Singing in the rain

*warning* this post may cause jealousy when you live in the Netherlands (or another country where it is currently raining or freezing)

I know it’s probably around 10 degrees in the Netherlands (I even hear they predict temperatures below zero at night) but I’m still going to say it: it has been cold here! Well I shouldn’t overreact, it has been around 19 degrees at night, but still it’s a nice change from the 36 degrees we had to suffer through last week. We’ve even had rain, Martijn and I were still out feeding the horses and were drenched in under a minute. It’s funny how quickly you get used to the higher temperatures. For the first couple of weeks I’ve been wondering why on earth I even brought a pair of jeans but now everyone is wearing jumpers and jackets in the evenings and I’m actually sleeping under a duvet instead of just a sheet. You see how hard our life is here ;)

More proof of how busy we are: on Tuesday we went to the beach near St. Lucia. It was a bit ‘cooler’ (but still around 25 degrees) so it was nice and quiet. The water was a bit cold though, plus there’s always the risk of getting eaten by sharks (or hippos or crocodiles) so I didn’t actually swim but it was nice to sunbathe for a bit. We decided to include sunbathing for 40 minutes in our daily schedule from then on (it hasn’t happened yet). On the way back we took a shortcut through a reserve belonging to a five star lodge and were lucky enought to find a (five star) lioness in the middle of the road. We didn’t even see her at first as we were all looking at the car behind us. When Martijn said there was a lion in front of us we thought he was joking, we almost ran her over. When we were watching her, a male lion came walking up to the nearby fence, later followed by a second one. They were roaring at each other, it was really cool.

We spend another afternoon at Eric and Gina’s. Nathan took Mikaela and me to shoot the pallet gun. I had done it before but I’m not a very good shot. Imagine my surprise when my first three shots all hit their marks (a tin can 150 metres away). According to Nathan the gun was skew (he kept missing the cans). We were so focussed on the shooting we didn’t realize Martijn and Eric lit some fireworks behind us, my ears were ringing all night.

Yesterday, Yvette, Rick, Wesley and I went to the Hluhluwe Park in another attempt to find a leopard (or wild dogs, I still haven’t seen them in the wild). Unfortunately the ‘interesting’ animals seemed to be on strike. We saw a lot of zebra, nyala, warthog, waterbuck, buffalos and a rhino but that was it. Funny how easy it is to forget how amazing it actually is to get to see this. We are spoiled with all the rhino in the park and we consider the buffalo the impalas of the big five (you see them everywhere).

I know it sounds like we’re nog doing anything here but we actually do work. I got up at 5.30am three days in a row to get the horses ready for rides. We have had rides every day for the last week and a half and I even guided two myself because our guide was off. I was a bit nervous about that as I don’t know a lot about the park, plants and animals but I think I did alright. I hope the stories I told were actually true and not me mixing up all the facts and making up new trees and animals that don’t actually exists. Ah well, the guests had fun and they were all really nice. At least we didn’t get lost.

Meanwhile in Africa

I haven’t been eaten yet! The mosquitoes sure have tried though... Both my arms are covered in bites and rashes and other marks. I fear I might be allergic to something here. I now know that it’s the tiny animals you should fear, not the big ones.

Speaking of large animals, we went on a game drive last Sunday! The Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park is really beautiful with it’s rolling hills and winding rivers. The scenery in itself makes it worth the trip but we had a couple of great sightings as well. I was really happy because there were lots of Rhinos! I’d only ever seen them from kilometers away in the Krueger so I really wanted to see even just one… Instead we saw two in the distance, a mother and baby next to the car, two adults drinking 3 metres away from us, two adults lounging by a river with a herd of buffalo, and a group of rhinos grazing on a hillside. I still cannot believe how lucky we were to see all that. We also saw loads of buffalo and an elephant emerging from the bushes right in front of our car. That gave Nathan, our guide, a bit of a fright as he wanted to back the car up to give the elli some space but some idiot had parked right behind us.

