I’m currently working on my PhD and December is the start of my field season. This means that I get to be well and truly out in the bush from now until the end of June Sweat, blood, tears, thorns, heat, insects, spiders… the first week and I’ve already had a taste of each! My tan lines (e.g. sock marks ) are returning at high speed and my legs are already scratched to pieces. But it’s been fun!

Things started in a hectic weekend last weekend as I tried madly and in a great rush to get things finally finished and ready (like making my sampling sticks and printing data sheets!). On Sunday afternoon I drove through to Phalaborwa to pick up Innocentia – my first field assistant. Luckily we’re getting on together as we’d never met before!

Monday morning bright and early we were on the way to the first reserve. We found out where we were staying when we got here… the researchers cottage is being rebuilt so they had organised alternative accommodation for us. This is a private reserve with very rich people… They had organised for us to stay in one of the landowners’ houses… When we arrived at the camp we got an enormous shock… a huge very fancy house (see the other update)!

We dumped stuff and headed out to start fieldwork, no time for resting now! We headed to the waterpoint feeling a little nervous as we’d seen lions less than 1km away when we drove in! The reserve manager told us it would be fine… luckily he was right Unfortunately the sampling was not so fine – we couldn’t complete the first set and I ended up in tears in the second I have to ID a LOT a LOT a LOT of plants and I simply didn’t know enough names.

We changed plans and decided to spend the week collecting and identifying specimens in order that I could learn them. Ed (one of my supervisors) arrived on Monday afternoon and we had a crisis meeting and figured out that things could still work with just a few minor changes to the method and a few major changes to my brain. Five days later… I know a lot more plants! We’ve covered 101 woody plant specimens and 53 grass specimens

We collected specimens by walking around but in approximately 10 hours of walking we didn’t even see a squirrel! Twice we were close to lions… once we found out afterwards and the other we went with the knowledge that the lions and we were headed to the same dam but in the end nothing happened We did have two armed guards!!!

Friday and Saturday were spent inside, attempting to stay cool with the least amount of sweating, doing brain exercises with field guides. I have to admit that I didn’t realise quite how many different kinds of trees there were in the savanna ! My potential species list for trees and shrubs is now at 127… that’s 127 different plants that I need to learn Good luck to me!

I’m writing this on Saturday evening, my last evening in this fancy place, in the hope that I’ll find a decent enough internet connection to post it tomorrow. My dirty dishes are in the sink – they’ll be washed in the morning, my washed and ironed clothes are in my room – all I have to do is repack them. There’s definitely a good side to living in luxury whilst trying to do field work!!!!