The reason for our early start is that Gus has very kindly offered to take us on a game-drive into the predator section this morning. Before his day’s work. The longer we’re here the more we’re made to feel like visiting ‘royalty. Thanks again everyone.

I’ve been told to take a couple of days to spend with Louise, Jack and our visitors. I feel a little guilty knowing that the lads are putting in a new gate up at Blue Sky but I’ll just have to live with it.

While typing this entry blog, I am sitting near the window and looking out over the river Esk with the hills of Invermark as a backdrop - and guess what? They don’t have snow on!
I am totally amazed at the speed with which the landscape here can change appearance.

I haven’t been here long enough to know what ‘normality’ is, but it feels like we’ve returned to it today. I pick up the rifle at the Kraal and meet the lads at the workshop. The cruiser is refueled and we wash the borrowed crew cab that the lads had been using then go to get something for the cheetah. Unusually for us, we come across a serious warthog within 10 minutes. ( How do we know it was serious? It had frown lines.)

It’s 7am and I’m at Bush Camp. The temperature is going up and the tents are coming down. Thankfully, most of the ancillary gear has already been packed and stowed but there is still lots to do. However, today there are plenty of Tswalu Indians but only 2 BBC chiefs and everything goes like clockwork. The only downside is that the sand is still wet from last night’s rain and is sticking to everything. ” We’re taking half the Kalahari with us!” says a chief. “Don’t worry” says I “we wont charge you extra.”

I was up at 3am and so was my hand. The finger that had been stung looked like a sausage that wasn’t pricked before going in the pan. At least it wasn’t raining.

I’m aware of the storm raging through the night. At 1.30am I’m fully awake and don’t get off to sleep again. Eventually I get up, prepare for the day and catch up with my blogs.

We were all geared up for a family excursion to Kuruman. Bags packed, shopping list, nibbles for the journey &c. Our expectations weren’t great- our equivalent would be driving to Creiff to do our shopping but it was a chance to get out and about. Before we left we were to meet up with Gus to exchange vehicles- his crewcab Hilux being better suited to a long journey than Dylan’s basic and rather tired old Land Cruiser.

Sometime during the wee small hours I became aware that it was starting to rain. Within seconds it was like trying to sleep with your head in a snare drum. It seems that, although it doesn’t rain here often, when it does, it makes up for lost time.

Fortunately, it was all but done by the time I left the house but it remained overcast and cool (26 degrees- everything IS relative) for the rest of the day. Every single person I met beamed as they commented on what a nice day it was. I guess December/January must be pretty tough out here.

By this time snow is nothing unusual to me - as is the morning ritual of dressing as snug as one can! Having recently read the autobiography of (Sir) Ranulph Fiennes - of polar exploration fame to name but one - I was intrigued by his comments as to the amount of clothing that he would wear on a typical day out on the ice.

First thing this morning I was on my way to pick up the students when I stopped to let a tortoise cross the road (and you think red lights take a while!) and as I waited a cheetah emerged from the scrub 50 yards away. It glanced my way then meandered off up the track, not a care in the world. I sat mesmerised then suddenly thought ” Oh! The binoculars!” so I scrabbled about in my bag, got them out, focused them and thought “Oh! The camera!” scrabbled about in the bag etc

So I got a good look at him and a poor shot of him and carried on my way, late for work.

Not much to report today, I’m afraid. We went back to the kraal, did a bit of swimming and caught up with the e-mails.

Ants (the person) very kindly organised a game drive for us this morning. At 7am Joe (a guide who just started at Tswalu a fortnight ago) and Cindy (who works at the stables and has been here 2 months) arrived to pick us up. It was a beautiful cool morning and we saw loads of animals but Jack unfortunately thought that the definition of a game drive was to make plenty noise and drive the game as far away as possible. Whoever it is that makes Jelly Babies deserves a knighthood.

Well, it’s the end of a most amazing week. Reading back, I’m aware of how much I haven’t told you. I haven’t told you just how amazing this place really is; how extraordinary it is to be seeing so many different animals, birds, insects and plants; and how perplexing it is not to know what they are; how strange it feels to be in an environment that holds potential dangers. It’s a place that, if it weren’t for the roads, you could imagine nobody had ever been here before you

Let me warn you right now, this ain’t going to be a long one. Jack had to wake me up twice to hear the end of his bedtime story!
Today started off almost cool. It just didn’t feel right at all but by afternoon it was business as usual. I started off going up to the kraal and getting online. Thanks to everyone for their messages and kind wishes : it is great to get news from home.

I have to say that I’m feeling quite befuddled a lot of the time. I don’t know if this is because of a disrupted sleep pattern or whether I’m not sleeping so well or, as I suspect, as a result of the heat. Those of you who know me well will probably be saying ” What the hell is he talking about, there’s nothing new there.” Physically I reckon I’m getting on all right, although I haven’t experienced a really hot day yet, but the ol’ faculties are off on their Summer hols.

Well, I seem to have come through the first two weeks at Invermark relatively unscathed, albeit a tad colder than what I am normally used to back at Tswalu. Once the fact had settled in my mind that I was going to be in snow and cold weather for two months, there was nothing for it but to enjoy those cool, crisp mornings…

I thought that, seeing that we went to bed with lightning flashing, thunder booming and rain starting to patter on the roof, today would be a tad cooler. I thought wrong. I was hugely grateful that I got my Tswalu uniform yesterday- shorts an’ all! (That doesn’t stop me feeling like a total fraud, however.) Anyway, I started the day by going into the garden and filling the various bowls and drinkers and watering the veg. When I returned I was surprised to meet a hissing caracal in the doorway. ” Hello” says I, “What are you doing here?”

Blimey! Another night of broken sleep and ,whether asleep or awake, I was seeing scenes straight from “Men in Black”.  When dawn eventually came, I was awoken by Jack screaming. He’d gotten out of bed and the bugs ( aylids?) were biting his feet and legs. I got him settled down with Louise under the mosquito net and got myself ready for work.

When Patrick and Barry came to pick me up I left a very fragile Louise behind.