Of course we also saw impala, warthog, zebra, nyala and lots of birds but sadly not a single giraffe. As it was Maaike’s last game drive she really wanted to see a lion but unfortunately we didn’t find them either. They are hanging out close to the gate apparantly so maybe on my next gamedrive. This morning I went on a horseride with two friends of Martijn and one of them told me she lives in the Hluhluwe Park as her husband is the head ecologist there. She told me that she was annoyed because she could barely get out of the park this morning as the road was blocked by a group of lions and a bunch of people in cars watching them. How rude of those lions to block the road like that ;)

What else have I been up to? All the days seem to blend together here and time flies. This is already my third week. Three new volunteers have arrived from the Netherlands: Yvette, Wesley and Rik. They were supposed to help Nathan out but him and Mikaela have a couple days off so they are just hanging out and helping with the horses. Yesterday we all went to False Bay to have drinks and watch the sunset and afterwards we had another braai (fifth braai since I arrived!). I went on a couple of rides, did some training with the horses, hung out at Eric’s. A couple days ago Maaike and I helped Eric and Gina in ‘the Nut House’ roasting, seasoning and packing (and eating!) macademia nuts. Their daughter and son in law also came over with their grandkids and brought a quad bike so of course we took that for a spin as well!

Now I’m hanging out at the bar with Yvette. It is really quiet at the lodge as there are no guests, Maaike and Maarten have left, Nathan and Mikaela are off and Martijn, Wesley and Rik went to Richardsbay. Apparantly another lady is coming soon to help out with the horses, she has been here before and I have heard some wild stories about her, we’ll see how that goes.

 To be continued…

Back to the Bush

It’s on! I’m back in the country I fell in love with two years ago: South Africa. Ever since I came back from Hoedspruit I’ve been trying to find the time to come back and now that I’ve finally graduated (and not planning on starting another degree for now ;) ), it feels like the perfect time to travel.

I’m currently sitting by the pool in 30 degree weather in Hluhluwe, SA. I will be spending the next 10 weeks here as a volunteer. I’m staying at Wildebees ecolodge where I’ll be helping out with the horse safaris. It’s not a big five reserve like Jejane but we’ve got Impala and Nyala (a baby Nyala!), Duiker and we get visits from Janets, Leopards (apparently there is a leopard cub!), Jackals, Bushpigs and lots more. And of course there’s lots of birds and, sadly, insects. When I was in Hoedspruit it was the middle of winter so there were barely any mosquitoes and I haven’t seen a single snake. Here I’ve seen two snakes over the span of one week and I’ve got so many mosquito bites they look like constellations. I’ve found a toad in my room twice and a weird type of hairy caterpillar has given me a rash on my arm. I keep waking up at night feeling something is crawling over me. When I told Maaike about it she told me one of the previous interns who stayed in my bungalow thought there was something in the matrass. Of course that resulted in us giving the matrass a thorough inspection. We were slamming it and even listening if we could hear something moving inside. Nothing so far...

Besides me, there are two other volunteers from the Netherlands, Maaike and Maarten. They are both leaving next week though. There is Nathan, who is the head ranger and Michaela and Mariska who do management. On Saturday, three more volunteers will arrive and one of them will help out with the horses as well. There is also a guide for the horse safaris who helps with taking care of the horses. We let the horses out to graze on the property in the mornings and rake the paddocks, in the afternoon we brush them and feed them for the night. If there are guests we take them out on rides in the morning or afternoon through the False Bay Park, otherwise we can do whatever we want to train them. We went on a couple of rides in the Eucalyptus plantations nearby, we did some jumping yesterday and I did some training with the 2.5 year old gelding. There are eight horses: one is the 2.5 year old and one has a tendon injury but the rest we can ride. My favorite so far is a little mare who apparently gets spooked a lot but has a very nice gait and is quite fast.

When we’re not riding we just hang out, go for walks, read etc. We hang out at the neighbours a lot. They have a Macademia farm where I helped out with moving crates the other day. There aren’t a lot of guests staying at the lodge right now but it’s supposed to get busier next week and over Easter. The owner, Martijn, told me that when the guests go on excursions and there’s a spare seat in the car I can come along. We are also planning on doing a staff gamedrive in the nearby Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park and maybe going to the beach at St. Lucia. Everyone is really nice and welcoming. All in all it’s very nice and relaxed.

