Countdown to Safari Camp Management…
Ten days to go and my house is complete chaos! Piles of items are stacked in my living room, ready to be packed for my upcoming season in Zambia. The garden is growing quicker than the council can empty my garden waste bin, and I don’t seem to be making a dent in getting through the food in my freezer before I leave.
I keep swinging between feeling unprepared and needing more time, and just wanting to get out there and get stuck in.
Meeting new team members, learning new systems and acclimatising once again to a massive change in environment is nothing compared to the camp build that is about to get underway in time for my first guests on the 2nd June. It’s going to be a wild ride, that’s for sure. But I’m excited and confident that it will all come together exactly when it’s supposed to.
Since my last update in March, I have been harvesting materials from the wood for my flower press, and busy making jewellery to restock the Earthful Online store for the time I am away. The lovely ladies in the OBOD office have been busy adding more of our products to their system, which is now live for worldwide distribution… spring really is the time for new beginnings!
Remember Maypole dancing as a kid? The brightly coloured ribbons, the crowns made of spring wildflowers, and Morris men with bells around their feet. Everything was a celebration. It saddens me when traditions die out and we lose yet another connection with the land and the seasons. Beltane is one such ancient tradition. A festival of light and life, fertility and anticipation.
Spring is the time when the leaves are the right size for setting into pendants. They are fiddly, delicate and easy to bruise, but when I pop out the moulds and see some that have worked perfectly, I still do a tiny jump of joy and smile to myself that Mother Nature once again gifted me something beautiful. These little hazel buds are adorable.
Elder leaves and Elder blossom make a great combination of course, but the leaves are only the right size for one week of the year, and the blossom is not even out yet, so these little cuties are even trickier to make and take a very long time. I’m really hoping it blossoms this weekend so I can fill the press again before I go.
It’s week 18, so I thought I would share card 18 from our new 52-card Oracle deck – “Elemental Journey”, especially as it’s quite apt for me in this frantic week…
Learning and relearning the flora and fauna of Africa. Specifically North Luangwa National Park in Zambia has been both fun and frustrating. Birds are not named the same across African countries, and yes, I know, I should be using the scientific names for this very reason. But I’m just not great with Latin, and neither, it would seem, are the various websites that have attempted to create a North Park bird list.
The second frustration is that my trusty Southern African bird book really doesn’t cover any specials that occur north of the Zambezi river. Unfortunately, Zambia seems to fall into a dead zone where bird books are concerned.
So I’ve resorted to an app.
Not ideal, I’m an old school physical book person and always will be. But at least I can cross-reference the rufous-chested, with the red-breasted and eventually find the bird I need! (AI would be awesome here if it weren’t pulling data from the very same websites I am struggling with. Aaargh!)
[repeats mantra] I am calm, I am capable, I will get there.
And whilst I wait for the next 10 days to whizz by. I have the UK dawn chorus to enjoy, which starts before 5am at the moment and continues until dusk – the best time of year to get out there and start learning bird calls. I heard a stunner whilst walking on Ditchling common last week… Garden Warbler. What a voice.
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I’m all set to spend a night at the woods tomorrow. Soaking up the atmosphere and spending some time around the campfire with friends. There’s nothing quite like it.
The flowers are blossoming, the trees are sporting their brand new lime-green foliage, and the insects are all buzzing around and creating a sense of explosion and busyness.
In true bank holiday weekend tradition, the weather is allegedly on the turn, but that will not dampen my spirits. The May queen and the Green man meet at Beltane and revel in the heady days of spring, what’s not to smile about?
So until next time, Beltane blessings from Rais Wood.
Joanne
x
