A short lived Farewell to Ouma and Bubbles:
2 of the most beloved members of the Harnas family have moved home this month. Ouma and her son bubbles, the two white Maltese poodles, have moved to Epukiro Lifeline Clinic to keep the lifeline clinic nurse, Anne Daries, company. She single handedly runs the clinic on a daily basis and has no form of entertainment, company or security. Although they will be greatly missed by all past and present volunteers, we wish them good luck at their new home and know they will do a good job to keep Anne happy.
| We are eagerly reporting that this spot has been changed recently!!! Ouma and Bubbles are now happily back on Harnas. The working guests missed them so much that we decided to take them back!!! I hear a lot of yippees!! |  |
Yet another Waterhole!
We got the opportunity to build a waterhole, as a memory of our group at Harnas. One day this is going to be one of grandma’s old stories around the campfire …
First thing we did was to Check out another waterhole to get an idea about how ours was going to end up looking like. We started the digging on a hot winter’s day around lunch time. 15 spades and shovels went with us. They were digging constantly for two hours and we (the 24 of us) took turn in using them. From a distance it looked very efficient – and it was! While some people of our group were digging, the rest went to collect stones. They were loaded onto the truck and driven back to the project site. Every time the truck went away with Frikkie and five people to collect stones, it suddenly went very quiet at the project site and everyone got a chance to breathe and get a break from the digging. When the truck returned the digging turned efficient again. (PS WE DETECT SOME FORM OF CHEATING!!) Fully loaded with stones and very heavy at the back, it was hard work but we all made it back in time for our late lunch.
A couple of days later we went back to the project site.
On the way we collected a “bakkie”full of stones in all shapes and sizes. They were to be used around the bottom of the waterhole. We also had to dig out stones from the old waterhole at the site. Four people in muddy water up to their knees with loads of bull frogs jumping around them did the job nobody else wanted to do. It took most of the day to lay all the stones in the hole, for it to be ready for the cementing.
Finally we reached the end! A beautiful name sign was made and there stood our waterhole!
Pride and trust walk in the Wilderness
Pride is a 4 month old cheetah cub and trust a 4 month old lion cub. Together they are a playful, excited, boisterous pair who love to walk with the working guests.
They love to run about and bounce trough the long grass enjoying their freedom. Trust is a very clumsy cub, always tripping over himself. At such a young age pride can already easily out run all of us.
When they get back from their walk they are very eager and ready for their bottles and bed.
By Kathryn
Noises in the night
On the night of 3rd August pipe sucking noises were reported to be coming from Schabu wendy lodge. Initially dismissed by the rest of the group as a dream or hoax, fears rose when similar noises were heard from Serabi the following night. This time the sucking was accompanied by some vigorous rubbing! Several nights passed with no sightings or reports of the creature until the evening of the 7th August, when the sucking and rubbing returned, louder and harder than before!! This time the occupants of Schabu went to investigate and the creature was discovered – Ziba, sitting down licking pipes outside the wendy and there after rubbing himself against the wooden panels of the house! He had apparently become so clever as to copy knocking sounds and keep everyone up way past bedtime!
By Angus
Ting the orphaned caracal
Ting is a very young wild caracal kitten who was left in a box outside Harnas three weeks ago. He was a very scared and unhappy cat when he first arrived. |
The working guests have been spending lots of time with Ting in his pen to build up his trust. We have also made him some toys – all cat owners know kittens need lots of playtime! Ting is a much happier cat now – he spends his days playing, sleeping in the sunshine and eating lots of chicken. It’s a cat’s life! By Frances |
Perception
Our fearless leader, Frikkie, has thus far taught us some new ways of thinking about perception. About first meetings and what you think about people – and the attitudes that come from it.
My first impression of Frikkie was when he tackled Toni to the ground and punched her in the arm (or was it the other way around?) But really … Frikkie has given his trust to take care of the animals, given us the opportunity to have close encounters with amazing creatures, and the responsibility to take care of them all of these are special gifts.
