After fueling ourselves with hot-dogs and chips, we thought that we were ready for Tommy’s bush walk. What to expect? – Nobody knew (Well, beside Charlotte and Anneka). It started with a talk. The do or die. The hand gestures of the guide and the only way to survive in ‘The Bush’. Then and only then, we were ready. It started with the introduction of the different type of trees. First, the confused Cactus tree that we have been warned to steer clear of, despite its weird attraction. Then it was onto the tree that is used to get your own back on fisherman, noisy neighbours and Tommy’s favourite – the mother-in-law. Lets just say, all of these scenarios end with a funeral. The beginning of the walk showed us some more vegetation along with several birds, such as the Hoopoe and the Guinea Fowl. My favourite however was the Fire Finch – South Africa’s answer to a robin. After this, it only got better. As somebody who didn’t even know I was coming to Africa until 2 months ago, everything was a bonus, truly. The first animal we stumbled upon were the 2 zebras in the distance. I couldn’t believe how close we got. The cameras started clicking and we were all pretty taken aback, which only intensified by the sight of another zebra with its baby. It was an incredible sight. After some more animals, including wildebeasts and some prancing deer-like animals that I’ve only seen in the stage show of Lion King, we stopped for a break. Morbid maybe but we learnt so much about rhino hunting. Tommy boy taught us loads about how corrupt the poaching is here and what it is doing to our future generations – we CAN save the big 5 (The 5 animals that are the most dangerous when injured (queue extra brownie points for memory)). As we began our journey back to camp we witnessed the most spectacular sight I could have never even imagined. GIRAFFES. Supposedly in the south, these creatures indeed blessed us with their presence and we saw the most nosey creatures known to man. The best for Beth was yet to come… The sun was setting behind the journey and we couldn’t have asked for anything more. But I was wrong. So seriously mistaken. We had earlier been told that the stretch was all male after a tragedy a few weeks earlier but the suprise was in how quickly they had adapted to keeping company with one another. I think I should just say, the affectionate one was having plenty of fun with the little one. I was stunned. The frisky mount was just too much for my little eyes to bare. And on that note, I had one last glance and we head back to base. I can honestly say – as it is the best policy – that today has been a phenomenal experience. Nature has treated us so finely and I am one lucky beggar for being part of it.

Bethany

Today we set out for our first adventure which involved lots of blood, guts and more gore! Yeah thats right, we DISSECTED A WARTHOG!! At first, everyone seemed a little squeamish at the thought of exploring the insides of a beast; Lottie and Beth were the brave souls that took on the task of cutting the animal and preparing it to be hung. The juicy stuff began after the skinning of the animal where we encountered gallons of blood gushing down engulfing the black sheet where Jess, Beth and a couple of other troopers took apart the remaining skin, which hung loosely off the meat and bare carcass. We were stunned, truly amazed at what we`d just seen – Tony had told us about it but seeing it in the flesh really made it real. Tommy cut the animal open and all its guts spilled out filling the whole mat.

Each person wanted to explore a different organ of the warthog and off we went to our different sections. I had the job of blowing the lungs of the warthog – something everyone else seemed happy to let me do and although it tasted like a fleshy straw, its an experience I will NEVER forget.

Overall the whole experience was super intense!! We loved every minute of it especially poking the eyeballs – this was a biology lesson we would never forget.

Ellie (written by Ruphina Ochanda)