South Africa 2017 - Day One and Two

Friday 17th November 2017 - DAY ONE

We travelled 7 or so hours on a mini-bus up through South Africa. The journey through the Limpopo Valley was greener than I expected. There had been recent rains and the Acacia trees had responded with a flush of green. 

A spider greeted me in my pillow on my arrival at the accommodation. It was much like a huntsman so I wasn’t too concerned. However, after relaying my story to others, I discovered that these aren’t quite as harmless! Bed stripped and checked - all good.

Today is overcast with a moderate breeze with black clouds looming. Hopefully, this will settle by the time we go out to record this afternoon.

We did a dusk chorus recording session. Leaving our main set-ups at Waterhole No 2. I put in four hydrophones and the XY. Travelling further afield to Jackal Fontaine we wandered around after setting up another rig - I set-up my H2n Zoom. A late dinner cooked by a South African Masterchef Neil awaited our return. 

Saturday 18th November 2017 - DAY TWO

A 2:45 am wake-up was required for our 3:30 am departure to record the dawn chorus at Makapo then we relocated to the other Mmabolela farmhouse Tuli. I managed to grab a great chance to record a working windmill. I also felt inspired to do a sounding of a sarcophagus-looking water trough. I was able to include members of the group in the moments as they passed by. I used stones thrown, rubbed, scraped to create a variety of sounds. On our return to the initial dawn site, we had the fortune to see a young giraffe near our rigs.

Later in the day, we travelled out to a concert/ listening session at No 1 Waterhole. We sat for an hour by the waterhole, in the dark, listening and looking at a starlit sky. We finished the night with the setting up of gear for overnight recordings. I dug one hydrophone into the ground and put the other in the water, attaching the Clippys to a tree. It was a 3-layered recording of terrestrial, aquatic and tree sounds.