Our Environmental Awareness Course with Mid Kent College is now featured in an educational catalogue!
Archive for Mid Kent 2011
New student Catalogue
Bye byes!
As always the day to leave has crept up on us 
There were lots of sad faces this morning, and a couple could only nibble on their french toast. There is nothing quite as bad as the mixed feelings experienced by all of our students on the last day with us. Excited about going home and seeing everyone, but at the same time not wanting to leave – ever!
The students leave the gate of Umkhumbi Lodge and Albizia Camp for the last time this year
Putting on happy faces for the camera!
Driving past one minibus now all I see are grumpy little faces, and one or two scribbling furiously in the diaries they have been dutifully keeping.
See some of you next year!
Time to get some culture
The last full day in South Africa for our UK students. We’ve done everything else, so what better way to spend it than experiencing some of the culture.
Within seconds of being in the village the young children were begging our students to play games and hi-five them
We meet our guides at the shop, a small one roomed shop that serves the needs of the whole community. Then it was time to walk to the primary school, a walk many young children are happy to walk as it takes them to their friends and an education that they are all grateful for.
Our UK students experience the walk.
Many of the children that attend the school walk even further, sometimes on their own and this made our students realise just how lucky they are.
Luke even helped to push one of the teachers cars when it got stuck in the mud.
The African students are always very excited to see our students and teach them songs, and dances as they try – even at 5 years old – to connect with their new friends.
The lower years treat our students to a song
Then it was the turn of some of our students to sing to the older students
To say thank you for taking time out of their lessons to talk to us and teach us about their community the UK students brought with them a large donation of chalks, pencils, crayons, notepads, clothing, toys and sweets for the children which they left to be distributed amongst the most needy children.
Some of the donation to the school
The deputy head thanks us all for the donations
Then we were lucky enough to be shown around a rural homestead in the same village.
Our little friends from outside the village shop even showed us where it was.
We were shown the traditional cooking huts and all got to peek inside the dark room which despite getting covered in soot from the range is surprisingly clean.
We learnt about the way in which traditionally women must sit on the left of a house and men on the right. We also learnt about the gender roles within the community – which the girls did not think were particularly fair!
But sadly it is now time to go back to the camp and begin to pack for the flight back to the UK tomorrow.
Souvenirs
More shopping, except this time our students find themselves away from the big shopping centre of Durban.
Studying the carving sand trying to decide which one
The market is local to the lodge where every item has been made or grown by the women of the community to give them independence and provide for their families.
Fruit, fruit and more fruit - no one could resist the pineapples
There is a vast choice of things to buy – almost too much choice!
Many people went round the market not once, not twice, but four times.
Smile!
Before we left the market everyone had the chance to taste properly prepared, fresh pineapple. The way to prepare the pineapple is to cut of the skin but leave the grasses intact so that you can just turn it upside down and munch it like a lolly.
But no one wanted pictures of themselves with juice running down their chins on here – so I am afraid you will have to wait till they get back and show you their photos.
Dinner time soon! Macaroni cheese and chocolate cake 
Heffalumps and Cheetahs
This morning we all got to play with Rambo, Rachel, and Jabulani.
Otherwise known as daddy elephant, mummy elephant and baby.
Elephant family
We all heard the tragic story of how Rambo lost his ‘finger’ on his trunk. And now rather than eating like an African Elephant he eats like an Asian elephant by scooping the food into a hollow on the underside of his trunk.
Close and cuddly
Rachel still eats like an African elephant should because she still has both of her trunk ‘fingers’.
Everyone got to feed Rachel and then interact more closely with Rambo.
We were shown his second nose (Jacobsons organ).
Inner nose spotting
We felt the satin soft skin behind his ears, stroked his tusks and trunk, and a few brave people even got to feel his tongue.
Ears, tusks and food all at once - Rambo is very patient 
We are not allowed to directly interact with Jabulani the baby as the keepers would like to see him released into the wild when he is old enough. But he didn’t understand this and tried to interact with us instead!!
Smiley happy faces
Ever got to cuddle a Cheetah? No? Our students have.
This cheetah was reluctant to lay down on the wet grass
From learning about the smaller of the African cats (just like larger versions of the tabby cats at home) to watching the Caracals ‘hunt’ their food by jumping in the air, it has been an eventful day.
The hilight for everyone I suspect was the Cheetah interaction. Two Cheetah who are too tame to be released provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience for visitors.
*Purrr*
What’s for dinner?
This is the part of the course where we learn exactly how our food is prepared.
It is very similar to a biology lesson and our facilitator Tommy is very professional in his approach to skinning, dismembering, and dissecting the animal – in this case an impala. The students are welcome to participate as much or as little as they want.
Most people choose to be hands-on
There is always at least one person peeking out from behind their hands at the beginning, but inevitably this person is one of the last left right through to the end.
The smaller organs are passed around and then when they get to the end of the line they are placed on the table
Each organ is named and its role in the body explained. Then one lucky volunteer gets to blow up the lungs to show their capacity (after they’ve been washed obviously – we aren’t complete barbarians!).
