Hello from South Africa!

We made it! Flying into Cape Town on Tuesday morning gave us jaw-dropping views of the Cape mountains. And our flight from Cape Town to George was just as incredible, following the south coast along the Western Cape. We were met at George airport by Alan Lee, our host at Blue Hill Escape. Along the two hour drive to the nature reserve where we are staying he pointed out a range of wildlife, from Springbok to Ostriches. We also got to watch the sun set over the mountains as we got closer to our destination.

Our first African wildlife encounter – a Dassie stuck in a crisp packet on the side of the road

We are staying at the Blue Hill nature reserve, a beautiful area in the fynbos region of South Africa. We are staying in a small cottage with no electricity, but plenty of other things to keep us entertained. This morning we have seen several species of bird around the cottage, as well as a troop of baboons passing by (until Ruby scared them away). We also took a small walk and came across what we believed to be african wildcat and kudu tracks within a couple of hundred yards from our front door.

Our Blue Hill home :) — Our Blue Hill home 🙂

We have already spent two days tracking Cape Rockjumpers from 6am to 6pm. It is very draining, especially in the heat (32 degrees in the shade on Wednesday), but we are getting used to it. It is also a great privilege to be involved in this research as we have already seen several species which are endemic to the fynbos region and we wouldn’t see anywhere else in the world. The amount of wildlife we have seen in just our first few days on the reserve is staggering.

We are staying on the reserve with Alan, his wife Anja, and their two children. As well as a student from Canada, Krista, who is helping with the research, and a Swiss volunteer babysitter called Sarafina. Alan’s parents also live on the reserve but are in Norway at the moment. They also have a resident and very tame meerkat called Chutney, who we are both already completely smitten by, despite his occasional biting.