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Hello Africa09,

I work for Earthwatch and begged to do the site visit on the Brown Hyenas project back in 2006. I loved it and since then, we've had nothing but praise for it. Mankwe Reserve is such a sweet spot, and the staff takes excellent care of you. What I particularly like about this project is that it gets you out in the African night, as well as the day time.

You visit a couple of different spots to assess the hyena population, so the density of mammals varies a bit from place to place. It would be highest in places like Mankwe and Pilanesburg and lower in some of the surrounding farms.
We saw lions in Pilanesburg, for example, and brown hyenas,
jackals and foxes. We saw giraffes, rhinos and ellephants at Mankwe along with a lot of antelope: impala and springbok.

The work is always enjoyable, even if you're looking for traps, because you are in such gorgeous surroundings. The night work (though you stay in your vehicles) is very atmospheric. One group had their car surrounded by roaring lions. Birding and photography are excellent here, especially as the accommodations are by a pond.

The accommodations range from three-room brick houses, ro reed cottages to walk-in safari tents, depending on team numbers.

If you're looking for other places to explore, Kruger is wonderful as are the adjacent private reserves. I've returned repeatedly to this place: www.transfrontiers.com, which is in the Timbavati region.

Please let me know if you have any other questions. I think there's one more spot on our Nov. team, but if not, we now have dates for 2009.

Hi,

Here's a quote from a volunteer who went last year:

"For me it was being able to see the wildlife actually in the wild. I can't describe it. I felt such a peace on Mankwe - a closeness with nature that I had never felt before. Plus, I knew that what I was doing was going to help the very wildlife that I love so much. Knowledge is power. The more we know about nature, the better stewards of the earth we can be.

"Being in Pilanesburg after dark was a kick in the pants. So amazing. Watching the sunset while we ate sandwiches at the hide off hippo loop... a true highlight. There was a hippo carcus that a lion pride had been feeding on. We did a call-in near there and all the lions came. That was AMAZING!"

Kathy, the Earthwatch webmaster

And here's a blog from the teen team that's going next week:

view link

Hi africa09, I am a third generation South African. I live in Cape Town. Please feel free to ask any questions.

I spent time in The Kruger Park many years ago. My boyfriend at the time was a ranger there. He went on to head up the Parks Board of South Africa.

Can't promise to be able to answer all your questions but I can always find someone who will!

Thanks to all of you who wrote about the hyena expedition.

We decided to go back to Sweetwaters in Kenya this trip but may go to S. Africa in the future. Your answers were all very helpful. Thanks again

-Peter

Hi, I have just returned from the Brown Hyena Project and I just love it. The location of the camp is a very scenic one and especially reed bucks come to the water to drink. I also saw a warthog coming in to the camp. At night you might hear some rustling as other antelopes may come to the water as well. The program has morning, afternoon and evening activities. In the evening you go out to do spotlighting and see animals you normally do not see during the day. The staff is wonderful and very knowledgeable.

As Mary says, Kruger National Park is a fantastic place to visit, it has roughly the size of Israel or Wales, so it is quite big.

Best wishes
Yoka

No, I do not know SA well. I will not respond about game preserves because I have come to believe that Earthwatch can do it all for you without the masses of tourists. Projects in Wamba and Sweetwaters in Kenya are better than any safari I have been on (other than trekking gorillas in Uganda).

I have been to SA once, on the meerkat project. I rate it very highly. The entire operation is exceptionally well run and has the bonus of the young people you will work with. They are the great hidden asset of the project.

Since we had not been to SA we spent three days in Cape Town before meerkats. This is not to be missed; it is a unique city. You can find everything you need to know about CT by logging on to Fodors and catch up with Selwyn Davidowitz. He will steer you away from tourist traps there. But bear in mind that World Cup will be there soon and would probably be a good time to avoid CT.

I can go into detail about any of these if you want to contact me privately. I tend to go on and that may not be appropriate here.

Good luck.