Mathijs de Jong
October 9th. Today I had to bring additional fencing materials over to the Scout camp. And since it was a public holiday (Mother's Day), Jes and I had to scavenger ourselves for the right equipment with most offices / containers being locked and the keys nowhere to be found. Anyway after I had pilled up, I drove the land cruiser to the scout camp.
Upon arrival I saw the downside of this fencing project. Whilst we are closing off sections of the fence, there are bound to be animals that are outside the park and have no way of returning. A grijsbok was found dead in the fence this morning and his is probably the first of many more to come. Jes actually told me that predators like hyena that live in the park would sometimes use the fence as a part of their hunting tactics, driving prey into the fence.
No cars
Today, erecting the fence has also become a different ballgame. As we are moving away from the scout camp, we are now in terrain that doesn’t allow for vehicles to travel through (even not the Unimog) this means that rolls of bonnox, electric fence wire, offsets insulators will have to be carried into the bush for several kilometres. At days end I recon, two people had to carry 75 kg rolls of bonnox approx. 3 kilometres into the bush over 45 degree slopes!!!! My respect for the Malawian people really grew over the course of the day.
The team
When the fence line approached a nearby peak, I decided to abandon my work at the fence line to climb at and I was rewarded with a stunning view over Majete. The teams now working at the fence line have now found a natural hierarchy were everybody sort of knows what is to be expect from him. There is Morgan heading up the bonnox team, unrolling, tensioning and u-nailling the bonnox. There is Jector heading up the electric team and there is Isaac who is heading the “problem solving team”. Isaac is in charge of doing all the difficult parts such as the many depressions. My role is to inspect everybody’s work and to try a lent a hand whenever it is needed. This has caused me to walk the fence line up and down many times. I must have covered at least 15 km today!
Then after a long day’s work, I returned to the Chawali camp for a very nice braai, under the African night sky, knowing that at the Namisepha scout camp Grijsbok was on the menu.
October 9th. Today I had to bring additional fencing materials over to the Scout camp. And since it was a public holiday (Mother's Day), Jes and I had to scavenger ourselves for the right equipment with most offices / containers being locked and the keys nowhere to be found. Anyway after I had pilled up, I drove the land cruiser to the scout camp.
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