Yebo! How are you all? Well, as you can see, I survived my safari/conservation course :-) Not only that, but I had an amazing time. It's going to be hard to get the whole 4 weeks into a blog entry of readable length, but here goes!

We were based on a small game farm in the shadow of the Drakensburg Mountains (see pic) on the edge of Greater Kruger. There weren't any "big 5" permenantly on the farm (although the odd leopard did make it through the fence...) as the horses are often let loose to graze, but they did have giraffe, zebra, impala, wildebeest, waterbuck, warthog, kudu, mongoose, civet cats, honey badgers, porcupines and all kinds of interesting birds, insects and snakes. It was amazing to be surrounded by all this game all the time - quite often we would wander down to camp from the house, only to almost bump into a giraffe...

We spent about half our time doing "horsey" things and half doing conservation stuff. The horsey aspect included riding out on the farm, riding in the arena and learning about horses and how to care for them. The conservation side was partly lectures about the different animals, birds, trees etc and partly practical - such as spreading used sawdust from the horses' stables on the paths to prevent soil erosion and learning how to track animals through the bush.

A couple of times a week we would take trips out. By far the best was a day in Kruger National Park in the 2nd week. As well as loads of general game, we saw hyena with cubs, buffalo, loads of elephant and a pride of lions. We were incredably fortunate to spot the lions just as they attempted to take down a buffalo - the buffalo got away, but it was still amazing to watch. The same week we visited the local reptile park where not only did we get to see all sorts of snakes (safely behind glass...) but I was nominated by my fellow students (thanks guys...) to learn how to capture a puff adder! Now, the puff adder is known as the most dangerous snake in SA - not because it's venom is the most toxic but it is responsible for the most bites. However, most of these are sustained by people trying to kill the snake, and as long as you don't corner it, it wont attack. In fact, rather than trying to bite me, it just tried to run away! After a few attempts, under the cafeful guidance of one of the rangers, I got the snake safely back in its box :-)

As for snakes in camp, yes we did have one or two. The first week in fact, we found a baby Mozambique spitting cobra down the side of our room. Fortunately Ellery, a ranger at the neighbouring park had just dropped us back from a game drive and he happily removed it for us :-) We also saw a black mamba up by the house, but he slithered away without any encouragement!

We also did several game drives/walks in neighbouring reserves. Amongst other things we saw elephants, lions, buffalo, rhino (4 out of the big 5...) and loads and loads of general game (impala, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest etc). In fact, we saw so much that we all got rather blaze about seeing much of it (especially impala....)!

On top of lectures, riding, trips, game drives, walks and conservation work, we had a few other interesting sessions - such as african drumming, arts and crafts and Shangaan (the local language). However, some days it was so hot that we did little more than collapse in the heat (think 40 degrees...in the shade!)

I'm now back in Jo'burg where I'll stay until my Mozambique visa is sorted, and then I'll head down to the coast to do some more diving. As always, keep me updated with news from UK and I'll "speak" to you soon!

Lots of love xxx

PS - I'll try and upload some pics soon, but I've taken hundreds and it'll take me a while to sift through them!