This morning started off chilly, however by the time we finished our mpogoqo & maas (sour milk) it turned into a beautiful sunny day and we all finally got to break out the shorts! We all went to the classroom for a quick lecture from Mark Palmer, reserve ecologist. We discussed the importance of vegetation types and densities in different regions of the reserve. This was a very interesting topic as the vegetation has a huge impact on the number of animals and the type of animals that the reserve is able to keep. Then we got the chance to try out our new knowledge in the field. As a class we completed one section of a transect which proved to be very time consuming; we could not easily identify the grass types as it is winter. Once we had completed this field lab, we split up and worked on our individual projects before having a delightful tuna quiche with ngqosu & squash soup.
Mark Palmer demonstrating how to carry out a vegetation survey on Amakhala
Out in the field doing vegetation sampling
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