25 Days

Hello to all of you from the training team,

Here just a brief update to introduce the students from June 2005 programme, an all guy’s group, which is pretty rare.

Back row = Ahmed, Grant, Phil and Lex - Front row = Willie and Johan – here all the guys show off their rope making skills with Terminalia strings from the inner bark.

This was a diverse group, with Canadian, English and South African students. In fact Grant and Lex enjoyed the course so much that they chose to stay on for the next 6 months with us at the school.

Willie is hunting orientated and set his goals in this exciting field, and Johan already owns his own safari company and was with us to brush up on his already very good knowledge. We had an interesting month of good game veiwing, with the new lion cubs being shown to us by their mother, resulting in a few grumbles and growls from the big female.

She has never been the most relaxed lioness, and even from distances of over 50 metres we experienced charges and warnings. Wow, hair raising to say the least. Our white lions are also in good health, and getting fat, as lions in breeding centres tend to do, but it is getting closer and closer to them being m oved into the breeding enclosures as they get bigger.

   
The big lioness, charges a car to warn us off and also, one of the white lionesses, having a late breakfast (Leg of wildebeest).

Kersey and Acima joined the guys on some of their walks and activities, and it was really great to have these two wildlife PHD students along on their trips. Here we found the skull of the female elephant killed by the matriarch at the end of last year. It was bleached white by the sun, and rather well chewed by the hyaenas. 

 
Track and sign was tough, with hours of preparation throughout the course, and at the end of it all we were rewarded with six new track and sign qualifications. This is a standard part of every course, as we at Entabeni feel that tracking is one of the most important skills a guide can have.

 
A giraffe crept up on Ahmed while he was busy on the spoor, and the group walking through some marshy ground on a hike with Lee.  and the group discuss a difficult question on the ground, using their issued copies of the bushveld field guide by our Principal, Lee Gutteridge.

Here the group discuss a difficult question on the ground, using their issued copies of the bushveld field guide by our Principal, Lee Gutteridge. This book is issued to every student on a course with us.

 
Things are getting dry now, and the game around Mangwa (Shangaan for Zebra) Pan has been great, resulting in the lions hunting and killing near this little dam, right on the schools doorstep.

 
Our biggest male on a wildebeest kill, and our sable herd are doing really well, with many new calves. These creatures are quite relaxed, making good photographic subjects.

  
Our biggest male on a wildebeest kill, and our sable herd are doing really well, with many new calves. These creatures are quite relaxed, making good photographic subjects.

Well done to all and thanks to the staff for another well managed course. We wish all of you luck in your future careers in the nature industries.

Until next time

Lee and the ENGTS team