Tuesday 8th April 2014

As we were turning out of camp there was a big elephant bull feeding which got the day off to a great start. I was hoping that this was a sign of things to come but unfortunately despite walking Houtini Gorge which is good ele, buffalo and leopard country we had no encounters. Still the scenery was stunning with some great vistas and I learnt so much from the ‘Lead’ Steve .The group are very keen on the smaller things, this meant that they were constantly stopping to look both up and down with their binoculars. This made it really difficult to walk with the group as they kept on getting spread out. However, we did manage it and nobody was left behind.

Given that the trails camp is mostly outdoors the rain proved quite a problem. Despite this we made a plan and managed to eat breakfast without getting too wet. Then it was actually time to get wet – filling the bucket showers. Patricia had put a big drum of water on the fire to heat up, it was then down to Steve and I to fill up the two bucket showers. I was really surprised how well these worked, I think my surprise meant I enjoyed the shower more when I got the opportunity.

With only a small staff at the trails camp it makes for a very busy day, I was up at 05.15 to fill people’s wash basins with hot water and then it was full on for the rest of the day. Right through to the last person going to bed which was after 23.00. There’s barely time for a shower never mind fitness and self study, this is what guiding is really like, it’s exhausting.

Rather than walking we went for a game drive down to the Limpopo via the really big baobab. I managed to climb it today, whilst up there I discovered a small pond with a baobab sapling growing in it. We took our drinks on the banks of the river so we could look over to Zimbabwe.

There was a big fire waiting for us back at camp with the clearing lit up beautifully again. We had a nice dinner under the stars, well a few more than there were the night before. Our guests are genuinely nice and interesting people. Very jealous of them, this would be a wonderful thing to do with a group of friends.

Because we are a small team you need to take the initiative and just get on with things which is what I enjoy. Steve and I have got a few tweaks that we’d like to do so things run smoother tomorrow.