STUDYING IN SOUTH AFRICA
When I arrived in Africa last year, it was mainly to gain experience on the field and going back to France continuing my studies. But it ended up changing my life and discovering a new way of studying. In fact, after 6 months studying the caracal (Caracal caracal) in the wild, walking every day with animals around and a feeling of freedom, I came back again to find a way to study there. My wish comes true thanks to a french girl Marine Drouilly who, like me, have a strong passion for wildlife and conservation (see her website here). She introduced me to one of my future supervisors: Justin O’Riain. Three months later, I was back in South Africa again, ready to start my degree.
For those who wonder what kind of degree I’m busy with, I will explain quickly. Basically, I’m doing a Master by research. It means that, instead of doing 4 months of coursework/6 months of fieldwork, I’m only doing fieldwork during 1 year. It will take me in total 2 years (18 months exactly) to finish my degree. Here is the basic schedule:
September 2016 – March 2017: Fieldwork sessions
April-August 2017: Analysis, thesis write-up
Also, I’m registered as a student in biological sciences at the university of Cape Town. With no coursework or exam to attempt, it allows me to move around. At the moment, I’m in a private reserve in the Mpumalanga province (Saragossa Game Reserve). Before I was staying in another reserve in the Limpopo where my boyfriend was working as a research assistant/field guide. In this previous place, I did my first volunteering, working on the caracal (Caracal caracal).
My fieldwork will start in September. So, I will be back in Cape Town a week before it starts to prepare and organize everything. I won’t be alone on that trip and will be helped by my co-worker Zoe. We will help each other on our projects which will take place in the Karoo (see the map below).
The next blog post will explain in more details the project.