Blow
During
After
This group was particularly inquisitive, nothing was left unstudied. Eyes, tongue, brain, ear canal, legs, nasal passages, tail, stomach, intestines and even the bladder. Anything you can imagine was carefully dissected and scrutinised by eager eyes.
Close scrutiny from start...
... to finish
Let’s go out for quick mornings slither
The environmental awareness course topic today is an introduction to venomous snakes – including how to treat a venomous bite.
So, first things first – Forest Cobra.
Forest Cobra handling and the importance of using the sticks
Followed by a Puff Adder, a short snake with a big bite.
Paul the puff adder
Everyone then got the chance to touch the puff adder, but only if they want to – we don’t force anybody!! Very few people get the chance to touch a puff adder, and when they do they are always surprised with quite how soft they are.
Don't worry mums and dads, the puff adder has been made safe in special tubing.
Scorpions are abundant in South Africa, so we teach the students how to distinguish between the two types, deadly and not so deadly. It is quite easy, big pincers and little tail is good, big tail and little pincers are bad.
And spiders. We know that the college has lots of spiders and tarantulas and so we show off a couple of indigenous spiders and our favourite non-indigenous one Curly.
Some scared faces as Curly the Curly-haired tarantula comes out to play
More than one person decided to overcome their fear with Curly
There was also a chance to get some pictures of a rubber frog and some bullfrogs who we rudely woke up 
Then it was time to cuddle bob and fluffy our resident red-tail boas.
Our little male boa - Bob
All the other pictures can be seen in Fluffy’s Photo Album on facebook.
Enough bunnies, lets hug a crocodile instead!
It was time to venture deeper into the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
Sound Advice
Starting with the St Lucia estuary cruise. A chance to take to the water with the hippos and crocs, not to mention the countless bird species.
St Lucia was having water supply problems today, and on the boat we soon found out why. Below the bridge (the only way in and out of the town, a bit like the Isle of Sheppey in the UK) is the water pipe, and where the water pipe usually is… was a hole. The towns drinking water was pouring from the pipe and gushing into the estuary. Now, why am I telling you this? Well, the section of the bridge from which the water flowed was the only section of the bridge that the boats could get underneath… yep, you got it, that means we were going under this temporary waterfall.
The town water supply, or rather what should be the town water supply.
There were onlookers on the banks gleefully rubbing their hands as they waited for the boat – with all the unsuspecting tourists on board – to get doused in water. But, it was a hot day, and – unknown to the onlookers – by the time the water reached the boat it was little more than a mist. It was rather pleasant actually.
Everyone took the water in their stride and barely moved a muscle
*waves*
Lots of Hippos and crocs were out in the water as well as the fish eagle swooping above.
Everyone got off the boat bubbly and in high spirits
...Some in higher spirits than others
After the estuary, we went hunting for more crocodiles and even a couple of alligators. Except this time they were safely behind the fences of the St Lucia Crocodile centre.
Learning about the crocodile skeleton from Mark
These spiny plates sit on top of the main skeletal body of the crocodile
Just in case you hadn't noticed
From babies and dwarfs to humungous adults, the variety at the centre is astounding.
Four year old dwarves, no, not the students, the crocodiles!
Led by Mark around the centre he made sure that by the time we left we began to learn all the little quirks about each species and even got to see a couple that have been rescued.
through the gates, where very few people tread we see the other side of the crocodile centre
Everyone wanted a photograph of the Alligator eating a chicken...
...before rushing off to the baby crocodiles
The little crocs were just a warm up, there were bigger ones to catch too!
How many people get to say they sat on a Crocodile and lived to tell the tale!?
Second day at Albizia Camp – Umkhumbi Lodge
A very important part of the Environmental awareness course today – perhaps THE most important bit – Game Drive!!
So all the students are currently on safari at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game reserve. One of the oldest game reserves in South Africa, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi has well established herds and territories (including the ‘big 5′) within its 96,000 hectares. The big five includes, elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo.
Some of them were even lucky enough to see an Elephant nearly as soon as they got in the gate!
Who completely ignored them on his way to a tasty looking tree…
And as if a baby giraffe yesterday wasn’t enough, they even got to spot a baby Zebra.
Tomorrow is a trip to St Lucia, where we get to play with crocodiles!
First day continued
Well, Africa weather is here at last.
Many students throughout the trip had been complaining that it was too cold, that they thought Africa was hot and they can handle the heat. The temperature reached 28c and then there were complaints about the heat – some people are never happy
We didn’t have the heart to tell them that it wasn’t even summer yet!
Thankfully their walk in the shady avenues created by the overhanging acacia trees left them with plenty of shade to hide from the midday sun.
Even the heat couldn’t kill morale as the animals appeared out of the bush. Firstly zebras, monitor lizard, impala, warthog, red and grey duiker and then the giraffes (including a baby one on spindly legs) all of which seemed content to pose for pictures.
Follow a long afternoon splashing around in the pool playing shark, well in the pool for some, like Emily who found out why you never trust a rubber dinghy – especially when fully clothed.
Pictures to follow tomorrow evening.
