South Africa: Big 5, Big Fun!

So... I went to South Africa in March! I haven't blogged about it on here yet, but I will most definitely be doing so a lot from now on... and here's part one :)


My first few days in South Africa were spent at a game reserve near Port Elizabeth where Real Gap Experience sends travellers for their South Africa Experience and Big 5 Wildlife and Community programmes. My friends and I were guests of the owner Shakir, and he very generously ensured we had an amazing time!

We arrived around 3pm and after settling into our rooms we headed straight off to the Predator Camp, where we were to be shown around by ranger Patrick. The Predator Camp is home to younger cats, who live there until they are big enough and old enough to be released into the wild reserve. Patrick was very friendly and knowledgeable, and told us all about the animals as he showed us around. First stop was the Bengal Tiger enclosure, which I was surprised about as tigers are not native to Africa. However, Patrick explained that the first tigers to come to the project were rescued from an illegal and cruel owner in Johannesburg and since then the staff at the project have built up a breeding programme with the tigers, to help preserve this rare and beautiful species. So far, two tigers have been sent to live safely in their native India already, and more will hopefully follow them soon. Also living in the Predator Camp are cheetahs, African lions and the very rare (and stunningly beautiful!) Namibian White Lions.

 Awww, tiger kisses!

That evening we were visited by Simon, who looks after the museum at the reserve. As well as information about the history of the reserve and the village it’s in, the museum is home to several snakes and spiders, and Simon is very enthusiastic about them! He brought one of his favourite (and one of the biggest!) snakes along, and I was able to hold her. Not so much fun for my friend Honor who is terrified of snakes, but it was cool to learn about them, and Simon also spoke to us about the plight of rhinos in South Africa, and the challenges facing environmentalists as poaching for their valuable horns is unfortunately rife.


The next morning I got up early and along with my friend Jen, headed to the herb garden and “Touch Farm” where we were able to play with the rabbits and guinea pigs who live there. As well as the small furries, there are also some ostriches, a wildebeest (who trod on my toe – ouch!) and some impala living on site, and also some horses which volunteers can take for rides if they wish.

 Some of the many rabbits who live at the Touch Farm

Next up it was the part of our stay that me and my friends had been looking forward to the most – game drive time! Patrick picked us up in one of the reserve four-by-fours and we were off... driving through the reserve trying to spot the Big 5 with expert help from Patrick. It was a great experience and we were lucky enough to see loads of animals, including zebra, elephants, buffalo, springbok, giraffes, antelopes, numerous species of birds and more. We also stumbled upon some volunteers working hard removing alien vegetation, and they told us what a great time they were having at the project, which was lovely to hear.

There's an elephant in the background of this pic, honest!

That afternoon, I was shown around the whole project site, and got to see the luxury hotel and lodge accommodation as well as the two volunteer quarters, which were amazing! The volunteers have lovely shared areas with comfortable sofas, television and DVD players and kitchen facilities where they can make drinks and store snacks. They also have their own lockable storage space near their beds in the dorm rooms, and the bathrooms are sparkling clean with modern facilities. Shakir also showed me the “cinema room” where films are sometimes shown on a big screen for volunteers in the evenings, the swimming pool, tennis courts, cricket field, playground and gym (all of which are available for volunteers to use as well as the hotel guests) and the dining area where meals are served. The volunteers have their own catering team and I can personally vouch for how delicious the food is! They cater fantastically for vegetarians (my friend Honor doesn’t eat meat and thoroughly enjoyed all her meals) and all meat is Halal.

After a good night’s sleep we were up early and excited to head to the elephant camp, which is around a five minute drive from the main reserve. The camp is home to four female elephants who were all rescued from being culled in the Kruger Park, and welcomes visitors who come along to learn about elephants and get up close and personal with these beautiful girls! The elephants have been trained to put on shows for visitors, but they are trained in a caring and non-violent way (they learn using a reward based method) and only “work” for a few hours a day, being free to roam as they please for the remainder of their time.

As the elephants came out of their wooden shelter, they were accompanied by their handlers, who were riding on their backs. They then showed us their skills – walking together in a circle, lining up, kneeling down in unison and raising their trunks. Next up, we were allowed a ride! I hopped on and joined handler Cuthbert, who introduced me to his elephant Mujamba, and we strolled around the camp, walking past grazing zebra and impala. Cuthbert was really enthusiastic and informative about elephants, and you could tell he really loved Mujamba! After our ride we were able to help feed the elephants their vegetable pellets, which are a treat for them and act as a thank you for the ride. I gave Mujamba pellets into her trunk and also into her mouth (which was a bit messy and gross if I’m honest, but fun too!)

