Tiger sneezes and hyena licks... (Moholoholo Game Reserve (South Africa))

Member Name: flyingpenguin

Product:	Moholoholo Game Reserve (South Africa)
Date:	18/06/09 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing, all hands-on, beautiful scenery, up-close with the animals!

Disadvantages: If you hate heat, no tv and nature, it's not for you. Flights often pricey. Can be hard work.

A housemate at university had taken a gap year, and during that time went on a trip with Conservation Africa, which took her to several different reserves around South Africa. Moholoholo was by far her favourite, and she started going back to them directly, and after our 2nd year of uni I decided to go with her. She had said many of the reserves you can be placed at have you out doing repair work, with only a small part of the work being animal focused, whilst at Moholoholo you get 100% animal care and hands-on experience. I was intrigued, and it was so different from anything I'd done before so I decided to enter upon this adventure!

Seeming as my housemate had been before, we contacted them directly to find out whether they had availability. The advantage of going directly through them was that we didn't have to pay a fee to an agent (such as Conservation Africa) in order to place us there. Agents will often offer trips to several different reserves, for a couple of weeks each. Going independently, I was able to stay at Moholoholo for an extended period, which I would recommend for settling in and really becoming a part of it. (I stayed for 7 weeks)

I flew into Joberg, and got an internal flight to Hoedspruit, the nearest airport. The plane was a tiny tin thing, with about 12 seats, and the landing strip was a dirt track besides a small building. The contrast of flying into industrial Joberg and bushveld Hoedspruit as overwhelming. The heat literally hit you as you stepped down the couple of rickety steps on the dirt and made your way to the pile of suitcases being unloaded. I was met at the airport by Hannalie, the mother-hen of Moholoholo at that time, who packed me into a minibus and answered every question I could possibly have, as we drove the short distance to the reserve.

The reserve is situated in the Limpopo region of South Africa, about 30mins from the Orpen gate of Kruger National Park, by the Drakensberg mountains. The rehab centre was started in 1992 and is still managed by Brain Jones. At first it survived off of donations, however as it has grown it started charging for tours - many school groups as well as tourists join these - as well as having volunteer students - as we were - who pay to live and volunteer there. Moholoholo means "The Very Great One" and is made up of four main places: the Rehab Centre, Forest Camp, Ya Mati and Mountain View.

---The Rehab Centre---

Set in the middle of the reserve, there are accommodation buildings for the students and rangers, a main house for the manager and his family, the clinic and animal cages. It's surrounded by fencing and electric gates, accessible by a track through the reserve from the main road. There are certain animals which live permanently in the centre - they may have be injured or brought in from domestic environments, so it is not possible to release them into the wild - as well as animals which are brought in from all over the country to be rehabilitated and releaed. Those kept are now used for education purposes.

On arrival at the rehab, I was welcomed by my housemate, and joined one of the rangers for a public tour to get to know the place a bit better. We were shown around various animals and told their stories, as well as facts about the species in the wild and the challenges they face. Every student is put into a group, which dictates which animals they will be responsible for during rounds. In your groups you are set morning and evening tasks - morning rounds started around 7am, and involved feeding animals, cleaning enclosures and changing water. I remember first being shown a table of defrosting dead chicks and looking on horrified as another student picked one up and began prodding it (important to check it's defrosted so okay to feed to the animals) - but within a week I had shaken off my city girl roots and was skinning them and cutting them into tiny pieces to handfeed to a kukubura!

My round included martial eagles (the largest eagles in Africa), spotted eagle owls, servals, caricals and white mice! Inevitably you get to know most of the animals in the centre, especially the more active ones. Stoffle, a honeybadger, had been brought in by an older man who had hand reared him, but realised he was too much for him to handle when he took him out in the car one day and Stoffle burrowed through from the seat into the engine! Wild honey badgers are dangerous, with even other animals being afraid of them - Stoffle escaped from his old cage, got into the lion enclosure and proceded to chase the lions around while they ran away in fear! But Stoffle could be a bit of a softy, when he wasn't trying to escape, and often played with the rangers, who would swing him back and forth on their boots. At the time I was there, they were hand rearing 2 cheetah cubs, so there were opportunities to bottle feed the little fluff balls and sit in with them as they played around. I have a video of them both laying on my lap, then getting playful and chewing on my t-shirt, which now has holes in it!

I also became "mummy" to an orphaned bushbaby called Boo - this meant as well as rounds and other jobs, I would collect food for him - bug hunting in the bush and sap collecting from trees - take care of his cage and give him time in the evenings to jump around my room. My roommate was "mummy" to a meerkat (not native to the area, but rescued from a local farm) so in one of the more surreal experiences, I often had him sleep at the bottom of my bed at night, and was awoken by little nails styling my hair or burrowing into my ears and up my nose!