That’s it for now, I’ll keep you guys posted!

Read about my adventures the first time around: once-south-africa-back-and-forth.blogspot.nl

Sweet goodbyes

August 27th

The strange thing about travelling is that it always feels like you’ve been somewhere forever while at the same time it seems like just yesterday that you arrived. That’s how I feel now, it feels like time just flew by while I was in the USA while at the same time it seems like ages ago when I left New York. I am back at JFK airport now, waiting for my flight to Dublin (and then on to Amsterdam). I’ll arrive in Amsterdam Sunday morning around 10AM, after forty hours and five flights. I don’t know why I thought booking these flights was a good idea at the time, I am exhausted. At least I didn’t have to travel on my own for the first part of the journey. Jess, one of the other interns, was on the same flight to Salt Lake City as I was and in Salt Lake we saw Rosie and George, who had left Cody a couple hours before we did. It was so good to see them again even though they had only just left. I can’t believe how close I’ve gotten to all the people I’ve met on my travels and how much I’m gonna miss them. Thank you guys for making this an amazing summer and an experience I will never forget. It’s going to be quiet to be back home again and not constantly be surrounded by other people. I am already trying to figure out when and where I can go on my next trip. I always thought I wouldn’t be good at staying abroad for an extended period of time, I’d miss my family and friends (and horse!) too much. And I do miss them, but I also realised I love meeting new people and exploring new places and this is a good time in my life to do it. I must also admit I rather liked not having wifi and not constantly being in contact with everyone, it was nice and quiet.

This trip has made me realise I’m still a country girl at heart, even though I loved living in the city. There is no better feeling than riding through the middle of nowhere on your horse. The views in Wyoming were amazing, I don’t think they’ll ever get old. On every ride I was amazed by the mountains surrounding me. I love how the steep slopes that petrified me on my first day seemed easy during the third week. The feeling of trusting your horse to get you down safely is great. Even though I ride western back home and I am used to riding on a long rein (or without a bridle) this experience has thought me to just trust my horse to find it’s on way down a hill and not having to control everything. I got to ride a lot of different horses and learned a lot about training. I especially loved those training sessions. The methods they use are mostly in line with what I do back home but it’s amazing to see how much patience MaeCile has with the horses. Where others would have given up or would have gotten angry with the horse she just tries again. She also emphasizes the importance of taking small steps and giving the horse time to digest what it has learned. The amount of time she invests in ground work certainly pays off in the long run.

 

It was a weird last day as two of the interns had already left in the middle of the night. The rest of us got up at 5.30 to tack up for one final ride. Jess wanted to see the sunrise and we got to the top of the hill just in time. The second we arrived, the sun peeked out from behind the mountains. The colours were amazing, the sky was painted in shades of pink and purple. Even though it was freezing, it was one of the best rides of the holiday. When we rode back to the ranch over the mountains, we found the rest of the horses peacefully grazing up there. I’ve never seen them on top of the mountains and it was such an amazing sight, definitely my ‘gift’ for today.

After the ride, George took photos of me and Hazel. I love how great they turned out. I look like a real cowgirl. I did manage to lose my cowboy hat when loping around the arena and of course it fell on Hazel. She didn’t spook too badly though and I didn’t fall of this time ;) I wish I could take this horse home. She has been amazing, one of the sweetest horses I’ve ever ridden. She loved a good gallop but I never felt out of control and she was a true mountain goat! Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to the other interns after that as their flight was around noon. It was really weird being at the ranch without them. Jess and I had lunch with Emelie and MaeCile and finished our packing. It was a struggle to get all my souvenirs (*cough* boots *cough*) in my bag but I did manage in the end. And like a true cowgirl I tied my rope to my bag with some bailing twine! With two carry-on bags instead of the one I came with, we boarded the plane in Cody. I was really sad to be leaving Wyoming and I hope I get to go back someday!  

