Namibia - Day Seven, Eight & Nine

Neuras
So we all got on the bus at  7.30, Harriet and Mowenna left to go on Safari. The bus drive to get there was about 4.5 hours with a break on the way.

We finally arrived at about 13.00 and it was so beautiful! The courtyard is pretty with green grass, flower beds and a place where they cook the braai. After lunch we got to relax which felt very surreal as we hadn't ever had free time in the day at N/a'an ku se! At 16.30 we went on a sundown drive where we went to the top of a hill and all sat with a cider in hand watching the sun set. It was really beautful. We then returned to a platter of cheese and biscuits whilst we waited for our Braai to cook. Everyone sat chatting and getting to know each other. At dinner I got to experience different types of of food such as springbok steaks. The food in Africa may be very different but its so tasty that you really cant complain at all. Not having phone signal is also slightly liberating in many ways as you really dont have to think about anything bar the moment you are in.

Neuras - Day Two
After having a full nights sleep without feeling cold or waking up due to the sounds of peacocks i felt amazing. After breakfast we were split into two groups. My group did a trail which meant that we learnt how to work the GPS as well. This walk was about 3km. After that we got shown how to work a camera trap for the first time and then sent out to go and change the memory card in a camera by a watering hole. We biked to the watering hole though which was highly entertaining due to it being so hilly and so my legs were dead by the end of the 6 km ride.
After returning we went through all the pictures that the memory card we had collected had on which was mainly Kudu, springbok and then there were a few Zebra and some baboons.
Once the other group returned we went on a game drive where we saw lots of Ostriches and Kudu, Matt managed to get lost and so the route took another hour. The day was enjoyable to say the least and ending it with a hot shower made it all so much better!

Neuras -Day Three

On the Monday we were with Matt who is completing his masters out in Namibia monitoring the wildlife present in Neuras along with trying to use 2 camera traps positioned opposite each other to be able to photograph both sides of cheetahs, leopards and hyenas as this will enable identification of the animals even if only one side of the animal is photographed again. He had divided the park up into two halves so had 5 sites with 2 cameras at each time and so we were out looking for possible new sites that were in the half where the study had yet to be conducted. We walked about 10km through the canons in search of sites. The first sight we went to was a real possibility but after we reached the second site it was decided that the pathway was to narrow to be able to place two cameras along with the other problem that there was far to much vegetation so that you would never be able to gain a clear image of the animal even if it did walk past one camera clearly and so it was no use. During the walk we learnt how to identify leopard prints and the difference between leopard, hyena and cheetahs due to how big the pad is, the distribution of their toes around the pad and whether they have large/little indents into the pad.

After lunch we went on another game drive, this time we saw 60 springbok, kudu, wandering baboons, zebra and ostriches.
I finally managed to finish my first book of the holiday, in which i  will write a review for another time called 'The Thread' by Victoria Hislop which was very beautifully written.

The monday was a very odd day as although everyone seems to love their jobs I cant help but notice the negativity of all the Zoology researchers I had met since going on the trip as they all seems to say just how hard it really is for anyone that wants to go into animal conservation work.
Its such a sad state of affairs that you now have to pay someone else to give you a job and its so old fashioned. No one should have to pay £3000 just to go and work, there needs to be many more places that have people pay their board by working, to me the system is so floored and means that any one who wants to work with animals will constantly have an uphill battle with getting to do what they want to not even be paid but not have to be paid for. Its such an angry situation to be in to know that you may never be paid to do what you want but in my mind someone is gonna have to try very hard to stop me from getting to do what I want.