My 4th week on the Big 5 Wildlife Project

My 4th week on the Big 5 Wildlife Project

By Elise van der Heijden

Wow, a month has passed since I first arrived here on the project. It’s just amazing how fast time moves here. I guess it’s true what they say - time flies when you’re having fun!

This week started off with me paying a visit to another EDGE of AFRICA project - the Predator Sanctuary Project! Kim and Malan drove me up to project where Daleen (sanctuary employee) and Tammy (fellow EDGE of AFRICA volunteer) were awaiting my arrival. They showed me around for a bit at first, explaining what and where everything is and what the aim of the sanctuary is etc. Then Tammy took me into the enclosure of Phoenix, the 5 month old caracal and introduced me to him. He was very cute, playing with his little teddy bears, but don’t be fooled by his pretty face because his nails are already very sharp and dangerous (just check Tammy’s arms for proof)! After that we got to build a shelter for the tigers in the sanctuary, using wooden poles and nails and we had to take down a fence in the cheetah’s enclosure to provide them with more space. I also got to meet the cheetahs, as they were in the enclosure when we were taking the fence down and they licked my hand, which was a really cool experience! Last, but definitely not least, I got to join the ‘regular’ tour and feeding tour around the sanctuary, which was very informative and interesting. Thanks Predator Sanctuary!

Another exciting day was when I finally (!) got to meet Roger (EDGE of AFRICA Co-Director), who came to drop off famous French journalist, Thibault Jean-Jean, at the reserve. Thibault is currently working on a book on volunteers and their projects, so he was visiting all the EDGE of AFRICA projects and interviewing the volunteers. We took him out in the reserve and did all the things that constitute a typical day for a volunteer on the project - fence checks, cheetah feedings, checking up on the rhino’s and other animals etc - basically took him on a game drive with benefits! After Hein and I showed him the reserve, we went to sit down at the lodge, which is where he interviewed me for his book (and took way to many pictures of me haha)!

This week has been all about feeding the big cats at the reserve. On Tuesday, Patrick and I went to collect a dead donkey at the neighbouring farm, which had only died that morning. We took it back to the butchery at the reserve and removed all the legs, which are cheetah food for the following days. The rest of the carcass was meant for the lions and as such we took it into the lion enclosure. The idea was to quickly drop it off by driving in reverse and then breaking so that the carcass would fall off the car... But somehow the brakes were not as strong as they needed to be so in the end I had to pull the handbrake simultaneously with Patrick braking which was pretty funny, and we managed to get it off in the end!

The two free roaming cheetahs out on the reserve managed to get hold of a proper dinner as well, when they made their first springbok kill on the Tuesday. It was amazing to see them eating their first springbok out in the reserve again and they consumed it so quickly that they looked like they were pregnant! But that’s not all, because early Friday morning they managed to take down another springbok... Guess what springbok, Bobby and Victor are back on track!

Another big project we had going this week was the front gate. We had to make a new proper front gate out of two old gates and some scrap metal pieces. So we were in need of a plan! And as they say in South Africa “n boer maak 'n plan” – directly translated to mean ‘a farmer makes a plan’. In other words South Africans can be very resourceful! We decided to use one of the gates completely, a couple of metal poles and the middle part of the other gate. Hein and Piet taught me how to grind and weld on the spot and that’s how we got started on the project! It took us two days to put all the pieces together and we then moved it up to the front gate and put it in place, after which we painted it black. It actually looks very neat and professional!

Another thing that kept us busy during the week, was fixing all the fences at the elephant camp - thank you for that Selati (naughty reserve elephant)! He kept breaking all the wires around the milkwood tree, the wires around the boma to try and get in, and just fences in general. It was like he was doing it on purpose to keep us busy! We will be trying out a new system on the wires around the milkwood tree next week though to keep him from breaking them all the time, so here’s hoping that that’s going to work!

