Journey To The Wild: uMkhuze Game Reserve

I still could not believe how much impact a trip into the wilderness had on me. My first (solo) wildlife conservation journey in uMkhuze Game Reserve was one of the highlights of my life! It all started with a random thought of the orangutans in Borneo, to the big 5 in Africa. Somehow, my heart led me to South Africa — the land of the greater nature. Then again, our perspective is always limited by how much we know and at that time, I did not know more. All I wanted was to explore something different, purposeful, educational, out of my comfort zone, yet close to my heart. I wanted that constant yearn for something that feeds my soul. All of this started to feel right.

“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” — Nelson Mandela

Wildlife conversation (in a faraway land) is absolutely not a thing in my social circle, and this idea only excites me more. As I did more research, intuitively I knew there is something out there for me to figure; that inner desire kept nudging me. This decision did not garner much support nor understanding from most family and friends; exactly what I needed to fuel 😛 This post, like some of mine, whispers about my personal experiences, sightings, learnings and — if any — important information on what to understand and look out for. Throughout my research and journey, I gathered some SHOCKING knowledge about what’s happening in the wildlife tourism industry. They are so critical to help potential visitors to make informed decisions or just anyone to be in the know. Even just being aware of a few key pointers like, understanding the difference between ‘Legitimate Sanctuaries’ versus ‘Pseudo-Sanctuaries’, and their respective impacts. Here’s a quick summary below.

Why Is Wildlife Important To Us?

First, ‘wildlife’ includes everything down to microorganisms that live in their natural environment undisturbed by humans. In fact, on the greater scheme of things, we have always been part of this natural environment. (Frankly, who knows what everyone else in the wildlife kingdom maybe calling us…) So it is important for us to recognize the fact that fundamentally, this Mother Earth we live on operates in a balanced equilibrium of:

• infinite profound interconnections;
• complex interactions; and
• interdependency amongst all living things.

Apart from ourselves, the biodiversity of wildlife helps maintain this balance and functionality — this health of the ecosystems provide:

1) stability to different processes of the nature—like, cycle of life; appropriate climate cycles, and
2) benefits in abundance to everything/everyone such as, homes; food; medicine; clean air; clean water; appropriate living conditions; etc.

The loss or decline of a single species can disrupt this balance and have long-lasting consequences for other species in the region, and likely beyond. Unhealthy ecosystems also cause disasters like floods, droughts and frequent soil erosion. As for mankind, how we evolved and where we are today, we actually need the wildlife and the natural world even more, would you agree? Regardless, if it’s for knowledge (research opportunities), income, mental/emotional comfort and leisure lifestyle, just to name a few. Hence, we all have the biggest responsibility to protect all that comes together that enabled us to build what we have now and for the future. Wildlife; wild places; Mother Earth in general is the main foundation of the ▲ pyramid human beings are building upon. So we should mindfully be asking:

• Are we building our lives on this planet the most appropriate way? Or
• Are we mindlessly/ignorantly turning it into an inverted ▼ pyramid instead and waiting for it to topple one day?
• Do we really care what consequences would follow, because ultimately, life is a cycle and our output determines what comes back to us, yes?

The Darkside Of Wildlife Industries

I would like to shine light on what is relevant to my journey. Eco-tourism — and tourism itself — is on an exponential growth. In many countries, commonly but not limited to Africa, animal “sanctuaries” or “rescues” or even larger conservation programmes based on private conservancies could hold a false front that hides a dark and sad reality of imposing greater damage than what the public is aware of. All too often, such pseudo-organizations operate far from morality and ethicality. Behind their “conservation” façade, there is a whole industry exists for the purpose of trade, cub-petting and trophy/canned hunting. Here are a few situations that commonly happen:

1. (Exotic) Animals are being bred and raised in captivity. Very much like puppy mills but worse; the mothers are engaged in speed breeding and babies are taken away shortly after they are born. The difference is: producing a litter 3 times per year, versus, the natural cycle of —the most successful (tiger) mom— birthing a litter once every 3 years. Imagine you, your mom, or your sister had to go through such strains that greatly compromises their health. And, you, like a speed-breeding cub, are taken away from your mother almost immediately and then passed around by strangers while being bottle-fed for hours and hours non-stop. It not only potentially leads to psychological stress and dehydration, the cubs’ immature immune systems are weak and susceptible to illnesses and diseases; even just from domestic dogs — known as Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) — could be fatal for big cats.

