MANUHA: Part One!

Manuha

When we arrived at Manuha, there were lots of dogs running around for the first night, until the owners left the next day. My favourite was a Beagle. He was adorable, playful and a little soppy.

Meercat Colony

On our first walk, we saw a meercat colony. There's only one meercat colony on the reserve, however there are three burrow systems. Meercats are very clean and very territorial and so when ground squirrels move in their burrow (bringing external parasites with them), the meercats move off to another burrow. The squirrels will eventually follow. When they do, the meercats will then move on to another burrow system.

Giraffes

We couldn't believe our luck when we stumbled upon 6 giraffes almost straight away into our first walk. We were extremely close to them, the trick is to move around them  slowly getting closer and not moving directly towards them. An easy way to distinguish between males and females is that bulls (males), normally have very little/no hair between their horns on their head. This is usually worn away from fighting.

Above: A Juvenile Giraffe checking us out.

Small-Spotted Genet Tracks

These tracks were made by a small-spotted genet. The track is very circular and small, usually being easy to ID because you can usually cover the track with a single finger.

Gemsbok, Kudu and Sable Antelope

Below is a gemsbok.

An antelope that I loved seeing was Greater Kudu. Kudu are brilliant antelopes. we usually saw small herds or bachelor herds. I love the way the males horns spiral round above their big ears.

Sable are a lot of peoples favourites. The males are black, whereas the females are more brown. They have beautiful  curved horns and they move very gracefully. 

These photos were taken of bachelor herds.  Males will often travel together away from a breeding herd of females and they're young which will usually be driven by an alpha male.  When the males of the breeding herd reach a certain age they will leave that herd and form new bachelor herds until they're older and begin to establish and defend a territory of their own.

Mist netting

We put up more mist nets and caught a lot more birds than we did in the Karoo.

This is a Red-Eyed Bulbul. We caught A LOT of these!  They would often drink from a tap that was dripping in front of where we set up a mist net and so was common for them to fly into it.

Another bird we caught was a Speckled Mouse Bird (below). We saw probably, hundreds of these birds, however this was the only one we caught. Many of the flew into the net, but managed just simply fly out of it. This bird is grey and has a crest and although the name may suggest that it may have speckled, it has none at all.

When the next bird flew into the net, the person getting it out wasnt best pleased and let out a few bad words. This is an Acaia Pied Barbet and can b nasty if it wants to nibble you. 

As the picture below shows nicely, its beak is sharp and can easily draw blood (and it did).

Below was another that I liked; a Cape Robin-Chat.

CAPE TOWN: Part One!

Firstly, apologies that this is so late! I was super tired/busy when I got back.... I'm gonna catch up and share all my lovely adventures with you soon!

Secondly, Cape Town was truly lovely and I would go back in a heartbeat if I could! There is so much to do that a week is just nowhere near long enough. That and the fact that the first half of the week the weather wasn't too great, so a lot of things such as shark diving and Robben Island weren't sending boats out :(

Vineyard Tours and Wine Tasting

On our first full day in Cape town we went wine tasting in the morning with a few other people from the hostel. We went to two vineyards. The first was called Spier and is one of the oldest in the area. Three white and then three red. We also had a tour around the vineyard and learnt of the history of the vineyard. we stopped for lunch in a small town and had cheesy chicken nuggets (amazing!) and chips all for less than a pound! Next was the second vineyard where we had chocolates with our wine, slightly more expensive however totally worth it!

Afrikaans Language Monument

After we'd sipped (/gulped) down all our wine we stopped off at the Afrikaans Language Monument (below).

Cape Point

The following day we had a busy day ahead of us; to start everything off we had a full English breakfast at a small cafe in Simons Town, before heading to Cape Point. On the drive we saw some Zebras!!! Maybe not the most exciting animal in South Africa (especially with what was to come) but to an IWB student it was very exciting nonetheless! At Cape Point we had a short walk up to the light house you see in the distance. Its lots further up, up little winding paths, than it looks and after I'd broken my foot and only wore trainers, it was hard work! But it all paid off with the amazing views you see up there.

At cape point you can see where the Indian ocean and the Atlantic ocean.  It was lovely weather compared to what it had been the day before and pictures just don't show how amazing some of these views were. 

Following suit of other visitors we all signed our names on the rock and then did one all together on bottom of the post showing where some major cities were and also positioned it so it was pointing to London! 

Boulders Beach

Then on to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve where we saw lots of ostrich and a few seals on a far out rock, lazing around in the sunshine. Then off to Boulders Beach to see the penguins. They were adorable, if i could have fit one in my bag, I definitely would have. There were a lot of juvenile penguins there, some loosing their baby feathers and others still curled up with their parents. 

We drove around the cliffs up to a small harbour where one of the fishermen was feeding a couple of seals. then gave us the chance to have a go.

Khayelitsha

In the Afternoon we went to a township called Khayelitsha.We had lunch in a small food place that our tour guide took us to. Its quite dangerous for tourists to go into the township by themselves. Our tour guide worked at the hostel and lived in the township himself. Lunch consisted of maize, beans, gravy and chicken and of course we had to eat it with our hands. It was rather messy but once you've got the knack its easy! And it was delicious!

Juma (Our tour guide), gave us a tour around near where he lived. Below is a picture of his office, the artwork on it done himself. As well as doing tours and working at the hostel, he also works with both local and international artists, doing street art in the township to try and promote social change through art. Its amazing how much it brightens the area up. 