We have learned things here that we can take away and share with others: experiences that will change us forever, memories shared that will last a lifetime.
All in all we have learned that live has great adventures to offer and that things are not always what they seem at first glance. If you are prepared to open your mind and stretch your imagination you are capable of much more than you ever anticipated!
The new Blesbok arrival!
We were all very excited about the new arrival of some Blesbok – an antelope introduced amongst the other game at Harnas. The huge truck arrived and we all jumped in the Bakkie to see them. The sun was low in the sky when we arrived. Some of the Bushmen went inside the truck to count how many had arrived in one piece! In the end there were 47 – once they had a final count the sun had gone down – they released them and we saw the dark shadows run into the bush to find a new home. This has been another arrival in a series of game species being bought to further develop the different Harnas projects. It has been very exciting to watch the progress and adaptation of the different antelope species towards us, the other antelopes and the new predatorial night sounds!!
Our trusted worker bees! Steve and Hayley
A mammoth thank you to Steve and Hayley for all their hard work as last month’s co-coordinators. Their help and support was greatly appreciated.
An unusual pair that worked well together. Twenty something blonde Scottish lass, with an amazing ability to talk! Steven from Iowa (not the potato state) who had a real dislike for tomatoes. Later known at the dinner table as grill tomatoes. Together they were able to assist Frikkie in the varied and exciting projects and activities that everyday brings. Thanks again guys!
By Toni
In their tracks followed Toni, Graeme and Chloe! Thank you for what you have done and helped to achieve. Without all the willing leaders the pack will be lost!
We would also like to give a special thanks to Graeme and Chloe for all the gifts to the animals and staff. WOW! As you know it comes as a great help! Especially those nails.
A special thanks also to Melissa. One of our first Working Guests Ever! Through her co-ordination with the Clarible trust she had managed to send some equipment and educational material through various guests. It is of great help. Thanks Mel!
The great Escape!
On the night of Wednesday the 8th of September the power supply to the electric fences of one of the lion enclosures went down. Without any prior notice, the 5 Wild lions escaped out of their enclosure. The next morning a kudu was found dead and the lions were reported missing. Oh what to do??? The lions were tracked down to an area where they hoped they would still be hiding. Traps were set up and various plans thought out. The hunt continued! Thankfully after some time, our teams - lead by the ever brave Arno and Frikkie, helped us secure the lions back in to their enclosure and peace was once again restored to the land!
By Tom
Close encounters of the Harnas kind!
Whilst cleaning Nikita and her young cub’s enclosure an ordinary task can instantaneously be changed into an adventure by an unknowing surprised visitor. Due to a gate being left open, J.R. the warthog found his way into the cheetah enclosure. Not sure what lay in front of him, J.R. boastfully went Up to Min-Soo, Suy, and Ninja - Nikitas cubs. Definitely upset with the nosey visitor, Nikita became poised for action and launched into her accelerating chase to get rid of the intruder. Beautiful. With assistance from Baloon, J.R. escaped with minor injuries received from both Nikita, the good mama and the fence. Thankfully a quick lesson was learned without any serious results!
By Becky
Cheetah run
On the 5th of August Frikkie took all the working guests and Duma for a “walk” to a nearby camp with a large clearing.
The cheetah did a great job hunting down a stone filled bottle trailing behind the car.
Three times up and down the track doing approximately 80km/h.
On the 8th of August the working guests decided to do another run but this time without a car!! It was a truly great feeling to run with Duma, but as we thought with little surprise we then knew that there is no way to outrun a cheetah!
By Ben & Alex
We would also like to say a sad goodbye to some of our animal friends that left our care recently.
Ramses the little wild cat, Pinky the aardvark and one of the young vervet monkeys. It is always sad to let our friends go but we hope and pray that they are well cared for where they are!
