South Africa: Kariega so far

I'd been in the reserve less than 24 hours before I'd seen lions, elephants, rhino, zebras, giraffes and more impala than I could shake a stick at! It's so amazing to see the animals just chillin in the veld like they entry come straight out of the movies, I'll never get enough of it! I'm sat there on the cruiser amongst all those amazing creatures just thinking how lucky I am, and how much you'd love to be here dad!
The reserve is split into east and west - east is where you find reception and the main lodge and all the cute and fluffy animals. West is where you get the lions, elephants, black rhino and volunteer house...! Our house is nice, with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a lounge, dining room, kitchen, and outdoor deck in the big garden with plunge pool and a fire area for braiis. The garden is surrounded by a flimsy wire fence which is all that separates us from the deadly beasts outside, and the view from the deck is stunning. 
The activities we've done so far include:

- harvesting and replanting spekboem, a plant which absorbs carbon

- pulling and chopping down black wattle, a plant species indigenous to Australia which harms native African plants
- road clearing
- game count 
- bird species recording
- teaching in a local school
- helping out in a township soup kitchen 

The fun stuff we've done so far:
- canoeing on the Kariega river

-Skydiving!

- eating (amazing food!) at the main lodge
- playing with kiddies at a local pre-school
- camping in the bush
- following the elephant herd for hours!
- hiking up a river to the waterfall and swimming in the pool at the bottom

There are 10 volunteers when it's at full capacity, but when me and the two other new people got here we were only 5 in total. But new folks arrived after one week, and then the real fun (and immense irritation!) began...