 Feeding Mujamba

My time at the Big 5 reserve was all too brief, but it was great to get a taster of the project and it’s work, and see firsthand what Real Gap volunteers get up to. My friends and I all had a fantastic time, and would recommend a stay to anyone :)

www.realgap.com

Trekking in Sapa, Vietnam

Sapa is a quiet mountain town in Northern Vietnam, and is home to many a diverse range of ethnic minorities, most of who work as farmers on the sloping mountain fields. I visited Sapa on a 3 night tour as part of my stay in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city.

I met the rest of my group at 8pm on Thursday - Emma, Alison, Matthew, Natalie and Jen. Apart from Emma (who's Canadian) they were all American so I was the sole English representative! We got the night train to Lao Cai, which was much nicer than I had been expecting - quite roomy and plush, with quaint little lampshades and frilly curtains. I didn't get much sleep however - lots of chatting and a very bumpy ride - and was woken at 4:30am by a lady walking up and down the corridor shouting "good morning - coffee!" We got to Sapa from the train station on a very small, cramped bus which was clearly not designed for long tall Westerners such as ourselves! After 2 hours we were relived to get off the bus and were greeted by a very welcome a breakfast of bread and eggs - foodstuff which was to become quite a theme of the weekend!

After breakfast everyone bought ponchos, as the slight drizzle that had started was worrying us. I already had a rain jacket I’d borrowed from my roommate Rosie but decided to get the poncho to put over the top and keep my rucksack dry, and it turned out to be a wise decision! We met up with our tour guide Zao and he told us that the first day of the trek would be about 7km, stopping for lunch on the way before heading to our accommodation for the night. This was in a traditional mountainside village where a local family from the Red Dao tribe would put us up for the night in their home. Despite not being an experienced hiker I was as enthusiastic about the weekend as the rest of the group and we all set off in high spirits despite the slight drizzling rain.

 Looking sexy in my poncho!

Only about five minutes into our trek it started to absolutely pour with rain and we were all quickly soaked! I was wearing trainers, but they were Velcro fastening and open at the top so certainly NOT footwear appropriate for awful weather. Of course, it was very muddy too and my ridiculous shoes were soon ruined. To make matters worse they also cut my ankles (unprotected by socks – what a fool I am!) to shreds. Basically, I was cold, wet, in pain and I was trekking. All things I am not renowned for handling well. For about 2 hours the only words that came out of my mouth were four letter ones, normally in a long stream of expletives and accompanied by wails of dismay or screams of frustration. I was the stereotypical moaning English woman and I HATED Sapa. I did not want to admire the amazingly beautiful scenery, or take any photos. I wanted to go back to my room in Hanoi and get dry, and clean. I was a bitch - I was THE bitch. I couldn't even raise a smile at Matthew and Zao chucking massive rocks in an attempt at male bonding and to create stepping stones over a river that looked much better suited to white water rafting than trekking through. Then (and this could only happen to me) I took a fatally ill-advised route (which had seemed to me to be a short cut, but was actually being avoided by the others for an excellent reason) and ended up knee deep - literally - in goat poo. I even lost one of my shoes in the stuff and had to fish it out. I was swearing, wearing the least flattering poncho known to man, and covered in poo up to my knees. Everyone laughed at me, and I had to join in. It broke the ice, and my mood!

 Some of the gang with local ladies

Over lunch it stopped raining, and after more bread and eggs plus two cans of full calorie coke (or soda, as the Americans called it) I was feeling a little better and we set off for the home stay after a toilet stop in a small shack with a hole in the ground. The walk wasn't anywhere near as bad as the morning trek, and by now we were all well used to wading through deep waterfalls and muddy puddles no problem, and were able to enjoy the spectacular views of rice fields being tended by farmers and their animals, tall cloud covered mountains and waterfalls full to bursting and streaming down the mountainside. We soon arrived at the home stay and met our hosts, who provided us with green tea and the most delicious french fries known to man, as well as the use of their shower (bliss!). It was also an opportunity for the local women to sell their wares - as a total sucker completely unable to haggle I spent more than anyone else and now have many, many Sapa souvenirs.

