Hello, Bonjour and Salibonani from Cawston Wildlife Reserve, Northern Matabeleland where I have arrived on the 13th of April. Lots of things have happened since my last blog post and some of them were really heart breaking. Thursday the 11th of April, we had to take the decision to put down the little foal, Bandi. We went to the vet with him and wanted a full assessment of his body and legs. It came out that 3 of his legs had major problems and it was unsure if he could ever walk. This was a very sad day and I miss his little face that got so excited when he saw the blue bucket with milk or his funny attitude of always wanting to drink my tea. He deserves all the best that heaven can offer to him! I hope he canters with 4 perfect legs along the skies.
Bandi, how I will remember him
The day after, I drove to Umguza farm where 12 other horses are based from ridezimbabwe. As it was raining the night before, the last kilometers on the dirt road were in bad conditions. Definitely recommendable to have a 4WD.
The horses here are roaming in a huge place of land that crosses the Umguza river, a lovely place!
The next day I got to ride a young gelding called Cola just before we drove off to Cawston, the game reserve I will stay at for the most of the time here in Zim.
Umguza farm
Walking back to the stables
Cawston is about 32.000 acres big and full of bush land with plenty of wildlife and about 11 horses. We did some horse grooming and removed PLENTY of ticks of the horses. On my first outride in the morning, we saw Kudus, impalas, monkeys, wildebeests and bushbucks along with the donkeys and cattle of the farm. During the afternoon ride we saw 4 giraffes before we headed deeper into the bush, where I got caught up in thornes and I was left with a bleeding leg. Hope this is nothing I will need to get used to…
Wildebeests spotted
Hey giraffes
The next morning started with feeding and grooming the horses as usually and afterwards we went to the lunging arena that we want to fix with new poles so we can actually use it for horse training. Quite hard work in the sun.
Fixing the lunging arena
During lunchtime, I went to see the butchery on the farm for the first time. Pretty scary, a skinned leopard was hanging from the ceiling and lots of pieces of a giraffe were cooling in the cooling room. Every animal that is processed in the butchery is shot on the farm and serves the purpose of being in a dinner plate of the staff and everyone living on the farm including myself.
In the butchery
I have also found the Campground that has a gorgeous veranda overlooking the plain field and a waterhole, where some zebras were just enjoying the water. It was also here where I saw my first snake in this game reserve.
View from the veranda to the waterhole
View from the dining room
Pool at the main camp
My new lessons learned while helping at Cawston Wildlife Reserve:
- You need to be very attentive and careful, riding in the bush – during my first day I got already caught up in the thorn bushes resulting in a bleeding leg, not mentioning the ripped pants.
- Learn about the spiders species to know which ones are venomous and which ones aren’t – I got lots of these bigger and smaller friends in my sleeping room but I believe I know by now who is a friend and who not.
- The Internet connection can be quite tricky – however, I think I found my favorite spot on the reserve and it has also a decent connection to the outside world.
Cheers to wandering the world and the wonders of our lives, hope to see you see you soon again – bye bye, salut and lisale kuhle ∞