Surveying the Drakensberg

The first group to go up the mountain enjoyed a lie in till 7am on Monday. Packing up ‘Monty’ the mountain truck and saying goodbye to everyone at base, we left at 8am, stopped off at Hoedspruit for internet, breakfast and any last minute shopping then picked up sundowners and set off for Mariepskop mountain! After carefully not hitting cows, waving at passers by and snoozing in the back we arrived at the little cottage where we would spend the next 5 days. The views were amazing even just from the open garden! With the mountain spread out before us the sunset was beautiful. With Kim and Faye cooking, the food was great, sitting around the table by the fire in the cosy dining room it was nice to have a smaller group, giving us the chance to get to know each other better.

The daytime was spent setting up Sherman traps to collect the small mammals, in three locations up the mountain even putting in little blankets for the small mammals to keep warm! The last spot was beautiful, a stunning peculiar rocky outcrop with large aloe plants poking up everywhere. From here the sunsets were truly amazing with fierce oranges and bright purples spreading out as the sun set behind the mountains. After collecting any traps with mice or shrews inside, they were measured and weighed under anaesthetic. We also did a four hour mountain trek reaching 1,600 metres above sea level! The mountain phase was great but it was brilliant to get back to base with all the others and get ready for another fun-filled off night!

Anna Gibson, volunteer, UK

Surveying the Drakensberg