Back in the saddle

August 26^th

I am so glad I was able to ride again today. My hip still hurt but I chose to ride Selim, a horse with a really comfortable gait. The ride was great until Emelie lost her stirrup during a lope. She held on for quite a while but then she fell. She landed on her side and was really struggling to breathe. We waited with her while Lucy rode home to get the car. They then took her to the hospital. We later heard she had broken a rib which had punctured her lung, really scary! Thankfully they took good care of her at the hospital. That was the third fall in our group, I guess bad things do come in threes.. They hadn’t had any falls that season up until we arrived, apparently we are a clumsy bunch.

After taking the horses back to the ranch we spend the afternoon helping Rachel and Sam built their log cabin. We we’re a little sceptical at first but it was a lot of fun. And we got everything we needed to do done as a team. The next day we went for a ride in the morning after which we headed to Cody to visit Emelie in the hospital. The staff was a bit surprised when such a big group came in, especially when some people started racing the wheelchairs through the hallway. Thankfully, Emelie looked a lot better and she told us she was allowed to come home the next day. After the hospital we went to ‘the Cody Cattle Company’ to celebrate Rachel’s birthday. We had dinner and saw a country music show. We spend the rest of the night in the ‘Cowboy Bar’ in Meteetsee where George and I tried to beat two of the locals at pool. I love the ‘cowboy’ live we’re living here!

Thursday was our last full day at Horseworks. I can’t believe how fast these three weeks went by. Lucy and I got up early that morning to wrangle the horses (I rode a mule for the first time!) and when everyone else had finally woken up we took a couple of the horses to the arena. I rode Buttercup again! She was great, I think she just needs to build up some muscle to balance herself and her rider when she trips. I wish I had more time to work with her.. In the afternoon we were allowed to go on a ride with just our group, with me and Lucy as ‘wranglers’. It was a lovely ride but we took it easy because I didn’t want anyone else falling off. Halfway through we saw a storm coming our way so we had to take a shortcut home. That shortcut led us over a couple of steep slopes. Thankfully everyone was well practiced in the art of riding up and down the hills by then ;) And we got back just before the storm hit!

That night I sat on my cabin porch gazing at the stars. It was a clear night, I could even see the Milky Way. I was really sad I would have to leave the next day. I’ve had such an amazing time in the US and particularly in Wyoming, I wish I could stay here longer… 

Falling down and getting back up (again)

August 22^nd

They warned me the weather in Wyoming was unpredictable but I didn’t expect a full day of rain after all the hot days we have had. The land needed it though and it gave us an excuse to go into Cody for some shopping! I still hadn’t been to Boot Barn and I was dying to go! We weren’t planning on staying there all day but I guess that’s what happens when you tell a group of girls to go shopping. I bought some great souvenirs in the shops on main street (my own rope, so I can practice on the sheep back home!). After a visit to Walmart (I’m really going to miss Walmart, I think I’ve been to at least one in every state) it was finally time for Boot Barn. I think I tried on twenty different pairs of boots. In the end I had two pairs left to choose between. By this point most of the others had gone to another shop, it took me ages to decide. Eventually I decided to just get both, while in Wyoming right?

I got up early Saturday morning to wrangle with Emelie and Laura. It was Laura’s last day so Emelie and Sam would be the only wranglers left. I was just having some tea that morning when MaeCile asked ‘so Aly is an assistant wrangler now right?’ I suddenly got promoted! We rode all around the property so Laura and Emelie could show me all the places the horses could be when wrangling in the morning. I rode Hank, a real mustang! He was such a giant sweetheart though. Two of the horses had escaped through the fence so we had some real wrangling to do.

