After Emma’s departure and a few days off, Tom and I spent a few days scoping out a new site for a potential new African Bat Conservation project, with bats and farms. We got to stay there for a few days so we could scope the site out. It was really interesting and a beautiful site to work on and explore. We found loads of bat roosts and evidence of bats about and in the evenings did some acoustic transects to see which bats are foraging at the farm.

Though it feels like being on a nature reserve more than a farm at times here as there is so much natural forest about! A rarity for these neck of the woods. There are so many birds everywhere, not that I know much about them but I wish we had more time to get some photography on site here of all the beautiful nature and surroundings! As we are driving around doing our bat transect in the evening, it is hard not to notice how beautiful the sky is and be distracted by the stars! We also heard a hyena woop very close to us. As we are in the southern hemisphere you get to see the Milky Way and Orion’s belt (which always makes me think of the movie Men In Black)! Sadly I cant seem to nail any astro-shots but hopefully one day I will…

Our hosts, the Farm Manager and his wife are a great couple with really interesting backgrounds. The food we eat during our stay is out of this world and the conversations so interesting as we talk about travels, wildlife and life. I also get some tips on permaculture techniques whilst we are there and I am even gifted some gourmet coffee plants which I will be planting in my garden! Super exciting and it apparently takes 3 years to get your first beans 😀