21-24March 2011
21March
I started at the Farmyard milking cows and showing children how it works and then letting them do it this was an different experience as it was sometimes difficult as the children are small and don not always listen.I went on a Game Drive learned a lot but also saw how much I already have learned .I had guest welcoming at 18:00 this we do every Friday and Monday.
22March
There was a huge hole in the fence at the hunting ground the Kudu broke the fence.The fence was really rusted and there was a big piece broken threw so we decided to make a project of it and just did a touch up on the fence because we can not fix it proper every time we attach the wire again it snaps.We decided to come back the following day and do it all over.We just had to closed it for the night otherwise we can loose more animals.
23March
We got all our equipment together and it was confirmed we are going to take out that piece and erect a new fence.This was the first time that we had to put a new piece of fencing in from anchor post to anchor post the anchor post needed to be cemented again and there were 18 wires to connect.We attached all the wires and then we put in new droppers and y-standards we also dismantled a gate and we sent it in to be fixed.
24March
This was an exciting day for the people of Wildlife Center as we were going out to let the Vulture free that they were rehabilitating for an while now.It was the most amazing thing to see when he started running and then flew of they followed his movement the whole day to see if it is still fine.After this we went to the "koppies" were we learned about cultural heritage and looked for things that were left by nomadic groups thousands of years ago we found interesting things like clay pots, bones and spear points.We also found pieces of iron the closest place to Bela Bela that has Iron is Thabazimbi that shows that it was taken there by people many years ago.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Resource Guardianship week 4
16-20March 2011
16March
Today I was very excited but very nervous because we got the best news every we were going to start with Game Capture.It was an bit early in the year as it was still very hot but we had to do it as the population of males were growing to fast and this means they were fighting more over territory than worrying about family and mating.The ratio between males and females was not correct.We started building the Boma this was hard work but fun.We cut trees for camouflage and put the structure together.This was interesting to see how the whole set up works and how much planning really goes into it.
17March
We had an really early start because we wanted to start before the day gets to hot.We were all really excited but in the same breath very anxious.No one knew what to expect this was overall a great experience we had some very close encounters with the animals.This was very scary as the animals are wild and trapped that means there more aggressive than usual as they are scared and wants to get out.Over all we caught about 20 antelope such as Blue Wildebeest and Zebra.This was far less than expected as this was our first time there was way to many communication gaps as the helicopter chased the animals in.This made it I bit frustrating and put a lot of pressure on as for the following day to get to our number.
18March
We got up early again for the capture today everyone looked more focused and everyone at least now had a days experience behind them so knew what to do.We caught a lot more today and the communication was good amongst one another the best catch according to me was the Oryx Gazelle.They are very dangerous and this made it so difficult and the fact that it is such an beautiful animal made it so amazing this was over all an amazing experience.
19March
I started working late shift and it was raining the whole day so I did guest service at the Caravan Park were I just had to find out if everything is still okay with them if there are any problems.This teaches you to handle different problems and difficult situations.
20March
I worked at the Farmyard were I led the horse took the guests on a small route with the horse you get to talk a lot to the children and other guests.We had a damping problem at the Wildlife Center and I had to go and try to lead the water away from the animals cages other wise it causes further problems the animals get sick.
16March
Today I was very excited but very nervous because we got the best news every we were going to start with Game Capture.It was an bit early in the year as it was still very hot but we had to do it as the population of males were growing to fast and this means they were fighting more over territory than worrying about family and mating.The ratio between males and females was not correct.We started building the Boma this was hard work but fun.We cut trees for camouflage and put the structure together.This was interesting to see how the whole set up works and how much planning really goes into it.
17March
We had an really early start because we wanted to start before the day gets to hot.We were all really excited but in the same breath very anxious.No one knew what to expect this was overall a great experience we had some very close encounters with the animals.This was very scary as the animals are wild and trapped that means there more aggressive than usual as they are scared and wants to get out.Over all we caught about 20 antelope such as Blue Wildebeest and Zebra.This was far less than expected as this was our first time there was way to many communication gaps as the helicopter chased the animals in.This made it I bit frustrating and put a lot of pressure on as for the following day to get to our number.