2. These babies (e.g. a tiger or lion cub) are being used as photo prop and/or open up for human interactions known as ‘cub-petting’ for paying visitors (tourists and volunteers alike). Where baby animals are being used to prey on people’s affection towards it, and exploit the desire to hold or care for them. Such practice masks a dark side of animal cruelty (stated in the next point), and also inherently causes the animals inability to survive in the wild. Though in such places they were not meant to be bred to go back into the wild anymore — no chance.

3. Animals bred and raised in captivity, and with human interaction have such trust/familiarity built in them, that they will less likely run away or avoid humans, as compared to their wild counterparts. And the whole purpose for them to be raised this way is that at some point, they will be moved or sold for bone trade (commonly exported to Asia for use in unproven medicines), and the sport known as ‘trophy hunting’ in South Africa, similar to ‘canned hunting’ in the USA. Where these animals will be released into a fenced area big enough for a chase, small enough to be found easily and not escape. People would pay tens of thousands of dollars to hunt their chosen species PURELY FOR THE FUN of it.

To sum it up, sanctuaries which promote animal handling or interaction are often on the bad side of that fine line between genuine and unethical operations. However, there are many legitimate organisations, sanctuaries and rescues that do the difficult and dedicated work of providing animals with the highest standards of humane care, free from any form of further exploitation, as well as rescue and rehabilitation, to those which would otherwise be unable to survive. Sometimes the rescued animals may never be able to return to the wild for many reasons. So the real conservationists deserve all the support, recognition and limelight to keep things moving forward, and the power of responsible consumers can contribute to the change greatly. Indeed, things can seem fuzzy. Uninformed public are often misguided and led to believe that any captive animal facility — especially those with exotic wild animals — is a sanctuary. No! It isn’t always the case, I hope my small presence here would be able to create awareness and, to some extent, educate. Those immoral companies pray on this misconception to engage in wildlife transaction and get financial support from the unwitting public. So, for the sake of the good organizations, tourists and volunteers need to be aware of the bad ones – that operate solely for the profit of (unethical) businesses and everything else, but the long-term well-being of their animals.

Journey To The Wild

For my trip, I did a thorough research with my only criteria being ‘REAL conservation in the wild’. For a peace of mind, I commenced my short 10-days exploration into this walk of life with a WWF-supported organization known as ‘Wildlife ACT Fund‘ — a non-profit trust with a mission to save our planet’s wildlife and wild places from extinction. They work on 5 different reserves across KwaZulu-Natal (also known as Zululand). I set out not to be a tourist, but to learn about this industry and cultivate a way of thinking and depth of feel different from most metropolitans. Here’s the consolidation of my daily journaling. Some days are more interesting than others, and the rest could be beautifully mundane.

May 8, 2017

Day 1 — Journey To The Wild: Prelude

Though I lugged a bag of mostly unsupportive worries from home to go on my furthest and greatest journey thus far, yet my heart singularly filled with elation and a strong sense of love and passion. Also, a rather interesting start with what seemed like little blessings and protection from my guardian angel and/or the universe!

Not only a passenger on the same flight to Johannesburg reminded me to be careful on my trip, an African sales boy from the Vodacom shop repeatedly reminded me to keep my luggages by my side and not simply slot my mobile phone into the side pocket of my bag. I really appreciate his genuineness.

During transit, I was at a cafe opposite the Vodacom shop setting up my tech gadgets. All of a sudden, an African woman from 2 meters away moved her chair right next to mine and started asking questions about my devices. A group of students from the table diagonally in front of me stopped chatting (loudly), turned around and looked at us for about 3-5s in silence. Time and the bustling atmosphere, in a blink of an eye, felt like a standstill. Either I am a drama queen, or everyone near me felt equally uneasy and suspicious. Recognizing such strong negative energy, I quickly packed up and bid her goodbye with a smile.