In the afternoon I took Buttercup to the arena for another session. After some ground work I rode her in the arena and she was great. She is a really sensitive horse but very comfortable. She reminded me a lot of Hazel, who, as MaeCile told me later, is her full sister. She is such a sweet horse and I felt completely safe taking her on a ride the next morning. Unfortunately she tripped when we were loping through a field with a lot of sage bushes. I suddenly felt her disappear from underneath me. According to Lucy, who was riding behind me, she tripped over a bush and then jumped to the left, while I fell off on the right. I landed on my hip and hit my head as well. I was a little disoriented but after sitting down for a couple of minutes I really wanted to get back on. However, I couldn’t lift my foot high enough to reach the stirrup so I decided to walk home with Laura and try again in the arena. Halfway through the walk I got really dizzy and nauseous and I had to sit down. Laura took Buttercup home and went to pick me up in the car. I spend the rest of the day hobbling around the house…

The next morning my hip still felt pretty bad. MaeCile told me I wasn’t allowed back on a horse until I went to the hospital for a check-up. My insurance hadn’t called back yet though so I had to wait... Everyone decided they wanted to head to the Horseworks sign to take a photo so I was allowed to ride the smallest horse they had for the photo, Frecka. She was really sweet and even though it hurt, it felt good to be back in the saddle. In the afternoon, my insurance company finally called back and MaeCile took me to the hospital in Cody. They immediately took me to a private room, got me into a hospital gown and gave me one of those bracelet thingies with my name on it. I didn’t really think all that was necessary.. They were really nice though and kept checking up on me (I think I've seen ten different nurses, all asking me how to pronounce my full name). After watching Lifetime and history channel for hours the doctor finally told me the X-rays were clear, no broken bones, just banged up. It was nice to know that nothing was seriously wrong and I could ride again!

That night I went down to the cabins with Laura and Emelie, it was pitch black but when we turned around we could just see the moon starting to rise above the mountains. We stood there for a bit watching the moonrise. It was such a beautiful sight, a bit surreal even. I realized what an amazing time this has been and how glad I am that I finally decided to come here this year, even though I doubted it for so long. It was the best decision I’ve made this year. 

Cowgirl

August 18th

Remember when we accidentally went rock climbing in the Appalachians? I took it a step further and went rock climbing on a horse. After moving the neighbours cows, one of the cowboys took a couple of us on a ride up the mountain to see the petroglyphs. The native americans had left drawings on the rocks up there so we went up the steepest slopes I’ve ever seen, it was almost vertical and there were loads of rocks. I am really proud of myself I did that, even though I am afraid of heights, and it was really cool! Every hill we’ll be riding after this will be a piece of cake. I imagine this is what archaeology was like before they had cars and stuff: exploring ancient sites on horseback. Moving the cows was really cool as well, we had quite a big herd and I had to bring back stray cows a couple of times. I felt like a proper cowboy! It was fun to actually have a purpose on a ride.

Yesterday we had our first training session with Speck, he hasn’t really been ridden in years so we basically started from scratch. MaeCile showed us her training methods, she did join-up, lunging and a lot of desensitizing with different objects. It was really cool to see her working with a horse and to see how much the horse improved over such a short period of time. The principles she uses are really similar to what we do back home but I also learned some cool new stuff. We worked with him again this morning (I was up at 5.30 during my vacation…) trying to get him used to throwing the reins over his head. At first he was really spooked by it but after working with him for an hour he did great. It is so cool to see how much a horse can learn without forcing it into anything. At one point during the session we wanted Speck to get used to different movements so Ava, Rosie and I did jumping jacks in the round-pen, funniest workout ever!

I know I say it every day but today might have been the best day so far. We needed to wrangle nine horses from a field into an enclosure, and when I say field I don’t mean the kind of field we have back home. This field had a creeck, hills and was covered in sage bushes. We had a plan to get the horses in but of course the plan went out the window as soon as we started. The horses bolted so Ava, Rosie, Lucy and I followed them and somehow managed to get them into the enclosure within five minutes. I don’t even know what happened, it all went so fast. We were gallopping through the field, dodging bushes and rabbit holes while trying to keep an eye on the horses. It was the best ride ever, I was smiling and laughing so much it almost hurt, I must have looked like a crazy person. When we rode back, one of the girls didn’t want to ride so she took the car. I trailed her horse back on a leadrope, I even loped while leading that horse, it was a perfect day as a cowgirl ;)