Some were of wildlife and others symbolic or had meaning. The Kindergarten was also painted, the community got together and managed to paint the whole garden/play area and the school buildings in an afternoon. He said the community in this township is very strong and important to them. Before heading back as it was going to get dark soon, we had a beer (or a cider if you were more inclined) in a tavern near his house. It was daunting at first as you got funny looks as they knew you weren't from there, but Juma knew them all well and it was rather an enjoyable experience. 

To find out more about Juma's art tours go to: JUMA ART TOURS

EXAMS DONE and only 9 days to go!

Finished my exams and with only 9 days to go I can I'm extremely excited now for South Africa! I picked up my polo shirt and  field journal and filled in the last few forms and now I'm pretty much ready to go! I cant believe how quickly its come. It crazy to think that I'm finally going after applying for University two years ago and thinking what an amazing experience this would be and I'm finally about to go! 

I don't think ill be able to post much whilst I'm away, at least when away from Cape Town. So be prepared for a bombardment of posts when I return! 

Ecological Characteristics of Streams.

Today we went to Brecon (near Pen y Fan) to collect some invertebrate specimens from a stream; as well as looking at the physical and biological characteristics of the stream.

Typical Welsh weather; it was raining and even hailing for almost the entire duration of our time there. It was bitterly cold, made worse by the fact that we needed to get our hands wet (and for me, my feet). 

We took measurements of the stream:  width of the stream, bank heights, water heights and stone composition at different intervals across the stream. we also measured the speed of the current by using a leaf and a metre ruler. 

As well as the measurements we had to look at potential sources of pollution and how the area was managed. A lot of trees had been cut down near the stream and water ran through that area into the stream we were on.

Spaghum moss which is on the hill to the right of the stream is acidic and so this can wash down to the river. The red sandstone (mudstone) which is in the river, is also acidic (and contains silica). This all means that the stream will be slightly acidic. 

The area around the stream was sued for grazing of sheep, this means that along the hillside was a field. If the sheep did not graze her it would most likely be an oak forest. If it were than the stream may be different (for example what lives in it).

We looked for signs of flooding, for example plants had been pushed over. It seemed as though the stream had not flooded for a while, although some of the embankment had fallen in, but this could be due to general erosion.

We used nets to gather some invertebrates which we then put into a pot, ready to take back to the lab. 

These included web spinning caddis, cased caddis and large stoneflies.

 By this point the hail had really started to pick up and was starting to hurt as it hit and I knew that my wellies were definitely leaking now due to the lack of feeling in my toes. (The photos really don't show just how miserable the weather really was).

When we got back to the lab we had to pickle the specimens ready for our lab session next week. The water in the jar was emptied as much as possible (without loosing anything) and then methanol was added a 20% water to 80% methanol ratio.

Soil profile

In principles of ecology we had to make a soil profile on a common near Caerphilly. The idea of this is to dig down however far you need to go. We did a metre. We dug a hole big enough to be able to see the soil profile. This is where you can see the different layers of the soil. 

You can clearly see the layer on this the photo (above).

This was a particularly hard practical as it was a very stoney area and there were lots of large rocks we had to dig out, and when only you and one/two others in your group wants to do any hard work, a few hours of doing this really has a toll on your hands and back. 

Whilst we were digging we had to test the soil types of each layer in various ways, such as how moist it was or how well you could mould it/roll it into a ball; as well as write about the area and the weather at the time we were there. 

The picture above shows the start of the hole, this was our third attempt as this patch had the least amounts of large rocks. There were still a lot but at least we could budge these ones without breaking the shovel/spade.

Im going to South Africa!

As if I wasn't excited enough, I had my first Big Game Tracking lecture today. It was just a brief summary of some of the stuff we were going to be covering and other general information.

He told us we needed to learn 5 plant species, 5 bird species and 5 tracks/spores a day whilst we're out there, although I'll obviously need to know a lot of the common ones and some mammals before we go. (He ran through a few today, just to give us a taster). 

We're unbelievably lucky that we get to go to places that we wouldn't normally get to go, for example private parts of the reserves. 

My lecturer also explained in a bit more detail the shooting aspect of what we'll do when we're out there. We have to learn to shoot a rifle and a handgun and be able to know the correct spots to hit them to be able to take an animal down quickly. This is mainly to protect ourselves and others if something if it poses as a threat to you and others around you, you need to be react quickly. 

He also told me about how hunting funds a big part of conservation. Tourism doesn't bring in a lot of money for them, however hunters that come across will pay far more than a tourist would. (although I'm almost certain that you need a licence and a permit). Although I'm not too sure how I fell about that, its one thing to protect yourselves and other around you, but another to do it for fun. But I cant argue that its an easy way for them to fund conservation out there.

On a happier note, I'm also looking forward to seeing some penguins as well as all the normal safari animals! 

Sully Shore Field Trip

We got a coach to Sully shore to do a species diversity survey along the shoreline of the different algae, seaweed, molluscs and barnacles etc.

Getting to our starting point was an adventure in itself, the seaweed was very slippery and the rocks with out seaweed were wet from rain and slippery all the same.

We had to measure the decline (/incline) of the slope down from the cliff to the sea. We did this by using a 30m tape measure as a transect and then measured every 2m with two striped poles and measuring the height difference between each. At every 2m a quadrat is placed and all the species present recorded as well as the percentage of each of the species within it.

Being Wales and winter it was raining on and off the entire time we were there with only one brief interval of sun. When it got just after four the sun went down and it got so bitterly cold that I could barely feel nor move my hands much. And I was pretty sure my wellies had started to leak...