March was a fun month of hard work and learning! The team were on their best behaviour for a professional hunting course with the S A National Professional Hunting School, under the guidance of Mel du Plessis. This experienced hunter spent two weeks with the students, and they learned what it meant to be a hunter…and it is a lot more work than they planned for! The lectures were conducted from 12 to 16 hours a day, starting with early morning horn measuring sessions, and hours of law and other theory. It was amazing to follow the progress of the students as they learned, from no idea to knowledgeable in only two weeks!

Lectures were long and complex, but the whole team learned a huge amount.

The team, with Oom Mel, posing for a picture at the end of the course.

Shooting with scoped rifles and skinning of various body parts of mammals were amongst the skills learned.

The skinning looked a little unsavoury, but Mel did not seem too bothered…

There was plenty going on in the game veiwing department, with a new baby white rhino being born, and the Makhulu male lion joined up with the sub-adult male temporarily. This is a tenuous relationship and it only lasted for a couple of days. There were also some sightings of the big crocodile in the Kubu dam, and Martin and Fred learned first hand why we said they should stay away from the edge of the water!

Luckily the crocodile did not strike aggressively! But at least Fred was still laughing as he ran away! A close call indeed!

We also ran another programme for the ranger caddies, with another great group of local SiPedi people, from around the reserve. They are being trained in basic guiding, first aid, snake handling, and of course the FGASA local guide qualifications for the successful candidates. Here are a few pictures from the course.

We stretched the limits with ecology, astronomy, taxonomy and the many other subjects we discussed, and really gave everyone a great new insight into the bush around them. It was great fun to teach these city people about the bush and get them ready for an exciting new career in the golf and game reserve industries. All of them have been successfully employed at the legend golf and safari resort by David Riddle Golf.

The six monthers on the shooting range and in the classroom, learning as usual.

Fred and Surette on game drive (their very first one) with the Notbusch family, who are some of the land owners on the Entabeni Safari Conservancy.

There is no real explanation for the above picture. Suffice to say we were really scared!

We also had a day of reptile hunting on the reserve to photograph some interesting species which we may find. We lifted a rock or two and found some cool creepy crawlies, Jonathan would be proud of us!

Fred with a small scorpion, Surette on guard and Francesco with a real big scorpion!

Awesome black backed Jackal tracks in some baked mud.

The snake hunters!

The snakes! A puff adder being caught with a grab stick by Fred, and George handling a Peter’s thread snake.

Yet another month of action, over and done. A special welcome to Ross and Bernard who have joined the six month course.