Unsung Hero - Sam Rye

Unlike most of the other volunteer coordinators I have met on my travels Sam from CVNZ did not originally start out in conservation. Instead he got a degree in Business and Marketing and started his career in that line of business.

At some point he decided that he had had enough of this sort of lifestyle and changed his career to become a full time conservationist.

It must have taken a lot of guts to do it but from what I can see he is enjoying every minute of his new life.

I am still unsure if I will go down the conservation route myself when I return home to Ireland but Sam has shown me it can be done – I will wait and see!

Australia - things I have learnt

When I was doing my walk of St kilda I came across a couple of war memorials and it got me thinking just how much Australia respect its war dead.

I forgot to mention in an earlier post that while in Kings Park in Perth I made a point of checking their large war memorial which has all the names of the war dead from around Perth. I was looking for anybody named Finn and eventually found 2 names from the same battalion - I think they might have been brothers.

Just about every town and park here has some sort of war memorial to not only WWI and WWII but to other conflicts that Australia took part in. eg I did not know that Australia lost over 500 men in the Vietnam war. They were also involved in Korea and even as far back as the Boar war.

On our first trip up the Grampians we made a point of stopping at a camp side, putting on the radio and at precisely 11am on the 11th observed a one minutes silence.

One of the international trips run by the conservation volunteers is to Gallipolli to help with the memorial service held there every year on the 25th April - Anzac Day. Anzac day appears to be a very important event for Australia. Its a national holiday both here and in New Zealand and it basically commemorates their birth as a nation.

It must be a very emotional day for the country I only wish I could be around to see it. I will try to keep a look out for the war memorials though where ever I go.

Prue Simmons - Unsung Hero

Prue was the CVA team leader for my mammal trapping holiday. She has only been working for CVA for the last 4 months having spent the last two years in Japan but has been involved in conservation all over Australia. As well as her full time job with CVA she also works weekends at Werribee Open Range Zoo and also has a Radio show devoted to eco tourism. She is also involved with the Field Naturalist Club of Victoria

She is definitely one of those people who really enjoys nature and has lots of fantastic stories of past conservation exploits.

I could go on and on praising her but that would just embarrass her.

So instead I will embarrass her with this video from her time in Japan which I found on Youtube!

Prue

Unsung Hero

This was a very tough decision to make as their are so many candidates for Unsung Hero.

There is Alison, the resident marine biologist for the sharks. She has been working there for 2 years recording shark information and trying to get a database organised. She is also a BBBB but she kept making fun of my accent (don't worry Alison I didn't mind!)

Another Candidate would be Anthony - the skipper on the boat who has been working with sharks for 8 years and is completely mad.

Then there is Benz the deckhand who literally showed myself and the other volunteers Chad, Kevin and Roland the ropes.

Then there is Kari and Lisa (Mama Whale) who both work on the whale boat - and in Mama whales case sometimes on the water outside the boat!

Not forgetting all the girls in the office who do all the organising of trips (esp Natalie who managed to book me on a shuttle today even though she was 50 miles away in Hermanus - thanks)

In the end there could only be one person Jose Luis Zuniga - AKA Pepe



Pepe is Mexican and works on the whale boat with Kari and Lisa. This is the second time he has been over from Baja (where he lives and works with whales) for the Southern Right whale season but already he seems to know everybody in the area. So why Pepe.

Well I am being selfish - Pepe lives with us in the volunteer house and he just happens to love cooking and is very very good at it. He can work wonders with carrots, mushrooms and garlic producing appetizers that are out of this world. This is a typical side salad which he just flung together!




He has also been able to drive us drunken volunteers to and from the local pubs in Gansbaai as there is nothing of note near the house.

Cheers Pepe. I will have a tequila shot tonight in your honour!

Claudia Poli - Unsung Hero

I thought I would give Claudia a special mention in my Unsung heroes category even though she is not directly a conservation hero.

When I heard that we were going to be getting a Swedish volunteer at Enkosini I immediately made the quiff about Swedish meatballs and Swedes liking their meat. The fact that she was a vegetarian put paid to that joke. Hey look it was all men at the time - don't judge me!

Even though she was the only female and also vegetarian did not seem to phase her in the slightest. In fact she immediately took over doing most of the cooking (and cleaning!) - even for us meat eaters. We did of course protest but she was having none of it. The fact that she was a really good cook helped matters.

She then persuaded me to go to Kariega - which I shall be forever thankful to her as it was great. Again she tried to take on all the cooking - but this time there was also Ingrid and Jenna to help. I lit the fire!

For the final 3 days it was just me and Claudia volunteering at Kariega so I made the ultimate sacrifice and let her cook vegetarian meals. It was tough but I survived!

So I add Claudia to my list of unsung heros for having to put up with me for the last 4 weeks.

