Week one at Venetia was similar to Patagonia in that it was an intensive training week. We spent many hours of each day in lectures about safety, animal identification, and training on the telemetry equipment and triangulation methods. At the end of the week we had exams on all we had learned in lectures and had to perform our newly honed telemetry skills with mobile tracking and located a radio collar that had been planted in the bush. It was a bit intense and we all wanted to do well with what we had learned.


Following test day we had our first party night. One of the great things about Venetia is that once a week, usually Thursday or Friday, we have party night. We'd get cleaned up, buy our cash of beers (10 Rand each which is around $1 for a 20 ounce), and let our hair down. We played plenty of drinking games and usually found ourselves sprawled out under the stars in the sandy pass in front of the gates. Party nights are revered and gracious in that we usually would have the next day off. No drives, no duties, just recuperation. Much needed recuperation.

One of the many ways we found ourselves recuperating...did I mention that we have access to a pool?