Days 46 And 47
Today I had breakfast and then it was time for one more photography workshop at 0700. Today was all about photo editing and using Lightroom. It was interesting to see what you can do with images but I didn't find it too useful as I don't really like editing images. I like to take a picture of what I see and that's that. Why would I want to try and make it better, but not realistic? After the workshop I studied for a bit, went on a bit of a tree walk and then it was brunch time. Today we had sausage in a bun, chips and salad.
After lunch I studied for a while and then joined Jess, Katie, Tanza, Rachel and Annabelle for a study session. We went through arthropods and then played a game of Zoopoly (like junior monopoly but with animals) and then started a game called Settlers. It's a really good game with tactics and strategy, we also added a couple of rules to make it a bit educational too (having to answer a question about arthropods or weather and climate before being able to do certain things). We didn't finish the game before dinner so we'll have to come back to it. Dinner tonight was something called bobotie (some sort of South African dish containing mince and baked with an egg based topping - very yummy), rice fried with vegetables, sweet potato and salad. I went for a nice walk with Jess and Katie and then most of us watched The Jungle Book. It's such a good film, especially with everyone singing along and it was a nice to way to unwind. After the film it was time for bed before an early start.
It was really windy and rainy today, and quite chilly. We've all been making sure our stuff is in a safe place and preparing ourselves for the cyclone which is heading this way! Hopefully it won't hit us too badly!
Today began at 0445 and at 0530 off we went for a Game Drive, even though it was quite windy and raining. We focused on botany today and learnt lots of trees and a few grasses and flowers. We also saw a beautiful male lion (unfortunately we saw him before we even got on the reserve, and so he is behind a fence), a few hippos, several jackals, a kudu, some nyala, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, baboons, a spoonbill and a couple of mongoose. We saw the lion both on the way to and from the drive, he was in more or less the same place. We have been told a lot about how the animals perceive the game drive vehicles as one unit and can't see the individual people. Gerhard decided to show us just how true this is. As the lion was behind a fence, he got out of the car. Instantly the lion was paying attention and was very alert, focused on us. Gerhard took a couple of steps away from the car and the lion growled at us. As soon as Gerhard got back in the car the lion relaxed again and no longer seemed to perceive us as a threat. It was really interesting to see. It was a great drive even though it was pouring it down for most of it!
We got back to camp about 1020 and had time to dry off and change before a lunch of salad and cheese and ham toasties. After brunch I studied for a bit and then did some group study with Jess, Katie, Rachel and Annabelle. At 1500 we went to Gerhard's shop, chatted for a while and set the world to rights, studied some bird calls and then had a lovely dinner of pasta salad and salad. After dinner I did some more last minute revising, admired another stunning sunset and then we watched The Lion King (the extended version!) - another classic (singalong again of course)! After one more read through of my notes it's time for bed before an early start and exams tomorrow.