Gerald De Beer from Edwards pharmacy in Eshowe contacted me as I am technical and sales adviser for the Celestron agent in South Africa. His son in law James is head ranger at the 5-Star Varti Camp in the Londolozi Private Game Reserve and they needed a telescope to show their guests the night sky.
The night skies in rural Southern Africa are some of the best dark sky sites in the world and astronomers, astro tourists and photographers relish the opportunity to visit and immerse themselves in the beauty and wonder of these skies.
I had a few conversations with James, after extensive research and deliberations we settled on a Celestron Nexstar 8SE, a Celestron Lithium Power supply and the new Celestron 8-24mm zoom eye piece which is best suited to their needs.
The Celestron Nexstar 8SE is a computerized go to telescope and sports an 8” optical tube. This allows a lot of light transmission and views of deep sky objects, and the planets are superb. Of course, the low light pollution in the Londolozi area makes for even better views of celestial objects. The Lithium power supply is perfect for long observation sessions and powers the telescope for about 5 hours, which is perfect for evening and late-night observation sessions. The 8-24mm zoom eye piece is a perfect all in one solution and the observer changes the focal length by turning the barrel of the eye piece which puts you in control whether viewing the rings of Saturn up close or wider field star clusters.
Astronomy Live Johannesburg was given the opportunity to travel to this beautiful game reserve and spent 2 evenings where we trained the game rangers on the set up and alignment procedures of the Celestron Nexstar 8SE telescope.
Our trip to the game reserve was an eventful one and our motor car decided to develop an issue with the air conditioner, which later when we got back home and had the vehicle inspected by a service, found that the cooling fan had lost a blade and wacked a small hole into the radiator. None the less the engine had no damage, but our pockets were R11000.00 lighter!
After a hot day spent in the car without an aircon and the end of the road in sight we passed through a township, the speed limit for this specific road was 60kmp/h and we diligently stuck to this, then! Our GPS lost signal, we both looked down, my foot pressed down on the accelerator, and we were pulled over by a rather friendly looking officer who smiled broadly while waving us down to stop. Well, R500 later and we were in the home stretch, no aircon and the evening setting in slowly but surely.
We entered the main gate and travelled along a fence until we reached Varti Camp where we were welcomed by the head ranger James. We were ushered to our room where we quickly freshened up and rested, where after we were welcomed by our personal guide Keagan and his trusty sidekick “Umfundisi”. (Umfundisi means teacher or pastor and is borrowed from the Zulu language) We were treated to an early evening game drive and marveled at the natural beauty of the reserve; the fun would be had on the next game drive the following day.
Once we arrived back at the camp, we met up with all the rangers in their boardroom. I did an unboxing of the Celestron Nexstar 8SE telescope kit and showed them assembly of all the components. I also discussed the setup procedures and how we will do the training on the telescope. We then set off to the nearby air strip and I demonstrated the assembly and alignment procedures where after the rangers each had a chance to do alignment procedures.
The next day arrived, and we were treated to the most extraordinary game drive by Keagan and “Umfundise” Stopping for coffee (special Amarula Coffee) elephant cow protecting her calf when the rest of the troop surprised us as they emerged, completely camouflaged, from the side of the road and marched by us. All this while having a coffee!
The game drives were <magical, and we were fortunate to see the Big Five on the 3 game drives we were treated to.
Cutting a long story short, the evening arrived, and we set off to the nearby airfield where the rangers had organized an amazing spread with drinks and snacks befitting a 5-star reserve!
We gave the rangers a quick recap of the setup procedures and without any real assistance started assembly and alignment. Observation started as alignment was complete and I showed a few objects using my laser finder where after deep sky objects like the Orion nebula and various star cluster were observed.
This was one of the most amazing experiences Liani and I had and hopefully the first of many such training adventures. My hat off to the rangers and staff at Varti camp.
Frank Barbato
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