After a busy week on the reserve there was some time for relaxing on the weekend! On Friday afternoon Tammy and I took the BazBus all the way to Knysna, where Roger collected us from the Knysna pick up point and took us to the volunteer house. He then took us out to a bar at the waterfront for drinks. A little while later we drove downtown and that’s where we met up with the other volunteers - Alex (Germany), Carla (Netherlands), Chun (UK), Katy (UK) and Philip (USA). We spent some time at the Swing Café (local live band venue) and then returned home to chill by the fire.

On the Saturday Joash (another EDGE of AFRICA staff member) took all of us on an excursion to Oudtshoorn in the Karoo! We went to an arts & crafts market, the Cango Caves and an ostrich farm. The caves were absolutely stunning and it was very interesting to learn about the different kinds of formations that grow there. The best part of the excursion was definitely the ostrich farm - we got to feed and ride the ostriches! That was totally awesome!

That night all of us went into town again and had a great time hopping from bar to bar as they closed down one by one.

Then on the Sunday morning (way too early), Roger took me and Tammy to the Knysna heads for breakfast, which was really very nice! So, all in all a great week and a wonderful weekend up in Knysna!

Until next time…

Elise van der Heijden (from Holland in case you didn’t guess)

EDGE of AFRICA Volunteer

Big 5 Wildlife & Conservation Project

November 2010

Big 5 Veterinary Volunteering in South Africa

http://edgeofafrica.com/news/blog/My third week on the Big 5 Wildlife Project

Another week has gone by ever so quickly here on the reserve, filled with exciting stuff that has happened and the necessary labour. We started the week by working on the buffalo boma we’re building next to the house. This is where the buffalo will stay for a period of 6-8 weeks before the two bulls get sold, to test for TB. The plan is to get it done by next Friday, but it looks like that’s wishful thinking! Furthermore, we have checked all the fences for holes because we were planning on releasing cheetah this week, any and all holes we found have now been closed with rocks. I’ve also had the privilege of learning how to drive a tractor when Hein and I were reconstructing a road down in the reserve, and I must say it looks easier than it actually is, it’s definitely the weirdest thing I’ll ever drive...!

Over the weekend there had been a bad case of rhino poaching in the Western Cape (only three hours away!), where all the rhino’s on a farm have been poached within two nights, absolutely outrageous and horrible that people can do something like that! This has us quite worried about the rhino’s on the reserve and as such we have been checking up on them every morning, sometimes till late in the afternoon since they’re very capable of hiding. Luckily, all three of them all still doing great!

Then we arranged for the wildlife vet to come visit us on the Wednesday, because there were some things going on with the animals. First of all, we wanted to move a zebra stallion into the reserve with the ladies to go do his business, so the vet darted the dominant stallion of the four zebra. We then moved him into the reserve where I was allowed to administer the antidote IV, which was totally awesome!

After that we had the buffalo cow darted to check up on her red eye, which turned out to be conjunctivitis. The wildlife vet took care of that with some antibiotics and painkillers. We also had him look for signs of pregnancy and we learned that she is around 9 months pregnant, so that’s great news!

Next up was the release of the cheetahs, Bobby and Victor, two inseparable brothers. The vet darted them as well and we then collared them so that we can keep track of their location, average speed, temperature etc. Then we moved them into the reserve and once again I got to wake them up with the antidote IM, so very cool indeed! Because they seemed to be waking up rather slowly and were still quite groggy, we decided to stay with them the rest of the day to make sure they would be all right. Now they are doing great, are starting to get more active by the minute (making the springbok go crazy) and we’re anticipating their first kill out in the reserve this week!

Furthermore, we dug up a cheetah skeleton that was buried around about two years ago after that cheetah had died a natural death (old age). So I have also been very busy working on that skeleton as it is now my job to put it together for the conservation centre. It is very interesting to do, but not really that easy seeing as how there are lots and lots of tiny little bones! I’ll be sure to put pictures up when (if) it’s done...

