What to pack - Cat - Project Coordinator Intern

 

What’s your best travel experience?

My favourite travelling experience was when I spent 2 months living on a game reserve in the Limpopo Province of South Africa as a research intern. Our camp was based right in the middle of the bush - so waking up to lion roars, baboons squabbling and impala prancing around became the norm very quickly.  I also got a little too friendly with ‘peanut bugs’ and regularly woke up with them in my sleeping bag and on my pillow!

Along with my fellow budding conservationists we got up at 5:00am most mornings to go into the field and collect samples. We had a couple of near misses with some rhinos that got into the habit of sneaking up on us, thankfully not being the brightest of animals, shouting at them to go away and clapping your hands seemed to work. Probably the most terrifying part of this trip was being charged by a gigantic bull elephant whilst driving back to our camp; if that wasn’t character building then I don’t know what is!

Another poignant part of this trip was being dragged out of my bed at 2:00am because the bush was on fire (a tree had been hit by lightning, and of course in that climate it spreads VERY quickly). So, bleary eyed, we were donned with our fire fighting equipment and set out to try and control it. Luckily for us we managed to eventually stop it from spreading further and it finally burned itself out (with a little help from a summer shower).

What did you take?

As much as I hate it, I once heard somewhere that if you have a spoon full of marmite a day then you are less likely to get bitten by mosquitoes. Since I am one of those people who puff up like a balloon at the tiniest bite, I put this theory into practice…and surprisingly it actually works!

I also took a sarong…one of the most useful pieces of clothing, and something I will definitely take with me next time I go travelling. My walking boots were a god-send: traipsing through dams to measure the walls would have been a lot messier without!

I have always written travel journals and would recommend to anyone to at least try to write one - or at least stick bits and bobs in it! A few years down the line it’s a great keepsake.

What do you wish you had taken?

Unfortunately, as I signed up to and left for this particular trip within the space of about 3 weeks, I was very rushed and had no time (or funds) to invest in a good set of binoculars. I had to settle for a rubbishy set I got from an army surplus store. As a result of this, when we were trying to find a leopard amongst the rough terrain I really struggled. Also being quite accident prone I have never invested in a really good camera. This resulted in me getting terrible camera-envy from my camp mates who had amazing SLR’s and me ending up with photos that consisted of mostly bush and a tiny spec of animal.

Which Frontier Project would you like to visit?

All of them! But specifically I would love to do the Fiji Marine Conservation and diving.

What would you take there?

A well fitted prescription snorkel mask! When I have been diving previously I have come out with salty contact lenses…not a good look…and quite painful! I would also take a pack of cards, something I also wish I had taken on previous trips. 

Comments

[Gemma]

You are an amazing writer!! Really fun to read :-)