As I searched in confusion for the direction to the domestic airport, I mistakenly went into the carpark instead. A man in suit held me back and asked if I needed help, and directed me onto the right direction. He also told me to be careful on my own. I really started to wonder how uncommon is it for an asian girl to be here in South Africa alone. I was greeted with surprised reaction from the beginning of my journey to the destination arrival — I am assured I made the right choice 🙂 So thankful to all the angels’ protection and guidance, like a parcel I got picked up at KwaZulu-Natal by the Wildlife ACT team safely. That’s the end of my exciting starter. 😀

On first evening, we were greeted by a considerably huge (the size of a woman’s fist) Golden Orb Weaving Spider hung at the top corner of our bedroom entrance. Everyone, except the regulars, were having a commotion about it. To be honest, I cringed inside of me. We were told that their large, strong web comes with a golden sheen under the sunlight; that definitely sounded more beautiful than it looked at night (under a lamp). Subsequently, one of the girls went under the bed to catch a frog with bare hands. Later the night, I was somewhat comfortably tucked in bed, under a comfy-enough not-so-high thread count blanket, by a confused rhythm of buzzing right by my ear. To my horror, there was this long and slender worm-like fly with a pair of fore and hind wings — looked like a malnutrition dragonfly — could be a damselfly — hovered around my bedhead. One of my roommates bravely swept it out of the window as she found me hiding entirely under the cover froze in silence; I didn’t want to reveal what a useless scaredy cat I am 😛 The french girl next to me giggled while she had herself semi-hidden… Since then, my subconscious mentally armed myself for more inevitable and privileged meet-and-greet sessions with other (creepy) wildlife. I needed be a brave girl.

May 9, 2017

Day 2 (onwards) — Journey To The Wild: Inception

The Cheetahs

I was delighted to be placed in uMkhuze Game Reserve. First thing in the morning, we dropped off baggages at the camp real quick and hopped back on the road. While the warmth of morning sun gradually turned into heat in this African autumn, uMkhuze Game Reserve had us a lovely welcome sighting during the monitoring session. An impala fell prey to the fastest animal on the planet — Cheetah; mom (named MCF11) made a kill, dragged the carcass into a well-shaded bush. Together with her four juvenile cubs, the cheetah family nestled comfortably within the spot amidst the bushes, camouflaged. As silently as possible, I insinuated to the side railing on the back of our open vehicle. Watched them fed on their food source, had mommy lovingly cleaned them up in such wildly natural behaviour and their beautiful sharp eyes stared curiously at us through the gap between the leaves, all of which had muted my heartbeat, my breathing, and the buzzing of flies hovered my ears. At that point, I am at peace to know we are all the same.

The uMkhuze Research Camp

During mid-day, we had an orientation around the research camp, introduction to the team and the organization, understanding its mission and current projects. We also found out that everyone in the team, regardless of age, knew how to climb a tree EXCEPT the only asian girl — me. It’s funny as they looked bizarre knowing I could not climb a tree (to save my life in case we come face to face with a rhino). They asked, “You don’t know how to climb a tree?!” With a little bit of awkwardness, I replied, “We don’t climb trees in Singapore, they are precious, and it might be illegal.” He then said, “Well, if the time really comes, I’m sure you will naturally know how to climb a tree.” 😛 The more hilarious part was, I still do not know if they were serious about climbing a tree to save my life if I bump into a rhino. I know it definitely would not work on an elephant, or a cheetah, or a leopard… Anyway, I love this camp as it is unfenced, so there really is a good chance to meet some friends 😛

About uMkhuze Game Reserve

Instead of the famous Kruger National Park, being me — lover of both the vibe of life and quiet intimacy — I chose Zululand for my first authentic local experience. uMkhuze safari is a 40,000 hectare game reserve within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park — a UNESCO world heritage site. In recent years, its territory included uMkhuze Game Reserve all the way to uMkhuze waterfalls. It is a land of extreme beauty and contrasts with wildlife like the black and white rhinos, elephants, giraffes, leopards, cheetahs, buffalos and a multitude of plains game. Lions were reintroduced to the park in 2013 making it now a Big 5 reserve. The birding is exceptional with 420 species recorded. It is a world-renowned for its birding possibilities that truly makes uMkhuze Game Reserve so unique!

The golden hours came to merrily light up the woodlands into a display of pastel glory, at the same time better camouflaged the cheetahs while they stayed put, when we did a last check on them for the day. Light eventually dimmed and the earth gradually swallowed by the dusking sky. We continued the evening drive along with the beautiful sunset view on bumpy off-roads in almost deep search for the collared lions which we could only hear but not see. In fact, there were 3 different packs of lions we were tracking, and they were pretty hard to locate. Like leopards, lions are generally more active at night and there are some places we just could not drive into.

