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Hmm looks like I forgot to check/post my next update here: this was posted about a week and 1/2 ago:

My time at Venetia reserve is coming to an end. As it's only 5 weeks at Venetia then 5 at Karongwe it'll be interesting to see what "the other reserve" is like, but it will also be really sad to leave the staff at Venetia (and Dario- the only 5 weeker amongst us). I've grown rather fond of Venetia in my time here. It's much larger than Karongwe and (while I hear Karongwe is BEAUTIFUL) I will definitely miss the vast amounts of space. Haha and all the troubles it causes for us. Venetia is not nearly as habitualized as Karongwe so sometimes it can be very difficult to find the animals and, more often than not, GET to the animals. There are so many ravines and ditches and mopane trees here you have to rely on some very creative driving from the staff members, they each have their own "techniques" and I think the way they drive pretty much describes their personality:

Anton tends to just plow through/over any tree/bush that comes in his way...even when we probably could have gone around some of them (including some trees you wouldnt believe could get run over).

Justene (the expedition manager) is extremely cautious when it comes to safety but for research purposes she can sometimes become very intense. She boots it across the reserve and will try many things from different angles (and while she tends to ask for your opinion on things I think they're actually rhetorical questions...)

Chris, this big mammoth of a man. Broad shoulders, like 6'5" or something ridiculous is actually the most timid driver of them all. It's pretty funny, he drives the slowest and seems to genuinely care the most every time we hit a big bump that sends everyone in the back wheeling

And then, there's Christo. Crazy. Random. Awesome. He'll just drive backwards for like a 500m on a winding road just because he doesnt feel it's worth turning around. He is actually kind of brilliant in a crazy way. He's only person who was able to get us to the other side of this dam wall as he had to navigate through these huge 1-2m ditches created from the dam's overflow from too much rain over the years which spanned over like a 2-3 ha area. Haha he calls himself "random boy" and it's so true. Some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth is insane. Random Random Christo.

The past 2 weeks our camp living has been pretty split up. We have 2 groups made up of the 11 expedition members split into 5 & 6 for drives and camp duty etc. But for the past 2 weeks we've split to go into the mountains to stay at Lesheeba this beautiful nature reserve a couple of hours away. Due to the fact that research must go on, our groups have taken turns going up so we were seperated from each other for a whole 4 nights (only 3 nights for the other group due to Mahindra (the truck we drive here) problems....(on that note never ever ever buy a mahindra. They are shite.) The other group went up last week and then we actually just got back yesterday from our tour in the mountains.

While the first group was gone, we spotted 2 male cheetahs, which was wicked. Justene said that it was actually her best sighting at Veneita because they were just sooooo chill. They watched us briefly but basically did nothing. They did leave when we tried to get too close though but we definitely got to watch them for a good 15 minutes or so. It was wicked. No other crazy sightings (except my first Rhino yay!!), although we did have a lion and a bull ellie visit our camp during the first night they were gone. I was on camp duty and first the ellie came while we were cooking and talking and we had to lock ourselves in to the kitchen, which is basically a room made out of wire and bamboo shoots (or some sort of sticks that look similar) and talk really quiet so that he wouldnt get irritated and potentially charge the kitchen. It was pretty cool. Then the group on afternoon drive came back and we still had to be on high alert and lock ourselves in the kitchen to eat (usually we eat outside). [It was pretty gross actually....there are WAY too many stink bugs and mopane moths in the kitchen when the lights are on at night. Although I've become quite relaxed these days about bugs. You just pull the fly or whatever out of your drink/food and keep eating...then repeat every 1-2 minutes or so....] Then during the night while we were sleeping the ellie returned and knocked over some chairs etc and we also found lion tracks around camp as well...I love it.

Then our group went into the mountains and it is absolutely stunning. If you ever come here, I highly recommend renting a place here for a night or 2. They have these cottages/sculptures made in the traditional venda style made by a local artist so the walls are all made of mud and cow dung (it's strong as concrete...my dreams of making a mud hut for myself are going to be realised eventually I tell you), and then the roofs are made of grass and mud. Absolutely stunning. Where the other group stayed all of the houses were made like that, with sculptures everywhere (which was pretty cool) but our cottages were only partially made like that (but there was enough there that it was still stunning). And our particular spot had this unbelievable view of the mountains. We looked right into a valley between two mounbtains and we had this look-out right outside our cottages. We didnt have to move an inch. Stunning.

While we were in the mountains we helped out around the reserve, the first day panga-ing trees and bushes impeding upon this gorgeous trail (another new dream of mine I will realise....I'm SO buying a panga....and apparently you can get a really good one for like 6$~ so absolutely nothing...). Of course I still managed to be stung by something right underneath my eye like 10 minutes in. Thank goodness for antihistamines and antihistamine cream, by the end of the trail it appeared to have disappeared (but man, initally I couldn't see for like 10 minutes that HURT). At the end of the trail though there was this small waterfall and pool of water where we went swimming, absolutely gorgeous. Apparently there's usually no water there at all. We really lucked out coming during such a freak year of rain.

