Puh, the first week was a tough one!
We go out twice every day, early mornings and in the afternoon and in-between we have either lectures or time to learn. I am surprised how quick I adapted to the totally different time schedule, but it works well (so far).
I guess the group is okay, but we still did not really “grow together”, but I assume it takes time and at least we look as if we have fun 😉
My favourite part is breakfast around 10AM when we are back from the morning activity. It is rich and freshly cooked, and I just love it!!
The first days out we had an easy life, enjoying our drives as “guests” while the instructors gave us information about trees, birds, animals, and the landscape. But we quickly had to understand that this is information we must memorize.
Like the Magic Guarri (Euclea divinorum), which is a useful medicinal plant that is also associated with several mythical beliefs, is said to have supernatural power and to bring luck to your home.
The genus name Euclea is from the Greek word ‘eukleia’, meaning ‘of good report’ or ‘famous’, referring to the fine ebony-like wood of some species. The specific name divinorum is referring to the plant’s use by medicine diviners or sangomas in parts of Africa. (Source: http://pza.sanbi.org).
| The Magic Guarri Branches can be used to fight mosquitos, flies or fire they are believed to serve as divining stick to find water. Twigs are carried as good luck charms and frayed to be used as a toothbrush. Fruits are not only nourished by birds but also used to produce a purple coloured ink, to brew some sort of beer, or – due to its purgative effect – used to cure diarrhoea. Roots are used medicinally for the treatment of toothache, headache, convulsions, diarrhoea, infertility, bilharzia and as a purgative. The Shangaan people apply a poultice of ground roots on the skin as a cure for leprosy, to relief toothache or to prevent tooth decay. It is also known to relief abdominal pains in pregnancy or to prevent miscarriage and often used by traditional healers. The wood is considered to have supernatural powers and therefore not used as fuel. |
After a couple of days, the situation changed, and we were not longer in the comfortable situation of being driven around but had to do it ourselves. We now have to make our first steps of becoming a guide which means that we need to welcome our “guests”, plan our route, treat our fellow students as tourists and explain them whatever we see outside on the game drives. It is stressful thing as we are still “bush-babies” with the most basic knowledge (if you can even call it that).
We all have fun driving the vehicle. It is a bit bigger to what I am used 😊 but the roads are wide and most probably no other cars come along so it is not much of a problem. One day this week we had a specific lesson to learn: changing tyres, an important task in case you experience a flat one out in the bush which can easily happen with the sharp stones and thorny trees that we sometimes drive over.
Changing tyres does not sound like a difficult task but we are not talking about a golf or a polo. Tyres or a Landrover are a bit bigger and heavier and yeah … some of us had a bit of a fight with them 😊
One day, I had the best spot on the morning drive, the tracker seat right at the front of the car! A special task comes with that: you must watch out for animals but also for tracks on the road and inform your driver about it. You become an additional pair of eyes for the “guide”. The drive itself was great as usual, although not specifically exciting, but when we came back, I something very weird happened. We just arrived back in camp, the car stopped, and I was about to leave my seat when suddenly I heard some weird noise and smoke came out of the engine bonnet. A lot of smoke.
In hope to make it before the explosion, I quickly jumped off the car and try to reach a hopefully safe distance but luckily, nothing happened, except that some bright green liquid came out of the car, leaving us astonished. It looked as if an alien just vomited in front of the car and I have to confess it was a bit funny. Considering our mechanic´s face, it wasn´t so much for him 😊
I pretty much appreciated the Nyalas in and around camp. I had never seen them before, and they are simply beautiful animals, maybe comparable to our dear. They seem to feel save around us humans and regularly walk through camp to feed or even have a drink at the bird bath.
Another task we were involved in was “bush clearing”. Although the common rule should be to leave nature do its thing, it is sometimes necessary to intervene, especially in areas where human influence already impacted the natural vegetation. It could for example be that former farmland was turned back into bushland, but the soil is still weak. In these cases, the condition is perfect for so-called encroachers, plants that easily flourish on disturbed ground and take over an area, not letting other plants grow. Bush clearing – putting down the encroachers – is one tool to enforce soil improvement and diversity.
We were “lucky” enough to deal with one of the worst encroachers, the Sickle bush! It is a strong bush that reaches a hight about 7 meters and is highly appreciated for its medicinal attributes or as firewood. But that thing is vicious! Not only has it long and strong spikes/thorns that easily flatten your tyres, they also contain some sort of substance that cause a long-lasting pain, combined with dumbness wherever it penetrates your skin. And I know that because it “bit” me in my finger that just recovered after about a week.
| Sickle bush (Dichrostachys cinerea) The sickle bush is the A-Z of medicinal plants and is used successfully for numerous conditions including stomach complaints, pneumonia, abscesses, dysentery, gonorrhoea, and worms. Sickle bush has antibiotic properties. The inner bark of the sickle bush can be used to make a very strong, reliable rope. The rope or twine is traditionally used to facilitate the healing of scorpion stings and snake bites. The chewed root (or leaves) is applied to scorpion stings and snake bites and then bound onto the wound with the twine from the tree. The same treatment can be given to irritating insect bites. Sickle bush produces very strong, hard wood. It is one of the best woods for making tool handles because of this. The pieces are seldom very thick but always strong. Sickle bush wood burns well in spite of the thinness of its trunks. The hard wood means that sickle bush poles are termite resistant and long lasting. They are often used to substitute iron uprights in fencing as they can even withstand fire. The sickle bush is sometimes grown in the vicinity of homes to ward off evil spirits. Charms from the tree are also kept for the same purpose. An eyewash can be made from an infusion of the seedpod to relieve eye irritations and sometimes the pods are collected for decorative purposes. The leaves of the sickle bush are soft and feathery. Like other parts of the tree, they are nutritious and are also used in a number of medicinal applications. They make an effective local anaesthetic for topical application. They can even be ingested to relieve internal aches and pains. Toothache can be relieved by inhaling the steam from boiling roots and leaves and chest complaints can be relieved by inhaling the smoke from burning roots and leaves. |
The first week in the bush … I am not a 100% sure if that really happens. It still seems unreal, the smells, the sounds, the landscape, the food, the people … all still unfamiliar.
Good night,
Sininho
Sininho´s World 
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