Jan Leeming - The Official Website

Safari School - Rhino Crash!

13th June 2006

A Rhino walk was scheduled for after lunch but the wind was very changeable and we were held up for a while during which time the Rangers had to decide whether or not to go ahead. Eventually we did. I had expected to get much closer than we did but it was quite exciting. There were about seven in the Rhino Crash. Then we found out what all the uncertainty had been about in the morning - it was an on/off situation as to whether we'd witness the notching of a rhino's ear. This is for identification and you'd hardly think anyone would steal a rhino but as they are worth around £40,000, it is worth doing.

Eventually, it was decided that the conditions were favourable and the notching would go ahead. We met the vet who would be conducting the 'operation' and he told us all about the sedation etc. It is quite amazing that a huge animal like a rhino only requires the same amount of sedation as a human being. We watched as he prepared the 'dart' containing the sedative and loaded it with distilled water to give the dart weight. He also had ampoules of anti-sedative.

I was fortunate enough to be in the truck with the vet. We were to notch the ear of a young bull rhino who was grazing with one other. We approached in such a way that the vet could get a good shot into the shoulder of the animal. It surprised me that, though our shadow was passing over them, the two rhino continued grazing. After the shot, the two startled animals started to run. They ran for a short distance and then stood back to back - thus giving themselves a larger area of cover against danger. Eventually the one which had been sedated started to walk as if with a goose - step. It took just over 13 minutes for him to fall down. His mate was concerned and had to be driven off with the vehicle. The vet ordered us off the truck and as I was closest he gave me a huge pad of cotton wool and told me to stuff it into the rhino's ears. Although the animal was sedated, he wasn't out cold so to cut off his hearing and his sight was the kindest thing to do. His breath was very raspy - rather like an asthmatic and I found myself stroking his forehead and shushing him like one would to a baby. I'd never liked rhino - finding them quite ugly creatures - but that little experience changed forever my feelings towards them.

We hung around until the rhino was back on his feet - shakily - but back on his feet and happily rejoined by his pal. It was a very moving experience, Graham spoke to me and with the beauty of the sunset, and the experience with the rhino, I found I had tears running down my face. They were tears of happiness not anything else. It was a gorgeous sunset as we made our way back to the Lodge and I so wished - for the umpteenth time, that I'd had my camera with me.

Safari School - Big Cats and Mice

11th June 2006

Today, we were taken out to do some tracking with electronic equipment. On our way to the venue, we were extremely fortunate to be able to watch a Serval make a kill. Andrew told us that he was making a study of the Serval and had very rarely seen it. We observed it for a long time as it hunted in the long grass and eventually made it's kill of a 'mouse'. After we left the Serval we came across a Cheetah - came across is hardly the correct word as she did have a monitoring collar whose frequency we could pick up. She was a glorious animal - seeking her cub. One of her cubs had been taken by lion and whilst she was being fitted with her collar, her remaining cub had disappeared. We tracked her for quite some time and watched her as she lazed in the grass. Andrew told us about Sigmoid's graph which is the viability of predator and prey - two parallel lines. You must get the equation correct otherwise you do not have sustainability of the species. Our truck stalled so we had to get out and push thus obliterating much of the cheetah spoor, as she'd walked along the road earlier.

Safari School - The beginning

1st June 2006

We travelled Business Class to Johannesburg, then to Port Elizabeth and from there we flew in a Piper Chieftain to the Shamwari Air Strip. As we came in to land, we saw a large table spread with white cloths and what looked like some Magnums of Champagne. They turned out to be Terracotta vases and the repast was Tea and sandwiches. As is usual with filming, the flight in had to be shot again and the pilot asked if anyone wanted another flight. I dashed for the plane along with a few of the others. It was fantastic as this time the pilot was performing purely for the camera. We were flying very low when suddenly the pilot took off almost vertically and we were all thrown back in our seats - great fun. After the usual shillying and shallying we eventually embarked onto the Safari we eventually embarked onto the Safari vehicles - the usual 4 x 4's with the raised seats to give better game viewing. The skies were blackening and we were informed that the journey would be about three quarters of an hour. Along the route we saw many warthogs, some giraffe and a lazy lioness who could only just about be bothered to move out of the way of the vehicle.

In the living room was a Blackboard with the four words KNOWLEDGE, OBSERVATION, SKILLS, PASSION. This was quickly adapted to NO LEG OVA KILLS PASSION We met the Rangers, Graeme McLeod and Andrew Kearney - both very Afrikaaner and Macho. We were told how seriously we had to take the exercise and that we would wear uniform at all times and were informed of some of the Golden Rules of the Bush - the foremost being DON'T RUN. (Try sticking to that rule if a Rhino is charging you!