A bit late to be writing about last week and I'm sure you've all been holding your breath waiting for the next thrilling update from my little life but fear not, the wait is over! I didn't actually take any pictures last week so you're also going to have to deal with my tedious thoughts without any pictures, soz!

Last week was slightly more relaxed than the madness of tracking the week before; starting with the assessment on Monday morning was pretty stressful but then we were done, we all passed, and I now have level 2 Track and Sign! Not that I'm any good at it still but managed to wangle it all the same. Lectures on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning on Arthropods and Ecology were just like uni all over again but less hungover than I usually was at 9am on a uni morning.

On Tuesday afternoon we started doing our first full drives, and I was to be first in our group. Up until now we've been only doing half a drive each, so the responsibilities of cleaning and readying the vehicle and packing our tea, coffee and biscuits for drinks break were shared, whereas now it becomes entirely our responsibility. We are also meant to begin stopping along the drive and delivering information about the animals and plants we're seeing, as if our mates in the back are real guests. Shouldn't theoretically really be a problem. A bit weird at first to be trying to tell people who you know already know the things you're saying, but possible to get over it. However, instead of the normal Land Cruiser that we have been practicing in thus far, I had to drive a fuuuucking old Land Rover which pretty much hasn't been used for a year or so. I had to completely clean it out, luckily with the help of a couple of wonderful friends, and try and figure out where everything was in the vehicle and engine to do my vehicle checks. Then I had to try and drive it... Jesus Christ it was awkward! Partly just the fact that it's a vehicle you're not used to, but also just because it was shitty. Just trying to manoeuvre it around the car park to pump up the almost completely flat tyres was a challenge. The key is on the wrong side and turns the wrong way, the handbrake is in a weird place and the clutch is stiff when you press it down then shoves your leg upwards when you're trying to release it slowly! Oh also the doors don't work properly *thumbs up*!

So off we go out on drive. Smoke streaming out behind us, engine roaring, doors flapping open- real quality piece of kit. I was spending so much time just concentrating on driving the bloody thing and keeping it on the path that I didn't even think about trying to spot wildlife or stop and share some fascinating facts about the marula tree. I mean, I was also the first one so it was hard to know exactly what was expected of us, but even if I did I wouldn't have done it! Managed to get us mostly through OK while we were driving on decent roads.. Although we did stop to talk about impala for about 10 minutes and then the car wouldn't start again. Apparently the connections to the battery are bad so the obvious bush solution? Whack them with a rock! Still didn't work so we had to push start it backwards, as we were pointing up a hill. Luckily it started again but by that point I could completely see why there is so much scorn for Land Rovers in the bush community! From then on we just couldn't turn off the engine when we were stopped at a sighting, so I'm trying to deliver my woeful amount of knowledge about zebras to the back of the vehicle while I can barely hear myself over the unhappy grumbling of the engine in front of me. One thing I did realise while doing this is that I've focussed most of my learning on passing the tests. Obviously this is really important as well and we need to pass the FGASA test at the end of the 6 months, but I somehow kinda forgot that the whole reason we're learning this stuff is to tell it to people! It's not that it's drastically different information but it is something to kind of keep in mind.

Anyway, the fun didn't stop with the impala. There's a fun part of road that takes you steeply down a rocky slope into a dry river bed then straight back up another steep rocky slope the other side. A bit tricky but not a problem in the Cruisers; as long as you keep the tyres on the right line, and engage the diff lock the vehicle just keeps chugging along and pulls you up the slope. Doesn't work so well in an old landy where the diff lock doesn't work 🙃. I did everything right but halfway up the other side of the dip the front right wheel just started spinning on gravel. Stopped, rolled back down to the bottom and tried again- same thing and it feels like the wheel is going to fall off. Had to jam on the handbrake and which seats with Gerhard to let an expert get us up. Luckily next up was drinks break, so we had a fortifying coffee and talked about termites.

After drinks we were heading home but went via an area where 4 lion males had been hanging around all afternoon to see if we could spot them. Nothing for a while, bumping up and down in the advancing gloom. Unsurprisingly the lights on the Land Rover, whilst working, made very little difference to my ability to see, so I just kinda drove and hoped! We were driving along the fence line, heading back up to the gate when suddenly, they were there just to our left! They came out onto the road and started plodding slowly along, stopping often to look out across the main road the other side of the fence, seeming to be scenting the air and trying to figure out if there was something interesting in the reserve on the opposite side of the main road. We proceeded to follow them as they continued to leisurely make their way along the road in front of us, having absolutely no care for the fact that it was getting close to our dinner time and we were starving. It was an incredible sighting, they kept lying down, licking themselves, pouncing on each other and generally looking cute and terrifying at the same time.

However I was not enjoying it so much with that sodding car. Because we were having to creep along behind the boys the car was not doing so well trundling along up and down, in and out of drainage lines, trying to pull off from stand still, in mud, up a gravelly slope. Or rather, I wasn't doing so well trying to manhandle the frickin car up these slopes when I've never done any 4x4ing before! Had to swap a few times with Gerhard after I couldn't get up the slope, stalled, and when rolling back to start the ascent again, nearly went backwards into a ditch that I couldn't see in the dark... Excellent! Eventually we had to pressure the lions into getting off the bloody road so that we could go, after they lay down and point blank refused to move until we drove up about 2 feet away from them! Once they were gone I drove back in the dark and up and down the hills completely fine- much easier when you have a bit of momentum!

It was a really awesome first proper drive, although I'm a bit annoyed at myself for not driving better, and a bit annoyed that I'm the only one who's had to put up with that bloody car! Does it make me a bad person that I really wish someone else had to try and deal with it too just to see exactly how shitty is it to drive! It made me feel a bit better though that when Gerhard was driving back along the main dirt road back to campus, the car was drifting itself across the road willy nilly - I didn't feel safe at all - but at least it wasn't just me struggling with the car!

We've had an awesome week, but you're just going to have to wait like another 3 weeks for that one, if my current pattern of blog writing continues :)