The last veterinary experience I got this week was when we heard about the baby gray rhebok that was just lying down all the time and seemed to have a torn lip. Hein and I immediately drove there and checked the baby out. She was absolutely covered in ticks and her lip was indeed torn up, she was in bad shape and couldn’t even stand up anymore! So we decided to bring her back to the house where I put her on the table to have a better look at her. We then gave her painkillers and antibiotics and took out a lot of the ticks (especially the bigger ones) and then sprayed the rest of them. I was getting ready to stitch up her little lip after cleaning it thoroughly, when we suddenly saw her jawbone sticking out of her mouth! Unfortunately, she didn’t make it!

All in all, it has been a very exciting week! My first week without my fellow volunteers Hanna and Alma (miss you guys!), but luckily Hein, Kim and cutiepie Malan are still here, still very caring and welcoming towards me, so that’s great.

Being a veterinary student, I just loved the fact that I got to do a lot of veterinary work! But, even though we got a lot of stuff done, the list of things that still need to be done is even longer so I’m looking forward to next week!

Elise van der Heijden

Netherlands

EDGE of AFRICA Volunteer

November 2010

Is an introduction of elephants to the Knysna Forest feasible? By Jo Kotze, EDGE of AFRICA

Introduction

The few remaining elephants that continue to survive in the Knysna forest are the World’s most southerly elephants, and represent just a small fraction of the estimated 10,000 elephants that resided in the Cape region prior to European settlement in 1650 (Hall-Martin 1992). The decline of the Knysna elephants has occurred over many years and their decline has been attributed largely to hunting practices.

By 1876 an estimated 400-500 elephants remained in this area and these elephants were under heavy pressure from hunters (Phillips 1925). By 1908 only 20 individuals remained and these elephants were declared Royal Game (Kinloch 1968). In 1970 the population stood at 11 individuals and the continued decline was attributed to illegal hunting (Carter 1970). However, it has also been suggested that inadequate forest forage resulting in poor reproductive success caused a population crash in the 70s (Vermeulen 2000).

Knysna elephants & Forest habitat

Seydack et al. (2000) suggest that the decline of the Knysna elephants is attributable to the low nutrient/carbon ratios in the diet available to them, having been confined to a predominantly forest environment due to residential and agricultural development in the area. The low nutrient/carbon ratios are thought to result in low metabolic turnover rates and thus reproductive rates that are too low to offset mortalities (Seydack et al. 2000).

Prior to the increase in residential and agricultural development, seven to eight decades ago, both source and sink populations of elephants existed within the Southern Cape (Seydack et al. 2000).

In terms of habitat patches, source patches can be defined as “productive sites that generate a seasonal supply of migrants to other patch locations” and sink patches can be defined as “unproductive sites that only receive migrants” (Hanski & Gaggiotti 2004).

In the case of the Knysna elephants, the source population occupied more open vegetation types, whereas the sink populations resided primarily in the forest and were sustained by immigration from source populations (Seydack et al. 2000). Based upon this model, Seydack et al. (2000) suggest that the Knysna elephants represent a remnant sink population.

The Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) have a similar view on the Knysna elephants. However whereas Seydack et al. (2000) suggest that the Knysna elephants are a remnant sink population that cannot persist due to the demise of the source populations; WESSA suggest that the Knysna elephants have been forced into the forest due to human encroachment.

WESSA state that “In general, the indigenous forest, fynbos and exotic plantation areas to which the elephants are limited by human activity are nutritionally poor. Nutritionally superior areas, from which the elephants are presently excluded, exist between Mosselbay and George. It is thus most likely that the Knysna elephants are a relict population forced into unsuitable habitats by human encroachment. If this is the case, then the reintroduction of more elephants will only postpone the extinction of this subpopulation.” The statement also adds that “If, however, reintroduced elephants do manage to increase in numbers it is most likely that their impact on the largest and best-conserved indigenous evergreen forest in southern Africa could be substantial, and culling would need to be instituted” (WESSA Policy Statement 2001).