18March
We got up early again for the capture today everyone looked more focused and everyone at least now had a days experience behind them so knew what to do.We caught a lot more today and the communication was good amongst one another the best catch according to me was the Oryx Gazelle.They are very dangerous and this made it so difficult and the fact that it is such an beautiful animal made it so amazing this was over all an amazing experience.
19March
I started working late shift and it was raining the whole day so I did guest service at the Caravan Park were I just had to find out if everything is still okay with them if there are any problems.This teaches you to handle different problems and difficult situations.
20March
I worked at the Farmyard were I led the horse took the guests on a small route with the horse you get to talk a lot to the children and other guests.We had a damping problem at the Wildlife Center and I had to go and try to lead the water away from the animals cages other wise it causes further problems the animals get sick.
Resource Guardianship week 3
8-11 March2011
8March
Today we went out to the Wildlife Center to learn more about Plants and trees in our environment we also learned the importance of plants and learned about a few plants and what they are used for on the farm.For exp. We harvest "Sekelbos" and then it gets packed and sold for fire wood.We also use the "Vaalboom" for the "latties".We then learned more about the Queen of the Night this plant we use for on the farm as well we cut it down then put pieces of it in the animals drinking water.This helps them with internal parasites.This is an invasive specie that is on the farm that we use to our advantage.
9March
Today we cleaned the water pond that was covered in water weeds and bulrush.We removed all these problem plants and at the same tame we also gathered samples of it and put it into a press.We also gathered some field specimens like a bubbling Casina Frog,Water scorpions and litches this was an very interesting day as we gained a lot of knowledge
10March
I started of clearing one of the bicycle trails from sticks and thorns in the road so that people do not get punctures or damage there bikes or injure them self. Then I went to put lick blocks out on different parts of the farm.This is an weekly thing and we do it because it is an 3 in one lick block that helps with ticks for the animals.Whilst we did this we also monitored local wildlife by counting them and identifying the animals and then logging the GPS cordinates of where the animal is found.
11March
Today we gathered all our equipment to go out like the following:
8March
Today we went out to the Wildlife Center to learn more about Plants and trees in our environment we also learned the importance of plants and learned about a few plants and what they are used for on the farm.For exp. We harvest "Sekelbos" and then it gets packed and sold for fire wood.We also use the "Vaalboom" for the "latties".We then learned more about the Queen of the Night this plant we use for on the farm as well we cut it down then put pieces of it in the animals drinking water.This helps them with internal parasites.This is an invasive specie that is on the farm that we use to our advantage.
9March
Today we cleaned the water pond that was covered in water weeds and bulrush.We removed all these problem plants and at the same tame we also gathered samples of it and put it into a press.We also gathered some field specimens like a bubbling Casina Frog,Water scorpions and litches this was an very interesting day as we gained a lot of knowledge
10March
I started of clearing one of the bicycle trails from sticks and thorns in the road so that people do not get punctures or damage there bikes or injure them self. Then I went to put lick blocks out on different parts of the farm.This is an weekly thing and we do it because it is an 3 in one lick block that helps with ticks for the animals.Whilst we did this we also monitored local wildlife by counting them and identifying the animals and then logging the GPS cordinates of where the animal is found.
11March
Today we gathered all our equipment to go out like the following:
- Slashers
- Rakes
- Pangas
- Saw
- Spade
Yes it sounds like we are going to start with a garden but we went out to clean another bicycle trail and this one was not cleaned for a while so there was a lot to be done.I had to go and cut trees down, clean the road,rake the road remove all the branches hanging over the road.We do all this to insure the safety of guests and that they can enjoy a trail without a tree or branch hitting them of there bikes.
