We just had our World Rhino Day on the 22nd and there is a buzz around the Rhino Poaching Crisis that is sweeping through Southern Africa. So far we are sitting on the 388 mark for this year in South Africa alone!
So to Raise awareness the North West Parks and Tourism Board held the Madikwe Rhino Day in the Reserve. A short talk was done by Declan Hofmeyr, our Head Park Warden, followed by some Q&A.
The Madikwe Field Rangers did a exhibition as how the operation is carried out when apprehending Poachers and dealing with them swiftly! Thanks to the volunteers who played that part of the poachers! I took a few pics of the guys doing their thing!
Declan Doing a short talk.
Quite a few lodges attended the exhibition!
Thanks to Morrukurru who sponsored the Rhino that was painted white and signed by guests and staff, this was used in the poaching exercise and to get guests and staff to pledge!
Poachers coming in for the Kill!
APU responding after they have heard the gun shots from the poachers
Poachers returning Gunfire and retreating
Stopper team responding as they chase the poachers back to the carcass!
APU apprehending the poachers!
Poachers being searched!
Lining the guys up, Eat some dirt in the process!
Thanks to The Madikwe Field Rangers for the great Job that they are doing! Keep up the good work!!!! I think that the guests that were there have now seen exactly what goes into trying to keep OUR HOME SAFE !!!! Hope they will now spread the word and make other people aware of the issues and problems associated in trying to keep Madikwe and other parks poacher free!
Things have been going well for Kim and I and we have now made the change from being over at Tau to Just at Matla lodge, we are hoping that this will work out well for us. This will give us some time to get on top of things with our new addition, Mitchel. We had a good friend stay with us for a few weeks as he was helping us out with some freelance guiding work at Tau, as a thank you he decided to do some pregnant pics for Kim and I. As it happened we grabbed a few things and had a young elephant at the waterhole which played along for us.
Kim now has only 5 weeks to go and she is due on the 30th October. Time is coming soon now, We are both very excited but a bit on the nervous side and hope all works out well.
Being accross at Matla will give us a bit more time to concentrate on the other little things that also matter in life.
