The flights are now all set for the first dec 30, 2014 – and I leave next Weds! Exciting start – I’m really going into the unknown and have no idea what to expect! Just got to wrap up a few bits at the clinic here in the UK and then it will be time to get organised and start thinking about putting meds and equipment together to take. From the two e-mails I’ve received from the vet at the charity we’re visiting in Malawi he’s a bit short of everything and overloaded with work! Can’t wait to get stuck in, sounds like a worthwhile mission.

Really pleased the first trip got moved forward a week as the timing couldn’t be better – I was worried I’d be leaving Mickey (a client’s cat that got run over and had its pelvis shattered about 10 days ago) with an uncertain prognosis, but I did the final operation on him on Tuesday (little bit of suturing around his back end which was all torn) and amazingly he has taken his first steps and has even urinated by himself! Cats are incredible creatures. I’ll be able to give him a final check on Tuesday and leave with peace of mind that he is hopefully going to be okay.

Finally we are off. Hope all the development, research and prep work is going to pay off. What do I expect? We are going to film with animals … and Luke, so I guess I have to expect the unexpected.

Can’t wait to get the show on the road.

Finally we’re off!! Malawi here we come! First shoot of many on what will be an epic series, I promise you… It will have you on the edge of your seats and there will be plenty of squeaky bum moments!

Marc and the production team have already done a lot of pre-production and we have a general idea of what stories await us, but what you can never account for is the unexpected moments and there are going to be plenty of those.

4 hours before departure and I have decided to clear my mind of any thoughts about how we are going to approach any of the filming. You get there and evaluate everything. It is so easy to worry about whether we have enough stories, or what filming style we are going for, or will Luke remember his lines (!!! lol)

I got back late last night having spent a weekend up in Dundee filming a couple of music videos for a Scottish indie band and I am shattered, my bones are aching and I am hoping that the lovely people at British Airways will upgrade us, fingers crossed! It’s an 11 hour flight to Jo’Burg, a three hour transit, followed by another two and a half hour flight up to Lilongwe on South African Airways. All in all 17 hours, give or take, its a long one and I hate flying!

So, what am I expecting… hmmmm. Adventure I suppose!

We arrived in Lilongwe a day before Luke. We are ready to go, but twiddling our thumbs because the talent is not here. Nerve racking, just want get started.

Luke hurry up!

The flight to Malawi is tonight and I’m in the office prepping the kit. Had my rabies injection this morning so hopefully I’ll be frothing and barking like a mad dog in a few hours.

…now where did I put that XLR cable?

Dario from KIDO called us up. A couple of pirates had brought him a Hawksbill Turtle which he was going to tag and did we want to come over and film it.

We jumped at the chance to go and film another turtle. We had become mesmerized by these creatures and by the work Dario was doing to save them.

These two guys are true pirates of the caribbean. They are from Petit Martinique an island north of Carricou. They don’t have any hooks for hands or parrots on their shoulders but definitely untrustworthy, drunk and slightly mocking of us and Dario’s efforts with the turtles, but hey, as long as they got paid for it, what did they care.

The first proper day of filming and it now feels like we are getting in to the flow of things. The day began with rain (and a few bolts of lightning) lashing down everywhere. I didn’t realise that it rained so much in Africa. We were all a bit down in the morning;

Marc was losing his mind (see the picture) and I also think that the Malarone tablets for malaria are starting to take their toll. But as soon as Luke arrived in the afternoon our spirits were lifted and when we hit the road in the 4×4 (which has a personality all of its own – security alarm banging out whenever you turn it on, 3rd gear being more powerful than 1st or 2nd, black smoke pumping out of the exhausts etc. etc.) the sun came out of hiding.

Luke had prepared a piece to camera on the long flight over and wanted to get stuck into it straight away. Unfortunately the decision was made to film it whilst he was driving and after the fiftieth take we ended up at the Malawi Army Barracks out of town – in a nutshell we were completely and utterly lost. His opening piece was good though and we later worked out that we’d recorded the first minute of the programme – only another forty-three to go…

In an attempt to find our way back we drove around in circles grabbing a few beautiful shots of Malawi in the process. Eventually we made it to the Wildlife Sanctuary (our primary base over the course of the shoot) in order to meet Lee (the manager) and Richard (the vet). Unfortunately there was no one there to greet us. We had arrived an hour late. Oh dear… The next few days should be packed full of great stories and can’t wait for it to start, although I do want to avoid the caged Leopard – I swear it was checking me out as a future meal.

My 23-hour epic journey from the UK to Malawi is finally over; few issues with the bags as a touch over the weight limit and baggage allowance! Moment of confusion with the bags during transit, but made the connection with 1 minute to spare. Arrived, met the guys and promptly got lost driving around Lilongwe! Great to know we all have an instinctive sense of direction wherever we go… First impressions: great place, friendly people, doesn’t seem too poor in the city, but I suspect rural areas will be very different. Let’s get it in the bag.

Luke arrived, fresh as a daisy. Well, a tad wilting after a 23 hours trip from Cranborne. But he is in the zone and wanted to film straight away. So finally, we are rolling, feels great!

Crazy first day! First thing, Richard (Ugandan vet I’m helping to kick start the LSPCA vet programme with) took me to see a dog he was concerned about in one of the local communities. Poor creature was starving and in constant pain from a shattered back leg. Two options: either pts (put to sleep) or attempt a high risk op. But I had a good feeling we could do it between us, so we got her back to Richard’s garage and amputated the leg.

Last check tonight and she was doing okay (she had three pups we also had to rescue – ready to wean so shouldn’t be a problem).

Amazing how she could look after three puppies at such an amazing sacrifice to herself – just ribs, all the scraps she was getting were going straight into providing milk for the little ones. The traumas she must have been through. She needs to be spayed, but there was no way she would survive both operations today; so the plan is to do that in a couple of months (with a WVS follow up team).

After that we raced off to help Lee (the manager of the Wildlife Centre) dart a leopard – amazing creatures and the health check went well, then to round off the day we wrestled a 4 metre python into a bag ready for its release into a new enclosure first thing in the morning. Definitely not a dull start to the trip!!