1994 introduction of elephants

In 1994 an attempt was made to supplement the Knysna elephant population by introducing 3 young female elephants from Kruger NP. The hope was that these introduced elephants would join up with what was believed to be the only remaining elephant, an elderly matriarch in the forest. However, one of the elephants died on release and the other two elephants preferred to spend the majority of their time in the more open fynbos habitat. In 1999 conservation officials decided to move the introduced elephants instead to Shamwari Game Reserve (Seydack et al. 2000, Milewki 2002).

Conclusion

Both the suggestions of Seydack et al. (2000) and those of The Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA Policy Statement 2001) imply that to re-introduce elephants into the forest itself may not be feasible due to the nutritionally poor habitat resulting in low reproductive rates.

The 1994 re-introduction attempt also indicates that even if elephants were to be introduced into the forest, they wouldn’t necessarily be inclined to stay there.

However, there is one concept that could be a feasible way of re-introducing a sustainable population of elephants not to the Knysna Forest, but to the Garden Route area in general; and that is the proposal of an Eden to Addo corridor.

Eden to Addo Corridor

In simple terms a conservation corridor is a strip of land joining two protected areas. Conservationists have come to realise that simply creating isolated protected areas is not sufficient to protect the complex processes required for proper ecological functioning. A conservation corridor allows for freedom of physical movement and freedom to exchange genetic material; both of which are vital for the survival of organisms.

The dream is to create such a corridor which would start in Plettenberg Bay and radiate out until the Eden municipality is linked to Addo National Park. The corridor would comprise a zig-zagged stretch of land that unites private landowners, conservation authorities and the state. This corridor would connect the existing three mega-reserves of the area – Garden Route Mega Reserve, Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve and Addo Elephant National Park.

Most excitingly, in theory this conservation corridor could re-establish ancient elephant migration paths across the Cape....

(Eden to Addo Corridor Initiative)

References

Carter, B. (1970) ‘Knysna Elephant Survey: February 1969 – January 1970.’ Report to the Wild Life Protection and Conservation Society of South Africa, Eastern Province Branch, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Eden to Addo Corridor Initiative (2007). Available at:http://www.edentoaddo.co.za/about.html. Accessed: 15 November 2010.

Hall-Martin, A.J. (1992) ‘Distribution and Status of the African elephantLoxodonta africana in South Africa 1652-1992.’ Koedoe. Vol. 35, pp. 35-68.

Hanski, I., Gaggiotti, O.E. eds. (2004) ‘Ecology, genetics and evolution of metapopulations.’ Burlington, MA: Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-323448-4

Kinloch, B. (1968) ‘The elephants of Knysna.’ African Wildlife. Vol. 22, pp. 185-190.

Phillips, J.F.V. (1925) ‘The Knysna elephants: a brief note on their history and habits’ South African Journal of Science. Vol. 22, pp. 287-293.

2 weeks on the Big 5 Wildlife Project, South Africa

Two weeks on the Big 5 Wildlife Project

By Alma Wallin Hedén & Hanna Träff (From Sweden) and Elise van der Heijden (From Netherlands)!

Ever since the first day on our project we have been feeding the elephants, Kidibone and Selati. It was a little bit scary at first, but it only took that first day and it had grown on us. Now we love it when they chase the vehicle to get their trunks on the pellets one before the other. Cleaning the elephant boma was also a part of our duty, but even this dirty work didn’t put us off, especially with Corne, who was always great fun to work with! Meeting the elephants in the evenings, before they go into the boma, you really get to know their personalities when they show off their tricks for treats!

Recently, the farmers surrounding the reserve have had trouble with a caracal that has been killing their lambs and sheep. It seems that this caracal is no longer killing just for food, but it is simply killing for the sake of killing. We had to go out at night on a bucky and drive around the property to search for it. It was really exciting even though we didn’t find it. Because standing in an African night, in total darkness and hearing the lions roar is a memory that will last forever!

The other daily routine, a bit more frightening, is providing the cheetahs with dinner. At first they look like cute little kittens, but as soon as they smell the meat they turn into the wild predators they are and always will be! Cutting the meat was also a part of this routine and having Elise on our side was a big contribution to the team when it came to that. Hein tried to convince us that you could be safe inside the cheetah’s enclosure as long as you show that you have authority and confidence. By taking us inside Inyanga’s enclosure with nothing more than a branch and a couple pieces of chicken he proved his theory right. What a thrill!