We wrapped up the day with a barbecue, known as Braai, as a welcome dinner for the new volunteers. It was my first time eating game meat, and if you have tried horse meat; they are equally tough — and no, I’m not a fan. More importantly, at that instant I had a sudden self-reflection which did not sit well with me. I felt hypocritical; I am here to save and conserve animals yet, eating them at the same time. The values I hold do not seem to align, so it kind of bothered me.

Jobscope of A Wildlife Monitor

A typical day for wildlife monitors would consist of two monitoring sessions; early morning from around 5am, and late afternoon at around 4pm. Each session lasts approx. 5 hours depending if there is any critical situation to follow up with additional session or extended hours on the road, within the day. The time in between the sessions are usually for rest; admin work; and/or hands-on work around the camp or other areas, if any. Wildlife monitoring is carried out using a radio telemetry to wirelessly transmit and receive data, and detect signals in the form of ‘beeps’ from collar devices installed on the monitored animals. Then, the monitors will follow/chase/search in the direction of the ‘beeps performance’ to track down and lock in the visuals of the target/group, take all the necessary records such as, location coordinates; close up images if possible and basically observe their behaviour for awhile. A successful search can be challenging as it takes some practice and understanding — of how the tool works best, and the different environment. These duties are carried out 7 days a week, regardless rain or shine. They also work hand-in-hand with reserve management, rangers, vets and likely biologists.

The African Wild Dogs (a.k.a. Painted Dogs)

Wild dogs images overload! They are one of, if not, the main conserved endangered species in uMkhuze, I decided to let my images do more talking as well. Pictures really speak a thousand words. Also, read more about them below!

Wildlife ACT built an enclosure (known as boma) to keep animals (specifically African Wild Dogs) in times of need (due to injuries or other reasons for temporary stay) and we had to do boma checks daily; on the the electric fence and the female wild dogs whom were kept in it. These wild canid are the elite predators native to sub-Saharan Africa, also known as Painted dogs/wolves — as they are distantly related to wolves. They are also one of the most endangered mammals on earth due to human activities. Hence, they are highly protected and monitored. These true wanderers who could travel miles and miles, are highly adaptable and while as ferocious as they can be, African wild dogs are actually also one of the most endearing species in their very own way. They are highly social, living in closely knit packs, so dependent on one another; even coming together as an entire family to raise litters of pups, and so averse to solitude that it is unheard of for them to travel or hunt solitarily. They are known to stick together most of their lives. Truly, it is evident everyday at the boma, the male wild dogs would do their rounds to search for food together and then come back to reunite with the female dogs, although separated by the fence. When one of them was injured, everyone still stood by and cared for one another; no one was left behind.

At break time, as I comfortably nestled myself on a couch with feet stretched out onto a rattan armchair at the outdoor common area of our camp, I felt a sense of bliss. Albeit battling the inconsistency of the network in this rural area, while documenting this journey, and listening to a (I don’t exactly know its breed) big black tok-tokkies beetle —about 5cm long— tapping its abdomen on the ground continuously right beside me. Don’t ask me if I freaked out when I first saw it. FYI, ‘tok-tokkies’ refers to some flightless beetle species that have developed a unique “tapping” method of communication between males and females; different species tap with different frequencies. The term ‘tok-tokkies’ mimics the “tok-tok-tok” noise the beetle makes when it raises its abdomen and brings it down on to the ground several times in quick successions. I was only 3 days into it, yet, my heart was already filled to the brim. No, not because of the beetle; but I’m learning to get used to them.

May 11, 2017

Day of A Beautiful Disaster

I have started my daily life with many beautiful mornings, and so far, all the sunrise in Zululand have been added to my collection. However, on day 4 of this journey, it was mystical and magical — way too beautiful to ever forget. Radiation fog with sunrise already make a perfect magical match, what topped this perfection was the clear pastel-coloured sky at the break of dawn; with a bright full moon from previous night setting in our sight; and wild animals out grazing the grassy pastures. Just like the reality of life, things could turn drastically fast. It seemed so peaceful this moment, who would’ve imagined what terror happened just before this daylight because of the bright full moon — No one, but the monitors/people of this industry. It was a dangerous and tragic night — the skies were clear and the moon was so bright that it lit up this land; night visibility was enhanced. Great opportunity for illegal poaching on the rhinos. Sad to say, yes, on that beautiful morning we received tragic news of 9 dead rhinos killed overnight for the illegal trade of their horns. Solemness within the team was real. Do you also know that rangers of the safari who work to prevent and capture poachers are literally risking their lives everyday? Many were the fallen angels of the wild, we do not know enough.

