Christian nature conservation

Collecting of speciments at Sondela heritage site

2010-08-17T03:03:00.000-07:00

On 17August2010 we went up to the water punt koppies to do specimen collection of the cultural heritage site at Sondela. When we arrived there we were briefed on the different stone and iron ages and what tools they used to make their life easier. We then looked for the different artefact's and we filled in a specimen collectors form to show the location, what it was and who found it because we can't take the specimens off the site otherwise the heritage goes lost.

We found different artefact's such as flint(hand axes,shearers, spear and arrow heads), metal slag,pottery shards and grinding stones. All these artefact's were used as tools for all their different needs.

Flints: Middle and late stone age, used for hand axes,shearers, spear and arrow heads.(Tools were a bit smaller and flints were a very hard stone, most of it you could almost see through).

Pottery shards: Late stone age, used to carry water and other stuff

Grinding stones: Stone age, used to mole food, herbs and plants for medicine.

Metal slag: Iron age, proof that they made tools out of metal.

GAME CAPTURE

2010-08-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

On the 26July we started with game capture. We started on Monday morning 06:00 with a pre-briefing from our conservation manager, where he told us about all the safety aspects and why we are doing the game capture.

After the briefing we started to unpack the truck and sorted all the poles so that we can erect the boma.The boma is built in a funnel form. We then laid out the cable and cleaned the pathway before we could put up the poles that keeps the cables tight. The cables are there for the sails to hang on, to open and close. There are two cables, one at the bottom and one at the top to hold the sails. Extra poles are put up at the point from where the sails are been closed. The reason for the extra poles are to put up camouflage with branches with leaves that nicely cover the sales when they are open. At each camouflage point there is two people that hides in there and wait for their alarm so they can close the sales ones the animals are in the boma. They have sails in the middle that closes as the animals move forward where the boma becomes thinner. At the end of the boma,there is a ramp where the animals will walk up into the truck and the truck also has different compartments that closes as the animals walk in so that we can keep the animals apart so they won't hurt each other. It is also important that the people does not smoke or urine anywhere near the boma area because the animals have a very strong sense of smell and that smell will scare them and prevent them from coming into the boma area.

When the boma was finished, we had the manager of the game capture check if everything was correct. after everything was checked the manager climbed into his chopper and started looking for the animals that we decided to catch at first. The animals we were catching firstly was Kudu's, primarily bulls. He started chasing the Kudu's towards the boma with his chopper. As the chopper gets closer it makes a beeping sound to warn the people that they must hide in their camouflage and be quiet. when the animals are in the boma he will let the first siren go and then all the people at the outside sails will close, trapping the Kudu's in the boma. Then he will chase them in the direction of the truck and as they get closer he will let the second siren go and they will close the first middle piece with the sails. He will then chase them into the last section and let the third siren go. When the animals are in the truck he will let the last siren go to let everybody know that they can open the sails again. When the animals are in the truck, they get sprayed with a stress reliever like stressenol to relax them for the transportation so that they won't stress out. We did the same with the Eland,Blesbok and Blue wildebeest we captured. All the baby kudu's were darted and taken to the rehabilitation centre to be looked after.

This was an amazing experience.

FIREBREAKS

2010-06-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks I have been doing fire prevention by making firebreaks. The second year students did the planning of the whole thing and then presented it to the operational team to get approved. When it was approved, the first year students were briefed on what is going to be expected of them and all health and safety as well as the legal requirements.We had to make two big fire breaks around the Chalets and Makhato houses. When everyone new what was expected of them we started to implement the planning.

The equipment we used was, axes, pungas, hand saw, brush cutters, rakes and the slashers that was on the tractors. Our job was to clear the way for the slashers so they do not get damaged, cut and clean around the places that the tractors couldn't cut, we had to lift the trees by cutting all the branches that was close to the ground and clearing all the raw material from the site. We also removed all the dead trees fom the ground because it is very dry wood and will make the fire worse

WORKING WITH WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY

2010-05-20T00:02:00.000-07:00

I have been working at the wildlife centre throughout the whole year. My course that I am doing now have a lot more in depth information about animals in captivity.

Firstly I learned about the important of personal hygiene and the importants of keeping the animals environment clean. I cleaned cages myself so that I could get the experience.

The best part was when we learned about how and why animals boma's are build in a specific way. The preparation,feeding and animal behavior was the most interesting part of the course, where you learn why animals behave in a certain matter and how to avoid danger and injury.

I really found it interesting to do the fiscal work to gain the experience.