One day Hein and Corne took us up to the mountains in a valley, to teach us how to handle rifles. We got to shoot at targets from 30 metres and 100 metres with a 0.22 and a 0.308 Calibre, respectively. The whole thing was exhilarating but Hein’s compliments on our shooting made it even better! After the introduction to rifles we had to bring our skills into practice, when it was time to feed the snakes that are starting to feel hungry now that the temperature is rising. Unfortunately, summer time isn’t good news for every animal on the reserve, this time several small birds were unlucky... It felt bad, but sometimes it’s the law of nature!

Snakes weren’t the only reptiles whose appetites were awakened by warmer times, now also the crocodiles were ready for some food! Luckily, a local farmer could provide us with some chickens so we went to pick them up.

With the reptiles becoming all active again in summer, one of them, the Cape Cobra, even managed to escape its enclosure, but it didn’t get far and quickly got caught. After we discovered our talent in interior decorating and design the snake could be returned into its brand new enclosure!

Other important tasks in a game reserve to keep the animals and the guests happy, is general maintenance. Our duties in that area have been conservation work with planting trees. To make this gardening a little more exciting we got to plant them in the lion enclosure, so one of us had to keep an eye on the lions throughout the planting. Furthermore, there were a lot of roads that were flooded and muddy so they were a risk for the game drivers to get stuck in. In order to prevent that, we had to fill them up with rocks collected on the reserve. Also, with the cheetah release coming up, we needed to put up signs on fences all around the property about both the risk of dangerous animals and the voltage.

Something else we have really enjoyed doing in any and all weather conditions, was feeding Lucerne and pellets to the giraffes, buffaloes and rhinos. It was amazing to be so close to these animals and just watching them eat and behave naturally.

Last, but definitely not least, we would like to mention how welcoming and caring Kim and Hein have been to us since day one! They have been so dedicated to making sure that we would be able to make the absolute best out of our stay in South Africa. We couldn’t have wished for better hosts, there is no way to thank you enough! Surely, we will not only miss the work and all the animals but also very much the people, the hospitality and of course all the wonderful ‘braais’ (South African bar-b-que)!

For more details on EDGE of AFRICA wildlife & conservation projects visit: http://www.EDGEofAFRICA.com/

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Everything Elephant Journal - September 2010

Everything Elephant Project

By Cara Dungay & Seb Thursby from England

Week 1:

Knysna Forest

Our first week with EDGE of AFRICA started with a day exploring the wilds of the Knysna forests. We were introduced to the local forest and wildlife expert called Hynie Tredoux (a merge of Crocodile Dundee and David Attenborough). We had previously watched a documentary on the Knysna Forest elephants and hoped to be lucky in spotting one of only three officially reported elephants. Hynie identified and introduced an unbelievable amount of flora and fauna to us and after 2 hours on the trail we stopped for a drink and were informed we had only covered around 800m. The rest of the hike was completed at a slightly quicker pace but no less interesting, and by the end of our trail we were more aware of the wildlife in the forest and started to identify tree and plant life ourselves. Our less than silent travel through the forest maybe the reason we weren’t lucky enough to see the elusive forest elephant.

Addo Elephant National Park

An EDGE of AFRICA organized trip to Addo Elephant Park was next for us. The four hour trip flew by with the prospects of seeing the Big Five especially elephants. Setting up the tents took longer than expected due to the strong South African “breezes”! Because of the windy delay we unfortunately didn’t have enough daylight left to go to the for a game drive so instead Jo and Joash organized for us to go to the Reptile and Raptor centre. As we were learning about them, reptiles were continuously placed on us whether we wanted it or not! These included gecko’s, a skink, ever increasing sizes of snakes and toads. With time running out and darkness setting in we were led into an enclosure where we met Jack the friendly owl. He was enticed with treats to land on various body parts ending up sitting on a surprised Eavanna’s head! The tour finished by meeting a brand new 4 week old fluff ball baby owl (very cute!). Thanks to Darren for introducing and educating us to your animals. Our first evening at Addo ended with a delicious braai cooked by our very own Joash, Jo and Eavanna- thanks guys!