Resource Guardianship week 2
1-7/03/2011
1March 2011
We started the day of at the hunting ground where I checked fences.There were a few minor problems such as y standards & droppers that were skew and bent.This was sorted out quickly by rather bending them straight or replacing them.I also had to fix some holes in the fence and I tightened loose fence.After this I went out to spray a road with poison this is for fire prevention.This is called fire breaks and these roads are done so that if I fire brakes out it can not spread further it stops there because there is no more grass to burn or any other materials in that specific area.
2March2011
Today we started of by chasing unwanted animals out of a certain area because they were causing problems in that area like breaking the fences and so on.We learned a technique of doing this were you have a group of people put in a straight line with space between each person walking more or less the same speed covering a certain area.Then you have people on the sides and this means the animals in that area will run out the other side and then we tried from there to get them threw the fence.
This method helped a lot later on the day as we were looking for an Eland bull that was darted the previous day.We knew round about the area were it was and also walked in a line to search for the Eland we found it dead the reason for this was the fact that the transmitter on the dart never went of so they could not of retrieved it the time it was shot.We also saw that there were some scavengers that fed on the Eland like Jackal,Caracal and Brown Hyena.
3March2011
Today I had to go with some of my fellow students to do fence checks at the 400 ha this was a bit of an challenging task as there was no third or second year supervision and we had a deadline at first it went slow and difficult but when we got started everything went really well.We finished it in time and at least did a really good job as the junior managers were impressed by what we have done.
4March 2011
Today I started working at welcoming were we get the guest from there cars greet them by the surname and welcome them to Sondela.We take them threw to Reception and then when they are finished we take them to the Pancake stand.In this time you get to interact a lot with guests and you get time to share knowledge and to learn how to work with all different types of people.
5March 2011
I started to work at the Farmyard today with the donkey cart and horses were I take people on rides we had an record to brake the previous record was R230 and we took it up to R355.This was an great experience and good to set goals week in and week out because this now means Ive got a new challenge for next week.......
6March 2011
I was working at Entertainment today this was a lot of fun.We entertained the children with loads of different activities like "tou trek" pools games like volley ball and so on this was very relaxed but also hard work because it difficult to keep all these energetic little ones busy.
7March 2011
We had to repair a rusted fence at the cattle grid this was a very difficult task every 90degree you make just brakes or snaps before it is even finished this frustrated everyone and made things even more difficult.Everyone had a second to relax and then we started again everything went nice and quick and the job got done.It went to show that you must try to stay calm in any situation because patients is the key....
1March 2011
We started the day of at the hunting ground where I checked fences.There were a few minor problems such as y standards & droppers that were skew and bent.This was sorted out quickly by rather bending them straight or replacing them.I also had to fix some holes in the fence and I tightened loose fence.After this I went out to spray a road with poison this is for fire prevention.This is called fire breaks and these roads are done so that if I fire brakes out it can not spread further it stops there because there is no more grass to burn or any other materials in that specific area.
2March2011
Today we started of by chasing unwanted animals out of a certain area because they were causing problems in that area like breaking the fences and so on.We learned a technique of doing this were you have a group of people put in a straight line with space between each person walking more or less the same speed covering a certain area.Then you have people on the sides and this means the animals in that area will run out the other side and then we tried from there to get them threw the fence.
This method helped a lot later on the day as we were looking for an Eland bull that was darted the previous day.We knew round about the area were it was and also walked in a line to search for the Eland we found it dead the reason for this was the fact that the transmitter on the dart never went of so they could not of retrieved it the time it was shot.We also saw that there were some scavengers that fed on the Eland like Jackal,Caracal and Brown Hyena.
3March2011
Today I had to go with some of my fellow students to do fence checks at the 400 ha this was a bit of an challenging task as there was no third or second year supervision and we had a deadline at first it went slow and difficult but when we got started everything went really well.We finished it in time and at least did a really good job as the junior managers were impressed by what we have done.
4March 2011
Today I started working at welcoming were we get the guest from there cars greet them by the surname and welcome them to Sondela.We take them threw to Reception and then when they are finished we take them to the Pancake stand.In this time you get to interact a lot with guests and you get time to share knowledge and to learn how to work with all different types of people.
