tap, and then the cold. The shower continued to run. It would not turn off. The cold water tap was jammed, and no matter what I tried it just kept pouring out. I felt very guilty, thinking of the guys back at camp with no water, and here I was with more water than I wanted, unable to stop it running down the drain. A thump with a monkey wrench resolved the situation….possibly until I use it tomorrow that is….

The drive through the reserve this morning to get to camp, and back again this evening provided for some lovely sightings. As this part of the reserve is locked and has restricted access the animals are not used to much human activity, and so this morning on the drive to get to the camp, the wildebeest ran back and forth erratically not knowing which way to go, and a small grey duiker antelope that was next to a watering hole just stood staring at me, instead of dashing away as they usually do.

On the drive back to my room tonight a white tailed mongoose lolloped along in the road in front of the vehicle, and when I pulled up there was a duiker drinking from a little pool outside my room. As there is so little water about that pool is probably very popular, I wonder what else will visit tonight….I shan't be venturing outside to investigate though, there are leopards and black rhino in this part of the reserve!