Well, we have managed to do it again, with yet another crazy session of activities. We have been involved with preparing the guy’s for their level 1 exams which are coming up on Monday the 21^st. all seems well though and I think we will have a pretty good showing.

We tried another provider for our 1 year program first aid course, and selected Andrew Miller from SMART Solutions. His course was fantastic, with a highly motivational aspect, as well as a large amount of the shock factor! He showed them a load of gruesome pics with the message of prevention is better than cure.

His military back ground was evident in his training with thoroughness and repetitiveness being key training methodologies. All of the students greatly benefited from Andrews enthusiasm and passion, a rarity in my experience of first aid courses. Andrew has a mission to prepare people for first aid eventualities and I feel that this was by far the best program our students could have had on this particular subject. The exam was a success with all of our students passing well, and our practical assessment was rated as above average by Andrew. The practical included a dramatic piece of acting by Duncan, who was made up with very lifelike injuries such as an open leg fracture (enter fake blood by the bottle!) and an amputated hand (add one rubber hand and more fake blood!)

Andrew filmed the whole rescue and played it back step by step to show where the guys did well and where they went wrong!

Getting Duncan into the body harness while he struggled like a wild thing was quite a project! All the while Andrew continued selecting students to do a practical CPR test alongside the drama of the rescue. Here Tom can be seen with the CPR doll.

The students then carried their incapacitated and well bound patient back to camp, while others practised the two-man lift.

The full rescue and first aid was carried out by our students in an exemplary manner. I was very impressed with their professional response and sensible attitudes toward assisting their “victim”. Well done to all of our one year course students!

A visit to the world famous Paleo-anthropological site at Makapansgat was conducted in conjunction with Stan Rogers of Cave Research, and a fantastic day was had by all. Lyle led our group for us and we met Stan just after 8am at the caves. We first went into the Historic Cave and then Limeworks Cave discussing the Paleo and more modern histories of the area.

Stan, Anaschka and Banie in caving mode in Historic Cave.

Later on we went to Two-trees. This special cave is very narrow and cramped, and we have not been able to take a group there since early last year as you may only go there if lead by a professional caver like Stan. The entrance pictured below is remarkable, with an amazing similarity to an Aardvark burrow.

Anaschka, Virgil and Alida climbing into the cave entrance.

Tom and Lee getting into the hole.

Lyle getting into the cave photographed from the inside! A horseshoe bat was also seen, which Stan reckons was too lazy to migrate up to the Reef area of Gauteng with the others!

When we finally all got into the cave we followed the narrow tunnels down for what seemed like miles, but in actuality the cave is apparently not too deep. The cavern at the bottom is beautiful with lots of formations which we can photograph and view, but never touch as the oils from our fingers can cause damage. The tunnels were challenging with some severe drops, but we all got through safely.

Daniel in a section of the cave, and the torches under the ground making patterns as we go.

Kallie and Duncan in the caverns.

Lyle, Jan Martin, Tilanie, Nick, Anaschka, Alida and Virgil in a cavern. Stan climbing through a gap in the rocks.

A couple of the amazing formations that we found in the caves.

Lunch afterwards was a rewarding affair. While we braai’ed steak, wors and braai broodjies some of the guys went up to fig tree cave to go and swim in the underground lake. Nicolai forgot about his white underwear being see through, causing a bit of a laugh! Unfortunately the pictures are censored so we won’t be putting them in on this page

Our new elephants have arrived! The herd of 11 are originally from the Sabi Sand Wildtuin but have lived at Shambala for the last few years. They are extremely relaxed and great viewing with our cruisers being accepted right from the start. We held them in a Boma for a couple of days and then the gates were opened. They took a few hours to go out and we left them alone completely for the first 4 or 5 days. Now we are slowly starting to make single vehicle approaches which are going really well.

Two pictures above show the elephant in the boma, and the one on the right is the first sighting of these animals after their release.

Unfortunately during the transport the matriarch stabbed a younger elephant in the upper leg and ear with her tusks, so we had to call a vet in to treat the injured youngster. The students were allowed to participate in the capture of the elephant and assist with the cooling and rolling over of the injured animal. The vet has administered the necessary medicines and hopefully all will go well with the calf.

This was an awesome experience for the students to be so hands on in this process. It was greatly enjoyed by all of the guys.

We had an interesting program focusing on the birds of the region and had the privilege of obtaining the author Hendri Coetzee to present it. The guys learned a load about birds over a two day period and also had an “extreme birding” competition at the end of the program. The teams achieved 50, 65 and 68 bird species in 2 hours respectively, with the ‘Elephant-eating-pearl-spotted-owlets’ winning at the end!

Hendri presenting his course out in the field, and a close up of a bird fanatic!

Game viewing has been awesome again, with lion attacking rhino, elephant sightings, lions killing a young giraffe, sable sightings and plenty of cheetah sightings too!

It is almost the end of the first six week cycle for our year students, who I think have had an absolute blast. The team has gelled incredibly well, with a fantastic amount of team spirit. We just need to get through these last few days of level 1 exams, followed by the level 1 practical and NQF 3 and we will be ready for the next cycle where we start on the trails guide theoretical segments ad advanced rifle handling!

Well, until next time!
Bye from the ENGTS team!