Sep 26, 20214 min read

Nettie's Journey - 2nd Semester

STOP! STOP! Said the Speed Cop….

“Good Morning Ma’am”

(Some pleasantries are exchanged)

Ma'am, you were speeding

Me: (very politely) “No, I am very sure I wasn’t – I was travelling at 120km an hour precisely”

“Yes Ma’am, you were…. But in a 60 zone”

Me: Oh dear, whaaaat! how?

We will leave the rest of this story for another day, let’s just say the officers were extremely professional and I lived to tell the tale… out of jail :-)

Is that not how it so very often goes in life? We rush from one thing to the next, so much so that we get focused only on that, we miss the sign boards, the warning signs. It is so easy to fall into the trap of daily tasks and so long as we get through each day and somehow survive, we mar carry on doing the same thing, not realising how time passes us by.

Making the decision to do what one loves (not what one has to do), is not an easy one – it is really scary. Once you have made the decision, doubt and fear set in and you think of everything that could go wrong.

I did it!

I have taken the first step to be able to live the life I love, doing what I want and being where I want to be, where my heart is happy day in and day out.

This is the most gratifying thing I have ever done for myself.

Two semesters down at Bushwise, I am still stupid crazy busy, I feel like I can’t keep up, I feel constantly challenged, under prepared & under pressure… the difference?

I LOOOVE IT and I WANT MORE!

As you are all aware, I managed to contract the dreaded COVID at the start of our off-week and the campus had to go into lockdown for 10 days. Once I was symptom free for ten days and I had a negative test they were able to continue with our course. Needless to say, we had lost an entire week and somehow had to make up for the lost time.

The three weeks that followed were busy to say the least. We fitted in one additional activity (either drives, lectures, presentations or practical) each day, thus instead of two activities a day, we had three.

Even though I am sure this hectic schedule did not only take its toll on us as students, it must also have been very draining for the trainers. They were amasingly motivated and kept the morale going when everyone was tired and frustrated.

What did a typical week look like during Semester 2?

Mondays were Bushwise Test Days –

Here at Bushwise, for me, Test Days are Stress Days!

The thing is and what I really like, is that Bushwise train and test us at level NQF 4, even though we can only qualify for a NQF level 2 FGASA at the end of November.

One of my Early-morning Study Sessions - Coffee & Chocolate never far

Tuesdays to Fridays consisted of Morning & Afternoon Game Drives and a lecture or presentation in between.

We have been divided into three groups and a trainer, alternated weekly. Each student is allocated four drives where we must prepare and conduct a three-hour game drive for which we are assessed by the trainer on various aspects, from communication & knowledge to safety & driving skills.

Therefore, even though Game Drives are enjoyable, they also take great concentration and constant and continuous learning of the area, its ecology & geology, animal behavior, trees, birds, etc. to prepare us for our FGASA practical assessments.

Typically, I am rather pooped after each day and in bed by 21:00, up the next morning by 4:30 latest, except for Mondays, which normally started at 2am for me, as the Sunday just was not enough time to cram the modules of the week into my head.

Enough of the “tuff stuff”

What was my highlight this semester?

The reptile orientation course – loved it! I was in my element!

I have always had a great respect for snakes and I suppose also somewhat of a fear, as what we are taught from childhood is that snakes are “bad”.

Chris Hooke and Dr Jess Briner from the Hoedspruit Reptile Centre did a specialised educational training session with us and did a fantastic job explaining & demonstrating that you really must do a lot to be bitten by a snake, they don’t bite just for the sake of biting.

They explained the various snake bites, the different venoms, how to identify the snake from the bite and what to do in case of a bite. Dr Briner explained snake biology and allowed us (with her guidance) to do a necropsy on an Olive Grass Snake, which was found DOR (Dead On Road). In its stomach, we found several geckos & skink tails. Amazeballs!