Day 19, Lie Ins

Day 19, I’m beginning to think the concept of a late start doesn’t exist in South Africa, at least not anywhere near Mseleni. Our workday starts early, every morning at 730am. And it seems that is not enough as at the weekends you seem to get up even earlier. I suppose it is maybe to try and make the most of the time spent not working.

After having done my on call on Thursday night (even though I wasn’t woken up during the night as my woman managed to deliver naturally and did not ultimately require a Caesarean) I was in at work in the morning and continued during the day. At the weekend I was being woken up at 545am, admittedly under my own volition. The reason this weekend was Thembe Elephant Park.

Game drives are great fun but in order to get the most out of it one has to balance the availability of light with the activity of the animals. Unfortunately for me this meant hauling myself out of bed at the unearthly hour to set off on the drives. Admittedly I was well rewarded for my efforts, I saw a bull elephant charge around, a pair of elephants scaring a rhino and a lioness munching at a lowly nyala for breakfast, as well as a couple of dozen other creatures.

The effort needed to wake up was made even harder by the luxury of my accommodation; I was in a permanent tent with a bathroom and a seated veranda. The morning chill was countered by the electric blankets and one could simply lie in bed and listen to the distant rumbles from the elephants and the patter of bush baby feet on the tarpaulin roofs.

One can try and compensate for the early starts by going to bed at a sensible time, what is known as Mseleni Midnight i.e. 10pm. Through no one else’s fault but my own, over the weekend I did not manage to turn in sensibly, instead I spent the evenings speaking to other visitors to Thembe. I blame the campfire and the South African reds I was drinking.

At any rate, after the exertions of the week and the excesses of the weekend, I could really go for a good old fashioned lie in. Seeing as I’m on call again tomorrow, might have to wait until next weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv4sfT0tnVA