 Matthew and Alison check out the souvinirs on offer

The traditional Vietnamese dinner prepared that night by our hostess was amazing. We all ate plenty, washed down with "happy water" - locally produced rice wine, which was lethal stuff. We laughed long and hard about the days events, particularly the rocks in the river and me in the poo incidents, as well as Zao regularly performing the splits and calling out cheerful warnings of "be careful - the man, he carry a tree" and "it's slippery" (both of which were painfully obvious) and Matthew and Emma's rice field conversation which resulted in Matt having to remind Emma that "actually, I'm NOT a rice farmer." There are many more “in jokes” - I guess you had to be there!

After a great nights sleep in amazing, mosquito net covered loft beds, and a yummy pancake breakfast (plus more bread and eggs!) we set off for the final leg of our trek. We were accompanied by several local women wearing traditional dress and bearing souvenirs. These women - all tiny - basically carried us along the slippery, treacherous 5km route and there is no doubt that we would all have fallen to our deaths without them. They were all lovely ladies, happily telling us about their lives and pointing out interesting sights. It goes without saying that we all bought plenty more Sapa "goodies" from them when we stopped for lunch - I paid Cooh (who had walked with me, saving my life on many occasions) a small Vietnamese fortune for two purses.

 Me with Cooh

Our return to Sapa town was a relief - trekking (or any sort of physical exercise!) is not something I get involved with very often and I was glad to see somewhere to rest and take a shower! The rest of the group and I swapped email addresses and thanked Zao for being such an excellent guide and keeping our spirits up during the terrible weather and then it was back onto the night train for another bumpy night back home to Hanoi.

Sapa is hard to explain in words. The scenery is some of the most beautiful I have ever seen on my travels, and the local people are all welcoming and friendly, and keen to help you in any way they can. It was totally different to anything I've ever experienced - awful and amazing in equal measures, but I wouldn’t change a second of it and will treasure my memories of this picturesque and fascinating town for a lifetime.

 Stunning

I booked my trek with Hanoi Backpackers. Check them out here: http://www.hanoibackpackershostel.com/tours

The key to Sick-cess (get it?!)

Getting ill or injured isn’t something you like to think about before you head off on your travels, but it’s something you need to prepare for just in case. Personally I was in the Girl Guides (motto: Be Prepared!) and have a mother who’s ready for everything, so I’ve always had (more than) enough supplies with me when I board that plane! So from someone who’s been there and injured that, here are my top tips on what you need to be packing in your first aid kit when you travel…

Paracetemol Useful for pain related ailments of many causes! Lions’ roars or children’s shouts given you a headache? Too many local beers the night before? Aches and pains or sniffles? Paracetemol is your friend.

Anti-bite I’d love to say that it won’t happen, but the likelihood of you getting bitten by an insect of some sort is unfortunately very high! Mosquitoes, ants, wasps – the little blighters are out to get you, and a soothing cream will make the pain and irritation much less.

Antiseptic cream and wipes Scrapes and scratches are unavoidable and to reduce the risk of a nasty infection you need to make sure you can clean any wounds well, and keep them that way.

Plasters I strongly suggest the waterproof variety, and don’t forget blister plasters too – especially if you’re doing any trekking! Another tip if you’re volunteering with children when you travel – the colourful, novelty plasters go down a treat!

Poo tablets Sorry to be slightly crass here, but you’re going to thank me for this if you get a case of Delhi Belly on your travels! Stock up on tablets of both types – the ones that make you stop, and the ones that make you go – and cross your fingers that you won’t need either!

Rehydration solution There are many reasons you might become dehydrated on your travels, and these handy sachets are a great way to rehydrate quickly. Stir them into a glass of water and you’ll soon be feeling more like your usual, hydrated self.

Sterile needle kit If you need to visit a hospital and receive treatment, carrying your own sterile needle kit means that you’re not using the local resources, and also ensures your own safely if the hospital’s equipment and standards aren’t what you’re used to at home. This is particularly important if you’re planning some independent travel off the beaten track.

This is by now means an exhaustive list, it’s always important to do your own preparation too. These are just some of my "must-pack" items that I won't travel without! Anyone got anything to add to the list?