Thursday 10th April 2014

Our guests were heading back to Joburg this morning so rather than doing anything too hectic we simply went on a short drive for a coffee stop in the fever tree forest. Then it was back to camp so they could get showered and breakfasted before their long drive home. Saying goodbye is a common thing that you have to get used to in this line of work. By the time youve got to know the guests over the first couple of days its time for them to leave which is a real shame.

The next Pafuri trais group arrives tomorrow lunchtime so I went back to EcoTraining for 24 hours. When I arrived I met Jomi in the car park and was giving out that unlike the seven encounters that he got on his trails I had zero. At this point Bruce also appeared and pointed at a bull elephant that had just come through the bushes from the firebreak and flapped his ears at us before turning his attention to eating. Once I’d dropped my bags back at my tent Hine (the new Back-up) and I headed out with the pangas and saws to remove a knob thorn that the eles had knocked over the road. Why couldn’t it have been Marula or something else without little evil thorns?

The presence of at least three elephant bulls meant that running the firebreak was off the agenda but Hine and I managed a session in the car park with runs up to Middle Road. This was hard work after my leave and also the Wilderness Trails where I eat a lot of rich food and have no opportunity for training.

This evening we had graduation for one of the year long groups. We’d stayed back to get the boma dinner all sorted and it looked amazing. The evening was good fun with fines out of Bruce’s boot. It was also good to see some of the office staff there and I enjoyed catching up with Anton, one of the owners of EcoTraining.