5March 2011
I started to work at the Farmyard today with the donkey cart and horses were I take people on rides we had an record to brake the previous record was R230 and we took it up to R355.This was an great experience and good to set goals week in and week out because this now means Ive got a new challenge for next week.......
6March 2011
I was working at Entertainment today this was a lot of fun.We entertained the children with loads of different activities like "tou trek" pools games like volley ball and so on this was very relaxed but also hard work because it difficult to keep all these energetic little ones busy.
7March 2011
We had to repair a rusted fence at the cattle grid this was a very difficult task every 90degree you make just brakes or snaps before it is even finished this frustrated everyone and made things even more difficult.Everyone had a second to relax and then we started again everything went nice and quick and the job got done.It went to show that you must try to stay calm in any situation because patients is the key....
Friday, April 8, 2011
Resource Guardianship week 1
21February-24February 2011
21/04/2011
At our first day of our 9week course we went out to put out mineral blocks for the animals this is a three in one block that gives the animals vital vitamins and helps with ticks.We had to put out 9 blocks on different parts of the farm.We then filled the Duncan Applicators with a poison called Amipor this is also for the prevention of ticks .How this method works is there is a feeding bucket where you put out something for the animals to feed on for exp.molasses there is a pole right in the center where the poison then runs down from. As the animals feed they rub there necks against this pole and then the poison comes of on to them and kills as well as prevents ticks.
22/04/2011
We fixed a fence broken by two fighting Kudus our first real fix this was more of an learning experience as most of as have not done it before .We took out and repaired droppers and Sieg showed as a new method of fixing a fence called gripple.The fence what was needed to fix is different from most fences we have on the farm as it was bonox fence.This was in all a learning opportunity as we got to see how to fix a fence and what is needed.
23/04/2011
We started out the day at the 400ha where we monitored the fence and there were big parts broken the only thing was today I had to show what I have learned.I had to show practical .I did the following:
21/04/2011
At our first day of our 9week course we went out to put out mineral blocks for the animals this is a three in one block that gives the animals vital vitamins and helps with ticks.We had to put out 9 blocks on different parts of the farm.We then filled the Duncan Applicators with a poison called Amipor this is also for the prevention of ticks .How this method works is there is a feeding bucket where you put out something for the animals to feed on for exp.molasses there is a pole right in the center where the poison then runs down from. As the animals feed they rub there necks against this pole and then the poison comes of on to them and kills as well as prevents ticks.
22/04/2011
We fixed a fence broken by two fighting Kudus our first real fix this was more of an learning experience as most of as have not done it before .We took out and repaired droppers and Sieg showed as a new method of fixing a fence called gripple.The fence what was needed to fix is different from most fences we have on the farm as it was bonox fence.This was in all a learning opportunity as we got to see how to fix a fence and what is needed.
23/04/2011
We started out the day at the 400ha where we monitored the fence and there were big parts broken the only thing was today I had to show what I have learned.I had to show practical .I did the following:
- A 90 degree fix this is were you take the part broken of and put a new piece in or bind those two by making a 90degree in the wire
- The gripple method
- Binding the onto a dropper
- Fixing "Varkdraad"
As this was my first time there was still a lot of help and guidance from the second year students I managed to get the job done and correctly done.This was in all a great experience and I picked up much quicker than I thought
24/04/2011
Today we had an very early start because the giraffes ran straight threw the fence.We rushed there and started working it was a long piece that broke of but the teamwork was excellent it was great to see how fast we picked up and started working together.I had to remove droppers that were bent and fix them as well as y-standards this in all went very quickly.After this we started fixing the fence it self.Everything went really fast and we fixed it in time so that other animals do not escape from the same hole.
This was a fast learning week and everything had to go fast as we already had to repair a big piece of fence on our third day it was really rewarding when we got everything to work when we put our own knowledge into the working place and everything worked out
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