BY: Adam Christensen
Camp manager blogs are written by our current students who each get a chance to lead and manage a group (of their fellow students) for a period of one week.
When everyone returned to campus, we shared stories about the adventures everyone had during off-week. My week off was one for the books! It was spent sharing our camp pool with a couple new friends – African elephants.
Photo by: Brendan Davis
This semester is going to be filled with practical assessments and game drives in preparation for our FGASA exam, so everyone was feeling the pressure and I could sense a different atmosphere on campus this time around.
During my week as camp manager, we studied trees and plants for our first practical assessment of the semester on Thursday. We spent every free moment we had discussing things like whether a leaf was compound or simple, or what types of thorns were present on each tree we learned about.
This image was taken pre-COVID-19.
Something about the team I’m part of at Bushwise is different compared to any other group I’ve been part of before. Here, everyone genuinely wants each other to succeed and do well. Throughout the week, I’d find groups of students walking around camp teaching each other what they know about trees, or how to properly identify a specific plant. Slowly but surely, everyone became more comfortable and more prepared for the upcoming exam.
The beginning of summer rains brought the bushveld to life again – welcoming the return of migratory birds, flowers, fruit, and the serenading croaks and sounds of amphibians in the evening. The week was filled with amazing sightings as well. On Sunday, after the students returned to campus, we were lucky to witness a small pride of lions out on a kill – a rare sight on our part of the reserve. We were also visited by elephants on camp and had brief encounters with these amazing creatures throughout the week, right from the comfort of our porches!
Each student is getting closer to having all the skills and abilities needed to live out our field guiding dreams! As the camp manager, I learned the importance of teamwork, and I’m glad to see everyone continuing to do their part to ensure that each student’s experience on campus is a fulfilling adventure in the African bushveld.
Have a safari adventure like Adam by joining a Bushwise Field Guides course.