GAME CAPTURING

2010-05-10T23:46:00.000-07:00

On the 5th of May myself and a few of the other students went to go capture Rhino's near Rust de Winter. The farmer had a problem with poachers on his farm. We were called in to help the vet to catch the rest of the Rhino's because the farmer sold them to someone else.

We started by being at the farm at 7am. We then waited for the vet to arrive where he told us what is going to happen and what was expected of us. He then got everything ready before we started. As he flew with his chopper to go look for the Rhino's, us that were part of the ground crew stared moving in the direction of the chopper with the trucks.

We were in contact constantly with the vet on the chopper by radio. As he darted the first Rhino we rushed towards the seen with the trucks. As we arrived at the seen, the ground vet put a cloth over the Rhino's eyes. We then helped to get the Rhino in the right position. The ground vet then woke up the Rhino and we helped leading the Rhino into the truck. After we made sure that the Rhino is safe and everything was alright we then proceeded to go look for the next Rhino.

The day was a great success and there was no problems. We caught four Rhino's for the day. I feel really honored to have been part of that experience.

Debrief of holiday work

2010-04-15T01:06:00.000-07:00

DEBRIEF AND REPORT ON

EASTER HOLIDAY

Analyze every topic?

a.Identify component

b.Strong points

c.Challanges

d.What did I learn

e.how can we make it better

Topics

1 Theoretical training

2 Roster

3 Welcoming

4 Conservation

5 Wildlife centre

6 Guiding

7 Student on duty

8 After hour activities

9 Social

CHRISTIAN SMITH

EASTER HOLIDAY

1. Theoretical training

a. We did a intense 2 week course on our theory to help with the guiding during the Easter holidays

b. It helped me to get more confidence when I am guiding because I know more about the animals and can interpret stuff by just looking at them without knowing what it is.

c. I struggled to get all the information in my head in such a short time.

d. I learned a lot of interesting facts about animals.

e. Just need a little more time to get the information in my head.

2. Roster

a. It just consist of when are we working where.

b. I got a chance to work everywhere, learned to be organized.

c. None

d. How to work in different sections of the workplace.

e. Maybe you can put us in the same workplace a bit longer, because if you only work their one day you start learning something and then you must move on to the next.

3. Welcoming

a. Welcoming the new guests and telling them about Sondela.

b. I am very friendly. Enjoy talking to the guests.

c. When it rained I had a lot of irritated guests and I was wet.

d. To be patient and read the guest.

e. When it rains they can organise us rainjackets.

4. Conservation

a. Everything in the field from closing roads to cutting grass.

b. I like working in the field.

c. Sun can be hot when working in field.

d. How to cut “voorbrand” next to the pathways. How to use the brushcutter correctly. Reasons for closing wet roads.

e. Start working earlier so that the sun doesn’t effect you so badly.

5. Wildlife Centre

a. Working with animals and taking care of them,

b. Like feeding the animals and cleaning cages.

c. None

d. How to take care of animals and how to keep its place clean.

e. I want to learn more stuff about the animals and how you treat them when sick.

6. Guiding

a. Game drives/Gamewalks

b. Very good when speaking with cliënts.

c. Don’t have much knowledge about birds.

d. Good client relations.

e. Give a course in birding.

7. Student on duty

a. Learning leadership skills.

b. Everything went well.

c. None

d. How to take responsibility for other people.

e. Give more responsibility so I can learn more.

8. After hours activity

a. Bring and Braai

b. Good with socializing with guests.

c. Tired after long day work.

d. Guest relations

e. Work more in shifts.

9. Socials

a. Mango’s

b. Blow off steam.

c. None

d. You need to enjoy yourself as well.

e. Give us more freedom after hours.

Working at conservation

2010-04-11T23:03:00.000-07:00

The day after the brush cutter course I was sent into the field to go cut the grass next to the roads to prevent fires from jumping over the roads and to keep the side of the roads neat and tidy. I learned how to use the brush cutters in the correct manner in the field and how to look for dangers that might damage the brush cutter.

The next day I worked at the wild life centre and I learned how to keep the place neat and tidy by cutting all the dead branches hanging from the trees and taking out dead trees. I also learned how to keep the place neat by raking.

My day doing nature conservation

2010-04-06T05:36:00.000-07:00

We started the morning with closing the roads to the turf lands and the roads that might be dangerous to drive or where someone can get stuck. We used thorn tree branches and roadside cones to indicate that the roads are closed. We also did some fence checks. We then came together and went for a course on how to use the brush cutters[the thing we use to cut the grass] correctly.

Tambuki experience

2010-03-28T23:36:00.000-07:00

The 2day Tambuki tour was a great experience and very good for the learning. The reason for the tour is to improve our guiding skills and put our theoretical knowledge into practical training.

