08 Nov Sleeping Under The Stars

This week the whole team got to sleep out in the wild with only a camp fire illuminating the surrounding darkness. With the clearest blue sky and not a cloud in sight we knew we were in for a treat come nightfall.

We chose to head towards the Selati River where water has not flown all dry season, leaving only soft sand and rocky boulders. The team set up camp and built a fire for us all to sit around in the evening. We then paired up and played some ‘beach cricket’ and soon discovered the team had some spider-man like reactions when it came to catching in the field! After Ed and I claimed a convincing victory we all set up around the fire whilst we Braai’d (South African BBQ) into the night.

Eventually the fire settled and everyone returned to their sleeping bags leaving an incredible night sky, illuminated entirely by stars, satellites and planets. I lost count as to how many shooting stars flew by whilst I laid in the sand facing into the abyss above, simply spectacular.

To ensure we didn’t have any unwanted visitors in the night, each person was randomly assigned an hours watch to walk the camp and keep the fire alight. Fortunately for the second month running I landed the final shift between 0500 and 0600 during sunrise whilst everyone usually stirs. Little did I know that just like last month we would be visited by another pair of curious Spotted Hyaenas who scampered and cackled around the perimeters of the camp site!