Day 2 started early for our first game drive. With our eager faces pushed up against the windows we got the hang of spotting animals, a lot of warthog, kudu and tortoises later we were wondering if any elephant existed here. Luckily Liam needed a loo break so we stopped at a game hide and spotted our first elephant around a watering hole yay! This started off our elephant survey with GPS position, sex and group size being taken down. During the next 6 hours we were lucky enough to spot many more elephants, jackals, birds of prey, red hearty beast, eland, ostriches and enough warthogs to make Lion King 4! We then headed back to stretch our legs, have a drink and for those that needed it a nicotine fix before heading out on an evening game drive. This drive brought us within touching distance of a herd of elephant that had decided to make the road their next chosen feeding ground. It was amazing to see these beautiful animals (and young babies) so close up. The evening consisted of another delicious dinner and after few beers everyone headed for there tents in hurricane Addo.

There was enough time in the morning of day 3 for a quick game drive. We were on the hunt for lions as they had been spotted earlier in the day; unfortunately we got there just too late but did get to drive through a big herd of buffalo. After saying goodbye to Addo we packed up our things and headed home a little less enthusiastically than the journey there.

Week 2

Tuesday

Our first day at the Elephant Sanctuary, we got up at 6am and made our way with Jo and Larissa to The Crags Elephant Park just past Plettenberg Bay.

When we arrived we were armed with waterproof ponchos and Jo organized us to do the Elephant tour with the trunk in hand walk. We got to meet the three ellie’s that are mostly used for the tours; Marula, Jabu and Thandi. After some other members of our tour gave the elephants their morning scrub we were invited to take one each on a trunk in hand walk. The elephant’s handler told us to stand in front of them with our right hand out facing behind us, the elephant then placed the tip of their trunk in our hand. We walked them into the forest where we had a meet and greet. This involved each handler showing us different actions of natural elephant behaviour. Thandi shook, Jabu blew and Marula knelt. We were then introduced to the ellies and were allowed to touch different parts of their body to know how it felt. After leading them back out of the forest we then got to feed them which was their favourite part!

After a quick tea break, we got down to our ellie observation task. Firstly this involved identifying who was who (which is hard to begin with but easier with Jo’s help and knowing what to look for!), choosing two each and watching for certain behaviours. For example if Marula touched Thandi’s bum we would have to note the time of the bum touching, the two ellies involved in the bum touching and who initiated/received the bum touch! Seeing as elephants eat for up to 20 hours a day there often wasn’t many interactions to note down but it was a pleasure to sit and watch these gentle giants.

After a quick lunch, we were asked to do some painting in the new handler and elephant accommodation. The painting got a bit messy and we came out looking like we had serious dandruff problems. (a few paint fights may have been involved too!)

After clearing everything away this completed our first day, so we headed home possibly snoozing along the way!

Wednesday

Up early again, today was harder than yesterday! Jo (who travels every elephant day from Plettenberg to Knysna at 5 in morning) came and picked us up and drove us back past her house to the elephant sanctuary! (good old Jo!)

Today started with us getting stuck in clearing and sweeping out the ellie stables. You become very quickly more accustomed to ellie poo when your knee deep in it! We were then asked to collect together all the sticks and twigs from the elephants night enclosure.

After lunch we continued helping by painting poison (not human or ellie poison) on the connecters of the electric fences around the elephant enclosure. The solution should prevent spider webs being made as they disrupt the electric fence current.

After all of our hard work of the morning we were rewarded with a few more hours of elephant observation study. Today we felt a lot more comfortable identifying each elephant without looking at the helpful guide sheet.