On Tuesday 23March we started our tour from the boys house. Each one of the students had a chance to lead the tour and present the people with their knowledge. It was a very long walk but it was really fun. I learned about new tree types, allot about spoor, different soils and what grows there. We arrived at camp and just relaxed for a while then we set out to the field to learn more about that side of the bush. The evening wasn't very busy, we just talked about what we have learned.

On Wednesday we stood up very early, some of us made fire for some coffee. We went on a hiking expedition to a small rocky mountain. On our way there we learned some interesting stuff about spiders, fungi and algi. When we arrived there we discovered that it is a cultural site and we could see that by the marks on the rocks that showed they have sharpened other rocks, we also found small peaces of bone that showed that the people who lived there has slaughtered animals there and we also found different rock tipes. On our way back we en counted a lot of spiders. That evening we did a bit of night skies and I learned more about stars.

On Thursday we were very organized when we stood up, everybody had there task to do, to make everything go smoothly. We then cleaned the place and started walking back. I was assessed on the walk back and I think that I really did well. I am ready to start my guiding carrier.

MEET THE MANAGEMENT

2010-03-19T02:14:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday 17March we had a meet the management function. This consisted of us the students organising a function where we will meet all the top management and they get to meet all the students. It was a very well organized function and there went a lot of planning into it.

The hotel and lodge students made all the food for the function and us nature conservation students helped with decorating and started the fires. We welcomed all the guests and introduced our self to everyone.All our top management was given a chance to introduce them self's and say a few words. We had a slide show about what we have done during the past 2 months at sondela. We also had an slide show of each person with a foto, your favourite quote, what we are studying and what we have learned so far at sondela. We had a wonderful meal and then had to do our song and dance that we prepared. After that, everyone socialized. After everything was finished all the students helped to clean up.

The evening was a great success!

My off weekend

2010-03-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

On my off weekend I was given the opportunity to work on another farm called Korro-korro. I helped with controlling problem animals. I sharpened up my bar tending skills, did fence checks and made sure the animals in the camp is OK. I followed a injured animal to make sure that the animal is going to be OK. On Saturday I had to run the farm because the farmer had to go somewhere for the day. I started in the morning opening the gate, then showed all the workers what they should do. I ran the bar and did guest relations. At night I had to braai for the clients and keep them happy.

I really learned a lot .

Fire fighting!!!!!!

2010-03-02T22:33:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday 2 February I have started with my fire fighting course.

I firstly did some of the legal aspects of fire fighting. I then went through to the store room were all the fire fighting equipment and what its use is was explained to me. I have also learned why we have to wear the equipment. We then did a few fire drills were everyone was given a position what they are suppose to do in the fire. I was in front with the nozzle doing the spraying of the fires. I realised how fast everything happens and that you have to work in a team and help each other. You also have to be very organized. After lunch time I learned the rest of the legal aspects of fire fighting.

Although I have done fire fighting on my uncles farm, I have learned very much during the course of fire fighting at sondela.

FIRST AID COURSE

2010-02-25T22:55:00.000-08:00

On tueseday the 23 February I started with my 1st day of the first aid course. I have learned alot about the main arteries and how the blood gets pumped through the hart. We were shown how to do CPR correctly and practised it on a doll. We also learned about the different types of cuts and how to treaat them. I also learned how to help a patiant that is choking.

On the second day of the course I learned more about snake bites and how to treat them. I also learned how to splint a leg correctly. I then had to write a test about all the work. I was also assesed on how to do all the stuff I learned practically.

I passed my first aid course and I am now a qualified first aid level1.

Second weekend of work!!!!

2010-02-24T21:58:00.000-08:00

On my second weekend of work: I was put on the game drives again. I did welcoming on the Friday and it went really good. I could give the information about the farm to the guest much easier thain the previous working weekend. I felt much more relaxed. The farm was full again this weekend. I did a few game drives during the weekend. I also had to pick up guests at the front gate and take them through to the wild life centre and take them back again.

We also had a bring and braai and I had to braai for the guests. Throughout the evening I had to keep the guest entertained by speaking and keeping them company. I had to do guest relations throughout the weekend. Monday I did welcoming and it went very good. I am getting better and better with speaking to the guest.

2010-02-07T22:05:00.000-08:00

MY FIRST WEEKEND OF WORK

I learned a wide variety of work experience in this weekend that I worked.

What did I do?
-I started with class until 12:00 on Friday.
-Then I did welcoming until 21:00.
-On Saturday morning I started by helping to set up tables for the farmers market and managers tee.
-I helped selling our farm products at the farmers market.
-I helped to keep the kids busy at the entertainment area.
-I went on a tractor game drive
-At 19:00 myself and Calvin did a night game drive.
-On Sunday morning I helped preparing the tables for the guests.
-Talking to guests during the day and making shore the place is clean.
-At 15:00 we had a meeting about how the weekend went.
-At 16:00 myself and JP did a game drive
-On Monday morning I had class in the morning and from 1 to 7pm I did welcoming.