The next day we picked up sticks (also known as trees) in a field so they could mow it for the rhinos, then Kim, and I went rhino mud wallowing....which, as most of you probably don't know, is playing small pools of mucky, muddy water that, um the rhinos tend to use to drink and wallow (roll around) in...(brace yourselves) and shit and piss in.....um yeah. Kind of gross initially but what the hey, how many times in your life can you say you rhino wallowed.? Once the initial shock was over it was wicked. SOooooooooooo much fun. We were like 2 little school girls playing in the mud. It did take about an hour to get off afterwards though, but amazingly wicked. By far my favourite thing in the mountains. Even above the rhino stalking on foot (so much fun) and checking out the native bush paintings from like 10000 years ago (which were amazing by the way, there were some aboriginal ones which showed off how TINY the people were as there were a foot and a hand print and the foot was like 4-5 inches long...and then other spiritual/dancing ones made by other peoples)

We also saw a lot of rhino while we were up there. They have 8 and we saw all of them...quite frequently actually, especially this mother and child, so cute!! Although I was quite jealous, while we were gone the other group got to see Thika (a female lioness here)'s 2 week old cubs. I've been waiting to see them!! They've been hidden away in this thick thick bush for the longest time we couldnt get at them. Hopefully we'll get a visual before I leave! Anyways that's about it. Sorry for rattling off so much into this mammoth email...

then I just sent this one out now...

Karongwe
We made the move to Karongwe on Friday. It's pretty amazing to see the vast change in landscape that occurs here. The area around Karongwe is NOTHING like that of venetia....there are so many tall tall thin pine trees, soft rolling mountains...it's just so lush. Venetia is definitely on the northern-most part of South Africa. Both are beautiful, just in their own ways. I'm really excited to see what Karongwe as a reserve has to offer. I've heard so many good things about the reserve it's be great to get to know it as well! I only briefly got to experience Karongwe on Friday when we arrived and met the new 5-weekers because that night we signed ourselves out and went to a local bar then departed for Kruger National park for the past 4 days where I've been staying.

We had a bit of an interesting farewell from Karongwe that night though. We were all excited to finally have cars we could drive (got taught stick shift for the first time -very exciting!) and thought that a night out on the town would be a perfect way to start our weekend. But when we went to leave I was standing by that cars with Andy (another expedition member) waiting for the others to get their stuff together and leave when I hear a rustle of leaves, look up, and see two bull Ellies walking about 4-5m away from us. It was actually pretty funny I dropped my sentence part way through and was just like: "I know I can't wait to- and that's a fucking ellie...turn your light off". [As a side note Elephants don't like bright lights in the dark, it irritates them, as will loud noises] Oh life in the bush. Then the others decide to leave the house about 2 minutes later whipping their lights around (Andy and I are locked out of the cars because we dont have the keys) and I'm kind of whisper-shouting to them that there's an ellie and that they should be quiet and turn their lights off. Friggen Kim meanwhile is skipping up so excited and not hearing me as she whips her light around...geez! If that had been venetia we would have been charged for sure. These ellies are so habituated though...it was crazy to see the difference. Then, as if that wasn't enough, after the others had been given a ride down to our vehicles Micaela manages to accidentally turn on the car alarm because we're still getting used to these vehicles....Scariest thing in life. All was well though (thank goodness for habituating elephants!) and we managed to make it out ok and have a good short night out on the town (we did have to wake up early the next morning to get down to Kruger after-all) but it was definitely fun.

Kruger
Fun...but I think my initial vision of the park was a little off. I think you really need a good amount of time in the park to see everything from head to toe, whereas I just sort of had this amazing image in my mind of some magical place where you could see all these animals guaranteed. As it was, the only really new animals I saw in kruger were a few different species of bird as well as buffalo. Damn! I was really hoping to see leopard, and cheetah and hyenas (spotties more-so because they just seem so cool...and I've already seen brown hyenas at Venetia),. There's just really not enough roads in Kruger, and we couldnt even do the off-roading trails because we were in a toyota corola. I think you need at least a couple weeks at the park if you really want to see it properly, and stay at different camp sites within the park~ there's only so far one can drive each day before the goes down and you're required back. If anyone was wondering, I stayed at Letaba which is a site towards the middle of Kruger and is loaded with elephants but I hear that South is the way to go for other sitings so I'll definitely travel more that way in the future...

Oh well, I will definitely be back some day I think. It was cool to see so many old animals there though. We saw loads of elephants (some bulls with absolutely massive tusks and a baby ellie that was maybe 3 days old *so tiny!*) up close which was wicked~ I got some pretty awesome pics, hippos out in the middle of the day/night, giraffes that were just so old and therefore so dark in colour, tons of zebbies which were much more chill than at venetia~ at venetia they are guaranteed to run, and a huuuuge herd of buffalo. They're kind of hideous but at the same time gorgeous animals.

All in all it was a pretty fun trip, we all had a great time. Karongwe here I come!

And I just wanted to say thank you for all you kind words guys, it definitely means a lot to me! I've said it before and I'll say it again I dont think I would have been in this same place if it weren't for all y'all on TP! Love ya!