PS Before you lot ask. She is half my age! Anyway she doesn't drink - not my type at all!



Claudia - for a Swede the woman was always cold!

Jacques DeKlerk - Unsung Hero

Jacques DeKlerk (I hope I spelt the surname right) was our volunteer coordinator at Kariega which basically meant that he had to lok after us for the last 2 weeks. He has only been doing the job since January but has already proved to be very adept at it.

His enthusiasm for the job is great and his knowledge of the animals (especially birds) and plants can keep volunteers interested on even the longest game drive.

Some things about him:

He likes nothing better than to whip out his 18 inch canon and point it in the direction of birds! He has even won a couple of competitions with it - ok Raymond enough! What I really mean to say is that he likes to photograph our feathered friends with his canon camera and 500mm lense. His ability to identify a bird (especially flying birds of prey) is very impressive.

He is also good at seeing and identifying animal tracks - though he could be just making it up as I wouldn't have a clue anyway. '4 Lions passed by the qhere very recently' 'Really how can you tell?' 'Cause they are over there looking at us!'

He goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to making sure the volunteers enjoy their time off. Off course this usually means forcing them to drink alcoholic beverages such as Straw Rum and springbok cocktails but could also mean having to get on a horse and use his own car to transport people around.

Finally he has big conservation ideas about what he would like to do with Kariega which hopefully he will see happen,especially if he becomes conservation manager, though who is going to be the new volunteer cordinator then?

PS He has a nice girlfriend and a nice mum:



Jacques and his Mum

Franjo Sablic - Unsung Hero

Franjo or Franz as he was known was quite simply mad!

Franz was responsible for organising who did what each day at the Eco centre in Croatia. He would make sure no one was at a loss for things to do - even if it meant lifting donkey poo (thanks Franz!).

He seemed to work at the centre 7 days a week and 12 hours a day (mind you he did have 3 kids back home including a baby so the eco centre might have seemed a blissful paradise in comparison).

After work he would organise things like boat trips or guided bus tours but when he had to be he was strict in making sure everybody knew what they had to do - His catchphrase was "After eating is Meeting!" and boy did he make sure of that.



Franz doing his Sami Selio impersonation.

A couple of other things about Franz.

He is a coach for a local kids football team and is fanatical about the game (well betting on it anyway)

He is licensed to hunt wild boar. I will do a minor Ray Rant here. Wild boar were introduced to the Island in the 50's or 60's so that rich hunters could come and hunt when ever they wanted. (they are not native to the island) They have bred out of control and cause immense damage to the land and even kill lambs and sheep. The locals are powerless to react as they are not allowed to shoot the boars (only the hunters are allowed and they do not give out their licenses easily). As a result of this some locals have tried to illegally poison boars by placing out poisoned meat. This has also resulted in deaths to griffin vultures and was one of the biggest reasons for their decline on the island. The hunters keep the boar population high by only killing a certain numbr of boar at a time - Franz is the only hunter trying to actually limit the population.

Unsung 'Hiro'

My Unsung Hero for the National Trust Holiday has got to be Chihiro. Not because she does this sort of thing regularly - she has never done a Conservation Holiday before in her life. I picked her precisely because she has not done this sort of thing before. In fact she has never even been to Europe let alone Ireland before!

Chihiro is the Hero because she travelled half way round the world in order to do 1 weeks work with us bunch of idiots and then traveled all the way back again after that week. It must of been a real cultural shock to her and trying to understand all of us with different accents (especially me!) must have been a real pain.



Kampai: Chihiro!

Judy Brock - Unsung Hero

One of the things I thought I would do on this blog is to highlight people who, rather than my pathetic little conservation indulgence, actually do good work day in day out in order to protect animals and the environment. Because I have been volunteering up at the DSPCA and because Judy is my boss when I am up there I thought she would be the best person to pick as my first 'Unsung Hero'.

Whenever I told her she spent the rest of the day going around with a big smile on her face telling everyone 'I'm a Hero, I'm a Hero'. I think by the end of the day the rest of the staff wanted to throw her in some horse manure!

Anyway Judy is from Glasgow and works at Dublin's Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA). She does this at weekends as during the week she is doing a full time course in animal care as well as helping out at a local vets.

Here's where I make her head even bigger by saying she is a great person to work with and is always enthusiatic and cheerful (that's all your getting Judy - what do you think I am some sort of sap!)


< Judy and Donald who has just had his hip fixed after a traffic accident.


Judy goatting around (as usual)>



One other thing to say about Judy. She is one of the few Glaswegians I have met who, after hearing where I am from, did not immediately ask which team I supported - Rangers or Celtic. Of course I always say Partick Thistle and end up with a Glaswegian Handshake. Only Joking - Glaswegians are really nice people - Honest! (Anyway its Motherwell, not Partick Thistle)