What did I learn?

-On the game drives I learned a lot of interesting stuff about the animals and some funny stories to keep the guests entertained.
-I also learned how to speak to guests and how to keep the place neat and tidy.
-I started to learn how to read guests before I even speak to them.

Tour of town

2010-02-03T03:48:00.000-08:00

Arrive-Depart	Site	Direction	Commentary
9:05 – 9:35	Information Centre	When you get off the N1 Highway turn left on the R101. Go straight and follow the road. When you get to the traffic light go straight over. The Information Centre will be on your left hand side.	· Well organized · Well informed · Very friendly · All Bela Bela info
9:45 – 10:00	Grave Yard	Behind the Municipality Building. In Minaar Street	Very old Town build around it Grass was long Christina Pretorius berried
10:07 – 10:20	African Market	When you leave the Information Centre at the Traffic Light you turn right. Go straight, next traffic light you take the slip way left, next turn right. You will see the African Market on your right hand side in Ritchie road	Lots to buy Very tourist friendly Everyone there is from another country Lots of handmade ornaments
Arrive-Depart	Site	Direction	Commentary
10:30 – 10:38	Block House	In the Industrial area	Used to protect the railway Operated by 7 people Big stone walls and small windows for safety Railway goes all the way to Zimbabwe
10:40 – 10:45	Silo’s	In the Industrial area	7 Big silo’s – 45m high -37.7m in diameters-35 ton 4 Small silo’s- 45m high – all 4 take 45 ton Owned by NTK
10:45 – 11:01	Township	When you get off the N1 Highway turn left on the R101. Go straight and follow the road. As soon as you see houses on you left hand side. That is the township	Very clean compared to other townships People are friendly Neat taverns and Jazz clubs Lots

Culling of Quelea

2010-02-02T21:55:00.000-08:00

I had a lifetime experience on the 2 February when I have learned how to cull Quelea's and the different methods of doing so. There are 2 different methods of culling Quelea's, the 1 is by fire and the other one is the one we used is poison. The reason we did not use the fire method is because it is in the bush veld and that could lead to veld fires.

OBJECTIVE; The objective is to terminate the Quelea's because they have become a problem for the farmers around the area. A Quelea colony can eat approximately 4 to 8 tons of grain per day. This causes the problem of food security. Management made an informed choice. Doing it on the most possible humane way is very important.

PLANNING; There is allot of planning going into a operation like this. Everyone got a general briefing. Everything was well organized and well thought out. The only negative thing about the planning is that us students wanted to be more involved. We also had to check for open water so that we don't contaminate the water and the animals that live there.

SITE VISIT; Learned more about the non-targeted species that were situated at the area where the quelea's were breeding.

DEMARCATE ; Before we went into the field we had first had a site briefing so that everyone knows what they should and should not do. We went into the field. The farmers started demarcating the area and we were informed more about quelea's and why they are such problem animals. Myself and the other students then started chasing all the non-targeted animals that we could find out of the marked area. The torches consist of a empty can with diesel and a cloth inside the can. That can is tied to a steel dropper that has been hit into the ground. The torches was lit up just before it became dark. The reason for the torches is so that the airplane can see which area he must spray with the poison so that he won't contaminate other places. There was also a bakkie showing the pilot where the power lines are so that he doesn't fly into them.

EVACUATION; We evacuated the demarcated area.We had to make shore that all precautions are in place. The fire trucks,first aid bags was on site. The power lines was indicated by a bakkie so that the plane does not fly into the power lines.

AEROPLANE; The aeroplane then came to spray the area. One of the guys on the ground spoke to the pilot over the radio to make shore he can see the marked area clearly. The poisons name is FALCOLAN. It brakes down your red blood sells. The antidote for this poison is ATROPINE. The dosage of the antidote that should be used for birds is, 1mg/kg. The pilot finished spraying half of the marked area then he had to go fill up with poison to spray the rest. When he finished the last part he let us know on the radio. We went home to go rest.

The next morning at 05:00 we and the farm workers were back in the field to start picking up the dead quelea's and looked for all the non-targeted animals that might be in the area. We found 1white faced owl that has died and one that we took to our wildlife centre to rehabilitate it. We also found a cattle egret and a puff adder the we took to the wild life centre for rehabilitation. We had to continue for a couple of days to make shore that the non-target animals that is infected can be saved.