Thursday

Day three and we dragged ourselves out of bed. After sleeping our way to the sanctuary we set about our familiar task of poo clearance and remaking the elephant’s sawdust based beds.

Our next task seemed simple at first and was to rake the stick cleared elephant night enclosure to make it look snazzy for the visiting tourists. After two and a half hours of raking in the hot sun we had successfully cleared half the enclosure and it did indeed look snazzy. Exhausted yet satisfied with our work we collapsed down for lunch and a few more hours of conservation study.

Week 3

Workshops

This week as part of our everything elephant project we visited local schools and youth centres around our area and carried our workshops on elephant anatomy and social behaviour. In the week we visited pre-schools (Judah Square, Siyafunda) with kids aged from 2-5 where we did colouring in, and cutting and sticking exercises all about elephants. We taught at a local orphanage with kids aged from 3-17. A little trickier to include all ages in the lesson but we managed it by each group drawing and labelling their own elephant. Following this was an elephant based word search and a fun interactive test that included everybody. With the skills and workshops we had created we also visited local youth centres, Sinethemba and Mad about Art. Although this all sounds very teacher like, we spent most of our time playing games, messing about with the kids and being human jungle gyms! We will take many fun and happy memories away with us and loved every minute of being a kid again!

Thank you EDGE of AFRICA & Knysna! We will be back! J

Lots of Love Cara and Seb xxx

We are Learning - Siyafunda

I am learning...We are learning...Siyafunda

It was the 12th day in paradise for me! Even if i was here for the Everything Elephant conservation project, I still love the community work.

The 15th October 2010 was the Siyafunda Pre-School re-opening! Siyafunda means "we are learning“. Siyafunda is a school in the Knysna township in poor condition. The pre-school originally had one big class room for all of the kids, however with some effort, and some sponsors (from Italy) it was rebuild within three months! Now, they have 5 classrooms, 1 kitchen, and 2 toilets! Not enough, well EDGE of AFRICA built a cute kiddies playground, with a slide, see-saw and a gorgeous little Porsche(toy one of course) to play with.

So now, today is the day of the opening! The teachers are all dressed in their traditional dresses, with their faces painted. They started a dance before the official procedure started witnessed by the mayor, the sponsors from Italy & EDGE of AFRICA, and several more people with a lot of cameras.

The kids learned a few songs, and danced and sung all together in celebration of the event! Wait, what´s that noise? Oh, yes, the extreme fast sound you know out of the TV, which you could never ever repeat out of your own mouth without years of practice! "Lulululu" really, really fast!

After the really cute songs, the official presentation begun. First the mayor, then the sponsors (the principal was already crying), then Dayne from EDGE of AFRICA handed over their donated sign, made possible by two Chester University volunteers.

Now it's time for group pictures, but quickly interrupted by a comical moment of the Siyafunda principal reaching for her ringing phone from it's home in her bra! All the pictures nearly had her reaching for her phone and still with tears in the eyes! How funny and lovely is that?

After the presentations a buffet of food was served for the children and guests - snacks including spring rolls, wraps & drinks! EDGE of AFRICA was first, sorry, we were very hungry! The kids got lots of cake - their favourite!

Nadine Ballester - Germany

EDGE of AFRICA Volunteer

September/October 2010

For more details on EDGE of AFRICA community projects visit: http://www.EDGEofAFRICA.com/

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Biomimicry+Youth+Campaign

Predator Sanctuary October Newsletter

Predator Sanctuary October Newsletter

Hi everybody, this is the second of our monthly news letters telling you more about what is happening at the Predator Sanctuary and what the animals have been up to.