During the day, students are usually given tasks to do. These include the less desirable acts of scrubbing big water bowls and cleaning out holding pens, but also the more random fun things that just come up each week. During my time there I went to a local reserve to do some impala capture (after a sweaty morning we caught only 3!) watched cheetah operations, injected rats and skinned impala. Each evening a ranger takes out the left over meat on the vulture run - you jump on the back of a bucky (pick-up truck) with the old meat and uneaten chicks, drive out into the reserve to the "Vulture Restaurant" dump it speedily off the back and drive away as circling vultures and maribou storks dive down to get it, accompanied by the occasional jackel and warthog. My first vulture run, I shared the back of the bucky with a giraffe head and legs - they were incredibly heavy to throw off the back!! Some evenings the rangers would take the students out on bush drives as the sunset - truly beautiful and breathtaking.

Students had to attend a few lecture type sessions, during which Brian and the rangers talked to them about some the issues faced today in South Africa, such as culling. We occasionally also joined the ranger course students in some of their activities (see below). Brian is an incredibly knowledgeable man and knows a lot about the bush. He knows people who own a private part of Kruger, and we were able to sleep out there for a night. This was so special as we knew we were the only people in this area of land, we made our camp with a big fire and had to set up watches through the night. Brian set up a dead impala down one end to see what wildlife we could lure in, and on our watch we were visited by 3 lions - a surprisingly unfrightening experience - adrenaline really does take away the fear!

You had some free time on Sundays, which usually involved sleep due to the heat, but also some trips out to a local pool or other local attractions, depending on vehicle availability and what everyone wanted. Staff were pretty great at helping students get into town when they needed (for shops and internet etc) - there was usually a minibus going in once a week, and students worked together to get things each other wanted. There were also some weekday trips to local places, and we managed to arrange a day trip to Kruger which was great fun, tho we never spotted that illusive leopard!

When I visited, I paid about £35 per day, as well as flights. Prices are now more than this, however enquireries would need to be made direct for exact prices.

---Forest Camp---
A short walk down from the rehab centre is Forest Camp. As a student, this is where you go for your meals - via foot during the day, and vehicle at night for safety. However, an alternative way of visiting Moholoholo is as a guest. Staying at Forest Camp, you get more comfortable accommodation, can go on walking trails during the day and game drives at night, without any of the cleaning or dead chick handling. The hosts will arrange tours of the rehab and other activities are available on request including river rafting.

Prices start from R1095 per person per night (about £82), with children under 5 free.

---Ya Mati---
Situated across fron Moholo, Ya Mati is more of a function venue, often used for weddings and dinner parties. (My former housemate actually got married there). The Blyde river runs through it, and it consisted of some chalets, a large building surrounded by lawns and a paved area for seating, and a caravan park area. It is a peaceful location, more focused on the calming surroundings than animal side of South Africa.

Beside Ya Mati is a small local church, with services partly in English and partly in Afrikaans. It was really quite magical to attend a service and hear worship songs sang in their language, and almost being able to sing along.

During my time at Moholo, a few of us were asked to help out at a dinner they were hosting for all the ladies of Hoedspruit, with a Titanic theme. There we were, in the only semi-clean clothes we had, carring plates of expensive food across bumpy grass to a large tent full of ladies wearing giant ballgowns in the boiling 40 degree heat - just another surreal experience!

Prices range from R170 (£13) a night for camping, to R1820 (£137) for an 8-person chalet.

---Mountain View---
I didn't visit Mountain View during my time, it is situated slightly away from the others, and seems to be better suited for those wanted a beautiful place to stay and relax or use as a base for visiting local areas. It offers bed and breakfast in chalets. Prices range from R165 (£12) to R310 (£23) per person.

---Ranger Course---
Along side the volunteer students, individuals can choose to take the ranger course. This covers areas of game farm management and knowledge of the bushveld and it's nature. There is a final examination, and students receive a certificate. For local students looking to go into this area, this can aid them getting a job in the field. During my time we spent a few mornings with the ranger course students, taking part in their activities. Prices at present are R7150 (£538) per person for a 12 day course.

---Overall---
I would recommend a visit to Moholoholo to any one! If you have a sense of adventure and don't mind joining in with everything and anything, then the rehab centre is for you. I may be early mornings and at times hard work, but a lot of fun and incredibly rewarding. You can meet so many different people during your stay and build relationships with animals you usually only see behind bars and glass.
If you don't fancy the hard work but still want an African experience, with some opportunity to get close to the animals, then Forest Camp would be a better option for you. And if you don't really need the animal side at all, the Ya Mati or Mountain View would suit you better. Staying at either, you could still take a tour of the reserve and rehab centre.

My visit to Moholoholo was truly a life changing one - it gave me time out from everything else in my life, in an environment that is awe-inspiring, to experience a completely different world. A real once in a life time opportunity!

*All prices and conversions accurate on date written (18th July 2009)

Summary: How many people have a scar from a honeybadger's bite? I wouldn't trade this experience for anything