FRIDAY- June, 9th

We met Sam and Bernie at the jeep at 5:15AM to see the sunrise. It was freezing, about 1℃. Who would think that sweatpants and sweatshirts would be so useful in Africa. Well, we didn't. As we drove up to the mountain, that was outside the reserve, it was pitch black. We couldn't see anything but the jeep lights in front. Once we made it as far as the jeep could take us, we then had to hike the rest of the way up to the top of the mountain. Safely on top, we snuggled together to keep warm. Even though we weren't very happy about the cold at the time, it was worth it in the end! The sunrise was amazing! It was like the intro from "Lion King" came to life.

After the sunrise we headed back down to the jeep for our next event, Fence Patrol. But we had some problems, the jeep got stuck.

When we finally got the jeep back on the road we drove to the edge of the reserve and walked on from there, searching for any snares or anything that a poacher might use to hurt an animal. We didn't find any snares, but the boys did find some barbed wire that could hurt animals.

Back at camp we got ready for Croc City that would be after breakfast. Breakfast was good as usual. The cooks at Glenafric generously made us some sandwiches to take with us for lunch. When we arrived at Croc City everyone was very excited. We followed the guide into the reptile house where we would be able to touch and hold different reptiles, such as baby tortes, baby crocodile, and an anaconda. It was amazing!

 Following that, we had a short tour about different types of snakes. They had nine out of ten of the most dangerous snakes in Africa. The Black Mamba is one of the most dangerous and fastest snakes in the world. After snakes came spiders. Even though some of us were hesitate to hold the tarantula, most of us overcame our fears.

After holding the fluffy spider, Lola, we moved on the the crocodiles that were outside. There were so many Crocs! First we saw crocodiles that were up to 3 years old. There were six of them in total. After that, we moved to a section which had over 30 crocodiles! Their age was equivalent to ours. They were soaking up the sun. Interestingly, some of them had open mouths. We learned that this behavior helps them to cool down faster and control their body temperature. After that, we had one more section left. This was the senior housing. These were the grandmas and grandpas of the younger crocodiles in Croc City. They were huge, fat, and lazy looking.

We had an opportunity to zip-line across the crocodiles. However only two of us decided to do it. It gave a pinch of adrenaline.

 

Overall, Croc City wasn't our favorite excursion, but it was eye opening. We understood that we preferred Volunteer Southern Africa (VSA) because it concentrated on promoting the wildlife and conservation. Unlike VSA, Croc City had a different purpose. It mostly concentrated on breeding animals, specifically crocodiles...

Once we got back to the camp we had about an hour to clean up and start packing. Paula and I (Anna) went to see the horse stable with Sam before dinner. Everyone was starting to feel sad about leaving. We didn't want to leave this beautiful place. But soon we left those feelings behind while we had a bonfire. We an amazing time with Bernie. She told us many incredible stories about her profession and how she became a Ranger. She was a great inspiration. We enjoyed spending our last bonfire with her so much that we didn't take time to get a picture.

-Anna and Justyna