The Lions

Pack #1 Lions — Windy autumn mornings can be beautiful. In our case, we found the male lions (MLM 6, 7 & 8) strolling along the dividing fence between uMkhuze Game Reserve and Phinda Private Game Reserve. Truth is, they — specifically the alpha male — had been hanging there for 3 days. The alpha was so attracted to Phinda’s lioness on the opposite side of the fence. He followed her and hovered back and forth right in front of her, as she laid on the shaded ground under a fully grown tree; held her head high; with her paws crossed; like a diva. She was massive in size, calm and collected — exuded so much elegance, and little hard-to-get aura. She simply was a stunning wild beauty but sorry no photos of her. My bad. It was a beautiful sight to our morning tea and cake session at the back of our truck. We always stay a safe distance away observing without intervening nor disrupting all the natural behaviours.

Pack #2 Lions — From the day I arrived, we learnt that, there was a lion family with an injured cub. So, we had been in almost desperate and unsuccessful searches every consecutive nights. Finally on May 12, we caught visuals of the lioness (named MLF10) and her (remaining) two yearling cubs —with one of them injured. Unfortunately, I do not have a good enough night photography set-up to capture the scene; and I probably was taken aback by that moment. Reason why it was a critical search for this lion family because one of the cubs had her paw caught in a snare laid by humans (highly possibly by poachers), a week before my arrival. We needed to check on her condition as tracking mortality rate of wildlife is part of the conservation and research efforts. Human-wildlife conflict has always been a common and serious existing issue that could lead to a lot of negative results. Her condition had deteriorated greatly since the monitoring team last saw her. She was limping, moving really slow, trying to catch up with her brother and mother. Unlike the African wild dogs, injured lions eventually will be left behind to fend for themselves as they are no longer capable to catch up and stay with the pack. It was extremely heart-wrenching to watch, let alone discuss what could be the best solution on our part — we all have different opinions which are debatable. That night, some of us left the dining table in tears, all of us went to bed heartbroken. Next morning we were up extra early to begin our search for them at 445am, but to no avail.

Pack #3 Lions — Lionesses MLF 2 and 3 were rarely seen whenever we dedicate time to track them. There were once we chanced upon them in the day, and the next time we tried to locate them, it took us 4 hours into the dark and going all over the land. The lioness mom did not seem very pleased with our presence (and probably the light), she kept staring at us once our truck arrived in front of them. We then moved slightly further away, switched off everything, and shared the beautiful night with them for a while under extreme clear sky, where the glow of a milky way could be seen with our naked eyes. Have you tried being in the wild, solely listening to the millions of different communication channels of the crickets? It’s quite fascinating to me.

Oh, the cheetah family (MCF11 + her 4 juvenile cubs) I saw on my very first monitoring session, had moved on from the first location after feeding for couple days and mommy MCF11 seemed to be on a hunt again.

This time, their behaviour was funny and adorable to watch. We found them on one side of the savannah as we stood atop the beacon tower nearby, observing through the binoculars and camera lens. There was a couple of impalas, on the opposite end of the plains, being eyed on by MCF11. She gathered her playful cubs in a spot and made them stay. Seemed as though she wanted them to watch and learn how to prey on their food source. Like any typical family with one mischievous child that messed things up sometimes; one of the cubs could not stay put and went roaming around. While she went rounds to get him back, their movement alerted the prey and they escaped shortly. Well, that also meant play time had resumed for the family while mommy was still cautious of the surrounding for potential threats and opportunities.

The Last Round-up

The last few days of my conservation journey were varied. There were mornings where, the wind whistled like a bird in distress; or howled in fury with pin-like raindrops pricked on our skin. If I haven’t mention, we had 4 consecutive days of rain and drove passed a stream filled with water flowing through. Everyone, especially the full-time monitors, joyfully exclaimed, “Look! There is water in the stream!” For a second, I did not understand what they meant; and thought why would a stream not have water? Then I realized they often had dry spells especially the last few years, and at times insufficient water to feed everyone, it hit me (I could be taking things for granted). There were times we painted the boma under the scorching sun, also times where we got drenched and muddy. We drove towards a picturesque full spectrum rainbow hung brightly in front of us — as though it signified the team en route to a common dream at the end of the rainbow. I knew we were not here to be tourists, but we could request to see what we wanted and explored beyond what tourists generally would. And, I’m happy.