Ntombi (1 year old lioness)

Ntombi has been suffering from dizzy spells since August, and we took her for an MRI scan on Wednesday 15^th September at the George Medi Clinic. She caused quite a stir on her arrival and the Scribante rooms were the favourite place for hospital staff to gather and monitor the distinguished patient. The diagnosis was that there was severe pressure by the brain on the brainstem and that this condition was the result of a Vitamin A deficiency, caused by.........you guessed right, inbreeding and poor food quality of food for the parents!! We are now treating her with Vitamin A injections daily, not an easy task if taken into consideration that lions dislike injections severely. Basically for every injection I give her she gives me a slap or a bite, fair trade you might think but believe me each slap contains five razor sharp claws. Thus for every injection I give I receive five back, not fair at all. But then again neither Ntombi nor I excel at maths but we do have an agreement that I have one chance to give her the injection and if I miss or hesitate, it is open season for her. Luckily she is recovering very well and playing with her doggy friends again.

Today she is 100% better and well on her way to a full recovery. It is amazing to see her doing crazy lion stunts again, jumping and rolling around the yard...crazy lion!

Animal Communication

We are in the process of finalising an “Animal Communication Workshop” with Amelia Kinkade scheduled for February 2011. Amelia travels the world teaching animal lovers the skills to communicate with their animal friends and we are eager to have her teach at the Predator Sanctuary, watch this space for more info...

Kwela: Kyknet South African DSTV

We have made it to the Kwela (Kyknet on South African DSTV) finals in the humour section with our video of ‘Queenie’ flattening me in an illegal high and spear tackle, she should have been red carded, but everybody apparently think it is funny. It will be worth the pain if we can make it to the final three entries.

Please vote for us by sending a sms/text to: 33157 with the message “leeus”(South African Cell/Mobile phones only unfortunately).

If we can make it to the final three entries it would be a tremendous publicity boost for the Predator Sanctuary and you may also even win a trip to Namibia worth R70 000-00. You can send 30 SMSes messages from your cell phone. The voting lines will close on Tuesday 26^th of October 2010.

PLEASE VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE! We need the publicity.

Otherwise at Predator Sanctuary, home of the big cats, everybody is preparing for the coming festive season keeping us all very busy. The felines are all well and enjoying the good life. We have been working on an exercise and diet program for the girlies, lionesses, but it has been highly unsuccessful to date. They have got this nasty attitude towards anybody with even the slightest idea of implementing fitness programs, they snarl and tend to chase us out of their camps if we insist and you do not mess with a snarling lion.

Lots of “ROARSSS, CHIRPS AND PURRSSS!!!” from all of us at the Predator Sanctuary.

Living & experiencing locally is not only a cheap way to travel but a far more beneficial one…

Living & experiencing locally is not only a cheap way to travel but a far more beneficial one…

When one thinks of traveling, usually the first thing that comes to mind is hotels, resorts and maybe a bit of camping or backpacking. Throw in some beaches, culture, sports and local food in and that is, for the majority of us, what a holiday entails.

How about…

…living, eating and working with locals? Does that sound at all interesting? The concept was born several years ago in the form of volunteer projects for the youth and gap year travelers and has now exploding into a great way to travel for all ages. In short it means your holiday expenses go towards local initiatives and you get to learn and live with ‘real’ people whilst on holiday. For some this could be 2 weeks and for other 2 months and even more.

Well, that’s the short of it, but now let us looks at what’s happening in the small town of Knysna, South Africa and how local movements are benefiting to community and the tourists:

• Wildlife & conservation projects run and supported by locals but still aimed at tourists. These projects raise awareness while still being beneficial to local conservation and tourist admirers. http://www.edgeofafrica.com/volunteer/project/everything-elephant/
• Community development projects supporting local initiatives and creating sustainable solutions and not just short term rewards. http://www.edgeofafrica.com/volunteer/project/inspiring-edge-/

Two local success stories:

• Knysna’s Recycling Swop Shop – donate unwanted items and they will go towards a project aimed at teaching life skills and creating conservation awareness. http://edgeofafrica.com/news/events/
• Big 5 Wildlife project – a course designed for locals and tourists to not only experience Africa’s famous big 5 but learn survival techniques, animal handling, reserve management and so much more. http://edgeofafrica.com/volunteer/project/big-5-wildlife-project/

To find out more about how to get involved while traveling in the beautiful part of the Garden Route, South Africa visit www.EDGEofAFRICA.com