Week two at Ulovane

Week two at Ulovane:

Monday started with a 2 hour test at 8am which wasn't too bad, although we haven't got the results yet so maybe I'll eat my words tomorrow. It was a balmy 38C and most of the rest of the day was spent indoors and waiting for it to cool down. At about 4pm we departed on our first night drive which was wonderful as we came across a male and female lion who were calling and moaning to each other. The female came right up to the land rover and it felt as if she was looking right at me(which was a bit uncomfortable as she definitely looked "interested"), but our guide Kyle managed to put her at ease and we moved our vehicle so that we weren't in the middle of the two of them. I will never forget the sound of them calling each other - it's absolutely spine chilling, exciting and has to rate as one of my top experiences :)

The next couple of days consisted of lessons in geology, human history and habitation in the mornings and drives in the afternoon to consolidate the information (whilst seeing lots of cool animals). Thursday was astronomy lesson and then a long drive to "bush braai" for our first sleepout in the bush. We made a tasty vegetable potjie and braai boerewors, then slept around the campfire - all had to take turns to keep watch during the night so not much sleep was had. We also did some stargazing and a massive

full moon, the southern cross, scorpio and later orion's belt were discussed.

Over the weekend Mama Thabsie (the cook) was away so everyone took turns in preparing meals - Kerim showed me how to make delicious garlic and oregano flatbread which we ate with salad and olive oil and balsamic dressing - yum :)