Daily bush life was truly a “little” adventure:

• Apart from snakes, African migratory locust sticking onto your body, spiders and webs, and bugs flying around,

• We almost end the day with a tyre punctured on top of a hill as we detected signals of a collared lion that was nowhere to be seen, while the men fixed the problem, I went into the bushes for a pee a few meters away. As we were about to leave, I learnt that the lions were just further down the hill from where I was.

• We could begin the day under a blanket of twinkling stars that felt like inverted city of lights in the clear wee-hour skies; 518am. Despite only the headlights of the truck shining on the road ahead in the darkness, it is possible to catch glimpses of a herd of impalas sat by the road side with their tiny heads stuck out of the tall bushes and pretty eyes reflected the moving light which looked like sparkly in the dark!

• (In the light) Day-time road trips consisted of: seeing hyena’s white poop; avoiding (big) spider web drive-throughs; vervet monkeys swinging around a tree; nyalas grazing the grassland; wildebeests playfully chasing each other; (cape mountain) zebras always staring at us; giraffes feeding at the waterhole and sitting on the grassland; white back vultures circling above a kill; etc.

• Equally adorable scenes on the road happened in the dark too, such as, a wild rabbit hopped out of the bush suddenly and tried to save its own life by hopping in approximately 20 degrees left to right in a zig-zag motion in front of our truck. Hence, we had to inched forward like a snail — this went on for about 30 seconds before the rabbit realized it needed to hop off-track. Also, accidentally drove through a huge spider web and took the (big) host along for the ride; drove in a head-on direction with an elephant mom and her calf on a 1-way road; spotted a hyena finally; went off-road into an isolated area of weird looking plants (that were like elongated gigantic pineapples) and mint vegetation that smelled so good; etc.

The last day of my journey in uMkhuze was a bit more special than usual, in little ways. The morning was beautiful with super clear rainbow-colored skies and we drove along side the sunrising horizon. There was a zebra that crossed the road behind our vehicle and let out a loud fart, a majestic sight of nyalas horn-fighting on the grassland, and also located a heart-wrenching visual of a white rhino with fresh wounds on its face. There were herds of impalas and wildebeests, a kudu, all of these while on the way to our daily boma checks on the African wild dogs — however, Madikwe 3 was missing. There was a huge combination of a flock of lappet-faced and white back vultures soaring in the skies right above the fenced ground of the boma, and a committee of them resting on surrounding trees — approximately 50 in total. Also, never have I see a gigantic spider web glistened in the golden light and thought it was so beautiful. Lastly, I think I am in love with a new bird species called Lilac-breasted Roller.

The Lilac-breasted Roller

One of the best take-aways ending this journey, was to discover a new perspective in birding — which uMkhuze is unique for — and to learn a bit about the birds we saw and heard along the way. I found my interest not only in big majestic species, but a first sighting of a beautiful African bird — Lilac-breasted roller (or known as the ‘rainbow roller’) — made it to my favourite list with a strong first impression. Although they are not exactly small; about 36-38 cm (14.2-15 in) long, and a wingspan of 50-58 cm (19.7-22.8 in). They have a total of 8 colours on them (more recognized for its lilac breast ), for both mature males and females. They are known as one of the ‘rollers’ due to the aerial courtship display they do. Basically, they would fly upwards for about 10 meters (33 feet) and then swoop down with wings closed, or, roll from side to side while flying very fast. If the aerial courtship is successful, they simply mate in the air. (That’s cool) 😀 Unfortunately I did not managed to capture it in flight, but to do its beauty justice, I got it off the internet.

Grateful to have started this day with a beautiful sunrise and ended it (almost) perfectly driving on a road headed into another beautiful sunset. After I left, the team engaged in an exciting task of darting and relocating the wildlife. That was also a huge part of the conservation efforts that I would love to be a part of.

Truly, I ended this journey with a brand new heart; a hell lot of gratitude for a life I could see, learn, and feel so much in such short period of time. This journey showed me a brighter and stronger side of solitude I have never felt before. It lighted up a world of possibilities that also led to rediscovery of self, my core values and priorities. I look forward to returning for the same purpose, and maybe with better camera set-up.