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News Update from October 2005 There were 5 students on this course. There had originally been 6 but one of them had to postpone his attendance until the following course due to delays in obtaining a visa from the relevant authorities. ( This is a good lesson for all those people wishing to join a course- ensure that you have enough time to do the paperwork if required). The ages ranged from the early twenties to the fifty-something. Despite this variety the group gelled well together and the course ran smoothly. It was the first course in a long time where all the students were locally based and were all males. It was pleasing that all the students were attending the course with the aim of going on and doing something professionally with their qualifications. Sadly 2 of the students didn't make the grade. 2 other students decided to take up the option of the voluntary placements and went for interviews at a lodge within a week of ending the course. The course started off with a bang. On the very first day we went on a drive down to the river and enjoyed a wonderful sighting of over 40 elephant and possibly more than 100 buffalo on the far bank. That proved to be the last elephant sighting until we got to Letaba Ranch in the last week. During the second week of the course the rains broke and over the next month we had almost 200mm of rain (almost half of our average annual rainfall). The bush made a remarkable recovery and by the end of the course was looking like true paradise again with grass cover everywhere. Everyone was making the comment of "we never thought the bush could recover so well". I am convinced that the elephants have migrated back to the Kruger National Park now which is exactly what the removal of the fences between Balule and Kruger was supposed to allow. It may be a loss to us in the short term but it is great news that we are now part of a bigger scheme and more natural system. This is the second major drought that I have experienced in the past 15 years and I have to admit that in both cases the grass cover returns with amazing results. The grass species may not be the best initially but at least they give cover to the soils and provide essential grazing to the starving animals. We experienced the first impala babies appearing during the course and I am sure the wildebeest and other animals will follow suit shortly. The insect life came out in abundance as a result of the rains and this was pure heaven for Dean. Dean was forever running around with his camera chasing any insect, spider or scorpion that he could find. His enthusiasm rubbed off on a number of the students and helped to open their eyes to this amazingly diverse aspect of guiding that few people experience. The frogs and snakes also began to show themselves and after the first heavy rain we enjoyed a couple of days at a temporary waterhole watching the African Bullfrogs in their hundreds vying for the right to mate with the nearest females. Our week in Letaba Ranch was huge success. Although the large game sightings were sparse (they are still in the grip of the drought and in fact during our stay was their first really good rainstorm for the season) the other species such as giraffe and zebra were commonly seen. The bird spotting was the best we have ever had and we recorded 163 species over the 4 days, adding 7 new species to our growing list. Our overall total is now 235 species for the reserve. This
was the last course for 2005 and we would like to wish everyone a great
Festive Season and maybe we will see you in 2006 |