Selati – A Review

Our four weeks in Selati – our very first bush-camp – were an up and down of emotions.

Everything was different. The climate, the environment, the food, the people. All of a sudden, the “normal” life changed completely.

Moving into a small tent with somebody I did not know yet was quite stressful, but we got used to it and arranged us quite nicely during the time. Actually I loved the tent. It is complete different way of living. There is a mattress (let´s call it bed) and a rack, barely enough space for a couple of clothes and an alarm clock. But the most challenging thing is to keep spiders, snakes, moskitos, scorpions outside. Two of the most terrible things for me are indeed to fall asleep with a moskito in the room or to wake up with a spider on top of my head. But luckily, none of these things happend yet.

Surprisingly awesome was the food. Our ladies did a great job and provided us loads of fruits and vegetables. Especially the breakfast was one of the meals I didn´t want to miss out. For anyone that hoped to loose weight here … forget it!

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Our daily schedule was tough. When it was presented to me first, I thought they are kidding, but I quickly found out that they weren´t. Surprisingly, I got used to this schedule quite quickly. It nearly felt natural after some weeks 😉

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Here in Selati, we mainly learnt the theoretical and practical part on how to perform a Game Drive. I always thought that it was all about the animals. But I was wrong. It is about whatever crosses your way: lions, rhinos, leopard, antelopes, reptiles, termite mounds, all kind of arthropods, birds and trees. And about a general understanding of the earth and life, e.g. geology, ecology, astronomy, mammal behaviour. Retrospectively, I think it all makes sense and it is so incredible interesting. Only the fact that we just have 8 weeks to inhale all that information is a bit concerning.

My first drive was with David, our head instructor. For me, he does not only live in the bush, he LIVES THE BUSH! During the drive, we stopped for birds, trees, impalas and whatever came along. We stopped at a tree and he explained the species, told us the Shangaan name and some cultural and medical use for it. Then we stopped at another tree. And another tree. And the same for the birds. I was not sure if it´s a joke but he seemed very serious. That was the time when I realised that this course will really challange me. If it was about the mammals only, it would have already been a lot of information to digest, but birds, trees, arthropods, reptiles, insects? To be fair, I have been told previously that it is a lot. But somehow we tend to ignore these things. Anyhow … we were all in the same boat and had to somehow beat that information into our heads.

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On one of our last days, we went out for a sleep-out. I had expected (and feared) to really sleep on the ground and was quite surprised to find us in that very comfortable roofed spot.

Good night,
Sininho