Fire at Sondela.

On Thursday (19/08/10) afternoon as most of our students were working on either our files or blogs when suddenly the fire alarm ( A high pitched screetching noise) went off right next door to the Academy.

Previously having gone through a fire drill we all clambered down the stairs to the workshop where they keep the saftey masks ect ect. Upon arrival we were notified that there actually was a fire and that this wasnt a joke. Due to us being students we're not allowed to fight in an actual fire, but some of us like myself were sent to the wildlife centre to help out as they readied the feeding if something was to happen. Luckily we were prepared for the news that the fire/ wind direction has changed and was heading straight for the W.L.C. All animals were put into either cages or bhoma's which naturally placed in fire saftey spots. Luckily the wind changed direction away from the W.L.C and the animals were taken back to their cages and bhoma's. Fortunatly no one was hurt, and the students on duty the next day went to back sure that the smouldering tree's and bushes were killed so that we could prevent a new fire from starting.

Serval Release!

This Morning we Released a young male Serval that was caught on a nearby Resort. He was the brought to Sondela Nature Reserve to join the rest of our wide variety of felines on Sondela.

Description: The Serval is a medium sized feline with black spots on a golden orange coat. Much like the Cheetah, Servals also have "tear-marks" on their faces. Males are much larger than females though the most common size for them would be 59-92 cm. Females weight in at about 7-12kg's and the males at 9-18kgs. Servals have the longest legs of all cats, which is interesting because of their short slender bodies.

They have many Subspecies which include:
-Leptailurus Serval Serval, Cape Province.
-Leptailurus Serval Beirae, Mozambique
-Leptailurus Serval Brachyurus, East Africa, Ethiopia and Sahel.
-Leptailurus Serval Hindei, Tanzania

Hunting and Diet: Servals are Nocturnal and thus hunt mostly at night unless disturbed by humans or larger nocturnal predators. Although the Serval is designed to mostly catch Rodents it can also hunt Lizards, Birds, Hyena's, Gazelle, Springbok and Hares.

After we had a quick lesson on Servals and their behaviour we released the animal back into the wild and like a gunshot he took off into the direction of the Resort of where he origionally came from. After much excitment and pictures we returned back to the Academy to continue with our work.

Cultural Heritage Resource Managment.

Today we went up to one of the many 'Koppies' on Sondela where we found many artifacts from the early stone age right up to the late Iron Age which was very intresting and unique to experience.

In the picture to the right is my speciman identity form in which I took a picture of the piece of Flint I found and the general information that I gathered from the site. Today I learned that large rounded stones were from the early Stone Age which were used to either break and crack open things such as nuts, eggs, skulls (;D) ect ect. Then those instruments developed into sharper accurate tools which indicated that the earlier beings whom visited Waterkop Punt were already into the middle stone age.

After a few more minutes of searching we found evidence that those who lived in the middle stone age developed into the Iron age- Phew! It proved to be a very enlightening lesson, I could feel my very roots reaching to that exact shady spot where I found my stone under a very comfortable looking patch of grass.

Combating Invading (Alien) Plants.

Combating Aliens Plants.

And no, it isn't some sort or new computer game. In fact, its the process of removing problem plants such as 'Cestrum Laevigatum' or the Cigarette plant which was killing off our livestock and potentially deadly to both humans and wildlife.

Excitedly, we first searched for information on this plant ( Cetrum Laevigatum) from various sites before we started with our practical work.

Description: It is a many brunched plant, which grows from 6-12 meters in length when in coastal regions. But in places such as Limpop or the freestate they grow up to 3 Meters.
Dark- Light greenish colour with yellow tube-like flowers which are quite sweet smelling. Later (Spring-Summer) Greenish berries will appear which to most animals is an open invatation.

Distribution: Mostly in Cattle, especially in winter when there is less to eat. Cattle arent very peticular about what they eat thus are prone to eating anything that they can find.

Prevention: Now most sites said for us to remove our cattle from the "infected" grazing area but preferably we decided to manually cut down near the bottom of the stems then dose them in poison.

Toxic Principle: Diterpenoid.

Clinical Signs: Hollow eyes, salivating, swollen hooves, abdominal pain , muscle tremors, staggering gait, aggression, Groaning, constipation and weakness. Are some of the syptoms.

Now exactly as I explained in "Prevention". Armed with gloves, goggles and poison we bravely dabbed the plants at the base of their open stems. Also, oddly enough the biggest bushes were found in the sun, and the lesser bushes were in the shade. Victoriously the lesson ended with no major casualties.

Over and Out.
=)

Giraffe Capture.

Giraffe Capture.
In the image to your right there are four Sondela students including myself. Infront of us is a stillborn giraffe calf that caused the female some distress.

After catching her, and darting her with a tranqulizer we got her to lie down and had to get a few students to hold her head steady. Luckily the Vet was there to help, he bravely stuck his hand inside of the female to help guide the little one out. If you zoom into the picture you'll see the eye of the young calf is white and milky in colour which is a sign that he has been dead for over eight hours- luckily we found the female before any damage was done.

Afterwards we gave the Giraffe female her shots to protect her from any infection. The baby nicknamed "Happy face" was quickly taken to the vulture resturant.

Bring and Braai

Bring and Braai with the Northern folks from Ireland!

After a hard day of miking the cows and mingling with the guests, I heard news that myself and my friend Pg had to work bring and braai. Now obviously, being who I am I internally went "Whoop Whoop" but on the outside I put on the usual scowl so many young people wear on their faces.

After straightening my uniform, brushing my and picking twigs and bugs from my teeth I walked to the Bhoma section behind the resturant. After lighting the candles, and carrying out dishes of various salads I heard a commotion to my left and noticed a whole group of young women talking loudly to themselves in hat seemed to be gibberish. Excitedly I walked up to them and greeted them the Sondela way (Uhem, with a smile and bright eyes) .

Despite the cold weather the vibe was exciting yet chilled. The girls from Northern Ireland got to "Braai" for the first time and decided that "Wors" means cool. So in all, to say the least I got a cultural experience that will make me laugh for the rest of my life.

Compost at Sondela!

Compost.

Compost is composed of organic matter which is rich in minerals and nutrients. Which is good for Gardens and even Farmlands, because of its high aerobic decompostion many living organisms live and enrich the soil (Compost). Now if you think of Compost you think of rotting food and waste products that cause quite a stink, but in actual fact it doesnt. If you have a "Healthy" Compost it should smell very earthy and wet, but when its "Unhealthy" a putrid or eggish smell would be your largest indication.

Compost heaps dont just include rotting food and dying plant matter but also rotting wood and wood shavings to add an almost bulk like weight to it. Without wood or shavings to it the compost will only be furtile in nutrients for a few days.